|  | | Urban Planet Tips, Issues, New Ideas, and Instructional Integration | |
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Click on the question that interests you to view the response.
Last updated: 2/24/06
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Status of certain Bugs or IssuesNew IdeasQuickTime Virtual RealityFree Websites for IndividualsHow can we make our Fundraising section functional? Is there a way to make columns or a table without using html? Can I have music play with my slideshow?AdministrationWe want to move our navigation from the left to the banner with a dropdown list of few sections on the left.When creating user access what is the difference between a Publisher and a Modifier?I need a username and password to get into the site administration. Search doesn't work on our site. Can you fix this?The link to our Home section is gone. How can I create one?My sections that were password protected in the old Urban Planet aren't displaying on the New UP.How can I put a password on a section so that only staff can view it?I'm creating a banner in PhotoShop and want to change a color picture to shades of blue.Site Design and OrganizationCan we have a different banner on the Home section than the rest of the site?Can we add a color background to the navigation bar so it will stand out?Is it possible to change the default font and the color of the sidebars? Why are different fonts appearing on our sections? It looks confusing and unprofessional.I'm creating a banner and would like to match the color in the sidebars. How can I find the color code?Are there examples from other Urban Planet websites showing how we might order our sections? Is there a way to change the order of our sections?Display of SectionsHow can I link a teacher's name in our directory with her section?How can I hide my section from the public while I'm working on it?After creating a section I went to View Site and I got this message-Inactive SectionWhen I create a Form section the Form Builder isn't showing up.Why isn't the last choice in my Form dropdown (Select type) list appearing?Why don't the email addresses in a Directory work correctly?How come the little interactive calendar no longer appears on our Event section?On another site I noticed that their calendar appeared on the right side of their Home section. How did they do that?Why am I seeing our expired events on our calendar section?Display of ItemsWhy do only 3 items appear per page? Is it possible to turn off the display of the publish date on News Items? It can be confusing.Why do only 3 events appear per page on our Event section?I see there are new sort options for items. How should I sort now?Media and other AttachmentsHow can I place an image exactly where I need it?Each class coming to the computer lab needs to answer several Snap Polls. Why can't we get our Polls to register all of the votes?Why aren't my images displaying?How do I create a slideshow?Why do thumbnail images appear blurry?Can I change the name of an uploaded picture in a gallery?I heard that Microsoft is no longer supporting MS Windows Media Player for the Mac. What now?How come my video won't play?Why doesn't the video I downloaded from United Streaming play?Editing & FormattingMy section looked great and now the formatting is a mess. What happened?Is there an easy way to add basic text formatting?How do I get the formatting bar on a Mac?Why can't I type in the summary or body field?When using the FireFox browser, why can't I edit a section or item I had saved?What if I want to do more advanced formatting?LinksHow can I put "Return To Top" links into my FAQ section?Can I link a Sidebar to another section or website?How would I make text link to another site? How to I link an address on my site to a map showing the location?Urban Planet for Instructional UseI'd like to have a section where students could share their comments about artists we are studying.Is there a way to include news from other sites on my section?How can I have students create a section to display their work?Can you connect me to some sites showing instructional uses for Urban Planet?Status of certain Bugs or Issues
- There is currently a problem with deleting attachments. Until we hear from the UP company just turn the attachment off.
- Sorting Images in a Gallery now works.
- Clicking on the plus sign in admin (in IE) to access subsections works again.
- Ability to delete all downloaded form submissions is on a list to be added.
- You can't turn off the publish date on a News Item. Create a Basic section with items instead.
- Log Reports is now working.
- You can't preview FAQ items when editing. This will not change. You can only preview an item Body and FAQ items only have Summaries.
- In Internet Explorer (and Safari) the subsections will "collapse"
after you edit a section so that you will again (and again, and again)
need to click on the plus signs to locate your section. Use FireFox.
- Major FireFox bug still exists. When you go into edit on a
section or item that was previously created you have to add something
before you can delete. Try hitting the spacebar before editing.
