Web Publishing News

Hours Schedule Manager

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:38:12 PST

A new system is available to manage scheduled hours of operation for SCU offices, service points, buildings, and office hours for individuals. Two custom elements are also available for display of hours schedules within a Commonspot page. Read the tutorial page in the Web Publishing site for more information.

Introduction to Commonspot 5

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 08:50:35 PST

The next release of Commonspot will introduce changes to the system's interface. We've put together a few documents that compare the current system with Commonspot 5.

Campus Map Updated

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 10:16:31 PST

The images in the Web version of the campus map have been updated. The Phonebook database is also in the process of being updated to reflect moves of departments to new locations on campus.

Media Player

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 10:41:25 PST

A new element has been added to the Content Well element gallery category that will allow you to embed a video or audio file player in a Commonspot page.

Additional settings for the Blog element

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 01:51:25 PST

The blog element now accepts a few new custom script parameters, which will allow you to change the sort order of the blog, and apply a few different presentation styles.

Flash Slideshow element updated

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 01:31:22 PST

The Flash Slideshow element has been updated to include a bug fix for a Firefox browser conflict and include a simpler navigation menu. The element can be found in the Content Well element gallery category. When viewing the element in author mode, you'll be presented with a form that will allow you to add, modify, or delete slideshow images.

Comment Form

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 09:02:27 PST

Add a simple comment form to any Commonspot page. The element can be configured to allow comments to be submitted anonymously, or require an SCU Groupwise or self-generated ID and password before comments can be submitted.

Firefox 3 Released

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:35:05 PST

Firefox version 3 has just been released, and is available to download.

Podcast RSS Feed

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Thu, 15 May 2008 04:29:59 PST

You can use the RSS Display element to include a podcast RSS feed, and display an embedded audio player for each of the podcast items.

Google Calendar

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Thu, 15 May 2008 08:47:03 PST

You can embed a Google Calendar in a Commonspot page using the Simple Text Block element. Copy the Google Calendar HTML code into this element's text form, and your calendar content will be displayed.

Poll Widget

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Mon, 12 May 2008 10:49:06 PST

Add a simple, multiple-choice Poll to a Commonspot page.

Thumbnail images in homepage blog element

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 01:32:28 PST

The blog element has been updated to allow home page news & events posts to display two images; a thumbnail image, optimized for the 65px x 45px dimensions allowed in the homepage news & events element, and a full size image for the full display of the blog post.

FAQ option for Bulleted List element

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 11:40:19 PST

The Bulleted List element now has an option to display the list in a "frequently asked questions" format.

Image slideshow option added to blog element

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 11:37:52 PST

Using Commonspot's Blog element, you can display multiple images associated with a blog post as an image slideshow.

Commonspot blog element support for embedded media

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 01:44:54 PST

The blog element now supports the display of audio and video content. Add the URL of a media file in the enclosure field in the blog post form. Supported media file types are mp3, swf, flv, and mov.

Firefox 3 beta and Commonspot

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 03:26:17 PST

A new version of Firefox is now available in a beta release. We've noticed a few issues in our initial tests using this Web browser and Commonspot. The most noticeable impact on ease-of-use is that new browser windows are often not resized and positioned in standard forms. For example, opening an editing window for a text block won't position the new window above the main view. The default settings for handling window opening and resizing can be modified through the Tools > Options > Content > Enable Javascript (advanced) options.

Web Developers move to Learning Commons

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 03:22:17 PST

Web application developer support from Media Services is now located in the new Learning Commons building. Our office is located on the third level, in room 329. Please direct Web development inquiries to Brian and Tony via the Web Publishing Support Request form.

Upcoming Events right column element updated

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 01:35:28 PST

The right-column element used to display events has been updated to work with calendars created in the Event Manager system. Like the standard version of the Event summary/details element, this element requires one parameter - the ID number of a calendar configured in the Event Manager.

Commonspot replication

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 08:05:45 PST

Content added or updated in Commonspot since late Tuesday morning has not yet been copied to the www servers. We're working on resolving the problem with Commonspot replication, and expect to have replication back in sync today.

Web color palette updated

rmorris@scu.edu (Russ Morris) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 04:39:50 PST

The color palette page has been updated to reflect the schemes used in the recent redesign of the Santa Clara University Web site.

YouTube video element

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 03:17:50 PST

An element has been added to the Content Well element gallery category that lets you embed a YouTube video in a Commonspot page.

Campus Calendar and Tags

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 01:28:26 PST

The Campus Calendar has been updated to include a mechanism to create a list of tags, and associate tags with individual events. A custom calendar can then be configured, selecting events with a particular tag. More detail on this feature can be found in the Campus Calendar's Help section.

