Day: July 21, 2009

Moodle Upgrade August 17-18

A software upgrade for the Institute course management system: Moodle, accessible online at http://elearning.miis.edu is scheduled for mid-August.

This upgrade will bring the site software up to date and help resolve authentication protocols with the Middlebury network as we continue to align systems with Exchange and Bannerweb.

Our goal is to make this process as minimally disruptive to students, faculty, and staff as possible.

Please mark your calendars for the upgrade currently set for August 17th & 18th. The Moodle server will be down for these two days.

A notice about site maintenance schedule will be prominently posted on the Moodle homepage, and reminders will be sent out as we approach the upgrade dates.

If you have any specific concerns or course conflicts with the upgrade schedule, please contact Bob Cole (TLC) or John Grunder (ITS).

Go! … or how to shorten those messy urls

Ever want to take that long URL from our website and make it something nice, short and simple?  Well…now you can!  Welcome to GO! (Clicking this link will take you to a Middlebury authentication page, where you should enter your exchange username and password, and then you will get to the main GO page.)

Go is a service provided by Middlebury that will take a long URL and make it nice and short (like tinyURL or bit.ly).  For example, the MIIS facebook URL used to be five lines long but is now: http://go.miis.edu/facebook.  Anyone with an exchange account can login to this system and create their own shortened URL.

Why should you care?

  • Shortened URLs are pretty.  All URLs will be http://go.miis.edu/”your chosen shortcut”.
  • From computers on campus you just have to type go.miis.edu/bannerweb and it will magically take you to bannerweb.  Short is quick.
  • URLs change – go URLs can be updated/modified. The URL you publish can remain the same, while the longer “real” URL changes in the background.

Many URLs will be changing during the website redesign process.  Before you send out a mass communication that includes a URL, think to yourself:

  • Will the recipient need this URL after September 1st?
  • Will this URL likely change?

If the answer is yes to both question – it is probably in your best interest to make a go URL and simply update it when the new website is unveiled. Confused?  If you have any questions or concerns about URLs and the new website, please contact any member of the web strategy team. They can help you think through whether or not you need a go URL, and walk you through the process.

Web-in