Luminis™ Platform Group and Course Leader Administration Guide

Version E May 18, 2006 For use with version III.3.3 software

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Prepared By: SunGard Higer Education

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ABOUT THIS GUIDE

With the Group Studio software, you can request the creation of online groups for clubs, affiliations, or interests and can set up homepages for these groups. If your group has been approved and you become the group leader, you will have a number of tasks to complete to set up the group’s pages and any applications that it has been given permission to use (such as a chat room or message board).

With the Course Studio software, course leaders can set up course-specific homepages that can be accessed by students enrolled in classes at your institution. Similar to group leaders, course leaders also complete tasks to manage course page content and set up the applications provided to the course members.

This guide provides general information about the Group and Course Studio software applications and about the responsibilities of group and course leaders, recommendations and procedures for setting up and maintaining homepages and the applications members have been given permission to use, and information about delegating permissions for content maintenance to other members.

HOW DO I USE IT?

This guide is designed as a reference, providing concise information about such things as:

• The features of the Group and Course Studio software
• The initial tasks facing a group or course leader in setting up a homepage, its guest view, and any applications that it has been allowed to use
• Procedures for creating and maintaining content and for delegating administration of content to other members

As you work through this guide, please note the following conventions:

Monospaced font The following typeface is used for file names, distinguished names, functions, and examples:

monospaced font

Notes, Cautions, and Warnings Throughout the guide, you will see the following symbols:

 Note:

,Caution:

0Warning:

A Note indicates additional information that may be useful. A Caution provides information that if not observed may cause the system to operate less than optimally. A Warning provides information that if not observed will cause the system or one of its components to fail.

Vertical bar ( | ) A vertical bar ( l ) is used as a separator for logically organized user interface elements. For example, File | New means you should click the File menu and choose New. Server Status | View Log means you should select the Server Status folder from the administrative menu and then click the View Log link.

WHAT’S IN THIS GUIDE?

This guide contains the following chapters:

Chapter 1. Provides an overview of the Group Studio and Course Studio software.

Chapter 2. Provides a list of the responsibilities new group and course leaders face while setting up pages and applications, and a flow chart of steps that need to be performed.

Chapter 3. Provides the procedures group and course leaders should follow to manage the content of their group and course pages, and explains how to use each of the options provided by the Content Tools menu that appears on the group or course leader’s view of their homepage.

Chapter 4. Provides the procedures group and course leaders should follow to manage the configuration of the group or course, and explains how to use each of the options provided by the Configuration Tools menu that appears on the group or course leader’s view of their homepage.

Chapter 5. Provides the procedures course leaders should follow to create and manage consolidated courses, which allow any number of individual courses to be grouped so that studio content can be set through a single homepage.

Glossary. Provides a list of terms that you should be familiar with as you manage your group and course pages.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1

• Group Studio features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.3
• CourseStudio features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.6
• Group Studio and Course Studio tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.8

CHAPTER 2

• Group and course leader responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.2

CHAPTER 3

• Managing homepage content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.4 Creating a photo album . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.5 Creating links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.8 Creating news articles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.11 Creating message board topics and descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.13 Creating announcements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.16 Creating featured content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.18
• Managing news . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.23
• Managing photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.27
• Managing links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.31
• Managing files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.35 Reviewing submitted files . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.36 Editing file contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.38 Editing file properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.39 Deleting a file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.40 Posting a new file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.40 Adding a new subfolder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.40 Searching for a file or folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.41
• Managing message boards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.42
• Managing the group or course calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.44
• Managing announcements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.46 Re-sending posted announcements . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.46 Deleting an announcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.48
• Managing guest page content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.50

Setting up a group guest view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.50 Creating featured content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.50 Updating a group description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.52 Providing additional group information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.53

Maintaining a group guest view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.54 Updating a photo and links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.54 Updating group information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.55 Updating the group description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.56

CHAPTER 4

• Managing general settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4.3
• Managing available applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4.7
• Managing sub-groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4.9 Creating sub-groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4.9 Deleting sub-groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4.11 Inactivating sub-groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4.13 Activating sub-groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4.14
• Managing members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4.15 Adding members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4.15 Deleting group and course members . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4.17 Inactivatinggroup andcoursemembers . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4.19 Activating group and course members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4.20 Editing member profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4.22
• Managing permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4.25

CHAPTER 5

• Creating and deleting consolidated courses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5.3 Creating a consolidated course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5.3 Deleting or inactivating a consolidated course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5.6
• Adding and removing courses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5.7
• Navigating among homepages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5.11
• Consolidated course permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5.13

GROUP AND COURSE STUDIO OVERVIEW

The Group Studio and Course Studio applications give students, faculty, employees and other Luminis Platform system users at your institution the ability to create and manage homepages. Group Studio provides homepages for clubs or other affiliations and interests. Course Studio provides homepages for courses taught at your institution.

