We wish to make this page as useful to our users as possible. If you feel that there is anything missing which should be here, please contact us.

Where do I login?

Pupils

Login to the community site. The certification site is for assessors.
See: How do I create an account?

Assessors

Login to the community site if you wish to...

Use the forums, comment on student blogs, write a page, etc.

Login to the certification site if you wish to...

Enter pupil marks, request awards, print awards, find a pupil id or your assessor

id.

See: How do I get started as an assessor?

How do I contact you?

Click on "contact us" on the left side bar, or click here.

For assessors

How do I get started as an assessor?

If you are an assessor, these are the things you need to do to get started:

1. You should have a copy of the Assessor Handbook.
2. You'll need an account at the certification site. The Certification Site is a separate site where the actual certification is done. This is where you record marks for your pupils, request awards, print awards etc. To get an account at the certification site you will need to talk to the Principal Assessor at your school.
3. You'll also need an account on the community site. That is this site right here. This is were we support student learning. We provide blogs, forums and other features to assist learners. A student can make a series of web pages to build their e-Portfolio. Everyone is welcome to create an account on this site. See How do I create an account?
4. On the contact page, send a message to "Support" asking to set your account to "assessor". This will allow you to post comments on pupils' blogs. Please include your user name, your real name and your school.

How do I get an account at the certification site?

To get an account at the certification site you will need to talk to the Principal Assessor at your school.

How do I find my assessor id?

You can find your assessor id when you login to the certification site:

How do I find a pupil id?

You can find a pupil's id from the certification site under the Pupils section:

How do I get the handbook?

You can view the assessor handbook on-line.

Account management

How do I create an account on this site?

1. Click on Login in the Community pull down menu above.
2. Click on Create new account (top of the page).
3. Fill in the fields. Some notes about some of the fields:

   Email address

   Has to be a valid email address. We will not send you spam and we will not sell your address to anyone. But we need your email to send you a new password if you forget it.

   Full name

   Your name will not be visible to regular users. We need it to help locate your work so you can get your certificate.

   Pupil or assessor id

   Are you a pupil? Ask your assessor for your pupil id. Are you an assessor? You can obtain this information from the certification site (How do I find my assessor id?, How do I find a pupil id?).

   Academy

   Name of your academy as it is registered on our site. Ask your assessor. Assessors: You'll find this information when you login to the certification site, on the first page.

4. You need to accept the terms and conditions. Then you can click on "create new account".

You will receive an email with additional instructions, including how to login for the first time and setup a password.

How do I change my password?

If you lost your password, see How do I get a new password?. To change your password, click on "My account" on the right side-bar. Then click on "Edit" at the top of the page. Scroll to the password field. Enter your new password and submit.

How do I get a new password?

If you lost your password and need a new one, follow these steps:

1. Click on Login in the Community pull down menu above.
2. Click on Request new password.
3. Enter your user name or the email address you used to create your account.
4. Click on "Email new password".

The computer does not actually send you a new password. It sends you a link which you can use to login to your accout. You can only use this link to login once. As soon as you are logged in, change your password to something you'll remember (How do I change my password?).

How do I change my theme?

The Ingot site comes with several themes you can choose from. Click on "My account" on the right side-bar. Then click on "Edit" at the top of the page. Scroll down to the themes section. Select a theme and submit.

How do I disable the rich-text editor?

This site uses a "rich-text editor". It lets you create and edit HTML pages in an environment that feels similar to a word processor (How do I use the rich-text editor?).

The rich-text editor is enabled by default, if you wish to get raw html again then simply click either the "Source" button in the top left-corner OR cick the "disable rich-text" link underneath the text area.

Blogs

How do I start a blog?

A blog is composed of multiple "blog entries". Each blog entry is a separate page. A blog displays those pages starting from the most recent. To start a blog all you do is create your first blog entry (How do I create a new blog entry?).

How do I create a new blog entry?

To create a blog entry, first login to the site and then hove your mouse of "Learners" in the navigation above, in the pull down menu that appears select "Create" then choose "Blog Entry". Type in a title and the body text of the blog. Note:

• The title is only for this entry. This is not the title of the entire blog. The title for the entire blog will be something like "Joe's blog".
• You must provide a title and a body.

How do I view my blog?

On the right side-bar, click on "My Blog". This page lists all your blog entries in reverse chronological order (i.e. most recent first). If the blog entry is long you might only see the first paragraph or two. Click on the entry title to see the entire entry.

How do I edit or delete a blog entry?