Commonspot systems moving

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 02:16:21 PST

The Commonspot web and database servers have moved from the IT building to the new Data Center, in advance of the major migration for university systems planned for this weekend. With the cms web and database servers already in place, we should have a stable and available Web presence throughout the weekend.

Web Systems and the new Data Center

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 09:27:29 PST

The Web, database, and directory servers that support the www.scu.edu Web system are moving from their current location in the Information Technology building to the new Data Center in the Learning Commons.

Site Search Element updated

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 01:14:50 PST

The content well and right column elements for site-specific search forms and result display have been updated. These elements display a search form that can be used to submit a keyword search to SCU's Google Custom Search index, and limit search results to a specific SCU site.

SCU Blog Index

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 10:53:00 PST

A new Web site has been created to catalog SCU-related blogs. The SCU Blog Index lists blogs published by SCU individuals and organizations, and includes those managed within Commonpost, the Webpages personal publishing system, as well as blogs hosted outside of the SCU network.

Network issues and impact on Commonspot

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 09:08:43 PST

We've experienced a few problems on the www Web servers due to network connectivity issues. Periodically, the web servers aren't able to connect to Commonspot's database server, resulting in error messages displayed on www.scu.edu. A software patch is scheduled to be installed on 1/30 at 7pm to resolve this issue.

Bulletin Import Element Updated

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 01:52:44 PST

The Bulletin Import element has been updated to handle bulletin content published in Commonspot, as well as earlier versions of the bulletins.

Top 5 Subsite Maintenance Tasks

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 02:22:51 PST

We've created a list of the top five maintenance tasks for subsite administrators. Regular maintenance will help to keep things organized in your site, and eliminate unnecessary pages and images in Commonspot and on the www.scu.edu Web site.

New versions of uploaded files

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:37:11 PST

If you need to replace an uploaded file with a new version, you can use Commonspot's Subsite Administration forms to update it, instead of uploading a unique new file.

Campus Event Calendar Data Manager

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 04:39:43 PST

The system that is used to add, modify, and delete records in the Campus Event Calendar database has been updated. Along with an update to the user interface, some new features have been added.

Secondary Navigation Options

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 11:37:50 PST

Two options are available for including a secondary navigation menu in a Commonspot page or template. A left-column navigation option has been added.

Commonspot Site Renewal

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 01:48:40 PST

We ask that Commonspot site administrators provide updated information to the Office of Marketing and Communications every year. This information helps keep OMC informed about the purpose and goals of sites managed in Commonspot, as well as updating publisher, site administrator, and content contributor information.

Commonspot Authoring Server Downtime

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 02:24:54 PST

The Commonspot authoring server will be offline for a few hours on Wednesday morning, Oct. 17. We plan to take the server offline at about 8 a.m., and anticipate restoring access by 10 a.m. Additional memory is being installed on the server.

Personal Web Page Publishing

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 03:19:12 PST

Santa Clara University offers students, faculty, and staff the ability to create personal web pages. In addition, chartered and registered clubs and organizations at Santa Clara University can request space to create Web sites. This service is available through the Information Technology department's "webpages" server.

Table Display Options

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 08:52:43 PST

Tables can be displayed in a variety of ways by modifying border settings, applying a style class, or using a custom script to add background colors to table rows.

Managing space between elements

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 12:16:05 PST

When multiple elements are added to the center or right columns of a page, display problems can result from the default positioning of the element content. A style setting is available to help with this issue.

E-mail Form Display Options

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 11:37:17 PST

The E-mail Contact Form custom element has been updated to allow the "featured content" presentation to be applied. By adding script parameters for a background color for the top of the featured block, and an optional label to use as a heading, any form created using this element can use this formatting.

Content Width and Display Issues

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 04:21:26 PST

In the new site design, the page layout uses a fixed width. The previous design had a fluid layout for the center column, and so content of any width could be included without causing display problems (aside from visibility in smaller monitor resolutions). In the new design, content that exceeds the fixed with in the left, center, or right columns can cause display problems. This is most pronounced in Internet Explorer 6, where right column content can be displayed below the center column, if the fixed width has been exceeded. The widths for each column are:

left column: 170px
center column: 420px
right column: 160px

If the right column is not displayed, the content area of the page can use up to 599px of horizontal space.

List Formatting Options

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 10:23:00 PST

Three rendering options are available for the Bulleted List element. The "directory" list option presents list items in a format similar to the top-level navigation pages on the SCU Web site. A more compact version of this rendering option, the "simple" list, is also available. Both of these options allow for custom thumbnail images to replace the standard list item icons. A third option, the "expandable" list, is based on the blog feature design - allowing the item description and link display to be toggled on and off.

