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FAQ: Managing Content

1. Content
  1. How do I add content directly to my course site?

  2. How do I add my profile in Staff Information?

2. Documents
  1. How do I upload a document?

  2. How do I delete an uploaded document?

  3. How do I save files from my course site onto my computer?

  4. I am uploading course files from a Mac, is there anything special I need to do to make sure these files can be downloaded by a Windows user?

  5. How do I copy a document, folder or other content item from one course site to another?

  6. How do I upload the content of my personal website that I created outside the Course Management System?

  7. Is it possible to upload multiple files onto my course site at the same time?

3. Images
  1. How do I add a banner to my course site?

  2. How do I upload multiple image files onto my couse site all at once?

4. Course Menu
  1. I would like to customize my Course Menu. How do I add an item on my Course Menu?

  2. How do I change the ordering of my Course Menu?

5. Links
  1. How do I add an External Link?

  2. How do I link an eBook to my course site?

6. Media
  1. What is the best way to make media files (video, audio, etc.) available to my students online?

7. Software
  1. What software is available in the NU Labs?

  2. Where can I find a free copy of a Web browser?

  3. How do I allow my students to view my PowerPoint presentations if they don't have PowerPoint on their machines?

8. Other
  1. I just set a new entry point on my course site, but it does not seem to function. Help!

Back to "FAQ"
How do I add content directly to my course site?
To add content directly to your course site,
  • Go to the Control Panel
  • Under Content Areas, click the area where you wish to add content
  • Click Add Item
  • Complete the form
  • Click Submit
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How do I add my profile in Staff Information?
To add your profile in Staff Information,
  • Go to the Control Panel
  • Click Staff Information under Courses Tools
  • Click Add Profile
  • Fill out the information fields under Profile Information area
  • Click Submit
  • Click OK
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How do I upload a document?
To upload a document,
  • Go to the Control Panel
  • Under Content Areas, click the area where you wish to upload a document
  • Click Add Item
  • Complete the Content Information fields
  • In the Content Attachments area, click Browse and locate the file you would like to upload
  • Click Submit
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How do I delete an uploaded document?
To delete an uploaded document,
  • Go to the Control Panel
  • Under Content Areas, click on the area where the document is located
  • Click Modify next to the uploaded document
  • Scroll down to area 2, Content, and click Remove. Click OK to confirm
  • Scroll down to the bottom of the page. Click Submit, click OK
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How do I save files from my course site onto my computer?
To save files from your course site onto your computer,
  • Find a file within your course which you would like to save
  • Right click (click and hold for Mac users) the hyperlink (e.g. Excel_File.xls)
  • On the pop up menu, select Save Target As... (Save Link As... in Mozilla Firefox browsers)
  • Choose an appropriate name and location for the file in the Save File dialog box
  • Click Save
  • The file will download to location you selected
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I am uploading course files from a Mac, is there anything special I need to do to make sure these files can be downloaded by a Windows user?
Yes. Before you upload your files, you should rename them adding a three-letter file extension that Windows uses to recognize a file. A list of extensions for common file types is as follows:
  • Microsoft Word: .doc
  • Microsoft Excel: .xls
  • PowerPoint: .ppt
  • Adobe Acrobat: .pdf
  • Quicktime Video Files: .mov
  • Image Files: .jpg or .gif, depending on which format it is
For example, a Microsoft Word document titled "Syllabus" would become "Syllabus.doc", and a PowerPoint file titled "lecture" would become "lecture.ppt"
 
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How do I copy a document, folder or content item from one course site to another?
To copy any document, folder or content item to another course site, follow the steps outlined below.
  • Go to the Control Panel of the course site that contains materials to be copied
  • Under Content Areas, click the area that contains the materials
  • Click the Copy button to the right of the name of the source item you wish to copy
  • Under Destination, select the destination course site from the drop down menu
  • Click Browse and locate the folder where you would like to place the source
  • Choose Yes or No to delete the original source item after copying
  • Click Submit
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How do I upload the content of my personal website that I created outside the Course Management System?
To upload your personal website onto the Course Management System,
  • Make sure that all components of your personal site have been saved in the same folder, and are all linked to the 'home' file named index.html
  • Compress the folder with the contents of the website using a Zip utility
  • Add the .zip file to your course site as you would add any other file:
    • Enter the Control Panel
    • In the Content Areas section, select the area where you would like your website to be saved
    • Click the Add Item button
    • Click the Browse button in the Content Area and select the .zip file of your site
    • Select Unpackage this file from the Special Action drop down menu
    • Enter all other desired information and click Submit
  • When prompted to select an entry point for package link, click on the file named index.html
  • Click Submit and then OK. Your site has now been saved and can be accessed through the Course Management System.
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Is it possible to upload multiple files onto my course site at the same time?
Yes, you can do so by using the Document Unpackager. Document Unpackager is a tool that allows one to upload and unpackage zip files within your course site, maintaining the directory structure of the original zip folder. It was not intended for use with html, however it is possible to include separate html documents containing no graphics into a package. Use the following steps for uploading such packages onto your course site.
  • Once you've located all the files that you would like to include into the package, compress them so that they all end up within a single zip folder.
  • From the Control Panel, go to the content area that you want to upload the package to (or click on Edit View from the Display View of the content area), select Document Package from the drop-down menu on the upper right and click GO.
  • Complete all the necessary settings on the next screen. Click the Browse button to select the zip file you would like to upload, and then click Submit.
  • You may now access all the unpacked files from within the content area where they were uploaded.
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How do I add a banner to my course site?
To add a banner,
  • Go to the Control Panel
  • Click Course Design under Course Options
  • Click Course Banner
  • Click the Browse button, locate the banner image and click Open
NOTE: Your banner must be an image file saved either as a GIF (yourbannername.gif) or as a JPEG (yourbannername.jpg).

