GPS Alliance Information Technology Knowledge Base

Online Documents

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 14:16:40 -0600

As we become more comfortable with what it means to operate "in the cloud", the University of Minnesota has met the challenges of this idea with a number of solutions. These solutions are intended to, first and foremost, make available an environment where data security risks have been reasonably mitigated. This is either through a UMN-hosted solution or through legal contract. Google Documents Google Documents in your UMN Google Apps account allows for online storage of a large number of file formats. Also, one can create word processing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations that can be shared with others to be viewed and even edited by multiple people at once. It is compatible with Microsoft .doc, .docs, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, and .pptx formats, as well as .jpg, .pdf, and numerous others. UMN Netfiles Netfiles is an online file storage location that allows storage and sharing of documents both internal and external to UMN. This solution operates very similar to a traditional file service. One issue is that editing through a web browser is not possible. Documents are downloaded, edited, and uploaded to Netfiles.

Google Documents - Mail Merge

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 16:32:05 -0600

Want to use mail merge functionality with your UMN Google Apps account? It can be done with Google Docs. Mail Merge with Google Docs The links to obtain the mail merge template document are located in the instructions at the link above.

Google Docs - I want to work on a Google Doc on an iPad

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 10:01:12 -0600

Google controls how their products appear on any device via web browser. The web pages have been programmed to recognize the type of device being used and to deliver a web page environment specifically tailored for that device, while the user changes nothing - navigating to the same URL whether on a desktop computer or mobile device. One drawback of this is that features can be limited on mobile devices. One of those issues is a full tool set in Google Apps Documents. Most notably for this issue, the ability to upload/download documents via Google Apps Documents is missing. To work on a document that has been stored in Google Docs, an easy work-around is to dowload the document to a desktop, attach it to an email and send it to one's self. Then access the email in your account via the desired iPad. The GPS Alliance iPads have an app called "DocsToGo". When clicking on your document(s) in your email attachments ara, it will appear to you in Safari (the native web browser on iPads). Also, in the upper-left, you will see the text "Download to DocsToGo". Click on that button and the document will open, but now on the iPad via DocsToGo. You can edit documents, save changes, and manage them in much the same way as if on a desktop or laptop. CAUTION: When using of the GPS Alliance iPads, be sure you remove the document prior to returning the device, especially if the document(s) worked on contain private information.

Google - New Privacy Policy (February 2012)

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:35:31 -0600

Google issued a new privacy policy to Google users in February 2012. There have been concerns about this in the public arena. Question:How does this affect my UMN Google Apps account? Answer: It does not change the privacy agreement entered into by the University and Minnesota and Google. From UMN Google Support: "Hi Christopher, There is a difference between University of Minnesota Google Apps accounts and personal Google/Gmail.com accounts. They are totally separate from each other, and fall under separate and different contractual agreements, as well as different terms of service. Institutions that use Google Apps for their email, calendar and the other core applications, have individual contracts with Google that define how data is handled and stored. The University of Minnesota has a separate contract with Google, and Google remains in compliance with the confidentiality and security obligations provided to our domains under this contract. The new privacy policy does not change this contractual agreement between Google and the University, University's core suite of applications, including Gmail (email), Google Docs (word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations), Google Calendar, Google Talk (instant messaging), and Google Sites, are not affected by this new privacy policy."

Why Google At The University of Minnesota

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 11:49:16 -0600

Along with many other non-profit institutions around the globe, the University of Minnesota has moved to Google Apps as their official enterprise, common good solution for email, calendaring and collaboration.

You can find an explanation for this move, plus other questions and answers at the Office of Information Technology's article Questions and Answers.

Suggested Web Browser Use

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 10:43:30 -0600

With the implementation of Google Apps, and the inability to manage multiple Google accounts in the same browser, GPS Alliance IT policy became to install multiple browsers for staff to use to meet their needs. Below are the browsers that are installed and their suggested use: OS X -

Chrome - Your personal UMN Google Apps account and general web browsing
Safari - Secondary email accounts
Firefox - Central UMN web-based applications, such as PeopleSoft and ImageNow.

Windows -

Chrome - Your personal UMN Google Apps account and general web browsing
Firefox - Secondary email accounts and all other central UMN web-based applications, such as PeopleSoft.
Internet Explorer - Central web-based applications that require its use (ImageNow, etc.)