- Spellcheck should be working fine now. As a reminder it is the
ABC √ on the formatting bar that appears over fields
when you are editing. (You will not see this bar when using Internet
Explorer on a Mac. Download FireFox from Mozilla.com)
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QuickTime Virtual Reality
QuickTime VR moves
the photographic image from flat 2D to 3D imagery and interactive
components. It enables viewers to explore virtual worlds using nothing more than a
computer and mouse — no goggles or headsets required.
Display all sides of products, take virtual field
trips to view the splendor of such places as the Nile Delta, or give your website guests a tour of your school. Get the authoring software you need to make QTVRs. Online Tutorials Terms, concepts, and
capabilities of QuickTime VR. QTVR encompasses three basically distinct
technologies.
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Free Websites for Individuals
If you live or work in Minnesota you qualify for a free eFolio website. Go to www.efoliominnesota.com to find out how you, your students, or your Uncle Bob might use an eFolio website.
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How can we make our Fundraising section functional?
You can create an order form using the Form section type. Images of
your fundraising items can be included. Check back here- A section will
be added with examples of forms. The source code will be included so that you
can create a copy of the form you desire. Instructions will guide you in making the necessary changes to customize the form.
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Is there a way to make columns or a table without using html?
Yes, there is. Try using a Directory Section type in a different way. The Name column can include html. Don't use the Description 2 or email columns. Take a look at this example of a section
in which the first column contains an image linked to a website, the
next column has the title of the website, and the last column (the
"Phone" column) was used for a description.
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Can I have music play with my slideshow?
- You can include an audio attachment on a section that
has a
gallery. When your audience goes to your section they will start the
audio then click on an image to start the slides. However, this doesn't
work on all browsers. On some browsers (e.g. Explorer) this will work
because the audio will open in a
separate little window while in others (e.g. FireFox) the audio
takes over the current window so that you cannot simultaneously play
the slideshow.
- Try creating a slideshow with music in another application
(such as iPhoto), save as a Quicktime movie, and then upload this to
your site. Be sure to include a video width (e.g. 420 or 640) before
saving a video upload. |
We want to move our navigation from the left to the banner with a dropdown list of few sections on the left.
Check the Templates section at http://uphelp3.spps.org/Templates.html Notify steve.buettner@spps.org of your choice.
For the dropdown list: Go into edit on the section(s) you want to
include on the dropdown. Under Configuration select Display Settings.
Under Display Location select Quick Links Select List.
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When creating user access what is the difference between a Publisher and a Modifier?
How to create a user and information about user options can be found in the Site Manager Guide section.
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I need a username and password to get into the site administration.
If you have forgotten your Urban Planet username/password or need to
have user
access created for you, please contact the webmaster (or site manager) for your website. If
you do not know who that is you can email steve.buettner@spps.org to find
out.
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Search doesn't work on our site. Can you fix this?
Yes. Send an email to steve.buettner@spps.org stating that the Search doesn't work. Include the address of your site.
Our staff- in Mult Site Manager Crawl the site.
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The link to our Home section is gone. How can I create one?
If you want the Home to appear in the Navigation bar: Create a
subsection under your Home section. Title it something else (like Back
to Home or "your school name" Home). Click on Link and enter the
address of your Home. Set Target as Current Browser Window. Click
Create Section. Click on the red button to turn the link section on.
You may want to go into edit for your actual Home section to reorder
the subsections and move the home link you created to the top. |
My sections that were password protected in the old Urban Planet aren't displaying on the New UP.
We may be able to fix that problem so that you do not have to re-create
those sections. Please click on the link at the top and fill out the Request Form.
For our staff- In Multiple Sites Manager: Select the site, select Edit Site Info, find the sections that are not working and remove private= "True"
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How can I put a password on a section so that only staff can view it?
Go into edit for the section you want to password protect. Select
Access Settings under Configuration. Click in the box for Click here to protect this section with a password. Enter a
password. If desired, change the default text to appear on the page.
Save. Now this password will be required for that section
and for access to any of its subsections.
== Return to Top ==
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I'm creating a banner in PhotoShop and want to change a color picture to shades of blue.
