Help: Tour of a Collection
Front Page
Linkin' Logs may be accessed by entering the keyword 'links' on the front page of the Lincoln Public Schools Web Site (http://www.lps.org) or directly at the following address:
http://apollo.lps.org/~db/linkinlogs/
Once at the front page, you will have the opportunity to access two types of weblogs. Public logs and private logs. Each owner of a Linkin' Logs Collection has the opportunity to make their Collection accessible via the drop down menu on this page. Other's may choose to not provide this accessibility. For these, you will need to enter the username of the person who owns the collection you wish to view.
Category View
When you enter a Collection, you will be shown two columns. In the left column is a list of the categories that this user has created. This makes it easier to find the links that you are looking for. Some of the categories may have small flags next to them. This is an indication that the owner wishes to draw your attention to these categories and has placed them at the top of the category list for you. In the right column you will see information about the user whose collection you are perusing, including an email link if you would like to contact the owner.
Link View
When you click on the name of a category you will be taken to a page displaying the links belonging to this category. Accompanying each link may be a short description provided by the collection owner tipping you off to the value of this link and why it is included. For your convenience, links are opened in a brand new browser window so that you do not lose this list of links.
Remote Control
While in the Link View, you may also notice the small globe near the title of the category. Clicking on this link will open a small browser window that will allow you to have easy access to every link in the collection while you continue browsing sites. Simply click the close button on this small window when you are finished with it. Please note that some browsers including Safari and Mozilla may block such 'pop-up' windows and may need to be configured to allow this to work.
Backing Out
You can return to a previous level at any time by simply clicking on the appropriate link near the top of the left column. 'Return to Category List' will take you back to the list of categories that you saw when you first entered the collection. 'Leave this Collection' will take you back to the front page of Linkin' Logs allowing you to enter a new collection.
Help: Managing Your Own Collection
Using someone else's Linkin' Logs Collection is easy enough. How about managing your own? We hope that you will find this nearly as easy.
Logging In
Once you have had an account created for you, you may enter your given username at the Linkin' Logs front page, accessible at the address/keyword given earlier. This will take you into your collection. Under your name in the top-right of the screen, click on the 'Login' link. Enter your username and password at the prompt. You will be taken back to your collection, although now you will have administrative options. Once here there are three things that you can do. Create categories, create links, and edit your personal/collection information.
Creating Categories
The first thing you should do is create a category or two so that you have somewhere for your links to go. You may create as many categories for your links as you wish. You may wish to create different categories for each class that you teach or for units that you cover. Categories are your method for organizing links so that you can find them quickly and for presenting them to others that will use your Linkin' Logs collection. A single link may belong to as many categories as you desire, so keep that in mind.
A category description will help further define what a person may expect to find in this category to reduce the time they need to wander around your collection. Furthermore, you may use the flag checkbox to draw special attention to a particular category or the padlock checkbox to hide the category from anyone but yourself. Perhaps you would like to flag a particular unit's links while you teach it. When finished with that unit, you could unflag that unit and flag another. Padlocks are useful for websites that you use frequently and want easy access to, but do not want others to see as a part of your collection. An example of this would be a link to your web mail or calendar.
Creating Links
Having created a couple of categories, move your attention toward the right column below the title 'Add an Address'. This is pretty straightforward. Under 'Site/Page Name' type a name for the website like 'CNN News'. Next, under 'Site/Page Address', type the address of the site including the 'http://'. For example: 'http://www.cnn.com'. Finally, provide a short description of the site. You may wish to include why you found this site helpful, or how valuable the site is for your purposes. This will help visitors decide which sites to visit if they don't have time to look at all of them.
With the address specifics out of the way, you can assign this link to categories by checking the box next to each category you wish this link to be a part of. You may also flag and/or padlock each link just as you did the categories. Hit 'Submit' when finished to add the link to your collection.
Editing Personal / Collection Information
At the bottom of the right column is a section for you to edit data about yourself and your collection. You may wish to change your name from say 'Jane Doe' to a more classroom proper 'Mrs. Doe' depending on how you intend to use your collection. You may also decide here whether or not you would like your collection listed in the pulldown menu on the front page of Linkin' Logs with the 'List your collection on login page?' checkbox. Remember to hit 'Update' after making changes.
Deleting and Editing Categories
You will almost certainly need to make changes to your categories and links from time to time. Categories and links may both be edited by clicking on the small yellow notepad next to the name of the category or link. Category information will show up in the category panel at the top of the page, while link info will show up in the address panel in the right column. Make the needed changes and hit the 'Submit' or 'Edit' button in that panel.
Categories may be deleted by checking the boxes next to the to-be-removed categories and clicking the 'Delete Checked Categories' button at the bottom of the page. Links may be removed by clicking on the link's edit button (little yellow notepad), then clicking on the 'Delete this address' link in the address panel.
Orphaned Links
You may from time to time accidentally end up with a link that has no category home. When this happens, the only way to access it is by clicking on the 'View all links' link at the bottom of the category list. This will give you a page with every one of your links listed. Those that have no category home will be marked as orphans so that you may edit the links and give them a home.
Questions?
If you have questions or support issues, please contact the LPS Computing Sevices Help Desk: helpdesk@lps.org.