AN INTRODUCTION TO WEBCENTRAL
FOR STAFF
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
Following the completion of this course students will be able to:
Effectively navigate within webCentral
Customize pages within webCentral to meet their unique informational needs
Use e-mail within webCentral
Determine the appropriate method to disseminate information within webCentral
WHAT IS WEBCENTRAL?
WebCentral is an on-line portal designed for all students, faculty and staff of the University of Denver. With a single login and password you will be able to access information such as your e-mail, calendar, benefits, vacation hours, courses, Blackboard, as well as create, manage and join groups. You can customize the various screens to meet your unique information needs.
ACCESSING WEBCENTRAL:
To access the University of Denver's WebCentral site, do the following:
Open a Web browser of your choice and login to http://webcentral.du.edu. Or go to the DU home page at http://www.du.edu and click the link to webCentral.
To log in and use webCentral effectively, we suggest you use one of the following browsers:
Windows
o Internet Explorer 5.5 SP2 and higher
o Internet Explorer 6.0 plus latest security patch
o Netscape 7.1+
o Firefox 1.0+
Macintosh (works best with OS10 or higher)
o Safari
o Firefox 1.0+
o Internet Explorer 5.1 or higher
Enter your DU ID and passcode in the far left corner of the screen.
o Your DU ID number is your 9-digit number which appears at the top left corner of your DU ID card below your name or is printed on your pay stub.
o If you are logging into webCentral for the first time, your passcode is your PIN (Personal Identification Number).
o Note: If you are a faculty or staff member and don't know your passcode, contact Human Resources at 303-871-7420. Your passcode can be changed by going to the MyWeb tab. Instructions for changing your passcode are detailed later in the handout.
AN OVERVIEW
After logging in, you will see several tabs across the top portion of the screen including Home, Resources, MyWeb, etc.
All content within these tabs is displayed using channels. Channels are topic-specific areas that provide convenient access to information, applications, or other Web resources you may want to access. These channels can be customized to meet your needs as discussed later in the handout.
Click the Home tab to view Campus Announcements, Personal Announcements, the days events at DU, Bookmarks, Denver Weather, and more.
With approval, Campus and Personal Announcements can be posted to webCentral. Campus Announcements are posted to all webCentral users. Personal Announcements target a certain audience. For example, you may want to post a message to all students, or all sophomores, or all students by major. There are many options available when determining your target audience. To request a personal announcement, complete the form located at http://www.du.edu/portal/documentation/announcementsForm.html. An announcement manager will review your request.
Within the Home tab, the DU news content is published by the Office of Communications & Marketing.
The Resources tab provides access to tools to help you get information and do other online tasks. By default, it provides ways to search for people, departments and web pages at the university, single sign-on access the Penrose Library and DU Portfolio Community, the Google search engine, and a dictionary and thesaurus.
Courses tab
The Courses tab is designed to access your DU courses. If you are currently enrolled in an academic course at DU, you will be able to access content specific to that course from the course link in the right-hand column under the courses tab. Courses link to webCentral, Blackboard, Portfolio, or other course tools as determined by the instructor. You can access the myDU tab of Blackboard from the top of the left-hand column. Employees of the university will also have a DU Training for Faculty & Staff section that includes a link to free training courses offered by Human Resources, University Technology Services, Risk Management and others.
The myWeb tab provides secure access to pay stubs, leave balances, benefits, grades, transcript, and other personal information.
You can also change your passcode here. To change your Passcode:
Within the MyWeb tab, select Personal Information.
Select the link to Change my Passcode and follow the instructions on the screen.
The Campus Life tab has information about life on campus at the University of Denver: events, sports, meals, residence halls, and much more.
In the MyChannels tab, you can create your own custom tab including a single Web page, or a series of different channels. Instructions for customizing this tab are described in the section below titled, "Customizing Your WebCentral Content."
CHANGING THE DEFAULT TIMEOUT SETTING
By default, if the webCentral portal is left inactive for 75 minutes, the current session will automatically be closed. You will then need to log back into webCentral. To change the amount of time that elapses before webCentral times out:
Directly above the Home tab, there is a text link to My Account. Click this link to access your timeout setting.