Select the image or the layer containing the image. If you want to
match a color select it first with the eyedropper. (If the image is
black and white you'll need to go to the Image menu to Mode and change
it to RGB color.) Under the Image menu go to Adjustments to Hue/Saturation and click in the Colorize
box. If you selected a color using the eyedropper that is what the
color will be. If you need to change the color you can slide the Hue,
Saturation, and Lightness scales until you get the desired color. Click
OK.
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Site Design and Organization
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Can we have a different banner on the Home section than the rest of the site?
Yes. Look at the Display Settings under Configuration in edit for the Home section to see
what size the banner should be. Create your secondary banner with that
same width (e.g. 740 pixels). The height can be different. Save it as a
.jpg or .gif. Email it to steve.buettner@spps.org. Please include the
address for your site. Note which sections should display the secondary
banner. |
Can we add a color background to the navigation bar so it will stand out?
This has to do with the stylesheet for your site. If a change has been approved by your principal or webmaster email steve.buettner@spps.org. If you need a specific color please include the code for the color. To view colors go to HTML Color Chart.
If
you cannot read the codes you can increase the text size of your
browser by going to Text Size under the View Menu and selecting
Increase. An example of a code- Basic Orange is FF3300.
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Is it possible to change the default font and the color of the sidebars?
If you have worked with cascading style sheets you can copy the css for
your site, make changes to it, then email the revised css to steve.buettner@spps.org.
To find the css view the page source (likely under your browser's View menu) and find "text/css href=/shared/templates/SPPS_dist/styles/nameofstyle.css" Copy the /shared
etc address segment. Add this to the end of your site address. For
example the address which will display the stylesheet for this site
would be http://uphelp3.spps.org/shared/adminDesigns/stylesheets/main.css |
Why are different fonts appearing on our sections? It looks confusing and unprofessional.
If you copy and paste from MS Word on a PC the formatting codes will
come along with the text. When a number of people from a site do
this you can end up with an assortment of fonts. Save the Word document
as text only or delete the codes in HTML mode in Urban Planet. That way
all of the sections will have the default font for your site.
On a Mac the formatting is dropped when pasted. |
I'm creating a banner and would like to match the color in the sidebars. How can I find the color code?
If you have Mac OS X you can open the text editor. Under
Format select Font - Colors. Click on the view represented by the
middle picture at the top. Select web safe colors from list. Select
magnifier then click on a color anywhere on your screen (on the sidebar
color) and the color viewer will show you the code.
OR You can look at the stylesheet for a section that has a sidebar. To access the stylesheet see the following question.
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Are there examples from other Urban Planet websites showing how we might order our sections?
http://longfellow.spps.org/Classrooms.html
Notice how Longfellow's main sections use images. (This section could
also have been a desciption of something common to all classrooms.) Then
look at the classroom subsections. Notice how they all contain the same
subsections. This uniformity makes it easy for the viewer and it looks
professional.
http://highlandel.spps.org
Their classroom intoduction has text expressing pride, an invitation to
see their informative class sections, and an animated image. Their
classroom sections are not uniform but the variety does add excitement
to the site and may encouage viewers to look at more of the site than
they may have otherwise.
http://ramsey.spps.org
Here is an example of how you could organize a Junior or Senior High
School site. A major section is Departments (instead of classrooms)
which have subsections for teachers.
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Is there a way to change the order of our sections?
The procedure depends on whether you want to Reorder a Section's
Subsections OR Move a Section from under one section (its current
parent) to under a different section (a new parent). Refer to the
example below. If you want Ms. Yang to appear above Ms. Smith on your
site’s navigation you would want to Reorder Classrooms’ subsections. If
you want Ms. Yang to appear under Special Education instead of under
Classrooms you would need to go into edit for the Ms. Yang section to
Move it under a different parent (Special Education). Similarly, if you
wanted Ms. Yang to be at the same navigational level as Home,
Classrooms, and Special Education you would edit the Ms. Yang section
to Move it under a new parent (Home).
See directions below the example.
