My Workspace
Overview
What to do if you click your browser's Back button
Editing My Workspace Information
Profile
Membership
Joining and unjoining project sites
Resources
Announcements
Worksite Setup
Preferences
Showing, hiding, and ordering subject and project sites
Changing your privacy status
Which browser should I use?
Options for adding attachments
Additional materials
Open a pdf document containing step-by-step instructions with screen shots.
Overview
What it does
My Workspace is an individual online worksite that functions as a private workspace for each user. When you log in, you will automatically open your My Workspace, which will display the Message of the Day and My Workspace Information boxes. By default, these boxes contain announcements and information from the system administrator.
A site owner can revise what appears in the My Workspace Information box by clicking Options. Only a system administrator can modify the contents of the Message of the Day box, but a site owner can click Options to customize how announcements will display in the window.
Key concepts
In My Workspace, you can perform various tasks, including:
- Posting files in your own private Resources tool
- Viewing Announcements from all your sites
- Viewing a list of all sites you belong to in Worksite Setup
- Revising worksites you own by adding users or changing tools in Worksite Setup
- Setting your privacy status in Preferences
- Choosing how you would like to be notified of new or changed items on sites you belong to in the Preferences tool
- Adding yourself to publicly joinable sites with the Membership tool
What to do if you click your browser's Back button
CSU Interact is designed to function independently of your browser buttons. If you change your mind about a task, such as posting a resource item, you need to rely on the buttons within the application to cancel the action instead of your browser's Back button.
If you click the Back button before completing a task, then the next time you try to use that tool you may return to the uncompleted task; if this happens, you will need to click Cancel before you can do anything else in that tool.
Also, you might unintentionally lock yourself out by using the Back button, so that you and other people (with equivalent roles for the site) are unable to use the tool. If this happens, you can try to clear the lock by clicking the reset button (the upward-pointing arrow in the upper left corner of the tool). If this doesn't work, log out and wait at least 20 minutes before logging back in. (back to top)
Editing My Workspace Information
By default, your My Workspace Information window contains announcements from the system administrator. To change the appearance of My Workspace Information, follow these steps:
- In the My Workspace Information window, click Options.
- Under "Customize My Workspace Info Display", you can give the window a new title, and change the window's display height.
- Click Update Options. (back to top)
Profile
The Profile tool is not currently being used in CSU Interact.
Membership
What it does
The Membership tool in My Workspace is where you can join and unjoin available worksites.
Key concepts
Sites: On the Membership tool page, you'll see a list of all the worksites to which you belong. This includes sites you have joined, and sites that you have been added to as a participant by the creator of the site.
Joinable Sites: The Joinable Sites link will display a listing of available sites that you haven't joined. You can click Join for any of these sites.
Joining and unjoining project sites
To join a project site, follow these steps:
- In My Workspace, from the menubar, click Membership.
- Click Joinable Sites to see a list of all the available sites that you haven't joined. If you'd like to join any of them, click Join.
To unjoin a course or project site, follow these steps:
- In My Workspace, from the menubar, click Membership.
- Under "My Current Sites", you'll see a list of all the sites to which you belong. (This includes sites you have joined, and sites that you have been added to as a participant by the owner of the site.) If you'd like to unjoin any of them, click Unjoin. (back to top)
Resources
The Resources area in My Workspace functions in the same way as the Resources tool in subject and project sites, except that it is your own private area. Files stored in My Workspace Resources cannot be seen in other sites unless you make them publicly viewable. There may be reasons why you may want to do this; for instance, you may want to share files across a number of sites, such as a photo to use for a Blog profile. If it is stored in My Workspace Resources, you will not have to upload it to each of the other sites.
To make a file viewable in other sites, in My Workspace Resources, choose Actions > Edit Details beside the file that you want to make public. Select “This file is publicly viewable”.
If there are a number of files that you want to make public, then consider putting them in a folder that has been set to “publicly viewable”. This will avoid having to make each item publicly viewable. (back to top)
Announcements
In the Announcements tool of your My Workspace you will see announcements from all the sites to which you belong. You cannot make an announcement in My Workspace – if you have appropriate permissions, this is done in an individual subject or project site.(back to top)
Worksite Setup
The Worksite Setup tool provides information about the worksites to which you currently belong. If you have a role that allows it, you can use this tool to make changes to information about the site, tools available in the site, and access to the site. You can also publish the site using the Worksite Setup tool.
Worksite Setup displays a list of worksites to which you belong and/or on which you can take some action, such as Edit or Delete. If you lack appropriate permissions for a site, you cannot edit it.
Things to consider
- The functions of the Worksite Setup tool mirror those of the Site Info tool; Worksite Setup is available through My Workspace, whereas Site Info is available in each worksite.
- If you don't have the appropriate permissions, in Worksite Setup you will only see the information about the worksite published by the owner.
- Important: If a site listed in Worksite Setup has a tick-box beside it, your role in that site allows you to edit or delete the site. If there is no tick-box, you are only able to view basic site information.
- If you have permission to edit a site listed in Worksite Setup, you will be able to complete all functions listed in Site Info help, including editing site information, editing tools, managing access, adding participants, duplicating a site, and importing content from another site. (back to top)
Preferences
In My Workspace you can set Preferences for:
- how and how often you receive email notification of worksite activity, such as Group email messages, Announcements, and added Resources
- the worksites for which you'd like to see tabs
- your privacy status in other sites.
