Frequently Asked Questions / New User FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Accessibilty

Will it work in any browser? Schoolwires will work in any version of Firefox and any version of Internet Explorer (IE) 7.0 and later. It will not work in IE 6. It will work in Google Chrome and Apple Safari, but we do not recommend using either of these as they tend to have bugs when using Schoolwires.

Can I access the Site Manager from home?

Yes. Schoolwires is a web-based Content Management System (CMS) and can therefore be accessed from any computer with internet access.

Can I access Site Manager from a Mac computer?

Yes. You can access Schoolwires using Firefox or IE7 or above on the Mac. Schoolwires does not recommend using Safari.

How are permissions for viewing pages setup?

Permissions for viewing pages are setup under the Directors & Viewers tab in either the Channel or Section Workspaces. You simply click on "Assign Viewers" and select the user you would like to have viewing rights to that channel, section or page. By default all users can view the page. Once you add a viewer, only those viewers are given permission to view the page.

What content allows for commenting?

The Blogging App allows for commenting on blog threads.

Editing

How do I fix the contact icon link at the top of my page?

Once you have added the HISD mandated "School Information" section (See Going Live) enter Site Manager and click on the "Tools" tab under the Site Configuration. Select "Friendly Web Address Mapping" and next to the icon_contact, click on the "Edit" button. Use the series of drop down menus to navigate to where your "Contact Us" page is located within the "School Information" section, and then click on Save.

How do I open an external web page in a new window directly from the drop-down menu?

In the Advanced Tab in the Channel Workspace, add the URL that you would like to be opened to the "Map address to section" field, then append with the following: " target=_blank

Example: http://www.externalsite.com" target=_blank

Can I change the width of the columns in the page layouts?

You cannot change the width of the columns in the layout, but you can change the layout to a one column layout and then, using the Flex Editor App, you can dictate multiple columns at whatever size you prefer using HTML markup.

Is there a limit to the amount of apps on a page?

No. There is no limit to the amount of apps that you can use.

How will teacher pages look?

The teacher pages are created by the Sub-site director and therefore can look any way the Director wishes. There are default Section layouts that HISD suggests each school follow, but these are not a visual guide and can be used at the discretion of the Director.

Will teachers be able to edit their own page?

Yes, teachers can be assigned as editors for a single page by going to the section workspace, selecting the "Editors & Viewers" tab and then clicking on the "Assign Editors" button.

What is the maximum limit of content?

There is no limit to the amount of content on your site.

User Management

How do I get my faculty and staff listings to show up in an alphabetical name list?

This style of display will happen automatically on the home page when you have more than 20 sections within a channel.

What are groups used for?

Groups are used to define and break down campuses for communication purposes. Each school (sub-site) has 5 groups:

Teachers
Staff
Students
Parents
All Users

Any school employee that is not a teacher or principal falls under the Staff category. All users for a particular campus will also need to be added to the school's All Users group.

There are also District level categories. Examples of District level groups are:

All Sub-site Directors (Group #232)
All School Administrators (Group #290)
All Users (Group #6)
All Teachers (Group #1)
All Staff (Group #3)

Some Helpful Tips:

Teachers and Staff need to added to the All Teachers or All Staff groups, respectively, as well as to the Teacher and Staff group of the campus.
Principals will need to be added to the All School Administrator group.
Every user also needs to be added to the District level All Users group.

A typical user will be in four groups. For example:A 3rd grade teacher at XYZ school would be in: All Users, XYZ All Users, All Teachers and XYZ Teachers.
A school librarian at ABC school would be in: All Users, ABC All Users, All Staff and ABC All Staff
A principal at John Doe Elementary would be in: All Users, John Doe All Users and All School Administrators

How do I import users?

The first step is to create a CSV file in Microsoft Excel with the columns shown below. Most are self explanatory. The Username will always be the users HISD AD name. The Passport ID for end users is 17 (Other Passport ID's can be found under the Passport tab in the Users Workspace). Groups are explained above. Groups need to be separated by commas. For school-specific groups, please email HISD support here.