Since managing group and course homepages involves many of the same tasks, much of functionality contained in these two applications is the same. The following sections outline the features provided by these applications and describe their differences.

GROUP STUDIO FEATURES

Group Studio supports the following types of groups for clubs and interests:

• Public groups. Public groups are open for anyone to join.
• Restricted groups. Membership in restricted groups is subject to certain criteria. For example, to access a group home page for an academic or social fraternity, an individual must first be accepted as a member of that organization.
• Hidden groups. Hidden groups are not displayed in the group category index and do not have a guest view page. Hidden groups are typically used to publish and discuss sensitive information that should not be available even in a restricted group.

All groups have a group leader. Typically, a group leader is the individual who initially requested the group creation. Group leaders use Group Studio to complete the following tasks:

• Create and manage the group homepage, including the links, news articles, files, and photos posted to the homepage
• Create and manage the group guest view page, including the group description and information, and any links or photos that would be appropriate to be viewed by non-group members
• Create and manage sub-groups to meet the needs of smaller populations that exist within your group membership
• Set up the group message board with topics and an overall description, and deleting topics, messages, or replies as necessary
• Create and manage the group calendar
• Activate and deactivate group members as necessary, including approving or disapproving membership requests for restricted groups
• Send targeted announcements to group members that appear on the group homepage and in the member’s personal announcements channel.
• Assign privileges to group members so responsibility for any of the above tasks can be delegated

Group Studio provides a set of tools that appear in a menu on the left-hand column of any page for which you are the group leader. The menu includes options that let you manage the content on the homepage and guest view page, and options that let you manage the configuration of the group. If responsibility for any group homepage management has been delegated to other group members, they will also see the tools menu, but it will only contain options for any permission they have been assigned.

When you access the Group Studio application you see three tabs: My Groups, Group Index, and Request Groups, as illustrated below.

Group Studio features

 Note: If you are a system administrator, you will see a Create Group tab in place of the Request Group tab.

My Groups. Provides access to a page similar to the following that allows you to manage a groups index (those to which you belong), to access overall policies about forming and belonging to groups at your institution, and a form that allows you to request creation of groups.

Group Index. Provides access to a page similar to the following that lists all of the categories of groups at your institution and allows you to access the group guest homepages within each category so that you can read about and request to join a group.

Group Studio features

Request Group. Provides a form similar to the following that you can fill out to request the creation of a new group. If you request the creation of a new group, you become the group leader and have initial responsibility for creating and managing the group homepage and guest view.

For more information on your responsibilities as a group leader, refer to the subsequent sections of this guide.

COURSE STUDIO FEATURES

Course Studio provides functions that support homepage for students enrolled in courses. For the most part, the Course Studio provides the same features as Group Studio, with a few differences.

Unlike groups established for clubs and interests, users are automatically given access to course homepages when they enroll in a course. All courses have natural course leaders. Typically, a course leader is the course instructor and is designated at the time the course information is added to the system. Course leaders use Course Studio to complete the following tasks:

• Create and manage the course homepage, including the links, articles, files, and photo content
• Set up the course message board with topics and an overall description, and delete topics, messages, or replies as necessary
• Create and manage the course calendar
• Assign privileges to course members so responsibility for any of the above tasks can be delegated

Additionally, if the feature is enabled by the system administrator, course leaders can configure the system to link students directly to distance learning sites when they click on the course. Instructors can also group any number of courses into a single consolidated course, for which studio tools and content can be managed through a single access point.

To help with these tasks, the Course Studio application provides a set of tools that appear in a menu on the left-hand column of any page for which you are the course leader. The menu includes options that let you manage the content on the course homepage, and options that let you manage the configuration of the course. If responsibility for any course homepage management has been delegated to other members, they will also see a tools menu, but it will only contain options for any permissions that they have had assigned.