Example of sections:
Home
Classrooms
Ms. Smith
Mr. Noble
Ms. Yang
Special Education
Mr. Ikleman
Steps to Reorder a Section’s Subsections:
1) Go into edit on the parent section.
2) Click on Reorder Subsections under Configuration
3) Click on a subsection and click on Move Up or Move Down to relocate it. Move other subsections as needed.
4) When finished click on save.
Steps to Move a Section under a different Parent Section:
1) Go into edit on the section you want to move.
2) Click on Move Section under Configuration.
3) The current parent section will be highlighted. To move the
section under a different section click on the desired new parent
section.
4) Click on save.
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How can I link a teacher's name in our directory with her section?
Step 1: Go to the teacher's section. Copy the portion of the address following the webite address. (sample: http://school.spps.org/Brenda_Marsoyin.html)
Step 2: Go into edit on the teacher's item in the Staff Directory section.
Step 3: Before the name type <a href=" then paste in the address portion. Then type ">
Step 4: After the name type in </a>
Step 5: Save
<a href="/Brenda_Marsoyin.html">Marsoyin, Brenda</a>
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How can I hide my section from the public while I'm working on it?
Since Preview in section edit doesn't work for anything interactive
(e.g. checking links) you will have to go to view site. You can have
the section turned on so you can view it but hide it so it doesn't
appear on the site's navigation. To do this, go into edit for the
section. Select Access Settings and change the pull down menu by Hide Section to True. Save. Don't forget to change this back to False when your section is ready.
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After creating a section I went to View Site and I got this message-Inactive Section
Inactive
Section. This section (or one of this section's ancestors) has been
disabled by an administrator. If you see this message on your site
instead of the section content go back to admin. Click on the red
button to the left of the section name. It will turn green indicating
that the section is turned on. Turned on means it can be viewed by the public.
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Why isn't the last choice in my Form dropdown (Select type) list appearing?
We've found that if you include a dash the last choice won't show up on
Explorer (it does show up on FireFox). For example, if you have choices
that include time periods list them as 10 AM to 1 PM rather than 10 AM
- 1 PM. |
Why don't the email addresses in a Directory work correctly?
Urban Planet won't link to Lotus Notes. To avoid confusion you
could put the email address into another field. They won't be links but
your viewer could cut and paste an address into their email application. |
How come the little interactive calendar no longer appears on our Event section?
In the New Urban Planet you need to activate the calendar. Go into edit for the section itself (not the items). Select Display Settings under Configuration. Click in the box for Display Calendar. Save. |
On another site I noticed that their calendar appeared on the right side of their Home section. How did they do that?
Go into edit for the section where you want the calendar to appear.
Select Promotion under Attachments. Click Add New. Select your calendar
section from the section drop down box. Select Right Column for Location.
Check box for title. Check start and end date if desired. Check Display Calendar. If you want any event items to appear also, check
box for Summary and select how many to include. Click on apply then apply again. Save.
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Why am I seeing our expired events on our calendar section?
Now you have to set events to automatically expire after they have passed. In the event item go to Expiration under Date Info on the left. Click Click here to make this item expire.
Fill in Expiration date. OR- you can manually turn the items off. OR-
In edit for the section itself- uncheck "Display expired events on
summary" in Display Settings.
== Return to Top ==
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Why do only 3 items appear per page?
There is now a default setting of 3 for the number of items
that will appear on a page. To change this: Go into edit for
the section itself (not the items). Select Display
Settings under Configuration. Increase the number for
Number of Summary Items. Save.
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Is it possible to turn off the display of the publish date on News Items? It can be confusing.
Indeed, the publish date can be confusing if your viewer thinks it is the date
that something happened instead of the date the news item was created. Solutions:
-
If the news item descibes an event or a deadline make this clear in the text.
- Use a basic section type with items instead of a News section. It will work the same but doesn't include publish dates.
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Why do only 3 events appear per page on our Event section?
There is now a default setting of 3 for the number of items that will appear on a page. To change this: Go into edit for the section itself (not the items). Select Display Settings under Configuration. Increase the number for Number of Summary Items. Save.