Blog Feature Options

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 12:09:01 PST

The Blog Feature element has been revised in the new site design. By default, the featured posts are displayed using a styled list, with options to expand/collapse list items to view the blog post text. An option is available to display the featured items using the "directory list" style. Set the custom parameter display=list to apply that change.

Blog Navigation Element

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 11:09:43 PST

In the new site design, the blog element doesn't include a navigation menu by default. You can add navigation for Recent Posts, Categories, and Archives to your blog page by displaying the right column and adding the "Blog Navigation" element from the Right Column category in the Element Gallery.

Transitioning to the new design

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 11:08:17 PST

Resources are available for SCU Web publishers, and others with an interest in the SCU Web site redesign project, in the Web Publishing site's Design section.

Commonspot Authoring Server Replacement Plan

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 12:10:58 PST

The Commonspot authoring server is on schedule to be upgraded on Monday, July 30th. We plan to start this process at around 9am, and hope to have the server upgrade completed by early afternoon. Commonspot authoring access and replication will be disabled while the upgrade is ongoing, and we anticipate having both authoring and replication restored by early afternoon on Monday.

Web Server Hardware Replacement

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 12:05:04 PST

The www.scu.edu Web servers have been upgraded with new server hardware, and a change to the operating system and server software. This project has been moving through the planning, development, and testing stages over the last several months. The new hardware has significantly enhanced memory, storage, and processing power. Two of the servers being replaced have been in service since 1999.

Staging server and FTP access

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 11:07:36 PST

The staging server, used for hosting a limited number of FTP accounts, is scheduled to be upgraded on Monday, July 30th. As a result, account passwords set on the current staging server will need to be reset. If you need to have your password reset, please submit a support request to the Web Publishing team.

Replication Frequency

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 05:36:16 PST

Commonspot content replication from authoring to production is now scheduled to run every hour, a change from the long-standing two-hour-interval pattern.

Commonspot authoring and replication this weekend

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Thu, 17 May 2007 01:05:00 PST

The SCU Web site and Commonspot CMS will experience some downtime on Friday, 5/17 and Saturday 5/18, due to the SAN upgrade schedule. We expect the downtime to take place sometime between 7pm Friday and 5am Saturday, with the duration anticipated to be about four hours.

Title Image Creation Tool

apehanich@scu.edu (Tony Pehanich) — Mon, 14 May 2007 09:05:46 PST

A new tool is available to assist in the creation of title images for templates for users who don't have Adobe Photoshop or prefer not to use it.

The Title Image Creator (commonspot login required) is a web interface in which you can choose a color scheme and enter the desired text, and the title image will be created for you. Right click on the resulting image and save it to your computer, then upload it to the image gallery for use in the template. For more instructions on template creation, click here

Content Layout Options

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Thu, 10 May 2007 02:05:51 PST

The base template in Commonspot includes a Layout element in the center column, with one cell for page content. The initial layout of content within the center column can be changed by adding rows, columns, and modifying the individual cell properties.

Commonspot authoring server status

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 12:04:00 PST

A Commonspot patch was scheduled to be applied earlier this morning, and the application of the patch caused the authoring server to block Commonspot login attempts, and produce numerous display errors.

Google Maps Directions to Campus

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 01:04:34 PST

A new element is available in Commonspot that will allow visitors to get directions to campus using Google Maps.

Google Custom Search

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 02:04:20 PST

The SCU Web site search has been updated to include Google's Custom Search system. We had previously used Google's Public Search system for the SCU site search, which provided access to Google's index of all publicly-accessible servers in the scu.edu domain. The new Custom Search system allows us to include SCU-related content on external hosts, such as the Santa Clara Broncos and Campus Bookstore Web sites.

Database Server Maintenance

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 03:04:00 PST

Maintenance is planned for one of the database servers that is used to supply content for the www.scu.edu Web site, on Thursday morning, 4/19 from 5 to 7 am.

CFMX 7 Update

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:03:07 PST

The ColdfusionMX application server software on the cms and www servers has been updated to the current release, 7.0.2. This update includes a number of security enhancements and bug fixes, and is certified for use with the current Java version running on these systems.

Commonspot Editor and HTML warning

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:01:32 PST

A recent Commonspot patch has introduced a minor bug in the rich text editor element. Any text edits will generate an HTML cleanup warning message. Paperthin is working on a remedy for this problem, which should be applied in the next couple of days. In the meantime, just click the "continue" button to bypass the warning message.

Text Characters for Other Languages

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 10:03:15 PST

Commonspot now supports text characters for languages other than the standard character encoding for the Latin alphabet.

System Patches

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 10:03:00 PST

Over the last two weeks, several updates and patches have been installed on the cms and www Web servers. Operating system patches were installed to handle the Daylight Savings Time change, and update the system's Java Runtime Engine to a current release.