When you access the Course Studio application you see a My Courses screen similar to the following:

Course Studio features

The My Courses screen displays all of the courses you are registered to attend and to teach at your institution. To access the homepage for a course, click the course name. Additionally, you can click the link beneath the instructor’s name to sent an e-mail message to the instructor.

GROUP STUDIO AND COURSE STUDIO TOOLS

Once you become a member or a leader of a group or course, you have access to the group or course homepage. The following images show a group homepage and a course homepage.

Group and course homepages both provide users with the features and functions of the Group Studio application. However, since courses do not have guest members, the Manage Guest View option does not appear on a course homepage. Course homepages also provide a Course Info block that provides information about the course and a link that lets users send e-mail to the course instructor.

Depending on your role (member or leader), the homepage will provide access to a number of tools:

• Group/Course tools. These tools are provided to all group or course members.

–Homepage. Allows you to return to the group or course homepage from any subpage.

–

News. Allows you to read all articles that have been written by other members and to submit articles for potential posting.

–

Photos. Allows you to view all of the photos that have been posted and to submit photos for potential posting.

–

Links. Allows you to view all of the links that have been posted and to submit links for potential posting.

–

Files. Allows you to view all of the files that have been posted and to submit files for potential posting.

–

Message Board. Allows you to enter a dedicated message board where you can read and post messages and replies.

–

Calendar. Allows you to access a group or course calendar.

–

Send Announcements. Allows to compose and post announcements to the homepage.

–

E-mail. Allows you to send e-mail to group or course members.

–

Chat. Allows you to enter a dedicated chat room where you can participate in real time discussions with other members.

–

Members. Allows you to view a list of other group members and information about each, including any homepages that the member might have. You can also post your own homepage link.

Group Studio and Course Studio tools

 Note: This is a comprehensive list of all tools and applications that are potentially available to groups and courses. Depending on the rights and permissions granted to by your system administrator, you may only see a limited set of these tools.

• Content tools. These tools are only provided to group or course leaders, and to group or course members who have had responsibility for managing a homepage feature delegated to them.
• Manage Homepage. Allows you edit the content that members see on the homepage, including featured photo, featured links, and top five links.
• Manage Guest View. Allows you edit the content that non members see on the group's guest page, including the group description, a group photo, general group links, and other group information. Since courses do not have guest members, the Manage Guest View option does not appear on a course homepage.
• Manage News. Allows you to edit articles that have been submitted for posting and to post article to and delete articles from the homepage.
• Manage Photos. Allows you to post photos to and delete photos from the homepage.
• Manage Links. Allows you to post links to and delete links from the homepage.
• Manage Files. Allows you to post files to and delete files from the homepage.
• Manage Message Boards. Allows you to create descriptions for the group's message board forum and to delete message board topics and replies
• Manage Calendar. Allows you to add events and other important items to a group or course calendar.
• Manage Announcements. Allows to you to post new announcements to the homepage and delete existing announcement from the homepage.
• Configuration tools. These tools are only provided to group or course leaders.
• General settings. Allows you to change basic group attributes, such as name, description, and group type.
• Applications. Allows you to specify which of the possible system applications (like Chat or Calendar) are available to group or course members.
• Sub Groups. Allows you to create, activate, and inactivate subgroups.
• Members. Allows you to activate or inactivate group or course members.
• Permissions. Allows you to review the list of group or course members who have been given permission to manage a homepage feature.
• Personal Tools. These tools are provided to all group or course members.
• Groups Policy. Allows you to review your institution’s policy for establishing online groups.
• My Profile. Allows you to review your group membership information and to cancel your membership.

Group Studio and Course Studio tools

 Note: As with the overall tools and applications that are potentially available to a group or course, this list will vary depending on the rights and permissions granted to a group or course by the school’s system administrator.

As the group or course leader, you will work extensively with these tools to create and manage the pages, resources, and content members see, and to deactivate and reset the permissions associated with member profiles. For a complete list of your responsibilities as a group or course leader, refer to the next chapter of this guide. Procedures for working with these tools are outlined in subsequent chapters.

