Contents
1. Introduction
2. Configuration manager
2.1 S@S options
2.2 Working environment
2.3 Personal settings
2.4 Users
2.5 Teachers
2.6 Pupils
2.7 Projects
2.8 Alerts
The Configuration manager's main functions are:
- Managing the options of the Content Management System (CMS), i.e. the basics of Site@School (themes, website title, email, etc.).
- Managing the working environment (language, date format etc).
- Managing your personal settings (name, email, editor, etc.).
- Managing users, teachers, classes and pupils.
- Create projects in which pupils share and have access to multiple project pages.
- Managing the sending of email alerts when something changes on the site.
NOTICE: We strongly advise you to read the instructions in the installation manual
4. Building your site about the order of adding teachers, classes and pupils.
NOTICE: We strongly advise you to read the subsection 'file permissions' in 'Working Environment'. This subject greatly affects Site@School's security.
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By clicking on the configuration icon  
, you see the main configuration window:
![[ Configuration Manager opening]](pics/confman_open.png)
confman_open.png
We will discuss these eight functions in detail below.
By clicking on the S@S Options icon, the options window opens:

confman_options.jpg
Explanation:
- Theme: Site@School is installed with a couple of basic themes. A 'theme' defines the standard elements of your site. By clicking on the dropdown menu you can select the predefined themes. You can click on one of them and go to [12] to save the setting.
When you reload the site http://www.yourschool.org (a fictional URL), you can see the new theme.
Some themes are editable. In that case the 'Edit CSS' button appears. By clicking the button you open the edit function. This is for experienced users.
It is also possible to create your own theme. Consult the 'Template editor module' chapter for further details on how to make a beautiful template for your site without using complicated stuff like HTML tags or PHP code.
When you want to use HTML and PHP for the design of your special template, consult the 'Creating templates' chapter for further details.
NOTICE: When choosing and saving some templates, you will see an 'Edit CSS' button appear:

confman_options_css.png
With the 'Edit CSS' button you can edit the style sheet. This option is for experienced users. Consult the 'Tips and tricks' chapter for a detailed explanation.
- Theme protected area: Here you can define the theme for the protected area. The protected area is only accessible for teachers. Giving the 'Protected area'
a different theme prevents errors (for example, putting 'teachers only' material on your publicly accessible school site). Also here you are completely free to make a 'Protected area' site based on your design. For further details see above.
- Website title: Here you define the site's title. It can be the name of your school, or something else. When you have made your own template (see 'Creating templates'), this option can also be used.
- Site email address: Many modules send mail, for example, the alerts, the email module , the formsbuilder module, etc.
These emails need one 'From:' address. During the installation of Site@School the email address of the first user is put in here and it is the same address as the newsletter module owner has. You can specify another address.
NOTICE: Many mail servers have built in spam prevention facilities. These servers do not accept mail from server 'yourschool.org' with a 'From:' address like 'john@anotheraddress.org'. When this is the case, sending mail will result in delivery failures.
Choose the email address carefully and check if it's functioning without failure notifications.
- Email address administrator (Newsletter): The newsletter module has a module owner. The owner is determined by her email address. Here you can change the address of the module owner. When you change the address here, it is also changed in the 'Newsletter module' > 'Configuration' and vice versa. See also the 'Newsletter module'.
- Start section: The first section a visitor will see when going to http://www.yourschool.org/index.php (a fictional URL). Remember the sections:
confman_options_startsection.png
In the 'start section' you define which section will be the first one visible.
- Security code: Site@School uses sessions as security method. For security with sessions a session entry is kept on the server.
See also 'Working environment' under 2, 'Security method'.
- URL location of Site@School: Here you define the URL (Universal Resource Locator) of your site, i.e. http://www.yourschool.org (a fictional URL).
NOTICE: When you have a site with a location other than the root location (see also below), do not forget to add the directory after the URL. For example, when you have a site under the directory '/cms1', the URL location should be: http://yourschool.org/cms1.
- Location on web server: On Linux servers it can be the document root, like /home/httpd/html/, or /var/www/. On Windows system it can be a path like: C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache\htdocs\.
NOTICE: See also the next item.
- Location of Site@School directory: Here you specify the location of the directory of Site@School. e.g. starnet.
When you have more S@S's or want a preceding directory, it can be something like: cms2/starnet.
NOTICE: No leading slash and no trailing slash!
NOTICE: See also the previous item.
- Cancel: To cancel your work and go back to the previous page.
- Save: To save your work and go back to the previous page.
Your working environment defines the language, security method and the date format. When you click on Working environment, you open its window:

confman_environment.png
Explanation:
- Language: When you click on the dropdown menu you can see the available languages. By selecting a language, saving and reloading Site@School in your browser, the new language will be available.
See 'Supported languages' for supported languages. You can help your country's primary school pupils by translating the Site@School language file in another language (see the 'Translate' section in the 'Tools' chapter).
- Date format: Different countries use different date notations. Some use the DD-MM-YYYY format, while others use MM-DD-YYYY. At this place you can change the date format by retyping exactly what is written at the right side of the box:
%d-%m-%Y renders: 22-03-2003
%m-%d-%Y renders: 03-22-2003
Do not make mistakes in the characters and/or upper- and lowercase!
- Number of lines for editor: This number defines the height of the text and image input field of the page editor.
- Number of Pupils pages: You can specify how many pages pupils can have. The maximum is 99. This is not advisable.
- Directory permissions: This option is only valid for Linux users.
In several places (file manager, allbum, download module) you can create directories. Here you can specify the directory permissions.
The dropdown menu gives the following possibilities: 0700, 0750, 0755, 0770, 0777.
The first setting (0700) is very secure; the last one (0777) very insecure.
Depending on whether you have your own server or one located at an ISP and ownership of directories the directories will be accessible. See the section Installation chapter for details.
- Cancel: To cancel your work and go back to the previous page.
- Save: To save your work and go back to the previous page.
In the Personal settings you can give your name and email address, and other personal options.
By clicking on Personal settings, you will see:

confman_personal.png
Explanation:
- Full name: Put your first and last name here.
- Email address: Please fill in a correct email address. This address is used in the system when a pupil has changed her/his personal page.
Only one email address can be used in this field.
- User name: Here you can put on any name as long as it's not already in use by another user. If this is the case, you get a popup window with a warning message.
- Password: Put in a password that's easy to remember for you but difficult for another person to guess.
- Page editor: Here you can choose an editor to use for editing your pages. At this moment, three editors are supported.
We advise you to use the FCK editor.
- High visibility mode: Enabling this mode makes the characters large and replaces some icons with their verbal abbreviated equivalents.
- Cancel: To cancel your work and go back to the previous page.
- Save: To save your work and go back to the previous page.
Here you can add users to the Site@School CMS. Users are individuals who can add, remove and change various elements in the CMS. Users of S@S can have different access rights to perform actions.
By clicking on the Users icon you enter the 'Users' section:

confman_users.jpg
Explanation:
- Delete icon: Click on the icon to delete a user.
- Edit icon: Click on the icon and/or the name to edit the user's data.
- User names: Here the names of the users are displayed. When you click on a name the personal details are displayed (see next image).
- New user: By clicking on it you enter the next window (see next image).
A 'user' is someone that can change many aspects of the website. Her/his possibilities to do so are also manageable.
- Copy user: Click on it and you can choose which user you want to copy.

confman_users_copy_user.png
It's time saving and error preventing to copy the access rights of an existing user to a new user. It is possible to make a reference user and use her access profile for other users.
- Go back: To go back to the previous page.
When you click on [4] 'New user' in the previous 'Users' window, you can add a new user:


confman_users_add_user_1.png + confman_users_add_user2.png
Explanation:
- Full name: Fill in your full name. When a full primary school uses the system, it's likely that there already exists a 'Mary'.
- User name: Here you can put on any name as long as it's not already in use by a user. You get a popup window with a warning message.
- Password: Put in a password that is difficult for others to guess but easy for you to remember.
- Email address: The email address is used for example, to notify you when a student has modified her personal page or when you are using the newsletter module. Only one address can be put into this field.
- Page editor: Here you can choose an editor to use for editing your pages. At this moment, two WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editors are available and one plain HTML editor. We advise you
to use the KCK editor.
- High visibility mode: When you enable this mode the characters in the system will be enlarged.
- Section (e.g. 1,2,P1): When the input field is empty, the user has access rights to all sections. When you put section numbers (see the 'Page manager' chapter) in the input field, the user has access to those sections. Separate sections with a comma and put a 'P' (omit the quotes) before a section number for the Protected Area (the intranet for teachers). For example: 1,3,4,P1,P2
- Access rights: The access rights in S@S are managed in the 'Unix' style. That is, when a user is created, she has no access rights (except the 'super user'). Everyone else has to be given rights explicitly.
When S@S is installed on your server, only one user is made. She/he can login into S@S Management and add users. It's possible to give these users various rights to parts of the S@S Management system.
When you want to stay 'superuser', you add users, give or deny them rights, and finally, deny them the right to go to 'Users'. In that way they have no access to 'Users' and cannot change their rights, nor can they add/remove users.
There are several places where users can actually do great damage to the system, for example the 'string replacement tool' and the newsletter module.
The remainder of the rights are self explanatory. For most users (pupils, parents, teachers, etc.) who do daily management and maintenance tasks, only section- and file management will be sufficient. The rights to the modules can be given to others. For example, a pupil can manage the guestbook.
The rights for the string replacement tool should be set to 'No' for everyone. It's a dangerous tool. See the documentation in this chapter.
NOTICES:
1. New users that are added to S@S have no rights at all! You have to explicitly give them rights.
2. When adding new modules to S@S their access rights are set to 'no' for everyone, including the 'super user'.
- Installed modules: Same as above.
- Cancel: To cancel your entries and go back to the previous page.
- Save: To save your work and return to the previous page.
NOTICE: When you want teachers or pupils also to be users, add them first as teacher or pupil. It is not possible to make users teachers or pupils.
Here you can create teachers. Teachers belong to classes and can preview and approve/disapprove and delete pupils' pages.
They can do this in Site@School by working in the Pupils Pages Module or on the school site itself (see Pupil's page module).
Clicking the 'Teachers' icon reveals:

confman_teachers.png
Explanation:
- Teachers: The default opening of the teachers, you will see a list of teachers.
- Import: The import link brings you to the import function. Teachers can be
imported from a FRL (Fixed Record Length) file format or from a CSV (Comma Separated Value) file.
The import procedure is copied from the Janitor program that is part of the ServerAtSchool project (Courtesy of Mr. P. Fokker).
For further reference to this project, see its homepage at http://serveratschool.org/.
The import function is discussed in chapter Importing teachers or pupils.
- Delete icon: By clicking on this icon you can delete a teacher.
- Edit icon: By clicking on this icon you can edit the teacher's data.
- Teachers: Here the names of the teachers are displayed.
- Username: The username of the teacher.
- Email address: The email address of the teacher.
- Class: The class or classes of the teacher.
- Projects: The project(s) of the teacher.
- New teacher: By clicking on it you enter the next window (see below).
- New teacher already user: You can copy a user to also become a teacher with a class by selecting her/him from a list.
Click on the 'New teacher' link. You will see:

confman_user_made_teacher.png
Select the user and the class from the dropdown menus and click on 'Save' to copy the user and make her a teacher.
- Go back: To go back to the previous page.
When you have clicked on [10] 'New teacher' a window opens where you can put in the teacher's data:
confman_teachers_new_teacher.png
Explanation:
- Full name: Please fill in the teacher's first and last name. When a full primary school uses the system, it's likely that there exists already a 'Mary'. In many places in Site@School you will find your name.
- User name: Here you can put on any name as long as it's not already in use. If so, you get a popup window with a warning message.
- Password: Put in a password that is difficult for others but easy for you.
- Email address: The email address is used for example, to notify you when a student has changed her/his page. Only one address can be put in this field.
- Class: Here you attach a teacher to a class or more than one class by clicking the checkbox(s) of a class.
- Project: Select a project or projects by clicking the checkbox(s) of a project.
- Is teacher also a S@S user: (Y/N)?: Here you can make a teacher a member of the users group. When choosing 'yes' the teacher has user rights. Go to the 'Users' part of the configuration manager to give the teacher rights to the different parts of S@S.
NOTICE: Teachers (and pupils) can be made users. Users cannot become teachers or pupils. When you plan to make teachers users, do not add them in 'Users'.
- Cancel: To cancel your entries and go back to the previous page.
- Save: To save your work and return to the previous page.
NOTICE: When adding teachers, pupils and classes, please use this order to prevent problems:
- Make the classes.
- Add the teachers, giving them their classes.
- Add pupils to the classes.
- Give the pupils their pages
In this section you can create or delete classes and pupils, move classes and move pupils to other classes.
When you click on the 'Pupils' icon in the configuration manager, the 'Pupils' window opens:

confman_pupils.png
Explanation:
- Class: The default opening of the pupils section. You will see the classes.
- Pupils: Clicking on the 'Pupils' link shows all pupils of all classes in alphabetical order,
as well as their classes and the projects they are a member of:

confman_pupils_pupils.png
- Import: The import link brings you to the import function. Pupils can be
imported from a FRL (Fixed Record Length) file format or from a CSV (Comma Separated Value) file.
The import procedure is copied from the Janitor program that is part of the ServerAtSchool project (Courtesy of Mr. P. Fokker).
For further reference to this project, see its homepage at http://serveratschool.org/.
The import function is discussed in chapter Importing teachers or pupils.
- Delete icon: The icons to delete pupils and/or classes (or groups as they are called in Holland).
When a class is not empty (i.e. there are still pupils in the class or group), you cannot delete a class.
NOTICE: When you have deleted a pupil in the Configuration > Pupil section, you also have to delete his/her page in the 'Filemanager' .
- Edit icon: By clicking on it, you will see:

confman_pupils_edit_class.png
- Class name: Rename the class.
- Go back: To return to the previous screen.
- Save: To save your changes.
- Class name: The row with the names of the classes/groups. By clicking on the name the pupils in the class become visible.
- New class: By clicking on 'new class' you add a new class which you can populate with students.
NOTICE: First make classes, then give the teacher the class and next, add pupils to the class.

confman_pupils_new_class.png
Enter the name of the new class.
- New pupil: Click here to add a new pupill:

confman_pupils_new_pupil.png
Explanation:
- Full name: please fill in the pupil's full name. When a full primary school uses the system, it's likely that there exists already a 'Mary'. In many places in Site@School you will find your name.
- User name: Here you can put on any name as long as it's not already in use by a pupil. You get a warning message when the name already exists.
- Password: Put in a password that is difficult for others but easy for the pupil.
- Email address: Same as above. The email address is used as the reply address when the teacher wants to reply easily to the automatic email send by the system when a pupil has modified her/his personal page and the option 'require approval' is set to 'on' when a pupil is added to a class. Only one address can be entered in this field.
- Class: Here you attach a pupil to a class/group.
By clicking on the arrow the dropdown menu opens and you will see the classes.
Choose the class.
- Project: You can make the pupil a member of a project by clicking the checkbox(s) of the project.
- Is pupil also a S@S user (Y/N)?: Here you can make a pupil a member of the users group.
When choosing 'yes' the pupil has user rights. Go to the 'users' part of the configuration manager to give the pupil rights to the different parts of S@S.
NOTICE: It is not possible to make a user a pupil.
- Pupil page not yet created!. This means you have to go the 'Module manager > Pupil's page module and click on:
[Create page] - Pupil Name.
Only then the page is available to the pupil.
- Directory name on pupil page: new: you can also see that the pupil's page is not yet created.
Create the student page by going > Module manager > Pupils page > Pupil Name, and click on [Create page].
When you now check [7], you will will see:

confman_pupils_new_pupil_pages_created.png
- 7a Check pupil's pages (Y/N)?: By putting the radio button on 'Yes',
every time a pupil changes something on his/her page, the teacher must check the page and approve/disapprove or delete the page.
- 7b Send email (Y/N)?: Choose 'Yes' to send an email to the teacher every time something is changed on the pupil's page.
- 8. Directory name of pupil's page: The number indicates the directory in the ../starnet/studentpages/ directory.
- Go back: to cancel your entries and go back to the previous page.
- Save: to save your work and return to the previous page.
- Go back: To return to the previous screen.
When you want more pupils to work on the same pages, you can create 'projects'.
To create a project and add pupils and a teacher to it, do as follows:
Click on the 'Projects' icon. you will see:

confman_projects_open.png
Click on 'New project'. You will see:

confman_projects_new_project.png
Explanation:
- Project: The name of the project.
- Check pupils pages (Y/N)?: When set to 'No', pupils can publish or change pages without being checked. When set to 'Yes', the page cannot be published by the pupil without approval by the teacher. This can be done when the teacher logs in on the site or in the 'Class pages' module.
- Send email (Y/N??: When set to 'Yes', an email alert is send to the teacher when a pupil edits or changes a page. When set to 'No', no email is sent.
NOTICE: The email is only sent once a day to prevent the teachers email box is being flooded with mails.
- Give the number of project pages you want to create: Give the number, more pages can be added in the 'Class pages' module at a later time.
- Go back: To cancel your work and return to the previous page.
- Save: To save your work and return to the previous page.
Enter a project name and click on the 'Save' button to save the name.
Now you will see:

confman_projects_new_project_added.png
The 'Water pollution' project is added.
Now you can go to the pupils and add the pupils and go to the teacher's page and give the project a teacher.
NOTICE: In version 2.3 of S@S it's only possible for a teacher and a pupil to be a member of one project.
Projects
When a project page is already in use by pupil and another pupil wants to access that page, he gets the following message:

confman_pupils_pae_in_use.jpg
When the pupil that edits the page closes it by saving or logging out, other project members can access the page. When the pupil closes her computer, without saving the page, the page becomes available when the session for that page has expired.
Whenever something changes on the site, it's possible to alert people via email.
To keep the number of alerts to a minimum, only one alert per day is sent for a page although it is changed multiple times on that day. When you want to have an alert every time something changes, consult the Tips and Tricks chapter.
Click on the 'Alert' icon to enter the 'Alerts' section. You see:

confman_alerts.png
Explanation:
- Manage: The place to manage the alerts, i.e. the current screen.
- Configuration: The configuration options for the alerts (see below).
- New alert: Click here to make a new alert. You will will see:
- Go back: To return to the previous screen.
When you click on [3], 'New alert', you will see:

confman_alerts_new_alert.png
Explanation:
- Full name: The full name of the user.
- Section list: Here you find the list of sections of your site and the protected area.
- Section: The sections the user wants alerts for. You can specify, for example:
1,4,P2 . Use no spaces and separate the sections with commas.
- Email address: The email address of the user.
- Go back: To return to the previous screen.
- Save: To save your changes.
Manage alerts
When you have filled in all the fields and have clicked on 'Save', you will see:

confman_alerts_manage.jpg
Explanation:
- Delete icon: To delete a user of alerts.
- Edit icon: To edit the data of a user of alerts.
- Full name: The full name of the user.
- Email address: The email address of the user.
- Section: The section(s) for which the user wants alerts.
- New alert: To create a new user for alerts.
- Go back: To return to the previous screen.
Configuration
When you click on [2] 'Configuration', you can set the configuration for the alerts:

confman_alerts_config.png
- Send alerts (Y/N)?: If set to 'No', alerts are disabled.
- Send alerts per section (Y/N)?: If set to 'Yes', recipients will receive alerts per chosen section.
If set to 'No', recipients will receive alerts whenever something changes site wide.
- Go back: To return to the previous screen.
- Save: To save your changes.
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Author: Dirk Schouten <schoutdi (at) knoware (dot) nl>
Last updated: 2006-04-01