You can follow the same steps to remove a banner -- simply check Remove This Banner and then click Submit.
 
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How do I upload multiple image files onto my course site all at once?
To upload multiple files,

Step 1: Create a Photo Album

You can use either Adobe Photoshop or Macromedia Dreamweaver MX (you also need Macromedia Fireworks in addition to Dreamweaver)

Note: Adobe Photoshop, Macromedia Dreamweaver and Macromedia Fireworks are available in all Academic Technologies Computing Labs

To create photo album using Adobe Photoshop

  • Put all of the files you wish to upload in a single directory. Subdirectories are also acceptable.
  • Open Photoshop
  • From the File menu, place the cursor on Automate and a menu will appear
  • Select Web Photo Gallery
  • Under Source Images, select Browse
  • Select the Source Images Folder (where you put all of the images earlier)
  • Select Destination to select the folder where you want to place the photo album. Create a new folder for your Destination Folder
  • Click OK

To create photo album using Macromedia Dreamweaver MX

  • Put all of the files you wish to upload in a single directory. Subdirectories are also acceptable.
  • Open Dreamweaver MX
  • From the Commands menu, select Create Web Photo Album
  • Enter a title for your photo album
  • Select the Source Images Folder (where you put all of the images earlier)
  • Select a Destination Folder to select the folder where you want to place the photo album. Create a new folder for your Destination Folder
  • Click OK
Step 2: Archive your files
  • On a machine running Windows:
    • Right click on the folder to be compressed
    • Choose Send To, and then choose Compressed Folder. A new copy of your folder will apprear as a compressed file
  • On a Macintosh:
    • Drag and Drop the entire photo album folder into DropZip
Step 3: Upload the files
  • Log in to your course site
  • Click on Control Panel.
  • Under Content Areas, click the area where you wish to upload the files
  • Click Add Item
  • Name the item and under Content, click Browse...
  • Find the .zip archive that you made in the previous step and click Open
  • Back in the Add Content page, use the pull down menu to choose Unpackage This File
  • Click Submit. You will be directed to File option page
Step 4: Select an entry point
  • When you are asked to "select entry point for package link", select the file called index.html
  • Click Submit, click OK
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I would like to customize my Course Menu. How do I add an item on my Course Menu?
To add an item to the Course Menu of your site,
  • Go to the Control Panel
  • Go to Manage Course Menu
  • Click a corresponding button to add a Content Area, Tool Link, Course Link, or an External Link
  • Set the properties for your new Course Menu item
    • Each item can be renamed. The drop down list shows suggestions
    • Each menu item has the option to be "Available for Student/Participant Users."
      (Uncheck the box to hide the menu item and all of its content from students.)
  • Click Submit
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How do I change the ordering of my Course Menu?
To change the ordering of your Course Menu,
  • Go to the Control Panel
  • Go to Manage Course Menu
  • Select an ordering number from the drop-down list for each of the Course Menu items you would like to reorder
  • Click OK
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How do I add an External Link?
To add an External Link,
  • Go to the Control Panel
  • Enter any content area
  • Click External Link
  • Complete the form
  • Click Submit
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How do I link to an eBook on my course site?
To link to an eBook,

Step 1: Copy link to the eBook
  • Locate the textbook using NUCAT
  • Once you have brought up the listing for the eBook, copy the link in the Link to resource(s) by clicking here field

    Note: To copy the shortcut, right-click (or control-click, on a Macintosh) and select copy shortcut. (This may be called "copy link" instead of "copy shortcut" in some browsers.)
Step 2: Add link to course site
  • Go to the Control Panel of your course site
  • Under Content Areas, click on Course Documents
  • Click Add Item
  • Enter the name of the eBook in the or specify your own name field
  • Paste the link to the eBook in the text box

    Note: To paste the link, press Ctrl-V (or apple-V on a Macintosh). (Alternately, you may click on the Edit menu at the top of the screen and select Paste.)
  • Click Submit
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What is the best way to make media files (video, audio, etc.) available to my students online?
Digital Media Services (DMS) is able to digitize and stream (make available for online viewing) media to your students.

DMS is located in the Northwestern University Library. For more information, please go to the DMS webpage at http://www.library.northwestern.edu/dc/, call DMS at 847-467-1080 or email DMS at dms@northwestern.edu.
 
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What software is available in the NU Labs?
You can view a list of labs, associated hardware and software at a specific NU lab at this site:

http://www.at.northwestern.edu/ctg/labs/index.php
 
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Where can I find a free copy of a Web browser?
NUIT does not distribute Web browsers; please go to the vendor's website for more information. A free copy of Internet Explorer is available at

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.mspx

A free copy of Mozilla Firefox is available at

http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/
 
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How do I allow my students to view my PowerPoint presentations if they don't have PowerPoint on their machines?
Your students can download a free PowerPoint Viewer at this site:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=048dc840-14e1-467d-8dca-19d2a8fd7485&displaylang=en

It allows them to view full-featured presentations created in PowerPoint 97 or later versions.
 
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I just set a new entry point in my course site, but it does not seem to function. Help!
All changes that you make when you set a new entry page in your course site will only be executed once you log out, delete the cookies and quit the browser. You should then be able to see the changes once you log back in.
 
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