GROUP AND COURSE LEADER RESPONSIBILITIES

All online groups and courses have leaders. You automatically become a group leader when you request the creation of an online group and that request is approved. Course leaders (typically course instructors) are automatically designated at the time the system administrator imports course data into the system.

Group leaders and course leaders have many of the same responsibilities. The following list outlines the responsibilities common to both types of leaders:

• Creating and managing the group or course homepage, including link, article, photo content, and the files and announcements available to members
• Setting up the group or course message board with topics and an overall description, and deleting topics, messages, or replies as necessary
• Setting up and maintaining the group or course online calendar
• Activating and deactivating members as necessary
• Assigning privileges to members so that responsibility for any of the above tasks can be delegated
• Specifying which of the applications made available by your system's Groups Administrator are available to your group or course members

The following list outlines the responsibilities that are unique to group leaders and course leaders:

• Group leaders are responsible for creating and managing the group's guest view page, including the group description and information and any links or photos that you want to advertise the group to non-members.
• Course leaders are responsible for configuring the system to allow students to click into a distance learning course if one is provided for a given course and for creating and maintaining any consolidated courses that they require.

 Note: As the member of a group or course, you may also have some or all of these leader responsibilities delegated to you.

Group and course leader responsibilities

When a group or course is first created, there will be no content on its homepage, message board, or calendar. It is the group leader or course leader’s responsibility to set up the homepage and its tools. After the homepage has been created, members can submit content that they think should be posted to the homepage, including photos, links, news articles, and files. As the group or course leader, it is your responsibility to review the items that have been submitted by members and to post them to the homepage or delete them, or to delegate administration of certain content to others.

The following flow chart illustrates the steps leading from the initial creation of a homepage (either via a group creation request or by importing course data into the system) to the periodic maintenance that will be required to update content.

Delegate responsibilities to other members (as appropriate)

Group and course leader responsibilities

The following chapters of this guide outline the procedures that you will use to com

plete the initial setup activities, to delegate administration of content areas to other group

members, to review submissions and update content, and to consolidate courses.

Managing group and course content

CHAPTER 3 CONTENTS

This chapter provides the procedures group and course leaders should follow to manage the content of their group and course pages. The chapter explains how to use each of the options provided by the Content Tools menu that appears on the group or course leader’s view of their homepage.

• Managing group and course content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.3
• Managing homepage content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.4 Creating a photo album . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.5 Creating links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.8 Creating news articles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.11 Creating message board topics and descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.13 Creating announcements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.16 Creating featured content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.18
• Managing news . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.23
• Managing photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.27
• Managing links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.31
• Managing files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.35 Reviewing submitted files . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.36 Editing file contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.38 Editing file properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.39 Deleting a file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.40 Posting a new file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.40 Adding a new subfolder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.40 Searching for a file or folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.41
• Managing message boards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.42
• Managing the group or course calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.44
• Managing announcements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.46 Re-sending posted announcements . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.46 Deleting an announcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.48
• Managing guest page content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.50 Setting up a group guest view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.50

Creating featured content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.50 Updating a group description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.52 Providing additional group information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.53

Maintaining a group guest view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.54 Updating a photo and links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.54 Updating group information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.55 Updating the group description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.56

MANAGING GROUP AND COURSE CONTENT

When group or course leaders access the homepage they are responsible for maintaining, or when group or course members with delegated management permissions access the homepage, they see the Content Tools menu that provides the tools leaders use to set up and maintain the group or course page content. The Content Tools menu appears similar to the following:

This illustration shows all of the possible menu options. However, if your system administrator has not made all of the system applications available to groups and course, leaders would only see those menu options for the applications that are available. Additionally, group and course members with delegated management permissions would only see those menu options for the features they’ve been given permission to manage.

This chapter explains how to use each of the Content Tools menu options to manage the content of group and course pages in the system.

MANAGING HOMEPAGE CONTENT

After your group is approved or your course is first created, it will have a homepage similar to the following:

 Note: Although the screens shown in this section of the manual illustrate group home-pages, the procedures you use for managing course homepages are essentially identical. If any differences do exist, they are noted in the procedure.

You will need to create content for the page that includes informational news articles, photos, and Internet links. Once you have posted these items to the homepage, you can arrange a photo and a number of links to be displayed as featured content, similar to the following:

Managing homepage content

The following sections outline the steps necessary to create and set up the initial content displayed on the homepage.

