Help for Site Administrators

Introduction

This section looks at the role of Site Administrator and identifies procedures for the management and maintenance of Whitehall On-line and provides reference information. As the site develops it may be necessary for the Site Administrator to update these materials as their purpose in part should be seen as a task list.

This file has sections which come under the following headings:

A separate file provides an introduction to : Managing the Seminar System

Maintenance Schedule

Check :
Daily
  • Seminar area for problem messages
Weekly
  • Debate Schedule and update if necessary
  • Update news/notice board
  • Review Seminar topics and weed out to acceptable level. Check with Group Moderators if necessary and give users good warning before withdrawing their messages.
Monthly
  • Course information is uptodate
  • Add new course information as necessary
  • Who's Who
  • Check new tutors are accommodated in E-mail links section
  • Check links to all external sites especially in the Read section
  • Review validity of links
  • Set a monthly update and upload schedule - publicise in Seminar Site Design section
  • Any requests for updates should be dealt with once a month
General
  • Review Gateway is still appropriate and plan alterations
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Updating the Tickertapes

There are two tickertape scrollers in Whitehall On-line. They are controlled and displayed using Javascript. If any users have switched 'Enable Javascript' off in their browser settings they will not see the information.Therefore important news in the Notice Board should also be added to the 'notice.htm' HTML file.

The function of the tickertape scroller is to draw people's attention to important announcements.

To update the scrolling text you should connect to http://www.poptel.org.uk/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/Wwhite/message-scroller.pl and follow the instructions on screen which are very simple. Remember you have been given a password that authorises you to alter the details here. To see an updated preview of your new message you may need to click your browser's Reload button.
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Technologies Used in Whitehall On-line

HTML
Most content within Whitehall On-line is constructed using HTML (HyperText Markup Language).

A template is provided here on which further page development can be based. Follow this link and save page to your hard disk.

The following are notes on key properties within the template document:

  • Page Title within the head tags:
    <title>MSF : Whitehall On-line : Section : Page Title</title>
  • Background colour in the body tag :
    <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"></body>
  • Page content including heading fits within a table set as follows :
    <table border="0" width="80%"></table>
  • Table cell attributes for the content are as follows (note, colspan accommodates the use of two cells in the last row of the page for the navigation icons) :
    <td colspan="2"></td>
  • Horizontal Rules are used to layout page divisions. Headings are followed by a rule with the properties :
    <hr noshade>
  • while subsequent rules have the properties:
    <hr noshade size="2">
  • Heading text :
    <b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"></b></font>
  • Body Text : <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><font size="-1"></font></font>
  • Notes and some information <b>:<font size="-1"></font>,/b>
  • Images and other media used within Whitehall On-line are stored in the "images" directory

Note : Refer to the template and other documents for detailed HTML tag property settings.
Tip : To quickly create a new document for the site open the file "template.htm" in a web editor or text editor and save it immediately with new name for document (use a single name that follows the 8.3 windows naming convention and use only lower case characters). Replace the dummy title, heading and contents with new information.

Links to external sites or pages beyond the gateway should be directed to open in a new browser window (e.g. : <a href=http://www.newsite.newpage.htm target="_blank">).
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The Whitehall On-line Frameset

Whitehall On-line is a framed site.

  • The navigation mechanism resides within the frame known as : "frame_l"
  • Contents reside within the frame known as : "contents"

Flash Files

The navigation mechanism and the title sequence are constructed using Macromedia's Flash technology.

The navigation mechanism is a file in the images folder called "whitehall.swf". It is not possible to edit the file in this format. The original editable file can be obtained from Thinkworks who can update the Flash movies or provide the open editable files. The title sequence is a file called "titles.swf" in the images folder.
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Keeping to the Gateway concept

Whitehall On-line has been developed as a 'gateway' environment. This means that materials visible within the environment have been limited to those with a status of "high relevance to most Whitehall On-line visitors".

Limiting the materials in this way ensures that users can swiftly locate information they need irrespective of how the site develops over time.

The exception to this rule is identification of the Democracy and Learning On-line modules within the gateway. This is seen as a temporary Phase 1 measure aimed at stating the presence of actual learning materials in Whitehall On-line.

It is important to note that all links to external sites should definitely open in a new browser window. In addition to maintaining the gateway concept there is a legal issue involved - treating materials developed by others as part of your own site may contravene copyright laws. Opening external sites in a separate browser window is a statement in itself that simplifies any misunderstanding. When linking to sites created by others it is polite, though not legally necessary, to ask permission.
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Procedure for Altering the Gateway

The Gateway takes the form of the Flash Whitehall On-line Tower navigation mechanism. Altering the gateway therefore requires the Flash movie to be updated. To do this a developer with experience of Flash design will need to make the alterations.

The process should be quick and simple. It may be best to set gateway updates to an infrequent but regular procedure. Frequent alterations and updating may confuse regular users and will be more costly than scheduled but infrequent updates.

The open editable file is held by Thinkworks (http://www.thinkworks.co.uk) and can be altered or passed over on request.
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Supporting the Development of New Materials

Any new materials will fall outside the current gateway concept, therefore development of new materials is less restricted.

New materials such as new on-line courses will be set to open in a new browser window. This gives the user constant access to the Whitehall On-line gateway in the background while running 'independent' course materials.

Simply, new on-line course materials should be designed as independent sites with their own navigation requirement built in as needed.

It may be useful to alert users that the course is opening in a new browser window and that the gateway will remain available to them on their taskbar or by 'alt-tabbing'' before they click to the new course section. Shorter and simpler materials (such as discussion papers) that do not fit within the gateway should also appear in a new browser window. The graphic style should reflect the Whitehall On-line interface.

Download template for discreet papers. Follow this link and save page to your hard disk.
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Password Protection

Information that is not of use to general visitors is kept in the folder called "Admin". To access anything in this folder or subfolders users will require the admin password.

Note :Password protection in the Seminars does not prevent information from being read - it only restricts posting rights to specified users.
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