Special Character Rendering in Commonspot

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 09:18:48 PST

Following last month's upgrade to Commonspot 4.6sp3, a bug was observed with Commonspot's rendering of special text characters.

Commonspot Upgrade Schedule

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 01:06:01 PST

We've completed testing of the most recent release for Commonspot, version 4.6 service pack 3, on our development platform. We plan to install this upgrade on the cms and www servers on Wednesday, Feb. 14th, starting at 7am.

Event Calendar iCalendar Export

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 01:01:59 PST

The campus event calendar now includes the ability to export event data in iCalendar (ics) format, enabling viewers to import the event data to a wide variety of calendar applications. The ICalendar standard format is supported by Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar, Lotus Notes, Apple iCal, and others. A notable exception is Groupwise, however. Look for the "ICAL" icon below an event summary or detail display in the SCU Campus Event Calendar.

Internet Explorer 7 and Tables

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 09:01:07 PST

If you've upgraded to Internet Explorer 7, you may find that the option to insert or modify tables in the Commonspot rich text editor is not working. This is due to a default setting in Internet Explorer that disables "scriplets".

Commonspot System Maintenance

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 02:01:43 PST

Over the next two days, we will be working with the Commonspot database servers, applying a change that will allow for more available memory and improved performance during periods of peak demand.

The Year in Review

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 11:01:36 PST

The year-end statistics reflect a significant increase in traffic on the www.scu.edu servers. For the year 2006, the site recorded 67,062,191 successful requests for pages.

Global Navigation in the Base Template

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 02:12:53 PST

You may notice that the For/About/Find links at the top of each page built with the Commonspot base template is now hidden. From user testing and site feedback, we've determined that this navigation component was not serving its intended purpose.

Home Page Search Form

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 10:12:02 PST

The search form on the SCU home page has been modified to include two options: search the SCU web site (using Google) or search for people (using the Campus Directory database). Feedback from site visitors indicated that people and organizations were difficult to find - the original search form included an option to search for people and organizations via a selection menu, but this interface wasn't clearly showing the available options. The search system has also been modified to simplify the display of search results.

Best Practices in Web Content

meckel@scu.edu (Melissa Eckel) — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 10:12:55 PST

Gerry will give you the insights you need to build a website that is highly functional and highly effective.
Thursday, December 7
9:00 a.m.

Killer Web Content

meckel@scu.edu (Melissa Eckel) — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 10:12:42 PST

In this seminar, Gerry McGovern helps you sell more products and deliver better services by publishing high quality, customer-centric content.
Wednesday, December 6
9:00 a.m.

Rounded Corners

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 04:11:55 PST

A new formatting option is available for text blocks in Commonspot pages - the "rounded corners" rendering option is described in detail in a Commonspot Step-by-Step guide.

Web Hosting Survey

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 12:11:48 PST

The Information Technology department will be replacing the www-acc.scu.edu server with a new system. This system has been used as a Web server host for SCU student, faculty, and staff personal home pages, course web sites, and student club and organization Web sites. The new system will continue to serve this function, and will potentially include capabilities beyond FTP access for file storage and a Web server for hosting HTML pages.

Internet Explorer 7 and Commonspot

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 08:10:18 PST

In our initial testing, it appears that Internet Explorer 7 hasn't introduced any functional problems for Commonspot CMS users. There are some differences in the way that IE7 handles CSS style sheets and Javascript, and since Commonspot's editing and display relies on both of these technologies, you'll probably encounter some unexpected results if you've upgraded your Internet Explorer browser to version 7.

Peoplesoft and Angel CMS users should delay upgrading to IE7 until both systems are certified for the new version.

Font Size Change

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 04:09:36 PST

A new element has been added to Commonspot that will allow users to change the font size of text on an individual page. The element presents a range of four font sizes - the default size is the second option in the list, so users can either reduce the size by one step, or increase the size by one or two steps. If you expect that your site's audience would prefer to have an option readily available to modify the font size, this element makes that task a bit simpler than changing the size through Web brower settings.

University Site Search

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 09:09:26 PST

The SCU site search system uses Google's public search service, and that service has been operating inconsistently over the weekend. The search results are now being returned in a generic format, instead of using the SCU site's template. We're working on an alternate method of displaying the results, so that the SCU template and navigation to other SCU search resources is retained.

Post-upgrade Commonspot issues

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 01:09:17 PST

We have been able to complete the upgrade on all production servers, and content replication is current as of 12:30 pm today. Some issues remain for Commonspot authoring; there are problems with the edit and delete options for some elements, and editing elements that are placed "below the fold" in a browser window can be problematic. Developers at Paperthin are testing these issues on our site, and we hope to resolve them soon. Site performance continues to be uneven, as page cache files are rebuilt. This issue should gradually become less noticeable as the collection of site cache files is updated via page requests.

