- Where is the phone and email search link?
- Is there a Google search link?
- Why do I need to log in to access The Portal?
- Why do I need to log in twice to access The Portal?
- When I try to log in to the Portal, I get the message 'An error occurred. Contact the System Administrator'
- When I try to log in to the Portal, I get a 'Reconcile External Account' error message
- What is an organisation?
- Can I set up an organisation?
- What can I do with an organisation?
- Can I access e:Vision through The Portal?
- Which browsers and operating systems are supported for viewing The Portal?
- What should I do if I have a problem accessing or using The Portal?
- I use Safari on a Mac. Can I stop the prompts asking me to trust a certificate?
- I use Firefox, can it be configured to work with Single Sign On?
- I don't use much of the information on the Portal. Is there any way I can 'shrink' the amount of information I see?
- In Internet Explorer I keep getting a security warning 'Do you want to view only the webpage content that was delivered securely'

Q. Where is the phone and email search link?
A. You can search for UEA phone numbers and email addresses using the Search Box at the top of the Portal on the right. Select 'UEA People' the dropdown list, enter the surname or phone extension of the person in the text box, then click Search. If the search doesn't produce the answer you wanted, you can use the Advanced Search link displayed at the bottom, which takes you to a page where you can refine your search.

Q. Is there Google search link?
A. No. Google and Bing are readily available as search boxes at the top of your browser, so we haven't included them as Portal functionality. You can, however search for items on the UEA website, or in the UEA Library, by selecting the appropriate dropdown next to the Search Box at the top of the Portal on the right.

Q. Why do I need to log in to access The Portal?
A. Two reasons.

• You need to tell The Portal who you are, so it knows which modules or organisations you are enrolled on, and therefore which links and portlets to display for you.
• To make sure that Portal access is restricted to people who have a UEA username and password.
  

But you will only be prompted to log in if you are using your own computer, or if you are outside the UEA network. If you are using a UEA desktop computer at UEA (for example in the IT areas, and most staff offices), you log into the computer when you switch it on or unlock it, and that's it.There's no need to login again to access the Portal, because the system is specially set up to remember who you are for 10 hours. If you run a UEA desktop computer for more than 10 hours, you will need to log off and then log back in again (or lock and then unlock your machine) to remind the system who you are.

Q. Why do I need to login twice to access The Portal?
A. You are using Internet Explorer and your machine is not in the UEA domain. Arrange with IT support to have your machine put in the UEA domain, and you won't need to login to access The Portal. Alternatively, you can reconfigure Internet Explorer, but this will still require you to login to access The Portal. To reconfigure Internet Explorer, go to Tools > Internet Options > Advanced tab, and within the Security settings, clear the tick against "Enable Windows Integrated Authentication".

Q. When I try to login to the Portal, I get the message 'An error occurred. Contact the System Administrator'
A. If you get a big red bar saying "Error. An error occurred. Contact the System Administrator" , you need to check:

• Are you using the correct username or password? Remember that both are case-sensitive.
• If you have a new IT account, did you change the password from the default you were given?
• Updates to the list of people who are entitled to access the Portal happen overnight. So if you have just been given a new UEA username and password, you will not be able to log in to the Portal until the following day.
  

Q. When I try to login to the Portal, I get a 'Reconcile External Account' error
A. This error means that the Portal's information about your logon details is different from that held in the central UEA Active Directory. There are a number of reasons why this might have happened, and there is a checklist so you can work out how you can resolve your logon problem.

Q. What is an organisation?
A. In The Portal, an organisation is a group of users with something in common, such as being all members of a research group, or serving on a committee. Organisations can have announcements, shared document stores, forums, blogs and wikis - all the same features that are available in the Blackboard Learning System modules. In fact, Organisations look just like Blackboard modules.
If you are enrolled on any Orgnaisations, they will be listed on your Faculty tab under 'My Groups'. For more information about these features, see the Blackboard support site at http://www.uea.ac.uk/is/ithelpdesk/bb_support. 

