OWL-Space

The OWL-Space Guide

Resources Tool

New for '07-'08

Add and Actions Selection Boxes now replace the old Add and Actions links. To use them, simply mouse over the selection box. A list of choices will pop up, and you can click on the appropriate one. Moving the mouse away without clicking anything will make the selection choices disappear.

The Resources tool allows you to manage the storage space on your OWL-Space site. With it you can create folders, add files, create web links, create HTML pages, and create text files. You can also delete items, move items, copy and paste items, create duplicate items, edit links/HTML/text, edit the description and permission of all items, and change the order in which items appear in a folder. You can also set a number of properties for each item, including the time period that the item should be available, and who it is available to.

Along the top of the Resources tool are several tabs. Site Resources allows you to manage your resources for this OWL-Space site. Upload-Download Multiple Resources provides instructions on how to set up your computer to view your OWL-Space site resources as a folder on your computer, and manipulate its contents through your computer's file management interface. Permissions allows you to set what actions the different members of your OWL-Space site (students, TAs, etc.) are able to perform in the Resources tool (whether or not they can add files, delete files, etc.). Options can be used to set what kinds of resources can be added to your site using the Resources tool (folders, files, HTML, etc. - most of these are automatically selected and cannot be turned off).

The Site Resources tab is where you will spend most of your time in the Resources tool. At the top, Location shows which folder you are currently in, where the top level folder is named [Your OWL-Space Site] Resources, where [Your OWL-Space Site] is the name of your OWL-Space site. If you are in a subfolder, the full path from the top level will be shown. You can click on the name of any folder in the path to go straight to that folder, or click on the up arrow folder icon to the right to go to the parent folder of the current folder.

New for '07-'08

After choosing to add an item (new folder, file upload, etc.), you are taken to a page where you specify the details of the item you wish to add. There are several new functionalities to this page. First, the page defaults to show the minimum necessary details, so that files can be quickly added. To see more details, click on Add details for this item, which will expand the details available. Now you can type in a description of the file, select copyright status, choose who the item is available to, and choose when it should be available. Clicking on Hide details will collapse the view again, saving whatever you have entered. Second, clicking on the Add another ... link near the bottom of the page will allow you to create or upload another item at the same time. Now there are two items you can enter details for, and you can expand and collapse the view for each. You can add as many items as you wish, with the exception that when uploading files you may only upload 20MB worth at a time, and that creating new HTML and text files (as opposed to uploading) can only be done one at a time. To remove an item, click the red X to its right. When you are satisfied with your items and ready to upload or create, click on the button at the bottom of the page.

Below the location is a table of the contents of the current folder, showing the current folder at the top and its contents in the following rows. In this view, you can expand any folder with the + folder icon by clicking on the icon. You can collapse any folder with a - folder icon by clicking on the icon. Clicking on a name of a folder takes you to that folder. Clicking on the name of a non-folder resource (a file, link, etc.) opens that resource, just like clicking on a file link in your web browser.

In the header bar of the table, the first icon all the way to the left allows you to expand or collapse all folders by clicking on it. Clicking on the header labels (Title, Created By, Modified, Size) allows you to sort the folder contents in ascending or descending order by that field. An icon indicates which field the table is currently sorted by, and whether it is ascending or descending. Clicking the name with the icon will reverse the sort order, and clicking a different name will change that field to the sorting field.

The check boxes on the left allow you to Copy, Remove, or Move several items at once. You can select one or more items by checking the boxes next to their names, or select all items by checking the box in the header row. Once a box is checked, one or more of the three links above the header row - Copy | Remove | Move - will become active. Clicking on one will perform that action on all of the selected items. Moving or copying multiple items will move or copy them all to a single location. When something is being moved or copied, clipboard icons will appear next to folders you can copy the item(s) to. Clicking the clipboard icon will move or copy the selected item(s) into that folder. Removing an item will bring up a confirmation page before the item is actually deleted. A non-empty directory can't be deleted if it is the only thing selected, but if any other item is selected (including one inside the directory) it can be. A warning that the directory is not empty will appear on the confirmation page.

In the table footer is an icon and link, Show other sites. Clicking on this will expand the table to include the Resources folder from all other OWL-Space sites you have access to. This facilitates sharing your resources between your different sites. Note that when you enter folders in a different OWL-Space site, your location path will show both where you started from and where you currently are. So if you are in your MATH 101 site, expand the Show other sites view, and click on the Projects folder in your MATH 300 site, the location bar will show: MATH 101 Resources / MATH 300 Resources / Projects. You are still within the MATH 101 site, and clicking any links in the left-hand menu bar will take you to the tools for MATH 101.

New for '07-'08

When adding an item to the site resources, you can now specify the time period an item should be available for. Click on Add details for this time to expand the details view. Here you can choose to either show or hide the item. With Show selected, you can also choose the times the item will be shown. You may set a start date, and end date, or both. Check From and enter a time and date to set the start date. Check Until and enter a time and date to set the end date. If neither start or end is set (the default option), this resource will be visible as soon as you upload it, and will always be visible (unless you later change that option). If only a start date is set, then the resource will be hidden until that time, and from then on it will be visible. If only an end date is set, then the resource will be immediately visible as soon as it is uploaded/created, and will become hidden when the end time is reached. If both start and end are set, then the resource will only be visible between the two times, and will be hidden before and after that time period.

To manage your resources, there is an Actions selection box next to every item in the table. Additionally, all folders also have an Add selection box next to them. Mousing over a selection box will bring up a list of options for that item. Clicking on an option will perform that action.

The Actions selection box will bring up several different options, depending on the item in question. Copy prepares to copy the item to a new folder. When something is ready to be copied, a clipboard icon will appear next to all folders the item can be copied into. Click on the clipboard icon next to the folder where you want to place the new copy.

Edit Details allows you to change the options for this item that were selected when it was created or uploaded. You can change the description, who can view it and when, and the email notification options.

Edit Content allows you to directly edit text and HTML files in your Resources through the OWL-Space interface.

Upload New Version allows you to upload a new version (or a different file altogether) to replace an existing file. The name and details entered into the Resources tool stay the same for this file.

New for '07-'08

Copying and moving items now displays a clipboard icon next to folders where an item can be copied or moved, instead of a Paste/Move Item Here link. Clicking on the icon will copy or move the item into the folder in question.

Move works similar to Copy, except that the file is removed from its original location, and now only exists in the new location.

Duplicate creates a file named Copy of ... that is otherwise an exact copy of the file being duplicated. The copy is created in the same location as the original.

Remove permanently deletes a file or folder. You will be taken to a confirmation page before the item is actually deleted. Only empty folders can be removed in this way.

Edit Folder Permissions allows you to specify what actions different members (students, TAs, etc.) of your OWL-Space site are able to take on items within the folder in question.

New for '07-'08

You can now reorder the contents of any folder in the Resources tool. Simply mouse over the Actions selection box for the folder and choose Reorder. A new page will open showing all the items in the folder, with arrows to the left of their names. Click on the up arrow to move an item up, and the down arrow to move an item down. You can also use the Position selection boxes on the right hand side to reorder items. In the box, choose number corresponding to the position you want the item to have (1 for first, 2 for second, etc.). When you are done, press the save button at the bottom of the page. This will save your changes and return you to the main page of the Resources tool.

Reorder allows you to change the order of items within the folder in question. Clicking on Reorder will take you to a new page showing the contents of the folder. Each item has an up and/or down arrow to the left of its name. Clicking the arrows will move an item up or down in the order. There are also selection boxes on the right hand side which can be used to select the items position (first, second, third...) within the folder.