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I see there are new sort options for items. How should I sort now?
- You can still sort items by clicking on sort (right side of blue bar
above items) then moving items up or down by clicking on the arrows.
Switch back to edit when finished.
- Now items can also be sorted by various fields. Sort options vary by section type. You still click on sort (as above) then select the field to sort by.
- Remember when sort involved entering a number? You can stick to
that plan by entering a number in a field that won't show up or in
another sort option such as Shortcut Url. Remember to leave numbers
between each item in case you need to add items later.
- To sort a Directory by last name if first name is also used: Since
Description 2 doesn't show up on the site you can enter the first
letter or 2 of the person's last name in that field and then sort by
Description 2. |
Media and other Attachments
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How can I place an image exactly where I need it?
Placing an image in a particular place involves creating an address for
the image and then using HTML. The Images need to be the size that you
want them to appear on the page. When you include an image using HTML
you will not have sizing options as you do when uploading an image.
- Create a subsection to hold the images you will use. Upload the
images. Hide the section (Access Settings under Configuration) because
it needs to be turned on.
- Go to the public view of the subsection created in step 1. Click
on an image until it is the only thing in the window. It should have an
address which ends in .jpg or .gif. Copy the address starting after the
site address. Return to Site Administration.
- In the Section Introduction for the subsection which will contain
the image, enter the text. To place the image use this formula
<img src=”url”> The url between the quotes is the address
of the image you copied above. Save.
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Each class coming to the computer lab needs to answer several Snap Polls. Why can't we get our Polls to register all of the votes?
You're only supposed to vote once but it is possible to have multiple
voters on the same computer- Between each voter quit the browser and
open it again.
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Why aren't my images displaying?
- Make sure you have text in any blank fields in a section or item that will include images.
- Be sure the image is a .jpg or .gif and that the extension is included in the image title when it is uploaded into Urban Planet.
- If you have uploaded images into an item and are trying to preview
them, keep in mind that Preview doesn't work for items that only have a Summary.
- If your images show up as empty frames with the icon of a torn
piece of paper, the images may be too large or have too high a
resolution. Try opening them in a Photo application, shrinking them (no wider than 7 inches),
and changing the resolution to 72.
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How do I create a slideshow?
Add an Image Gallery (under Attachments) to your section or item.
Include instructions for your viewers: Click on a picture in a gallery
then click on View as Slideshow or Next.
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Why do thumbnail images appear blurry?
When you click on the images to enlarge them they appear clear
(assuming they were sharp to begin with). This is an issue in the new
Urban Planet and hopefully will be resolved. |
Can I change the name of an uploaded picture in a gallery?
Currently Urban Planet doesn't provide a way to change the image name
after it is uploaded. If you don't want your images to be titled
something like zoo538.jpg you need to change it before uploading.
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I heard that Microsoft is no longer supporting MS Windows Media Player for the Mac. What now?
Microsoft anounced that it has no plans to provide future updates to Microsoft Windows Media Player for Mac and has discontinued official product support. As an alternative, Microsoft is now offering the Microsoft Windows Media Components for QuickTime by Flip4Mac Windows Media audio (.wma) files and Windows Media Video (.wmv) files directly in the QuickTime Player as a free download.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/flip4mac.mspx |
How come my video won't play?
You need to specify a window size for your video. When you upload a
video or if you go into edit for a video that is already uploaded you
will see a field for Video Width. Try entering 200, 400, 640 or whatever
produces a good window size for the video.
Or- You may have uploaded a video which is the wrong format for Urban Planet. Try saving it as a .mov.
Or- You may not have included text in a required field. (No attachments
will show up.) Try adding some text to any empty fields.
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Why doesn't the video I downloaded from United Streaming play?
On a Mac: In United Streaming go to My Preferences- Video Playback Settings- Media Type Selection- switch this to QuickTime stand alone. Videos will then play and save as Quicktime and can be uploaded to Urban Planet.