Commonspot 4.6 SP2 upgrade

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 08:09:20 PST

We plan to install the most recent upgrade to Commonspot, Service Pack 2 for version 4.6, on Wednesday, September 6 starting at 9am. The installation process will require that we disable authoring access to Commonspot for an hour or so. Barring any surprises during the installation, we would expect that authoring access would be restored by noon on Wednesday.

Labor Day Weekend Replication Schedule

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 08:09:05 PST

Replication will be running on an abbreviated schedule over the holiday weekend. It's scheduled to run at 7:15 am, 1:15pm and 5:15pm. We have experienced numerous replication errors during the week, and by going to a more compact schedule, we will minimize the possibility of a failed replication disabling the SCU Web site during off-peak hours, and during a time when server administrative support is not readily available. We are working with developers at Paperthin to resolve the recurring problems with replication.

Blog Custom Elements

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian Washburn) — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 02:07:30 PST

Following some testing and modifications to the redesigned blog custom element, we've added documentation of the Blog and Blog Feature elements to the Web Publishing site.

Commonspot 4.6 SP2 upgrade

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 04:07:37 PST

Paperthin has released an update to Commonspot 4.6; Service Pack 2. This release corrects a number of issues found in the initial 4.6 installation.

Replication schedule status

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 02:07:57 PST

Following a replication error this afternoon, we have turned off the regularly scheduled replication cycle. A site-wide database error was introduced in the 1:15pm replication, and we will need to identify and correct the cause of the error before replication runs again. We anticipate having replication restored by late Thursday morning.

Replication Status Page

apehanich@scu.edu (Tony) — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 04:06:20 PST

A new replication status page has been created that allows you to see the real time status of the Commonspot replication process. The status page can be found at:

http://cms.scu.edu/webpublishing/cms/replication.cfm

The status page will indicate whether replication is in progress, if any errors were experienced recently, or when the last successful replication ran.

Replication is the automated process that copies content from the authoring (cms) server to the production (www) servers. Included in the status page is an in depth explanation of replication and the server setup, as well as some troubleshooting tips and how to know when to expect your content to replicate.

Phonebook Updates

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 10:06:56 PST

The online version of the SCU Phonebook has been updated to include a new login method, and the ability to supplement individual's contact information with a profile description and image. Access to the "on-campus" view of the Phonebook, including direct phone and email contact information, is now available from off-campus for viewers with a valid SCU Groupwise username and password. For Faculty and Staff who are listed in the Phonebook, the Groupwise login will provide access to the phone and email display preferences update forms, and personal profile text and image update form.

Commonspot database server replacement

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Thu, 25 May 2006 01:05:27 PST

We are planning to replace the server that hosts Commonspot's database on Wednesday, May 31st starting at 9am. Commonspot authoring and content replication will be disabled for a period of time while the databases are migrated to the new server. Access to Commonspot authoring and the automated replication cycle should be restored by early Wednesday afternoon.

Web Server Statistics Updated

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Fri, 19 May 2006 01:05:56 PST

The SCU statistics for the month of May have been re-generated, to include data from the new production Web server. We had been under-reporting requests by one-third for the first two weeks of May.

Google Analytics and Web Privacy Statement

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Wed, 17 May 2006 01:05:44 PST

We are testing a new service, Google Analytics, on the SCU home page and several pages at the top-tier of the SCU site. The Google Analytics system collects user data, including the network location of the client, browser and system settings, and transfers this information to Google.com servers. We have included a link to a Privacy Statement on the SCU home page that describes how Google protects the information they collect.

Profile Element Feature

bwashburn@scu.edu (brian) — Tue, 02 May 2006 05:05:02 PST

A new rendering option has been added to the Profile element; you can now display a profile as a content well feature. The original full profile, summary profile, and right column feature options are also available.

Web Server added to www.scu.edu

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 10:38:46 PST

A third Web server has been added to the www.scu.edu production cluster. The added server will help to improve reliability and availability for the SCU site. Content on the three www.scu.edu servers will continue to be updated from the cms (Commonspot) server on an automated schedule, currently at 2-hour intervals.

Commonspot editor and Windows XP update

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 08:31:24 PST

A recent update to Windows XP has introduced a conflict with Commonspot's rich text editor. The Windows XP update released in April includes a change to the ActiveX control - you will now see a message every time you used the rich text editor in Internet Explorer instructing you to hit the spacebar or enter key to activate the control. Updated 4/21/2006: Paperthin has released a patch that corrects this behavior in Commonspot. The patch has been installed on the cms server.