Notification methods: You may choose from several notification methods for Announcement activity, Group email messages and Resource activity:
- Send me each notification separately : You receive email notification each time that an Announcement is posted, a Resource is added, or email is sent.
- Send me one email per day summarizing all low priority announcements /emails/resource notifications: Individual Announcements, Resources, and/or mail messages are bundled into a single email message and sent to you daily.
- Do not send me low priority announcements /emails/resource notifications: You receive no notification regarding low priority site activity.
Showing, hiding, and ordering subject and project sites
Note: When you log in, the subject and project sites to which you belong are displayed as tabs across the top of the screen. To enter a site, click its tab. If you belong to more sites than can be displayed as tabs, those sites will be accessible from the More Sites drop-down list.
You can choose to hide sites (e.g., course sites from previous semesters), or reorder them (i.e., choose which sites to display in tabs), using the Preferences tool in My Workspace. To do so, follow these steps:
- From your My Workspace menubar, click Preferences.
- Click Customize Tabs.
- Under "Customize Tabs", any sites to which you belong that are not being displayed are listed in the "Sites not visible in Tabs" box on the left. On the right, the "Sites visible in Tabs" box lists the sites that are currently visible. Use the right and left arrow buttons to move sites from one box to the other.
Note: If you hide the tab for a site, you can still access the site from Worksite Setup in My Workspace.
• To determine the order tabs are displayed, click a site in the "Sites visible in Tabs", and then use the up and down arrows to change the order.
Note: Your My Workspace tab will always appear to the left of your other sites.
• When you're finished, click Update Preferences. (back to top)
Changing your privacy status
Your presence in a site is indicated by your name appearing (along with others who are currently in the site) in the red box below the tools menu.
For privacy reasons, you may prefer to hide your name from other participants in your subject or project site. You can manage your privacy status for all sites to which you belong from Preferences in My Workspace. To do so, follow these steps:
- In your My Workspace menubar, click Preferences.
- Near the top, click Privacy Status.
- Use the drop-down list to choose a site, and then select either Hide Me or Show Me to set your privacy status for that site.
- Click Update to save your change.
Alternatively, you can click Show Me in All Sites to make yourself visible in all sites to which you belong, or Hide Me in All Sites to hide yourself in all sites to which you belong.
Before changing your privacy status, note that students who are hidden will remain visible to Subject Coordinators and other staff. (back to top)
Which browser should I use?
Use one of the following browsers:
Windows
- Internet Explorer 6.0 and newer
- Netscape 8.x and newer
- Mozilla Firefox
Macintosh
- Netscape 7.1 and newer
- Mozilla Firefox
Other platforms
- Netscape 7.1 and newer
- Mozilla Firefox
Problems pasting text into FCK editor in Firefox
Due to certain security settings in Firefox, you may have trouble pasting text into FCK editor when you try to right-click and select Paste. Earlier versions of Firefox may not allow you to paste using Ctrl-v either. To resolve these problems, choose one of the solutions below:
- From the Edit menu, select Paste.
- Press Ctrl-v . If this does not work, upgrade to the latest version of Firefox.
- Change your security settings so that Firefox will let you paste by right-clicking. To do this in Windows, follow the directions below:
• Close all Firefox windows.
• Navigate to the directory below, where username is your username and ProfileName is either your full name or a string followed by ".default": C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ProfileName
• Using a text editor, create a file named user.js in that directory.
Note: Be sure your text editor does not add a .txt extension to the end of the filename. The file needs to have .js as the extension.
• In this file, enter the following: user_pref("capability.policy.policynames", "allowclipboard"); user_pref("capability.policy.allowclipboard.sites", "https://www.samplesite.com"); user_pref("capability.policy.allowclipboard.Clipboard.cutcopy", "allAccess"); user_pref("capability.policy.allowclipboard.Clipboard.paste", "allAccess");
Replace https://www.samplesite.com with the name of the site for which you wish to allow pasting. Do not use a trailing / (slash).
• Restart Firefox. (back to top)
Options for adding attachments
Note: To complete the procedures in this section, you must be assigned a role having the necessary permissions. To determine your role, see Participant roles in Permissions, Roles & Sites. For a basic understanding of roles and permissions, see Permissions, Roles & Sites: Overview.
When creating a new item, some tools give you the option to add attachments. You can add any number of attachments, and they can be any combination of local files, websites, and items stored in Resources. To add an attachment, follow the appropriate instructions below:
- To attach a local file from your computer, under "Upload local file", click Browse to find and select the file on your computer.
- To attach a URL, under "URL (link to website)", type the URL in the box provided, and then click Add .
Note: You do not need to include the http:// when you type the URL. - To attach an item from Resources, under "Select a resource", click Attach a copy next to the file you want to add.
Note: You can attach a file from one of your other sites (including your My Workspace area), provided the file's Access properties are set Display to non-members (publicly viewable) . To browse for files in other sites, click Show other sites .
As you add attachments, they appear in a list under "Items to attach". When you've selected all the files, websites, and Resource items you wish to attach, review this list, and click Remove if there are any errors.
When you're finished, at the bottom of the screen, click Continue. You should see your file, website, or Resources item listed under "Attachments".
Note: Staff have a responsibility to familiarise themselves with guidelines on appropriate copyright compliance relating to the use of resources with a range of CSU Interact tools. See http://www.csu.edu.au/copyright/information/interact-staff-guide.pdf for more information.
An extensive set of resources relating to copyright issues for staff and students can be found at http://www.csu.edu.au/copyright/