Learning IT Programme
OUCS Help Centre Weblearn Briefing
Opening up Access 11,20 April 2006
Paul Trafford WebLearn Team
WebLearn reprise
WebLearn is a VLE made up of:
Usage:
Resources contains the content, stored in database and file system Users: both internal (using SSO account) and external (using Bodington authentication) Groups: autogenerated and made up Learning and Teaching Research Administration
IT Learning Programme
Key feature: Access control
WebLearn briefing for Help Centre
2
Current Status
Every access to WebLearn requires a login
Registered users Visitors
IT Learning Programme
Perceptions:
Too many clicks Nonstandard login interface VLE is a closed system Content is hidden
WebLearn briefing for Help Centre
3
It's all changing on 11 April
WebLearn won't need visitor logins Result
Removal of [Login as visitor] button Disappearance of the three buttons login screen Fewer clicks Interface more similar to Amazon et al Part of WebLearn will behave as an unrestricted Web site Content will be more directly exposed. Some users may not see what they expect to see...
WebLearn briefing for Help Centre
IT Learning Programme
4
Scheduled Procedure
1. WebLearn Upgrade, 11 April
New public group = anonymous + allusers No login required for anonymous/visitor access Various tools, details at http://tinyurl.com/o5r7d
IT Learning Programme
2. Removal of robots.txt file, 20 April
Initially robots.txt bars all robots [that comply] The removal will allow allcomers on 20 April Expect content to be indexed in Google within a few days Script available to see what's open now (where anon user has `view' rights).
WebLearn briefing for Help Centre
5
Current Entry 1/5
IT Learning Programme
WebLearn briefing for Help Centre
6
Current Entry 2/5
IT Learning Programme
WebLearn briefing for Help Centre
7
Current Entry 3/5 [no cookie]
IT Learning Programme
WebLearn briefing for Help Centre
8
Current Entry 4/5
IT Learning Programme
WebLearn briefing for Help Centre
9
Current Entry 5/5
IT Learning Programme
WebLearn briefing for Help Centre
10
New Entry 1/5
IT Learning Programme
WebLearn briefing for Help Centre
11
New Entry 2a/5
The first time users to come http://www.weblearn.ox.ac.uk/ they'll see:
IT Learning Programme
WebLearn briefing for Help Centre
12
New Entry 2b/5
Or if they try to access some other resource they don't have rights to they will see something like:
IT Learning Programme
WebLearn briefing for Help Centre
13
New Entry 3/5
Log in as Oxford user (no cookie set):
IT Learning Programme
WebLearn briefing for Help Centre
14
New Entry 4/5
Log in as Oxford user (authenticated):
IT Learning Programme
WebLearn briefing for Help Centre
15
New Entry 5/5
Logged into WebLearn as Oxford user
IT Learning Programme
WebLearn briefing for Help Centre
16
Anticipated User Queries
Q1. "What's happened to my resources, which I used to be able to see?" A. The upgrade does not affect access rights! Please check whether or not you have logged in.
IT Learning Programme
WebLearn briefing for Help Centre
17
Anticipated User Queries
Q2. "Does this mean that resources are more open to the public?" A.The upgrade does not affect access rights!
What was available to people without user accounts will still be available; what wasn't available to visitors will remain invisible. However, it will expose the data more readily on 20 April, when Google will be able to index such content.
IT Learning Programme
WebLearn briefing ...