On the right side-bar click on "My blog" to get a list of all your blog entries. Scroll down until you find the entry that you wish to edit or delete. Click on the title of the entry. This takes you to the page for that particular entry. Now you should see an "Edit" link at the top of the entry. Click on Edit. If you wish to make edits, make the changes and re-submit the page. If you wish to delete the entry, scroll to the bottom of the page and click Delete.

How do I find somebody's blog?

There are two ways you can find somebody's blog:

• Click on "blogs" on the right side-bar. Here you can see the blog entries from all users mixed together. You can scroll until you find an entry from the blog you are looking for.
• Use the search box in the navigation bar at the top of the page. You can search for text that appears on the contents of the blog or you can search for the person's user name if you know it.

How do I use the rich-text editor?

Navigate to the page you wish to edit and click on Edit.

The rich-text editor provides a user interface similar to a simple word processor. It has many of he standard buttons that you see in a word processor (bold , italic , lists , undo/redo , etc). But it also provides some functions that are geared toward HTML editing:

• Source Edit HTML code directly.
• Horizontal rule.
• , , Link, unlink, anchor.

The rich-text editor comes with its own help system. Look for the symbol to learn more about it. This is a third-party application called FCKEditor. You can visit its website.

e-Portfolios

How do I make an e-Portfolio?

This is the guidace for pupils to create an e-Portfolio.

I can create a new web page and make it available on the internet (1 mark)

First you need to create an account (How do I create an account?). A portfolio is basically a collection of web pages organised together. To create a new page hover your mouse over "Learners" in the menu bar above and a pull down menu will appear, then select "Create" and choose "Eportfolio". Type in a title and the body text of the page (you can change these later). Note that you must provide a title and a body.

I can make a heading in HTML (1 mark)

In HTML headings are marked with the tags <h1>, <h2>, ... down to <h6>. The top-level heading is <h1>. For example:

Section 1 Hello Section 1.1 Section 1.1.1

<h1>Section 1</h1> Hello <h2>Section 1.1</h2> <h3>Section 1.1.1</h3>

I can make links to other web pages using URLs (1 mark)

You make links with the <a> tag, like this:

		Please visit <a href=”http://theingots.org”>The INGOT</a> website.

The "href" attribute ("hypertext-reference") contains the Internet address you want to link to. You can link to another web page or to a file you uploaded. See How do I let people download a file?.

I can make a list in HTML (1 mark)

There are two kinds of lists in HTML. Ordered lists are used to list a sequence of items with a specific order. For example, a reciple for boiled eggs:

Put eggs in a pot with water. Boil for 5-10min. Remove from heat. Remove the egg shell. Enjoy.

<ol> <li>Put eggs in a pot with water.</li> <li>Boil for 5-10min.</li> <li>Remove from heat.<li> <li>Remove the egg shell.</li> <li>Enjoy.</li> </ol>

Unordered lists are for listing items that have no particular order. For example, the primary colours:

Red Green Blue

<ul> <li>Red</li> <li>Green</li> <li>Blue</li> </ul>

I can use the skills above to make an index page organised into sections (2 marks)

An index page helps the user find all the pages and documents on a web site. A good index page will use headings to organise the content into sections, and use a bullet point list of links. Each link points to a page that forms part of your e-Portfolio. For example:

		<h1>e-Porfolio Index Page</h1>
<h2>Silver Ingot Work</h2>
<ul>
  <li><a href="/community/blog/12">My Ingot blog</a></li>
  <li><a href="/community/node/342">My project proposal</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>My Art Work</h2>
<ul>
  <li><a href="/community/node/435">My paintings</a></li>
  <li><a href="/community/node/463">My final project</a></li>
</ul>

I can upload files to my web space and make a link so other people can download the file (2 marks)

See: How do I upload a file? and How do I let people download a file?

I can use the above skills to make an e-portfolio for my work and maintain it myself (5 marks)

You now have the basic skills your task is to put together an e-portfolio with an index page and several linked pages with at least two files of work uploaded you would like to present to others. It is best if these files are in formats that can be used without forcing the user to buy particular software. You can improve the appearance and interest of your portfolio by inserting pictures.

I can use image editing software to prepare images for use on the web (3 marks)

The GIMP is a free, top-quality image editing program. You can download it for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X at no cost. To learn how to use the GIMP, see the GIMP tutorials. A few things you might do often with GIMP include:

Change the image's format to JPEG or PNG

File > Save As. Change the file extension to .jpg or .png and click Save.

Change the image size (scale image)

Image > Scale Image. Set the new image dimensions and click OK.