CREATING A PHOTO ALBUM

The system lets you to create and maintain a photo album for images and photos that are relevant to the group or course and its activities. For example, a golf group may want to post pictures from its last tournament, or a geography course may want to post pictures of places mentioned in the course of study.

The photo album can contain any number of images and photos up to a default limit of 12 MB. When you upload files, the system will downsize photos and images to an average size of 40 K. If each image were to take the average size (40 K), an album could contain just over 300 images. It is important to note that the 12 MB size limit also includes any photos that have been submitted but not yet posted and those that have been inactivated. If you attempt to submit or post an image to an album that contains no more space, you will receive an error message.

 Note: The amount of space allocated for storing photos may be different than the

default limit. See your system administrator to learn the amount of space available at

your institution.

The photo album supports two file formats: graphic interchange format (GIF) and Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPG or JPEG). Once files have been posted, you can give them titles and captions. When members first click into the photo album, they see thumbnails of each image, including the title, when the image was posted and by whom, and the

Managing homepage content

caption. Clicking on an image launches the photo viewer, which allows members to see the larger image and to navigate forward or backward through the album.

To create a photo album, use the following procedure:

z If you have not already done so, log in to the system.

z Access the group or course homepage.

To access a group homepage, complete the following steps:

1. Click the Groups icon located in the toolbar. The Group Studio application opens with the My Groups tab displayed.
2. From the list of groups of which you are a member, click the name of the group whose homepage you want to access. You see the group homepage, which provides group information, and the Content Tools and Configuration Tools menus.

To access a course homepage, complete the following steps:

1. Access a tab that contains the My Courses channel and then click the link provided in the channel to view your course schedule.
2. From the course schedule, click the course name whose homepage you want to access. You see the course homepage which provides course information, and the Content Tools and Configuration Tools menus.

z From the Content Tools menu, locate and click Manage Photos.

You see a Manage Photos page similar to the following:

Managing homepage content

It contains three sections:

• Submitted Photos. A list of all photos that have been submitted by members, but not yet reviewed and posted.
• Active Photos. A list of all active (posted) photos.
• Inactive Photos. A list of all photos that have been deactivated (removed from the homepage), but not yet deleted.

At this point, there should be no content under any of these sections.

z Locate and click the "Post a New Photo" link that appears within the ActivePhotos list.

You see the Post a Photo window.

z From the Status field, use the drop-down to select Active.

z In the Photo File Name field, enter the path to the photo or image, or click the Browse button to locate the photo or image on your machine or a network location.

If you click Browse, you see a dialog similar to the following that allows you to

search for the file.

z After you have specified or searched for the file, use the Photo Title field toenter a title.

Managing homepage content

This field is required and only supports 60 characters.

z In the Photo Caption field, enter a caption for the photo.

This field is also required. It supports 5000 characters. The caption field also supports basic HTML formatting so that you can change the characteristics of the font (color, size, etc.) or add a link. For example, if you want the caption to be displayed in a red font, you could bracket the text with the following HTML tags:

<font color="Red">here is some red text</font>

 Note: When using HTML formatting, the following tags are not typically supported: <applet>, <area>, <base>, <basefont>, <bgsound>, <body>, <button>, <caption>, <div>, <embed>, <fieldset>, <form>, <frame>, <frameset>, <head>, <html>, <iframe>, <input>, <label>, <layer>, <legend>, <link>, <map>, <meta>, <nobr>, <noframes>, <noscript>, <object>, <optgroup>, <option>, <pre>, <script>, <select>, <span>, <style>, <textarea>, <thead>, <title>, and <wbr>. These my vary at your institution. Additionally, you may not employ JavaScript. The non supported tags and JavaScripting will be removed by an application called Tidy. The system also uses Tidy to detect and fix minor errors, to flag an error on uncorrectable problem, and to close any unclosed tags that might cause problems in certain browsers.

z To add the photo or image to the album, click Post. To exit without adding thephoto or image, click Cancel.

If you posted the photo, you will see a dialog stating that your photo has been posted. Click OK. You are returned to the Manage Photos window, where you see a thumbnail of the photo you just added listed under the Active Photos section.

z To add more photos to the album, repeat the procedures.