Help with the Staff Intranet

What happened to the staff intranet?

The new intranet that you see was launched on Monday 5th October 2009. It is the result of a project led byCorporate Affairsto upgrade the technical system of the previous intranet which has been in place since2006. It also aims to improve the usefulness of the intranet for staff as part of our commitment to achieve the highest organisational standards within the University.

This process will be ongoing for the forseeable future and your comments & feedback are welcomed - please use the Report a Bug or Feedback forms (links atthe bottom of each page)to get in touch with the project team.

How do I browse the site?

We have implemented a new system of dropdown menu navigation to allow you to browse to site content a lot easier. The structure is similar to the old intranet site, with organisational units arranged into Faculties, Service Depts, and University Groups. You will also still find links to News, the Staff Directory, Online Resources such as WebCT, online (OWA) email access and 'My Workplace' where you will find your Sharepoint teamsites on the horizontal menu bar at the top of each page.

As you browse through sites you will see that the left-hand menu changes to reflect the pages and subsites at that level. To get back through the levels above you should use the 'breadcrumb' navigation located below the photographic banner on each page (e.g. YOU ARE HERE: Edinburgh Napier Staff Intranet > Online Resources > Help with the Staff Intranet).

To complement the information structured by organisational unit, a comprehensive Search function is available at the top of each page, and an alternate 'Taxonomy' menu that is availableonthe homepage(see What is the Taxonomy, below).

New Features

What is My Toolkit?

When you are logged in to the intranet homepage (via the Login link atthe top of the page), you will see an area on the right called My Toolkit. In this area you can add and edit customisable modules to personalise the intranet homepage to you. If you have any ideas for modules that you would like to see in here, please suggest them via the Feedback form.

What is the Taxonomy?

The taxonomy is an alternative menu on the homepage which complements the main drop-down navigation. It allows staff to browse to content by topic, rather that having to know which department looks after which information.

What do RSS Feed and Alert Me mean?

These options can be found at the top of each News, Events and Announcements box on the intranet homepage (the icons are shown above, and a screenshot isavailable below)- this allows you to subscribe for updates from each of the lists that interest you, to be deliveredin a way that you choose.

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, and is another way of keeping up to date with information to complement email. You can find out more at www.whatisrss.com. Alert Me only appears when you are logged in (using the Login link at the top of the page), and allows you to subscribe for email alerts to be delivered to your Edinburgh Napier email account according to the settings that you choose. These include what type of update you should be alerted to (all changes, new posts, deleted posts, updated posts), and how frequently you should receive them (immediately, daily summary or weekly summary).

Access

I have been prompted for a username and password -what do I enter?

Make sure you enternapier-mail\ followedyourEdinburgh Napier network username.Enter your password in the password box and click OK.

Can I access the Intranet from home?

Yes, you can.The Intranet is publicly available for viewing.This is in keeping with Freedom of Information principles,and in line with our University Information Strategy which states:

"...internal information will be available externally except where a specific reason exists for not doing this."

Can I access My Workplace from home?

Yes, you can.This area is only available to Edinburgh Napier University staff and you will be prompted to enter your Edinburgh Napiernetwork username and password to enter this area.Please ensure that you enter your details in the format:
napier-mail\username

If you have any problems logging in please contact the C&IT Support desk on ext 3000 or citsupport@napier.ac.uk.

News, Events & Announcements

How do I postNews, Events orAnnouncements on the homepage?

University News, Staff News, Announcements and University Events are published by the Corporate Communications team within Corporate Affairs.

To request your news, event or announcement be placed on the intranet homepage,please send details of your stories to news@napier.ac.uk or events@napier.ac.uk. These features are subscribable by email and RSS, and replace the need to send outall staff emails except in urgent or important circumstances. Neither C&IT nor Corporate Affairs can send out all-staff emails for you.

Usability

How do I make the text size bigger?

To increase the text size, go to the View menu in Internet Explorer or Firefox, choose Text size and select the size of text you prefer. Alternatively you can press Ctrl and + together on your keyboard (and Ctrl & - to reverse), or press Ctrl and scroll your middle mouse wheel forward or backwards to change the text size.

How do I open a pagedocument in a new browser window?

All links to non-intranet sites will be set to open in a new window by default. If you wish to force links to open in a new window, you can right-click on a link and select Open in New Window or Open in New Tab.

Contact Details

Who do I contact if I can't find the information I'm looking for?

If you cannot find the information you are looking for on the site, please contact the department responsible for providing the information in the first instance and let them know it's not available on their intranet site. If you are not sure who 'owns' the content you are looking for, please use theFeedback formto notify the central Intranet team.

Who do I contact if I have comments about the content, usability and design of the intranet?

Any comments about content, usability or design can be made by clicking the Feedbacklink at the bottom of the page.

Who do I contact if I have a technical problem related to the intranet?

If you have any technical problems with the Intranet, please use theReport a Buglink at the bottom of each page.