First Name	Last Name	Username	Password	Title	Passport	Group	Phone	Address1	City	State	Zip
Jane	Doe	JDOE12	changeme	Teacher, 3rd grade	17	1,6,217,218	713-555-5555	123 Houston St.	Houston	TX	77009

Once you have created the CSV file, go to the Sub-site Workspace. Within the Sub-site Workspace, navigate to Users in the left-hand navigation. Under the Users workspace, click on the Import Users tab, then click on the Import Button. Once you upload, you will need to map each column to the Schoolwires defined attributes using the drop down menus. Make sure you click on the advanced tab and you map every column to a cooresponding attribute.

When you are done, the system will generate an error log. You can review the log, and if you need to, you can go into the import section and rollback the import you just made by hitting the Rollback Button.

How do I use the Section Robot?

The section Robot is tool that allows you to create multiple sections within a Channel as a bulk action. In order to use the Section Robot, you need to furnish a CSV file containing the columns below:

Section Name - This is what is displayed as the section title on the section itself. The format for this should be the full name: first name, first.
Menu Name - This is what is displayed in the drop-down menu or in the channel listing. The format for this should be last name, first.
Channel ID - Designates the Channel that the section will reside in. You can find the Channel ID under the Channels tab in the Sub-site Workspace.
Editor (User name) - The Username of the person who will be editing the section. If the section is not person-specific, you may leave this blank.

Once you have a the CSV created, navigate to the Tools tab in the Sub-site workspace, and click on Section Robot. Upload the file and follow the on-screen directions.

Section Name	Menu Name	Channel ID	Editor (User name)
Jane Doe	Doe, Jane	123	JDOE12

Calendars

Can you link calendars to Outlook?

No, but you can export the calendar as a csv and then import it into Outlook.

Will the location tab in event setup show a map to the event?

No, however you can create an Events page and, using the Map & Directions App, include directions in that manner. Furthermore, you can supply a link in the Calendar event to that page.

Images and Multimedia

What are the sizes of the carousel images?

The sizes for the carousel images are as follows:

Stacked Paper: 675px x 320px
Curvy Clean: 480px x 257px
Vertical Curve: 645px x 285px

What is maximum size of an image that I can upload?

There is no maximum dimension to your images, but you wnt to keep your images small to cut down on the viewers load time. We recommend that your image is no larger than 600 pixels wide.

Can I embed video in a web page?

Yes. you can embed video using YouTube or Vimeo or a similar service. At this time, YouTube is blocked by HISD servers and would not be viewable to any user within the HISD network.

How can I edit my images to the correct size needed for the Homepage Slideshow?

The best method is to use Adobe Photoshop™ to adjust the dimensions and reduce the pixels per inch (ppi, also referred to as resolution) to 72ppi. However, if you do not have access to Adobe Photoshop™, below are some free and/or online alternatives:

GIMP - GIMP is a freeware, open-source application that has been around for many years. There is a slight learning curve unless you are already familiar with other image editors. Mac and Windows http://www.gimp.org/

Paint.NET - Similar to Windows Paint, Paint.NET is a great editor for newbies to image editing.Windows Only http://www.getpaint.net/

Aviary - Aviary is a web-based suite of applications that can be acessed anywhere you have internet access. It takes some getting used to but is extremely powerful.Online for Mac and Windows http://www.aviary.com/

Photoshop Express - This is a drummed down, online version of Photoshop. It does require you to create an account with Adobe.Online for Mac and Windows http://www.photoshop.com/tools

Support

How do we get help?

There are several options, depending on what stage your site is in. Your first resource will be the "How do I...?" tab in any Site Manager Workspace. The information found in this section will change depending on which Workspace you access it from.

You can also call or email Schoolwires. If your site has not gone live yet, you have unlimited support from Schoolwires. If your site has already gone live, you have a limit of 18 support cases per year. This does not include issues out of your control, such as outtages or functionality issues.

You can also email HISD at schoolwires@houstonisd.org.

Going Live

Will there be an approval process before my site goes live?

HISD will review your site before launch. We will look for issues such as blank pages, clearly labeled navigation, and other techincal points.

Is there any content that HISD requires to be on our site?

Yes. HISD requires you to include an "About Us" channel as the last channel with the pre-configured "School Information" section configuration. This configuration includes A contact info page, a school profile page, an attendace boundary map page and a map to the school.

Other

How are e-alerts delivered?

Users have the option to receive e-alerts either via email or via text message.