Take a screenshot

File > Acquire > Screenshot

Cut out a portion of the image (crop image)

Click on the knife icon ("Crop"). Select a region of the image. To resize, click on one of the sides of the region. When you are satisfied, click on a corner to crop.

I can insert an image in HTML (1 mark)

First make sure you select an appropiate image size and file format.

File format

JPEG for photographs (.jpg) and PNG for drawings (.png). GIF is a popular but out-dated file format, use PNG instead. SVG is the standard for vector drawings, but not all browsers support it (e.g. Internet Explorer). Never use BMP. BMP files are 10 times bigger than the equivalent PNG and 20 times bigger than the equivalent JPEG.

Size

No image should exceed 200KB or 300 x 200 pixels (width x height) without a very good reason. Make your images smaller if possible. Use good judgement to pick the right size. Keep in mind that not everyone has a high-speed internet

connection.

At this point you should already know how to edit an image to get the file format an image size right. Lastly, you need to upload your image and put it on your page. See: How do I insert an image on a page?

How do I find my pages?

Some times you write a page and you lose the URL. There is an easy way to find all the pages you've created:

1. Go to "my account"
2. At the top of the page, next to the "Edit" link, you will see "My pages". Click on that.

This will give you a list of all the pages you have created, starting with the most recent.

How do I edit or delete a page?

Find the page you wish to edit (How do I find my pages?). Once you have arrived at the page you wish to edit, click on "Edit" at the top of the page. If you wish to make edits, make the changes and re-submit the page. If you wish to delete the entry, scroll to the bottom of the page and click Delete.

How do I write HTML?

W3Schools provides a good tutorial. What follows is an overview of a few of the tags that are used most often. You need to learn these tags as part of your e-Portfolio:

Pargraphs

The Ingot site creates paragraphs automatically, but usually when you write HTML you have to wrap your paragraphs around <p> tags. Like this:

		<p>This is a paragraph. A paragraph is made of many sentences.</p>

Headings

In HTML headings are marked with the tags <h1>, <h2>, ... down to <h6>. The top-level heading is <h1>. For example:

Section 1.1 Hello Section 1.1 Section 1.1.1

<h1>Section 1</h1> Hello <h2>Section 1.1</h2> <h3>Section 1.1.1</h3>

Images

You insert images with the <img> tag, like this:

		<img src="http://theingots.org/community/sites/default/files/uploads/u12/myPicture.png" alt="descriptive-text" />

The "src" attribute ("source") contains the Internet address where the image is located. Usually, that will be a file you have uploaded. Please see How do I insert an image on a page?.

The "alt" attribute is what will be displayed if the address specified in src cannot be found. It is also used by screen readers.

Links

You make links with the <a> tag, like this:

		Please visit <a href=”http://theingots.org”>The INGOT</a> website.

The "href" attribute ("hypertext-reference") contains the Internet address you want to link to. You can link to another web page or to a file you uploaded. See How do I let people download a file?.

Lists

There are two kinds of lists in HTML, "ordered" lists (numbers) and "unordered lists" (bullets): Ordered lists are for listing a sequence of items with a specific order. For example, a recipe for boiled eggs:

Put eggs in a pot with water. Boil for 5-10min. Remove from heat. Remove the egg shell. Enjoy.

<ol> <li>Put eggs in a pot with water.</li> <li>Boil for 5-10min.</li> <li>Remove from heat.<li> <li>Remove the egg shell.</li> <li>Enjoy.</li> </ol>

The <ol> stands for "ordered list" and the <li> stands for "list item". Unordered lists are for listing items that have no particular order. For example, the primary colours are:

Red Green Blue

<ul> <li>Red</li> <li>Green</li> <li>Blue</li> </ul>

The <ul> stands for "unordered list".

File management

How do I insert an image on a page?

1. Upload the image file.
2. Write down the file name (e.g. myPicture.png) and the name of your personal files directory. Go to the same page where you upload files. On the second part of the window you will see something like "Directory: files/uploads/u12".
3. Navigate to the page where you want people to download the file from.
4. If you are using the Rich-Text editor:
   1. Click on the "Insert Image" button . A pop-up appears. There are several options, but the only important one is "Image URL".
   2. Under image URL enter "http://theingots.org/community/" then the directory name followed by a "/" and the file name. Using the examples above the complete URL would be:
      http://theingots.org/community/sites/default/files/uploads/u12/myPicture.png
      OR alternatively click the "browse server" button and search for the file in your area. When you have found the image, highlight it by just single clicking the image and then click the "Send to FCKEditor" button in the top right corner.
   3. Click Insert.