Use the drop-down menu to choose a new time and click Save Changes. The new timeout period will take effect the next time you log out and log back into the system.
Note: If you regularly use computers in labs, if you share a computer, or if you typically leave your computer where others can access it while you step away, you must take precautions to protect your privacy. Long time-outs increase the security risk if you forget to log out of webCentral. Carefully weigh the value/risk of increasing the pre-set 15-minute timeout.
WORKING WITH CHANNELS
As mentioned earlier, each tab within webCentral contains a series of smaller windows, or "channels," which can be focused, minimized or closed.
To focus a channel:
Click the Focus button 
in the title bar of the channel in
order to open the contents in its own window.
To return to the home tab after "focusing" a channel,
click the Back to tab button 
in the far left corner of the window.
The Back to link will be labeled with, and return to, the tab you were using
when you focused the channel.
To minimize or collapse the contents of a channel:
Click the Minimize button 
in the top-right corner of
the channel.
To maximize the contents of a channel:
Click the Maximize button 
.
To remove a channel:
Click the Remove button 
in the top-right corner of the
channel.
You will learn how to add a channel in the section below on Customizing Your WebCentral Content."
CUSTOMIZING YOUR WEBCENTRAL CONTENT
Directly above the Home tab, there is a text link to Content/Layout. Click this link to access the User Preferences screen and begin customizing your tabs to meet your individual information needs.
After clicking the Content/Layout link, to view and modify User Preferences for a different tab, simply click the tab names as displayed below:
 |
Changing your default "active" tab
By default, the "Home" tab is designated as being the "active" tab, or the tab that is displayed when you first log into the portal. To change this:
Within the User Preferences screen, select the tab that you wish to be the active tab.
Click the link to Make this the default active tab.
Changing the order in which the tabs appear
To change the order in which the tabs appear within webCentral:
Within the User Preferences screen, click the left arrow beside the tab you wish to move one tab to the left.
 |
Click the right arrow beside the tab you wish to move one column to the right.
 |
Within the Campus Life tab, the MyChannels tab and any custom tabs you create, the widths of the columns can be modified. To do this:
Within the User Preferences screen, click the Select Column button
within
the column you wish to resize.
Enter a new percentage in each of the boxes and click Submit. 
If you want to add a new channel to a tab, do the following:
 |
Within the User Preferences screen, click on the tab you want to add the channel to.
Click the Add Channel button 
in
the column and location where you wish to insert a new channel.
Step #1, click the drop-down arrow beside - Select a Category - to display a list of available categories.
Select the category you wish to add a channel from and click Go.
Some categories have subcategories. If a subcategory list appears after you click Go, you may select a subcategory within Step #1a and click Go again.
From the list displayed in Step #2, select a channel from the list.
In Step #3, click Add Channel.
If you get a Channel Settings screen, click Finished.
The new channel will be inserted in the desired location.
Changing the location of a channel
Within User Preferences, the channels can be easily moved around within a page. To change the location of a channel:
 |
Changing your webCentral display name
After logging into webCentral, your display name will be shown in the top left corner of the page. To change this name you must add a new channel:
Access the User Preferences screen by clicking the Content/Layout link located directly above the Home tab.
Within the User Preferences screen, click on the tab you want to add the channel to.
Click the New Channel button in the column and location
you wish to insert the new channel.
Click the drop-down arrow under Step #1 to display a list of available categories. Select the Other category and click Go.
From the list displayed in step #2, select the Change display name channel.
Click the Add Channel button in step #3.
If you get a Channel Settings screen, click Finished.
Exit the User Preferences screen and return to the webCentral tab containing the Change display name channel.
Within the channel input your DU ID number, Passcode and the new display name. Click Go.
After changing your display name, remove the channel by clicking
the Close button 
in the top right corner of the
channel.
To add tabs to webCentral:
Within the User Preferences screen, click the Add New Tab
button 
.
In Step #1 enter a name for the tab.