Q. Can I set up an organisation?
A. Yes, you can set up an organisation for any University purpose - work-related, shared interests, or social activities. Contact the IT Helpdesk to request an organisation to be created. In The Portal, organisations are also referred to as 'UEA Groups'.

Q. What can I do with an organisation?
A. Organisations present a wide range of features to their members. Here are a few:

• send announcements, displayed on the portal page when the organisation members login
• send email to all members
• share links to external web pages
• share documents
• manage discussion forums

For more information, see the Blackboard support site at http://www.uea.ac.uk/blackboardupgrade. The facilities available for modules in the Blackboard Learning System are the same as those for organisations.

Q. Can I access e:Vision through The Portal?
A. Yes, a link to e:Vision is available on the Academic tab under 'Student Records'. Click on the appropriate view.

Q. Which browsers are supported for viewing The Portal?
A. There are details of most common Browser/Operating system combinations supported by Blackboard here

Q. What should I do if I have a problem accessing or using The Portal?
A. If you experience any problems with The Portal, report them to the IT Helpdesk. They may ask you for some the following information, so it would be useful to have that to hand before you contact them:

• Operating System including version (e.g. Windows XP, MacOS X 10.4.0)
• Web Browser including version (e.g. Internet Explorer 6.0.2900.2180)
• Is the computer you are using at UEA or somewhere else (e.g. home)?
• If at UEA, is your computer in the Active Directory (i.e. do you login to windows with your UEA username and password)?
• What URL are you using (e.g. https://portal.uea.ac.uk/)?
• What username are you using?
• Describe what happens when you access the URL: what messages (please reproduce exact message or get screen grab) do you see etc.
• Give the date and time of the problem (as displayed on your PC). This helps us locate any entries in the system logs
• Give the IP address of your PC. (Find out your IP address)  
• If you see errors or have page rendering problems, could you supply a screenshot. (In Windows: press [Ctrl] + [PrintScreen] to capture the image, and then paste it into document).

Q. I use Safari on a Mac. Can I stop the prompts asking me to trust a certificate?
A. Yes. You will get certification messages from Janet when entering the editor in Blackboard. Janet is the certification authority we use in Blackboard for the Java applets. If you Trust the certificate, then for that session you'll be able to run Java apps in Blackboard. However, the next time you run a session, you'll be prompted again. To get Safari to remember that you always want to trust the certificate, you need to 'Show Certificate', then under Trust settings, set to 'Always trust'.

Q. I use Firefox, can it be configured to work with Single Sign On?
A. The standard supported browser is IE6. Firefox can be configured to work with Single Sign On so that once you have logged on to the network, you do not need to login again to access The Portal. Follow this advice on the Vintela web site at http://rc.quest.com/topics/mod_auth_vas/howto.php#mozilla and enter 'uea.ac.uk' for the network.negotiate-auth.trusted-uris setting.

Q. I don't use much of the information on the Portal. Is there any way I can 'shrink' the amount of information I see?
Use the My Stuff tab. By clicking on the Add Portlet and Personalise page links at the top of the tab, you can select just the portlets (boxes) you want. On the My Stuff tab you can also minimise portlets so they take up less room on your screen until you need them.

Q. In Internet Explorer I keep getting a security warning 'Do you want to view only the webpage content that was delivered securely'
A. Sometimes content has been linked from the Portal in a way which Internet Explorer deems a security risk, because you are moving from the secure https environment (the Portal) to the regular http world. The risk which IE identifies is extremely minimal, but unfortunately there’s no way to easily switch off this behaviour for UEA users. Counter-intuitively, you need to click No to this prompt to view all the content.
Alternatively, if it is prompting you after you have just clicked on a Portal link, you can go Ctrl-click on the link instead to launch the link in a new tab, and then the warning prompt is not displayed at all. 

Contact:

IT Helpdesk: extension 2345 (external callers: 01603 592345),  Contact Helpdesk