   If you are writing HTML: Use the <a> tag like this:

   		<img src="http://theingots.org/community/files/uploads/u12/myPicture.png"/>
   

   Replace the part in bold with your directory and file name.

How do I let people download a file?

1. Upload the image file.
2. Write down the file name (e.g. myPicture.png) and the name of your personal files directory. Go to the same page where you upload files. On the second part of the window you will see something like "Directory: files/uploads/u12".
3. Navigate to the page where you want people to download the file from.
4. If you are using the Rich-Text editor:
   1. Type some text such as "click here to download my file".
   2. Highlight the text.
   3. Click on the "Insert Link" button A pop-up appears. There are several options, but the only important one is "Link URL".
   4. Under link URL enter "http://theingots.org/community/" then the directory name followed by a "/" and the file name. Using the examples above the complete URL would be:
      http://theingots.org/community/sites/default/files/uploads/u12/myPicture.png
   5. Click Insert.

   If you are writing HTML: Use the <a> tag like this:

   		<a href="http://theingots.org/community/files/uploads/u12/myPicture.png">
       Click here
   </a>
   

   Replace the part in bold with your directory and file name.

How do I upload a file?

Every user has a personal directory in which you can upload files. All your files are kept in that directory. To access your files, or upload new files, do the following:

1. After you log in, click on "My account" on the right side-bar.
2. Click on "Personal files" (at the top of the page).

Here you can see your personal files directory. From here you can upload files, delete old files and preview image files. To upload a file, click on Upload at the top, a new box will then appear, click on Browse, select a file and click on Upload. The upload takes one step, its simple, and all your files are in one place. To delete a file, click on the file you wish to delete and then click the word "delete" at the top of the page next t Upload. To preview a file, click on the file name. A preview appears on the second half of the window.

How do I add large files?

If you wish to include large files in your pages, please consider the following alternatives:

• You can upload movies to YouTube and large images to Flickr. These services are designed to hold large amounts of data.
• Instead of massive PowerPoint presentations, consider using a Google Apps account and making a link to your document. Google offers a free on-line presentation program.

Google Apps is free and it will run in any web browser so your audience does not need to buy MS Office or download special software to view your work. It's good to learn to be efficient with storing and using files and to learn to use the internet flexibly. If you are smart you don't need masses of space and all the tools you need are free on the internet.

How do I view my files?

How do I delete a file?

Forums

How do I post to a forum?

Click on the Forum link under the Community pull down menu above. You should be logged into the forum automaically. If you are not, you can login using the same user name and password you use for the main site. The forums are divided into several broad categories. Each has a short description explaiing what discussions belong there. Click on the category you are interested in. Forum discussions are divided into "topics". You can start a discussion about a new topic or you can post to an existing discussion topic.

Start a new topic

Above the list of topics, click on NEW TOPIC. Enter a subject and the body of your post. Every new topic must have a subject and a body.

Reply to a topic

Click on the topic you wish to reply to. Above the list of posts, you can click on REPLY. Another option is, if there is a particular post you wish to reply to, scroll to that post and click on Quote. This starts a new reply quoting the post you are replying to.

How do I send a private message?

You need to know the user name of the person you want to send a private message to. There are two options:

Option 1

Next to every post from that user you can find the button to send a private message. Some users also have the button to send an email (users can choose to make their email public or private).

Option 2

Click on MY MESSAGES (on the right). On the left of the page, click on New Message. Enter the user name of the person you wish to write to in the To line. If the user name has a space (e.g. "Joe Smith") you need to put it in quotes. You can write to several people at the same time. Just put their user names in the To line, separated by commas.

How do I check my private messages?

You can navigate to the forum and click on MY MESSAGES in the right side bar.

How do I hide/show my email from other users?

Privacy is important in the internet world. Hiding your email address is not only a good way to maintain some anonimity, but it is also a good way to avoid getting more spam. Your email address is hidden by default. Here we show you how to hide or show your email:

1. Click on PROFILE in the right side bar (under messages).
2. On the left side of the page, under the heading "Modify Profile", click on Account Related Settigns.
3. Scroll down to "Email". There is a checkbox that says "Hide email address from public?".

How do I change my avatar?

1. Click on PROFILE  in the right side bar (under messages).
2. On the left side of the page, under the heading "Modify Profile", click on Forum Profile Information.
3. Select "I will upload my own picture:". This opens a pop-up that lets you select the image file from your computer.