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Teaching Commons User Guide
Version 1.0
Table of Contents
Introduction
Getting an Account for the Teaching Commons
Logging In
Forgotten Passwords
Recurring Elements
Tabbed Navigation
Show/Hide Content
Enlarging Text Areas
Required Fields
Your Menu
Your Profile
Editing and Updating Your Profile
Account Settings
Personal Information
Creating Content
Articles or Pages
Events
Forum Topic
Poll
Adding Forum Posts
Adding Comments
Using the Text Editor
Accessing Site Content
Categories
Category Browser
Search
Still Have Questions or Problems?
Introduction
This guide is meant as a step-by-step introduction to many of the features and functionality of the Teaching Commons. If you notice any errors or omissions or have any suggestion, please feel free to share them with us at:
This represents an additional piece of information that may be helpful.
This represents something that should be taken note of due to its importance or impact.
Getting an Account for the Teaching Commons
Having an account with the Teaching Commons provides the following:
- Complete access to all content including downloads and attachments.
- Ability to post comments on content items.
- Ability to create and reply to topics in the forums.
- Ability to create events in the event calendar.
- Ability to create content items (i.e., articles) and attach files to these.
- Ability to create as well as vote in polls.
- Ability to maintain a brief personal profile and view the profiles of other instructors.
At this time, new users are not able to register for an account themselves, but must contact us in order to be added. If you are a Carleton instructor or feel that you would benefit from access to this site, then please send us a message telling us you name, institution, and why you think you should be registered.
Logging In
The form below can be found in the left column below the main navigation and allows you to log in. Simply enter you username and password (both are case sensitive).
Forgotten Passwords
If you cannot remember your password, you can request a new one by clicking the Request a new password link at the bottom of the login form which will load the right image:
Enter your username and email address and a new password will be sent to you.
Once you have logged in you will show up under Who’s Online
Recurring Elements
Tabbed Navigation
In many instance, you may see tabs at the top of the page such as the following:
These let you navigate between each item.
Show/Hide Content
You will sometimes see links with small arrows beside them like the following:
You can click this link to show the hidden content and click it again to hide the content.
Enlarging Text Areas
You can enlarge text areas such as the content creation text areas or message text areas by licking the bar at the bottom of the text area, holding down your mouse button, and dragging the area to the desired size:
Required Fields
Fields marked with a red asterisk (*) are required.
Your Menu
While you are logged in, you will have access to some additional menu items.
| My Menu - Logged In | My Menu - Logged Out |
| |
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Moreover, you will now have access to the Create Content facilities.
Create Content - Loads up numerous options for adding content including articles, events, forum topics, and polls.
You must be logged in to Create Content, otherwise you will receive an error message “You are not allowed to create content.”
Forums - Loads up the main forum index.
Browse Content - The default menu selection, this loads up a paginated list of all current site content.
Recent Content - This lists all recent content items (the first clickable tab) as well as your recent content items (the second clickable tab).
My Account - This lets you access your account info in order to add and edit your account information (i.e., change your password, add a picture, include some information about yourself, or view your posts and submissions).
User List - This display a list of the current site users as well as links to your profiles.
User profiles are not viewable by the public, only by registered users.
Your Profile
Your profile lists information about your history with the site, displays personal information, lists content that you have created, and displays an email form if you so wish.
You decide how much personal information you wish to share, but remember, your profile is NOT publicly available. Completing your profile fully helps give other registered users an idea of who you are.
At the top of your profile are four clickable tabs which delineate the four sections of your profile.
View - This is the default selection and displays your profile info.
Edit - This is the section that allows you to edit your own profile.
When you view someone else’s profile, the edit tab will bot be available.
Track - This displays the content you have created and lets you track what you have contributed with respect to polls, articles, comments, and forum posts.
Contact - This displays an email form that allows other registered users to email you through the website. This helps protect your actual email address from others while still allowing them to email you. The contact form is optional and is set in your profile settings.
The above example shows a user emailing themselves (i.e., the From and To fields are the same person.
Simply enter the subject, message, and check whether you would like to receive a copy of the message, and then click Send e-mail.
Editing and Updating Your Profile
Clicking the Edit tab takes you to the Edit Profile page.
Fields not marked with a red asterisk (*) are optional.
1. Editing Different Areas of Your Profile
Your profile can have numerous editable areas. Your Account Settings will always be present and is the default selection. You can click the other section Personal Information to edit that area of your profile.
Account Settings is the only area of your profile that will always be present. As the site develops, additional areas of your profile such as Personal Information may be added or renamed.
Account Settings
2. TinyMCE rich-text settings - The Text Editor
Default state - This setting lets you turn on or turn off the Text Editor for the Content Creation areas. If you do not have extensive knowledge of HTML formatting or a particular desire to employ such knowledge, then the recommended setting is true.
3. Account Information
E-mail address - You can update your email address in this field.
Password - You can change your password using each of these fields.
4. Picture
Upload picture - You can select a picture of yourself or an avatar from your computer and upload it to the site to be displayed with your profile and submitted content.
5. Comment Settings
Signature - Your signature is what will be appended to your comments. Examples include a quote, interesting fact or tip, etc.
6. Contact Settings
Checking the box next to Personal contact form enables a Contact form that other users can access via the Contact tab discussed earlier. Users will be able to send you an email using the website without actually being able to view your email address.
7. Locale Settings
Time zone - This lets you select a time zone that differs from the site time zone if you are not in an areas of EST.