In Step #2, select the type of tab you wish displayed. A "Traditional" tab will allow you to add tabs and portal channels. "Frames" is used to enter a single URL for a Web page that will display underneath your new tab.
In Step #3, select a location for the tab by clicking inside one of the radio buttons.
And finally, in Step #4 click the Submit button.
The "Campus Life," "myChannels" and any new tabs that you create can easily be renamed. To rename these tabs:
Within the User Preferences screen, select the tab you wish to rename.
Within the options section of the page, enter a new name in the
Rename the tab: field and click the Rename button 
.
The "myChannels," "Campus Life," and any new tabs you create can be deleted. To remove any of these tabs:
Within the User Preferences screen, select the tab you wish to delete.
Click the link Delete this tab within the Options for modifying this tab section of the page.
WebCentral e-mail will be the primary way to access your DU email account online. You may choose to use webCentral as your only e-mail client or you may use Outlook, Netscape, or another client as your main e-mail software when working at your office computer and use webCentral to access your e-mail from home or when traveling. If you choose to use another email client along with webCentral, do not open both e-mail systems at the same time.
To access your e-mail account within webCentral, click the e-mail
icon 
from
the row of icons in the top right corner of webCentral.
To create a message within the e-mail section of webCentral:
Click the Compose button 
on the e-mail toolbar.
Input an e-mail address or click the Address button 
to access
your address book and select a recipient.
To insert an attachment:
o
Click the Attach button 
within the compose window and follow
the step-by-step instructions within the window.
Within the main "compose" window, select the appropriate checkboxes to save a copy of the message to your sent folder, to add a signature or to request a read receipt.
Click the Spell Check button 
to review your message for
spelling errors.
If you would like to save the message and complete it at a later
time, click the Save a Draft button 
. The message will then be stored in
the "Drafts" folder within the folder list.
Click the Send button 
to send the message.
NOTE: By default, Sent messages do not get moved to the Sent folder in the Folders pane. To change the default setting, click on the Options tab, then click on Message Preferences and check the Save Sent Messages box so Send a copy of all messages to 'Sent' folder is checked.
To delete messages:
From the main e-mail window, place a checkmark beside the
messages 
that you wish to delete by clicking
in the checkbox.
After selecting all the messages you wish to delete, click the Delete
button 
on the toolbar.
NOTE: By default, deleted messages do not get moved to the Deleted folder in the Folders pane. To change the default setting, click on the Options tab, then click on Display Settings and change the Deleted Messages setting from Delete from system to Send to Deleted folder.
Any mail folders that you have created on the e-mail server can easily be accessed via webCentral. If webCentral does not display all your e-mail folders, you can gain access to by "subscribing" to them as follows:
Within the folder list on the E-mail tab, click the Subscribe link. A listing of all files and folders on the mail server will be displayed.
Click the "carrot' 
immediately to the left of a mail
folder to display subfolders if necessary.
Click each folder and subfolder you wish to subscribe too. (After selecting a mail folder, it should appear as an open file folder which means you have successfully subscribed to the folder.)
After each of the folders you wish to subscribe to, click the Done button in the lower right corner of the window.
The folders should now be displayed within your folder list.
To create a mail folder in webCentral e-mail:
Click the Add link within the folder list.
Enter a new folder name.
Click the icon for the mail folder where you want the new folder to reside. Click OK. Repeat to add additional folders.
Click on Done when you are finished.
The new folder appears in your folder list.
Select the Delete link within the folder list.
Select the folder you wish to delete and click OK.
When you have finished deleting folders, click on Done.
Outlook and webCentral
If you are using an IMAP Microsoft Outlook account in conjunction with webCentral, you will need to subscribe to any new folders that you created within webCentral in Outlook. To subscribe to the new folders you created within webCentral using Microsoft Outlook:
Open Microsoft Outlook and right-click on your mail(k).du.edu account, where "(k)" represents the first letter of your first name. (This account should be listed within the Outlook folder list if you have an IMAP account.)
Select IMAP Folders.
Select the All tab and click the Query button.
Locate and select the folder you created in webCentral and click on Subscribe.
Click OK.
The new folder should now be displayed within your folder list in Outlook and in webCentral.