FYI - The Office of Information Technology continually suggests using Firefox over Internet Explorer wherever possible due to security issues inherent in Internet Explorer.

Google Calendar - Labs

Tue, 24 May 2011 14:38:55 -0600

Recently, the UofM Google administrators made available some features in Google Calendar. These features are created in what Google calls "Labs". The features are currently limited to 14 tools. Some features that may be of interest are:

Gentle Reminders - this meets the need of having an audible reminder for meetings.
Event Attachements - adding documents to meetings/events on your calendar
Smart Rescheduler - Brings back the feature in UMCal of having the calendar system check all invitees' schedules and list open times.
Next Meeting - displays one's next meeting in large text with an indicator of how long until it will begin.

"How do I access these features?", you may ask. These features are listed and can be enabled and disabled by navigating to your Google Calendar, selecting the Gear symbol in the upper right corner of the window and choosing "Labs". Then just read each description and choose 'Enable' for the feature you would like to add to your calendar.

What GPS Alliance Google calendars can I see and where are the resources located?

Fri, 13 May 2011 09:07:09 -0600

It is helpful for staff to know the names of the calendar to which they have access, where they are located, and other specifics based on the type of resource. Here is how that information can be found: In your UMN Google Calendar, choose the gear symbol from the upper right of your browser window. Choose "Calendar Settings" from the list that results Choose the "Calendars" tab See the names of all of the calendars. Specific information is available under the calendar name. Clicking on the name will result in a detail window for that calendar.

Google Calendar - Allowing Invitation Notifications

Wed, 22 Dec 2010 09:09:53 -0600

Accounts are not automatically set to allow invitations sent via Google Calendar when someone is creating a meeting and inviting guests. Because this is the best way currently to know a meeting has been put on one's calendar, all GPS Alliance staff should configure their Google Calendar settings to allow incoming calendar invitations. First, open your calendar and choose "Calendar Settings" in the upper right corner of your calendar interface under "Settings". Next, click into the "Calendars" tab and choose the main calendar for your account. This will be your x.500 (or whatever you renamed it to be), but should be the main personal calendar associated with the account into which your are logged. Finally, choose the "Notifications" tab and use the check boxes in the lower right to set the notifications you will receive. All four options should be checked.

GMail - Adding Attachments

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 13:02:56 -0600

There are two ways to add attachments to an email message: The "Add Attachment Tool" and "DragNDrop". Add Attachment Tool Navigate via the "Add Attachment" tool. Multiple attachments can be chosen by depressing the 'Shift' key and choosing items that are next to each other in a group or 'Command' key (Mac) or 'Control' key (Windows) and selecting multiple items that are not next to each other (shown below) you would like to attach. DragNDrop A more direct option is to drag any desired attachments to the attachment area.

GPS Resources - The move from UMCal to Google

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 10:39:07 -0600

BE SURE TO CHECK YOUR RESERVATIONS ON THE RESOURCE CALENDARS TO MAKE SURE THINGS ARE AS YOU EXPECT. PLEASE REPORT ANY PROBLEMS BY SUBMITTING A SUPPORT REQUEST. Calendar names have changed. The names are more generic, but identification can be made through data saved with the calendar. This can be found by going to Calendar>Settings>Calendar Settings>Calendars. You will see a list of calendars you have created, and also calendars others have created for which you have been given access. GPS calendars will have data listed underneath to help identify the resource and aid in you selection. Below is a list of calendar names that are different enough to cause confusion: Old Calendar Names in UMCal -------------------> New names in Google Calendar LAC West Bank Laptop 1 --------------------------------LAC Laptop & Projector LAC West Bank Projector 1 --------------------------------LAC Laptop & Projector LAC West Bank Laptop 2 --------------------------------DO Laptop & Projector LAC West Bank Projector 2 --------------------------------DO Laptop & Projector LAC Mobile Laptop 1 --------------------------------LAC Laptop 4 (LAC-only) LAC Mobile Laptop 2 --------------------------------LAC Laptop 5 (LAC-only) LAC 13-inch PowerBook --------------------------------LAC Laptop 6 LAC White iBook --------------------------------LAC Laptop 8 LAC iBook 2 --------------------------------LAC Laptop 9 LAC HD Video Camera --------------------------------LAC Video Camera 1 LAC Mini Video Camera ---------------------------------LAC Video Camera 2 The remaining resource calendars have names that are similar and should be identifiable. BE SURE TO CHECK YOUR RESERVATIONS ON THE RESOURCE CALENDARS TO MAKE SURE THINGS ARE AS THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE. PLEASE REPORT ANY PROBLEMS BY SUBMITTING A SUPPORT REQUEST.