On a PC: In United Streaming keep the preferences set to Microsoft
Media Player. When you need to save a video to upload to Urban Planet:
Select Show Video Controls, switch this to
QuickTime stand alone, then save. It will then save as .mov instead of
.asf (which doesn’t work in UP) |
My section looked great and now the formatting is a mess. What happened?
There are a number of reasons this could be true. Unfortunately there
are compatibility problems between different browsers and between Mac
and PC. Copying text from another program can add another layer of
possible problems. It appears that under certain circumstances
superfluous html gets inserted with the text causing changes in the
text and/or paragraph formatting. Please fill out a problem form
detailing your situation including the address of the offending section.
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Is there an easy way to add basic text formatting?
If you are using a PC or if you are using a Mac with the Mozilla
FireFox browser you will have a formatting bar appear above text boxes
when you are creating sections or items. Highlight the text you want to
effect and then click on the button for the result you desire. You can
make text bold, italic, centered, add bullets, check spelling. There is
also a chain link button which allows you to have text link to another
location in your website or to another website.
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How do I get the formatting bar on a Mac?
The formatting bar will not appear if you are using Internet Explorer. You need to use Mozilla FireFox for your browser. For a free download go to http://www.mozilla.org. You need OS X for FireFox use.
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Why can't I type in the summary or body field?
If you click in a field to type but don't see the cursor, go ahead and
type- the cursor doesn't always show up but the text will. |
When using the FireFox browser, why can't I edit a section or item I had saved?
Urban Planet on the FireFox browser has a weird quirk. When you go into
edit you can add text but in order to delete or highlight text you
first need to add something (a space will do).
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What if I want to do more advanced formatting?
Use html codes if you need to create a table, change the size of text,
or any other formatting which is not included on the formatting bar.
(Keep in mind that you want to maintain the uniform look of sections on
our site). If you use the FireFox browser you will need to click on
Switch to HTML Mode (below the text field). For basic codes
and how to use them see http://uphelp3.spps.org/HTML.html |
How can I put "Return To Top" links into my FAQ section?
You need to use HTML coding. (In the FireFox browser you will need to click on Switch to HTML Mode.)
- In the Section Intro include 
- At the bottom of an item (wherever you want the link to appear) include
 |
Can I link a Sidebar to another section or website?
- To upload a picture and link it to another section or website see Step 6 on this page: http://uphelp3.spps.org/Add_a_Sidebar.html
- See the next question if you want to link the Sidebar text. |
How would I make text link to another site? How to I link an address on my site to a map showing the location?
In administration, in a text field you can highlight some text then click on the chainlink in the formatting bar. Enter the site or section address you want to link to. Click OK. The formatting bar is available on a PC or on a Mac if you use the FireFox browser.
To link an address to a map: Find the address on a map using a Map program such as MapQuest (http://www.mapquest.com/maps). Copy the internet address for the web page showing the map. In admin on your site: Go into edit for the section containing the street address. Highlight the street address, click on the chainlink icon on the formatting toolbar, paste in the internet address for the map. Click OK. Save.
Example- Arlington Senior High School-
1495 Rice Street, 55117 |
Urban Planet for Instructional Use
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I'd like to have a section where students could share their comments about artists we are studying.
Create a password protected section. Under attachments click on Message Forum. Click on add new.
Fill in the fields. Click on apply, apply, save. Your students (but not
the rest of the world) can enter the password on your forum section and
then type in their own comments and/or respond to comments already
entered. They could even upload images of artwork to illustrate their
comments.
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Is there a way to include news from other sites on my section?
In edit for a section: Create an RSS Promotion. (See http://uphelp3.spps.org/RSS_Feeds.html) This will create
a connection to an RSS enabled site so that their (News or other)
items' titles and summaries can appear on your section. Your viewers
can then click on a title to go to that other site and see the body of
the item. Great bonus- as the other site gets updates the changes will
automatically appear on your site.
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How can I have students create a section to display their work?
Create a Blog section type for each student. This will give students access to
creating items (including attachments) on that section only. Students can enter reports, upload
media, and add links to resources.
To create: Go to Limited Access Website Content Creation OR See a video on how to create a Blog
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