SSL External Link Validation

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 02:37:44 PST

Commonspot's internal process for validating external links to secure (SSL-enabled, beginning with https://) Web sites has changed. Rather than categorizing the link as invalid, Commonpot will validate the link syntax but skip the process that actually checks to see if the link can be reached. If you've checked to make sure that you've entered the link correctly, you can check the link in Commonspot's link validation form, telling Commonspot that the link is in fact valid.

Commonspot Cache Files

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 02:15:52 PST

Commonspot creates a cache file copy of a page the first time it is requested from the www.scu.edu server, following the creation of the page or any update to the page on the cms server. This helps Commonspot deliver pages on the www.scu.edu servers more rapidly; the system doesn't need to get updated data from the database every time the page is requested - it just builds a copy of the page following a change published from the cms server. Sometimes a previously-created cache file isn't cleared from the www servers when you update a page and publish the change in Commonspot; you'll notice this if a published change appears to revert back to an older version on www.scu.edu (when one of the www servers hasn't updated the cache file), or a change published in Commonspot isn't displayed on www after several hours have elapsed. The Web Publishing site includes a step-by-step guide for handling these Commonspot cache issues.

Coldfusion MX7 upgrade scheduled

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 09:24:49 PST

We plan to upgrade to CFMX7 on the staging (cms) and production (www) web servers on Wednesday, March 29. The upgrade process will start with the cms server. During the installation of the upgrade on the cms server, access to Commonspot will be unavailable. We anticipate that the installation will take between 1 to 2 hours on each server. Update - 3/29 11:45 am: The installation is complete on the cms server, and commonspot authoring access has been restored. Commonspot replication to the www servers will likely be delayed until later this afternoon.

Events & Conferences RSS Feed

meckel@scu.edu (Melissa ) — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 09:40:14 PST

A new RSS feed has been created for Web related events, conferences, teleseminars, etc. Subscribe to the feed if you are interested in receiving information about upcoming events.

Authoring Session Timeout

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 03:27:06 PST

Commonspot authoring sessions will automatically timeout after 30 minutes; if you haven't saved your work within that time span, any work in progress will be lost. We have added a custom alert message to the rich text editor element that will display a pop-up window warning you to click "finish" to save your work 20 minutes after the editor window is opened.

Author Mode link requires page refresh

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 04:29:08 PST

A new Commonspot bug has appeared following the upgrade to 4.6 SP1. The link to Author mode from a Commonspot page in Read mode won't work when page is first loaded in your Web browser. The short-term work-around is to reload the current page. The reload causes Commonspot to build the correct script content in the page source, and the Author mode link will then function properly. This bug has been reported to Paperthin. Update - 2/16/2006: As a temporary work-around, we've modified the base template to include a copy of the missing Javascript function in read mode. This results in the newWindow function being declared twice when in author mode, but doesn't appear to cause functional problems in Commonspot. Update - 2/28/2006: This bug has been resolved by Paperthin, and our work-around has been removed.

Commonspot Service Pack Installation

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 02:04:18 PST

We're planning on installing the Commonspot 4.6 Service Pack 1 release on Monday, 2/13. The installation will require that we disable authoring access to the cms server for an hour or so, and stop the automated content replication process from cms to www while the servers are being updated.

Commonspot Content Synchronized

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 07:03:24 PST

Commonspot content published following the last automated replication on Thursday, 2/2, has been manually copied to the production servers.

SCU Search System

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 01:32:24 PST

The SCU web site search system has been changed to allow a single search to return results across several categories.

What's New

meckel@scu.edu (Melissa) — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 09:59:12 PST

The Webpublishing team has created a new RSS feed to the "What's New" page. When submitting content for publication, check the "What's New" checkbox for any new content that may be relevant to all site administrators (calendar updates, student/faculty profiles, etc.). This will give everyone more linking opportunities and information about updated content.

Commonspot authoring menus in Firefox

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 03:02:37 PST

An error in an included Commonspot javascript file was causing problems accessing menu options for submitting or deleting element content in Firefox.

Commonspot pop-up menu bug in Firefox

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 02:35:24 PST

A problem has been identified in Commonspot's dynamic HTML pop-up menu system in Firefox 1.5.

Commonspot Replication Schedule Updated

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 08:30:53 PST

We have returned to the regularly scheduled content replication schedule for Commonspot. Content changes on the cms server will be copied to the www production servers on an automated schedule, at 2-hour intervals.

Commonspot Database Errors

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 12:20:16 PST

We have been experiencing database server errors that have caused problems accessing Commonspot pages on the www and cms servers. There was a 35-minute interruption on Tuesday, 12/21, and one of shorter duration on Wednesday. The database administrator has identified the source of the problem, and will be applying an update to the database server software that should correct it.