Personal Information
Click the Personal Information link take you to that area of your profile. You can then update or edit any of the fields.
Personal Information and any other additional areas may be updated to include a greater or lesser amount of fields. Check your profile occasionally to see if new fields have been added that you wish to complete.
Creating Content
To create content, click Create Content in My Menu. This will expand to give you numerous options as well as load up the options in the main column.
Article - Articles consist of an extended passage of text. They have a title, a teaser and a body, and the teaser is part of the body. They may also be used for shorter news items.
Event - An event is a story which can be given a start and end date, thus appearing in the events calendar.
Forum Topic - Create a new topic for discussion in the forums.
Page - If you want to add a static page, like a contact page or an about page, use a page.
Poll - A poll is a multiple-choice question which visitors can vote on.
You can edit any content items that you have created, so don’t worry if you discover a mistake.
If you have any issues when creating content (i.e., formatting, file attachments), contact websupport@teachingcommons.ca for assistance.
Articles or Pages
If you are adding a passage of text of any length and/or attached files, then you want to create an Article. A Page is added in much the same way, but is not necessary for your needs.
To create an Article, click Article in the left menu or under the Create Content list.
You will be presented with the following:
1. Title
Enter the title of the content item you are submitting. Try and make it descriptive.
2. Categories
Make sure you add your content item to the relevant categories. You can select multiple categories by holding Ctrl (windows) or Command (Mac), left-clicking each category with your mouse, and then releasing Ctrl or Command.
3. Body
This is where you enter the body of your content item. Entries can be formatted using the text editor. If you prefer to format directly with HTML, then you can click disable rich-text which removes the text editor and lets you format your text directly using HTML tags.
If you are pasting from Microsoft Word, make sure to read the section on Using the Text Editor.
Before adding any content, be sure to read the section on Using the Text Editor.
4. File Attachments
You can browse for file attachments and attach them to your content item. Make sure you click Attach after each file attachment for multiple attached files.
Naming files for the web is different than naming them for your Windows-based computer. Try and avoid spaces in file names and instead, fill them in with dashes (-) or underscores (_). This ensures your filenames are more compatible with other file systems, servers, and browsers.
Don’t attach a file if it can be inserted as text into the body of the article. If you have a Word file with 20 tips for FYS Instructors, take the time to paste it into the body and format it. This helps conserve bandwidth and creates less of a barrier between the user and the content.
Try and attach files that everyone can open. A very common format is Acrobat PDF files. Microsoft Word DOC files are also common, but keep in mind that not everyone wants to run Windows.
When you’re a finished with your article, click Preview or Submit. Your article will not be immediately visible until it is approved by the site staff.
Events
Submitting an event is identical to submitting an article or page except that you must also specify a start and end date.
Forum Topic
Submitting a forum topic is again very similar to submitting other content types with the exception that under categories, you must also select to which forum you wish to post.
A nested forum is denoted by a dash before its title and will be below the form in which it is nested.
Poll
To submit a poll, you must enter q questions as well as up to 5 choices (you can enter more options by checking Need more choices and following the instructions).
Poll duration lets you specify how long you wish the poll to accept votes.
Adding Forum Posts
When browsing the forum, if you wish to reply in a particular forum thread click the Post Reply link.
You can also click Post new forum topic when browsing the forum to start a new topic.
Adding Comments
To add a comment, look for this link:
Fill out each field and click Preview comment.
Using the Text Editor
The editor toolbar will look like the following although buttons may be added or taken away depending on their usefulness.
Some useful buttons are highlighted below:
1. Basic Formatting
Bold, italicize, alignments.
2. Ordered and Unordered Lists
3. Inserting Links and Anchors
Highlighting the text you wish to make a link and clicking the Insert Link button will load a pop-up window allowing you to enter the link information.
4. Advanced Formatting
Allows you to select common styling elements from a drop-down list.
5. Inserting Images
Loads a pop-up window allowing you to enter image information. If the image you wish to insert resides on your computer, use the next image option.
6. Uploading and Inserting Images
Loads a pop-up window that allows you to upload a picture and then insert it into your content item.
- Library: You can select which image folder to load.
- Images: Lists the images in the selected image folder.
- Preview: Shows a preview of the selected image from the image list.
- Image Information: Displays image information.
- Image Upload: Lets you select an image and upload it to the selected image folder.
7. Full Screen Mode
Places the editor area into full screen mode. When you are done, close the full screen window and the content will be saved to the smaller editor window.
8. Pasting from Microsoft Word
Do not paste directly from Word into the editor window. Use this option.
If you are using Internet Explorer, open your word document, copy the text you wish to insert and then click the Paste from Word button.
If you are using Firefox, clicking the Paste from Word button will load a pop-up allowing you to paste in your text. Click Update when you are done.
9. Adding/Editing Tables
The set of buttons lets you perform table operations.
Holding your mouse cursor over a button in the text editor will produce a tool-tip explaining the button’s function.
Accessing Site Content
Categories
Categories are displayed in the left categories menu. Clicking on a category will display all the content items under that category.
There is the possibility for separate categories for articles, forum topics, events, and polls.
Category Browser
The category browser lets you search one or more categories at a time. You can also use the scope variable to return items in only one of the selected categories are all of the selected categories.
Search
Searching is your friend…
You can also use the advanced search if you are having trouble.
Still Have Questions or Problems?
If you are still having problems or have a question you need answered, contact or web support at:
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