Google - GMail Label Sorting - Keyboard Shortcuts

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 10:54:12 -0600

There is a specific order for keyboard characters that may help you order your labels in a method other than an alpha-based sort. NOTE: Other characters may work, like cyrillic characters versus English alphabet characters. Experiment to your heart's content! These characters are used by the system:

\
}
)
(
&
^
|

Here is the order of standard US keyboard characters:

Google - Moving an event from a secondary calendar to a primary

Mon, 04 Oct 2010 10:14:14 -0600

An example of a primary calendar (stord005) and a secondary calendar (stord005 UMCal Import)

Clicking on the header of the event reveals a quick overview screen for the event

Choose the "Copy To My Calendar" option

The Event Detail view appears, allowing adjustments to be made as desired

An instance of the event has been created in your primary calendar, and the original event in your secondary calendar remains

Google Migration - UMCal to Google Calendar

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 14:17:19 -0600

Your UMCal data will be automatically moved to your Google Calendar. This will happen overnight on Tuesday, October 12th/Wednesday, October 13th, ready for use on Wednesday, October 13th. All data from 18 months in the past to 1 year in the future will be imported into a secondary calendar in your UMN Google account. This will allow you to see what you have currently scheduled, and then move items you deem appropriate into your primary UMN Google calendar. UMCal is a different computer system than Google Calendar, so each item that is imported will appear as a separate "text file". Any resources or invitees that you have associated with a meeting will be imported, but will not be connected in any way to the system and so that meeting needs to be reconfigured in your primary calendar, with resources and invitees being re-invited in the Google Calendar system. Things to think about:

Invitees and resources will be listed in the UMCal import secondary calendar, but will need to be setup in your primary calendar.
The meeting owner/manager will be responsible for resetting the meeting and details.
Repeating meetings will not be linked and so each instance will need to be deleted individually. A solution is to make note of any repeating meetings, remove them from your UMCal calendar, and then create them new in your primary calendar starting Wednesday.
The UMCal calendar that is brought in automatically can always be deleted and re-imported if the need arises. We can manually import any "snapshot" of data that exists in UMCal.

Instructions on moving items from one calendar to another can be found HERE OIP(GPS) IT staff will be visiting/contacting each staff member to insure understanding of the process of moving data from one calendar to another.

GMail - Managing the transition from folders to labels

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 13:11:41 -0600

If you already have sub-folders setup in your IMAP, Google will migrate those, separating each sub-folder name with a slash (/). Example: OIP .....2010 ..........Item 1 ..........Item 2 Would in GMail through the migration become labels that look like ... OIP/2010/Item 1 OIP/2010/Item 2 If you don't have folders created in your IMAP, there is a special way to do this and I think it best to not do this until after the migration. So..... First, I would suggest no moving of folders until after the migration. I think we all agreed on that. Second, GMail doesn't support sub-labels currently, the easiest thing to do will be to "flatten out" your folder structure locally ("Local" or "On My Mac" in your email client) so every folder is at the same level. LOCALLY: Green .....2010 ..........Item 1 ..........Item 2 .....2011 ..........Item 1 ..........Item 2 Blue .....2010 ..........Item 1 ..........Item 2 .....2011 ..........Item 2 ..........Item 2 After the migration, you would need to change the folder structure above to look like: Green 2010 Item 1 Green 2010 Item 2 Green 2011 Item 1 Green 2011 Item 2 Blue 2010 Item 1 Blue 2010 Item 2 Blue 2011 Item 1 Blue 2011 Item 2 And then you would drag the folder from "Local" or "On My Mac" to "GMail IMAP". OIP IT can help you with this, but you will want to think about how you will modify your folder names so they make sense in GMail.