Commonspot Replication Schedule Changes

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 10:00:30 PST

The Commonspot replication cycle has been changed to twice a day (7:30 am and pm) for the duration of the holiday break.

Delete Element option not functioning in Firefox

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 10:18:48 PST

The option to delete an element in Commonspot appears not to be working if you're using Firefox. This bug has been reported to Paperthin.

Commonspot version 4.6 installed

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Fri, 16 Dec 2005 01:03:16 PST

We've completed the upgrade to Commonspot 4.6 on the cms server. The new version allows authoring access on platforms and browsers other than Windows/IE6, and includes system performance enhancements.

Commonspot 4.6 Upgrade Re-scheduled

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Tue, 13 Dec 2005 08:40:44 PST

Our attempt to install the Commonspot 4.6 upgrade on the cms server was not successful, and we'll try again after we receive technical support from Paperthin. The new version requires an updated set of license keys, which were not provided as part of the installation packet. We're (tentatively) planning on installing the upgrade on Friday, Dec. 16th.

Missing Web Site Statistics

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 02:45:38 PST

Due to a configuration error in our statistics package, several days' reports were not genereated. The Web server statistics were restored at 11:30 am on Friday, 11/18/2005.

Custom Element Data Display Problem

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 02:44:02 PST

Elements that use custom element data (news item, homepage features) were not displaying data on the production servers, although the data is in the servers' database and does display properly on the cms.scu.edu server. This problem was resolved at 9:30 am Friday, 11/18.

Commonspot server OS patch

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 03:08:22 PST

The Commonspot server will be unavailable between 6 and 9pm on Thursday, Nov. 3rd. We'll be installing an operating system patch on the server at that time.

RSS Elements

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 10:18:27 PST

Two elements have been added to the Content Well element gallery category for displaying RSS feed content, or displaying a subscription link to an RSS feed. Both elements can be configured to use an RSS feed that's developed in Commonspot or use an RSS feed generated in another system.

Commonspot database drive failure

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 08:57:25 PST

One of the drives in Commonspot's database server drive array has failed, and will be replaced on Wednesday (10/19/2005) afternoon, shortly after 2:30 pm. While the new drive is installed, Commonspot will not be available - Commonspot pages on the cms and www.scu.edu servers will also not be available while the database server is offline. The downtime is expected to be at least one hour. Commonspot authoring will be disabled temporarily at approximately 1 pm, in preparation for the installation of the new drive.

Phonebook Elements

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 04:29:38 PST

Use this element to display a listing of staff and faculty members for a selected organization in the SCU Phonebook. The element can be configured to display contact information based on the "on-campus" and "off-campus" display preferences specified by individuals in the phonebook, and can optionally include contact information such as phone, fax, email, and location for the selected organization.

An alternate version of the Phonebook element is available for use in the right column of the page. The "Phonebook Organization Contact" element can be found in the Right Column menu in the Element Gallery. Select an organization from the list, and it will display address, phone, fax, email, and campus map location information from the SCU Phonebook.

Commonspot server upgrade

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Wed, 13 Jul 2005 03:38:25 PST

The cms.scu.edu Web server is scheduled for an operating system patch installation this evening. Commonspot will be unavailable during this time. The installation is scheduled to start shortly after 5pm, and will take 2-3 hours to complete.

update: The cms.scu.edu server is available now - Commonspot authoring access was restored at 9pm.

Displaying Randomly Selected or Rotating Images

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Wed, 13 Jul 2005 03:33:07 PST

A new element has been added to the Content Well element gallery for displaying a randomly selected image - where a new image is displayed every time the page loads - or displaying a set of images, one at a time, in a rotating sequence.

Survey Request Form

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Thu, 23 Jun 2005 10:02:59 PST

A form is now available for Commonspot users to submit a request for an online survey to the Web Publishing team in OCM and Media Services. You can send us a request that includes your proposed survey URL, introductory and submitted survey text, available dates for the survey, and a list of survey questions and responses (as an attached file). Typically, an online survey can be produced in 2-5 business days.

Missing images and uploaded files

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Fri, 27 May 2005 08:33:28 PST

During the past few weeks, we've been seeing an intermittent problem with Commonspot content replication that causes some images or uploaded files to be skipped when a replication packet is applied on one of the two www.scu.edu production servers. If you see images or other uploaded files appear and then disappear when viewing a published Commonspot page, it is likely due to this problem - the image was only copied to one of the two www servers.

As a work-around (until we resolve the replication problem in Commonspot) we have a scheduled task running every night at 9:00, that will copy any missed files from one production server to the other.

If you notice an uploaded image or file missing on the www.scu.edu server more than 24 hours after it's been published in Commonspot, please send us a message using the support request form.

