Overview

The CommonSpot content management system software, from PaperThin, runs in a ColdFusion environment on a Windows server, and uses an Oracle back-end database. It provides for template-based Web site construction, with access control at the site, subsite, sub-subsite, page, and page-element levels. Ohio University Web pages are being migrated into CommonSpot from a number of other servers, including the VMS Front Door server. Any of the more than 21,000 pages and documents that are still on the older, "VMS Front Door," server are accessed with such URLs as

"http://www.ohiou.edu/pagemasters/"

while any of the more than 13,000 pages and documents on the newer, "CommonSpot Front Door," server are accessed with such URLs as

"http://www.ohio.edu/bicentennial/"

Any attempt to access a page from the wrong server will result in a redirect to the correct server.

New subsite pagemasters and content contributors should scroll down this page to the "Documentation" heading, or use the link above to jump there directly.

News and Announcements for Page Authors

We will keep the most recent few items here, currently active and newest first. As problems are resolved, or other problems are detected, we will let you know by updating this page. Older items are available from our archive page.

CommonSpot Gets an Overhaul:   Labor Day Weekend

We are re-implementing CommonSpot! The work has started with major upgrades to both hardware and software over Labor Day weekend:

• We deployed a faster server for authoring and three servers sharing the load of public display (instead of only one "www.ohio.edu" server).

• At the same time, the CommonSpot software was upgraded, from V4.6.1 to V5.0.2.

The re-implementation will continue during Fall Quarter, building on the upgraded hardware and software, including the introduction of new layout and design templates; new elements; and ready-to-use graphics. When everything is in place, you can expect to see a faster, friendlier system with a great new look.

As usual for a CommonSpot upgrade, there was an authoring freeze while the work was in progress; because of the scope of these changes, the final work required an extended authoring freeze:   we started the work at the close of business on Friday, August 29; we restored authoring around noon on Tuesday, September 2.

1. Now that the new environment is in production, please:
   • look carefully through all of your own pages;

   • identify any unexpected aspects;

   • report them to webteam@ohio.edu; and

   • let us know how urgent it is to fix the problems that you report.

2. Known Issues —  the following items are known to apply to at least some pages:
   • Sometimes clicking on the "Tools & Information," "Page View," or "Properties & Actions" tabs will not drop down their menus. This can usually be fixed as described at http://www.ohiou.edu/pagemasters/pageadv/life.html.

   • If the Rich Text Editor window is too narrow to show all of the tool icons, the other available tools can be seen by clicking on the icon () at the right end of each of the toolsets.

   • Authoring with CommonSpot V5 generally works better using FireFox than using Internet Explorer, even on Windows XP. If you do not already have FireFox, Version 2, installed and configured, then follow the instructions below.

   • If part of your page's content is missing or ugly because the background color is not what it should be, you can fix that yourself (we did our best over Labor Day weekend to identify and fix such problems on each CommonSpot subsite's home page, but we may well not have found all such problems). If you cannot fix it, please do use the e-mail link, above, to let us know the URL of the page or pages.

   • Some "Flash" files did not render properly (or at all). Please do use the e-mail link, above, to let us know the URLs of any pages that continue to fail to properly display a "Flash" element.

   • The "Referring Pages" lists are not all fully populated. Until this problem is resolved, please do not delete any pages that have been public. Instead, inactivate them, or mark the content as expired in the Standard Metadata (formerly called "Page Properties"). If in doubt, use the e-mail link above to contact the Webteam.

3. You will find that the login process is different, and, once logged in, that the tool icons and page layout also look different. The logic is the same, and most of the menu choices are in the same place, but the icons and the names of some choices have changed.

   We expect that learning to use the new version won't be trivial, but it should be reasonably easy.

4. In order to login to work on your pages, you must have changed your OAK password since October 1, 2007. If login fails, go to http://technology.ohio.edu/myaccount/, and take the "Change Your Password" link at the upper-left.

5. We have three ways for you to learn about the new CommonSpot:
   • A one-page, 56 KByte, text PDF Quick Reference Sheet (updated 9/11/08).

   • A 23-page, 2.6 MByte, illustrated PDF Transition Guide Summary (updated 8/29/08; our thanks to Colby College for permission to use their graphics).

   • A primarily text web page, discussing various aspects of the differences between the new and old; because the illustrated PDF is available, this does not focus on visual issues (updated 9/19/08).

6. Personal assistance is available from:
   • Lisa Rudy - 593-1016

   • Dick Piccard - 593-1017

   • the OIT Service Desk - 593-1222 (particularly for help changing your OAK password)

Browser Issues

PaperThin, the vendors of the CommonSpot software, state that the following browsers are supported for CommonSpot authoring:

• On Windows Vista:   FireFox 2; FireFox 3; and Internet Explorer 7

• On Windows XP:   FireFox 2; FireFox 3; and Internet Explorer 7 (but not Internet Explorer 6 or earlier)

• On Mac OS:   FireFox 2 and FireFox 3

Our experience has been that some of the bugs in the CommonSpot software affect all browsers on all platforms, but that some of the bugs are browser-specific. Hence, our advice to Windows XP and Vista users is to install and configure both IE 7 and FireFox. Use them both, at least enough to be sure that both are properly configured to work with CommonSpot, so that when you are dealing with a problem, you will know that both browsers are generally usable with CommonSpot.

