Persons trying to register Timeline Maker are sometimes given a message: "Characters are invalid" after filling out the registration form (esp Francophone users)
If the form gets displayed, then the activation process has already gotten past putting in the serial number. Because of this the user cannot get the usual help window prompting him or her to get help via the "activate by phone message".
If no obvious reason exists in form entry, the solution is to do a manual activation with telephone activation instead.
This has always been successful.
A manual activation will be necessary and the user will be required to temporarily disable the internet connection during this process. The customer should contact Timeline Maker Support and have their serial number ready for the operator.