Support Requests

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Thu, 26 May 2005 09:01:23 PST

An online form is now available for Web Publishing support requests. The form can be used to submit a request for help with Commonspot, developing site content, reporting Web site errors, or any other Web development issues. The requests will be reviewed daily (Monday through Friday) by the SCU Web site's support staff in the Office of Communications and Marketing and Media Services.

Commonspot Replication Schedule

Mon, 02 May 2005 10:59:24 PST

Commonspot's content replication cycle is back on schedule, following an interruption due to database errors on the www.scu.edu servers last week. In the replication process, content changes approved for publication on the cms server are copied to the www.scu.edu servers on an automated, two-hour-interval schedule.

Campus Slideshow & University Webcams

MEckel@scu.edu (Melissa) — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 02:35:56 PST

The new virtual tour has been implemented and offers prospective students and visitors a more vivid view of SCU's campus.

Rich Text Editor enhancements

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 12:18:25 PST

Two enhancements have been added to the Rich Text Editor element:. To guard against losing work-in-progress during an editing session that exceeds the time permitted, an alert message will be displayed 5 minutes prior to the end of an editing session, warning you to save your changes before the session times out. Also, a "Word Cleanup" option has been added to the form, allowing you to remove the excess markup applied in formatted text copied and pasted from Microsoft Word.

Job Listings - Right Column Element

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 11:36:00 PST

A new element has been added to the Right Column element category: Current Job Listings. This element will display the 3 job listings most recently posted to the HR staff opportunities list. Optionally, you can select job listings for a specific SCU organization. The element displays the job posting title, posting date, and links to the full job description.

WindowsXP SP2 and Commonspot

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 09:57:38 PST

If you have recently applied Service Pack 2 for Windows XP, you may notice that Commonspot pop-up windows are blocked, or that pop-up windows open at a very small size by default. You will want to allow pop-up windows for pages on cms.scu.edu, and change the "security level" setting to allow pop-up windows to open normally.

To resolve the problem with small pop-up window sizes, change the Security Level of a Zone:

Open Internet Explorer.
Open the Tools menu, pointing to Internet Options, and then click the Security tab.
On the Security tab, click the Internet zone to change the security level and then click the Custom Level button.
Enable the option Allow script-initiated windows without size or position constraints, which is located in the miscellaneous section.

Template Updates

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 04:40:23 PST

The homepage and base template CMS files were updated to incorporate the new SCU logo and tagline. Along with the logo change, the templates were redesigned to include a revised main navigation element; the "for, about, find" menus at the top of the base template include all of the audience, subject, and utility navigation menus represented on the home page in a compact form. The templates and style sheets are now based on the XHTML document type, resulting in more consistent display in current Web browsers on a variety of systems. Read and discuss the template updates on the Web Publishing Discussion page.

Weather Element

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Fri, 04 Mar 2005 05:28:27 PST

A new Right Column element has been added to the Commonspot element gallery; this element displays the current weather at Santa Clara, from an XML feed provided by the National Weather Service. The weather data is updated every hour.

Image placement options

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 03:00:33 PST

An image inserted into the Rich Text Editor will not have any margin or alignment applied to it, by default. If you want your image to be aligned to the left or right side, or want the image and any text that flows around it to be separated by a margin, use one of three new styles added to the Rich Text Editor's menu.

Guidelines for Surveys

bwashburn@scu.edu (Brian) — Tue, 01 Mar 2005 04:37:15 PST

If you're planning on developing an online survey, you'll find valuable guidance in the Guidelines for Surveys page in the Content Development category of the Web Publishing site.

Animated GIF Files

sgriffith@scu.edu (Stephanie Griffith) — Wed, 16 Feb 2005 10:49:40 PST

Use the following tutorial to create a rotating image file to use on your Web site.

Discussion Board

apehanich@scu.edu (Tony) — Mon, 14 Feb 2005 03:49:49 PST

Post your comments and feedback in the Web Publishing message board.

Thumbnail Images

Fri, 11 Feb 2005 02:24:30 PST

Use the new thumbnail image size (57 pixels x 57 pixels) in CommonSpot. It is a great way to add a visual distinction to various types of content highlighted in your Web site.

Tracking Hits

Fri, 11 Feb 2005 02:23:43 PST

Learn how to track the hits to your Web site. This guide will show you how to use the statistics Web site to get the data you need.

Getting Started

Tue, 11 Jan 2005 02:21:30 PST

Planning on redesigning your Web site? Begin by reading the getting started guide.

Video Training Guides

Sat, 11 Dec 2004 02:25:24 PST

New video training guides are a visual way to get step by step information on how to work in CommonSpot.