To move messages between folders in webCentral
To move messages from folder to folder:
From the main e-mail window, place a checkmark beside those messages
that
you wish to move by clicking inside the checkbox.
Click the Move icon 
on the toolbar.
Select the folder you wish to move the message into and click OK.
Using your address book
To add frequently used addresses to your address book:
From the main e-mail window, select the Address Book tab 
located
at the top portion of your screen.
Click the New Contact button 
and input data for your new
contact.
Click OK when the data is complete.
To create a distribution list to e-mail a group of people:
Within the Address Book tab, select the New Group button 
.
Enter a name for the group.
Select the contacts that you wish to include in the group, by
selecting them from the list and clicking the Add member to group button
.
Click the Remove member from group button 
to remove an
individual from the list.
Click OK when you have added the contacts to the group.
To send a message to a distribution list (group) from your address book:
Within the address book, change the view to display the desired group by clicking the drop-down arrow beside the view box.
 |
After selecting the group you wish to e-mail, click the Email
Group button 
.
To send a message to the distribution list from within the "compose e-mail" window:
Within the "Compose e-mail" window, select the Address
button .
Select Group Name from the Search for drop-down menu 
.
Input the group name or a portion of that name to in the that
includes field 
and click the Search button 
. If you
are not sure of the exact name of the group, enter the portion (a fragment) of
the group name you are sure of and add an asterisk to the end, beginning (or
both) of your fragment.
Example:
If you were to search for the group Test, the following fragment would NOT
find the group Test
but, this fragment would find the group Test 
From the results listing, click To, Cc, Bcc as appropriate from
the Action column 
Click OK when you are finished adding groups (and/or individuals to the appropriate To, Cc, and Bcc fields.
Note: If your group includes a member whose DU e-mail address is no longer active, e-mail messages to the group may fail for all members. If this happens, check for group members that are no longer active staff, faculty or students at DU and remove their DU e-mail address from your group.
To edit a distribution list (group):
From the Address book tab, select the group you wish to edit by
clicking the drop-down arrow beside the View drop-down list 
.
Select the Edit Group button 
.
You can now add and delete contacts.
Click 
to add members to the group and click
to
remove members from the group.
Click OK when finished.
To delete a distribution list (group):
From the Address book tab, select the group you wish to edit by
clicking the drop-down arrow beside the View drop-down list .
Select the Edit Group button .
Click the Delete Group button 
.
Importing your address book from Microsoft Outlook
Addresses from Outlook can easily be converted into your webCentral address book. This process will not remove any contacts from your Outlook folders it creates an exported copy of your contacts that can be imported into webCentral. To export your contacts from Outlook, do the following:
Open Microsoft Outlook and go to your contacts folder.
Select File/Import and Export from the menu bar.
Select Export to a file and click Next.
Select Comma Separated Values (Windows) and click Next.
Select the contacts folder to export from and click Next.
Click the Browse button to locate a destination on your hard drive where you wish to save the file.
Click Next and Finish.
Return to the e-mail window of webCentral.
Select the Address Book tab.
Click the Import/Export button 
.
Follow the steps within the window to continue importing your contacts. (Exporting contacts is Step 1, so begin with Step 2.)
Importing your address book from Netscape
Address books from Netscape versions 4.x and 7.x can easily be exported into webCentral. If you are using Netscape 6.x and wish to export your address book, you must first upgrade your browser to version 7 and then follow the instructions below.
Importing your address book from Netscape 4.x
To export your address book from Netscape 4.x, do the following:
Access your Netscape 4.x address book.
Go to File and select Export.
Specify the location on your computer where you wish to save the file.
Enter a name for the file. Save the file as an .ldif file. (This is the default file type).
Return to the e-mail section of webCentral.
Select the Address book tab within the webCentral e-mail.
Click the Import/Export button .
Follow the steps within the window to continue importing your contacts. (You have already completed Step 1 within the dialog box, so begin with Step 2.)
You should get an Import Completed message if the import was successful.
Importing your address book from Netscape 7.x
To export your addresses from Netscape 7.x, do the following:
In your Netscape 7.X address book, highlight Personal Address Book.