The current version of CommonSpot, 5.0.2, is the very first to provide support for FireFox 3. In other words, support for FireFox 2 is more mature, and can reasonably be expected to exhibit fewer bugs. If you decide to try FireFox 3, please report any problems that you encounter, so that we can work with PaperThin to resolve them.

If you don't already have FireFox installed (for example, if you just got a new computer), and you decide to use FireFox 2 for the time being, then start by going to the older-versions part of their site, at http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-older.html, and scroll down to the "English (US)" line for Version 2.0.0.x, and click on the download appropriate to your computer.

Then see the instructions for configuring FireFox.

When you have V2 installed, the automatic update feature will offer to upgrade to V3; if you click on "Never," then future automatic update checks will continue to look for and offer you any security updates for V2. Later, when support for V3 authoring is more mature, you can install V3 manually.

Delayed Updates

PaperThin staff have identified a problem that intermittently obstructs the transfer of updates from the authoring server to the public server. Once obstructed, all updates are stalled until we intervene manually. The system does not notify us automatically that updates are blocked, but we do have a tool that permits us to confirm such obstructions.

Therefore, if you submit a change, or an entire page, for publication on the authoring server, and your change is visible in Read mode on the authoring server, but the old version continues to be displayed unchanged for more than five minutes on the public server, please let us know right away by one of the following two methods:

• Phone the OIT Service Desk staff at 593-1222

• E-mail the OIT Service Desk staff at servicedesk@ohio.edu

Other Problems

If you encounter other problems with page authoring or access in CommonSpot, please report them promptly, so that we can work with you to resolve them.

• Urgent problems should be reported to the OIT Service Desk staff (593-1222 or servicedesk@ohio.edu).

• Less urgent issues can be reported to webteam@ohio.edu, or by phone to 593-1017 or 593-1016.

Form Issues

Please be aware that the "simple forms" features built in to CommonSpot do provide for the transfer of information from the reader of your page to you by e-mail, but that transfer is not secure. Therefore, never collect sensitive information, such as Social Security or credit card numbers, using such forms.

If you use an HTML fragment to create a form on your CommonSpot page using the generic script documented at http://www.ohiou.edu/pagemasters/static/append5.html, please be aware that the same statement applies, because the e-mails they send are also not encrypted.

Documentation

The one-page CommonSpot Quick Reference Summary is available online as a 56 KByte PDF file (for V4.6.1, updated July 7, 2008).

Training for CommonSpot

Web Services is in the process of re-implementing CommonSpot, which will include re-working the training process, sessions, and reference materials. While that work is in progress, we will not be scheduling small-group seminars, but we will maintain the existing guides, linked below, and we will provide one-on-one training by arrangement. The materials linked below are available for reference and for use by those who have not yet attended training.

If you are intested in learning how to use CommonSpot, please contact the Web Team by E-mail to webteam@ohio.edu, or by phone to 593-1017 or to 593-1016.

New Pagemasters

This is intended for people who have not previously been responsible for a Web site. It does not include any CommonSpot-specific material. It does include basic guidance on organization and planning for a new site, and issues to consider when first becoming responsible for an existing site.

Intermediate Pagemasters

This is intended for people who have been maintaining a Web site, or who have recently learned the "New Pagemasters" material. It provides guidance for the migration process to bring existing sites into CommonSpot. It excludes extended discussion of the issues considered in the New Pagemasters seminar, which we would expect experienced pagemasters to have already encountered.

Advanced Pagemasters

This is intended for people who have already migrated a Web site into CommonSpot, or who have built a new site in CommonSpot. It provides guidance for the process of sharing the site maintenance work with other people, who will learn the "Content Contributors" material, and includes more information on some of the advanced features of CommonSpot.

Content Contributors

This is intended for people who will be responsible for maintaining one or more parts of a CommonSpot Web site that has already been set up by the pagemaster. The content overlaps to a large extent with the Intermediate Pagemasters material, but it is presented with a different emphasis and pace.

Other Resources

Once you are logged in to the CommonSpot server, you should be able to access the on-line documentation, at http://author.admsrv.ohio.edu/docs.cfm. The documents linked from that page are PDF files, some of them quite large (hundreds of pages when printed)!

Credits

The original work developing these pages, including team-teaching the first several months' offerings of the Intermediate Pagemasters and Content Contributors seminars, was done by Sarah Rist (then Sarah Lude) and Dick Piccard. Zeenath Sheikh wrote the first version of the Quick Reference Guide and worked with Dick Piccard to teach many offerings of the Intermediate Pagemasters and Content Contributors seminars. Tasha Knutsen assisted multiple offerings of those seminars, and Peg Ratajik taught both series of seminars multiple times.

Dick Piccard revised this file (http://www.ohiou.edu/pagemasters/commonspot/index.html) on October 17, 2008.

Please E-Mail comments or suggestions to"webteam@ohio.edu".