Click on Tools and then select Export.
Select Comma Separated (*.csv) file type. When naming the file, make sure to manually type in the file extension .csv (addressbook.csv). Also note which directory you are saving your file in (such as the desktop or your hard drive).
Return to the e-mail section of webCentral.
Select the Address Book tab within the webCentral e-mail.
Click the Import/Export button .
When asked to select the program to be used, choose Netscape 4.x (even though you are using Netscape 7.x). Browse to the file location, double click on the file. Then click on Import Now.
You should get an Import Completed message if the import was successful.
WebCentral allows you to change several options within your
e-mail setup. Click the Options tab 
at the top portion of your e-mail
window. The options you can modify include:
Choosing how many contacts to display per page.
Forwarding messages to another account for off-line message management.
Setting up an auto-response.
Blocking addresses from which you do not wish to receive e-mail.
Display settings.
Filtering to sort incoming e-mail automatically into folders and also filtering out unwanted e-mail.
Message preferences such as saving a copy of set messages and requesting return receipts.
Retrieving e-mail from other IMAP accounts.
Creating a signature.
For further information regarding email features, click the
Help button 
in the top right corner of the dialog
box.
CALENDAR
The calendar feature allows you to access and manage your
schedules from anywhere you have Web access. You can create departmental
calendars, view one another's schedules and share calendars. To access the
calendar click the Calendar icon 
.
To change the views of your calendar:
Click the links to day, week, month and year within the window.
To create an appointment:
Click the Schedule New Appointment button 
within the appropriate
date.
Complete the information about the appointment and click on OK.
To delete an appointment:
Within the calendar, select the appointment you wish to delete by clicking the subject link within the appropriate date.
Click the Delete button 
in the lower left corner of the
window.
For further information regarding the calendar features,
click the Help button in the top right corner of the dialog
box. In addition, more information regarding the various calendar features is
covered in the "WebCentral Calendar & Groups" course. Visit http://www.du.edu/uts/training/ for
scheduled sessions. If you have a group of three or more in your office that
would like to share calendars, contact Jeff Derksen at 303 871-2104 to schedule
a session by appointment.
GROUPS
Groups can be used to facilitate communication and collaboration between work groups, committees, student organizations, etc. The Groups feature allows you join an existing group or request the creation of a new group. After joining a group you have easy access to a group home page containing news, articles, photo links, etc. Groups can be either public or restricted. Anyone can join a public group. To join a restricted group, users must request to join and group leaders must then accept or deny the membership requests.
To join an existing group:
Select the Groups icon 
.
Select the link to Groups Index tab 
.
Select a category to display a listing of all groups related to that particular category.
o
Restricted groups will be displayed with an orange icon beside
the group name. To join a restricted group, click the name of the group in the
groups list. In the resulting window, click the Join Group button 
. Read
through the group policies. In the appropriate box, type in why you wish to
join the group. Your request will be reviewed by the owner of the group. If approved,
you will receive an email message and the group you joined will be displayed in
the My Groups tab.
o
Public groups are displayed with a green icon beside the group
name. To join a public group, click the link to the group you wish to join. Read
through the group policies and check the boxes in the Required Information
section and click the Join Group button . The group will be
displayed in the My Groups tab.
Within the Community Groups home page, select the Request
Group tab 
at the top of the dialog box.
In the "Request Group" window, complete all required fields.
Click the Submit Request button.
You will be notified via e-mail when your group has been activated.
For further information regarding the functionality of the
community groups feature, click the Help button 
in the top right corner of
the dialog box. In addition, further information regarding this subject is
covered in the "WebCentral Calendars & Groups" course. Visit http://www.du.edu/uts/training/ for
scheduled sessions. If you are a group leader, contact Jeff Derksen at 303
871-2104 to schedule a session by appointment.
ADDITIONAL HELP
For further assistance with webCentral, click the Help button
located
in the top right corner of the screen. Select the desired category.
LOGGING OUT
After completing a webCentral session, remember to click
the Logout button 
to close the session. This will
ensure that your personal information is protected.
