ProPortal Administration Guide

ProPortal

Administration Guide

For version 2.0

ProMonitor Administration Guide

Contents

1

Introduction ................................................................................................................ 4

1.1

The ProPortal Administration Utility ......................................................................... 4

1.2

The ProPortal Database ......................................................................................... 4

1.3

The ProPortal Website ........................................................................................... 4

1.4

ProPortal Worker Service ....................................................................................... 4

1.5

Limitation of Liability ............................................................................................. 5

2

ProPortal Database Connectivity .................................................................................... 6

2.1

Administration Utility ............................................................................................. 6

2.2

Web Application .................................................................................................... 7

2.3

ProPortal Worker Service ....................................................................................... 7

2.4

Editing the Database Configuration (.dbconfig) Files ................................................. 7

2.5

ProPortal Components ........................................................................................... 8

3

ProPortal Worker Service ............................................................................................ 10

4

Starting ProPortal ...................................................................................................... 12

4.1

The Administration Utility ..................................................................................... 12

4.2

Logging on to the ProPortal Administration Utility ................................................... 12

4.3

Licence Keys ....................................................................................................... 13

4.4

The Web Application ............................................................................................ 14

4.5

Configuring the ProPortal Web Application (for first use) ......................................... 15

4.6

Setting the college logo in the Web Application ...................................................... 15

5

System Settings and System Values ............................................................................ 16

5.1

System Locked .................................................................................................... 16

5.2

Use Windows Authentication ................................................................................ 16

5.3

Enforce Strong Passwords .................................................................................... 16

5.4

Allow Password Expiry ......................................................................................... 16

5.5

Password Expiry (Days) (System Value) ................................................................ 16

5.6

Use ProMonitor ................................................................................................... 17

5.7

Use ProSolution ................................................................................................... 17

5.8

Use Worker Service to Send Passwords ................................................................. 17

5.9

Give students control of viewing access ................................................................. 17

5.10

Unlock Existing User Accounts On Import .............................................................. 17

5.11

ProSolution - Student Exam Timetables ................................................................. 17

5.12

User can reset forgotten password ....................................................................... 18

5.13

Forgotten Password - Information 1 ...................................................................... 18

5.14

Forgotten Password - Information 2 ...................................................................... 18

5.15

Custom Links Category Text (System Value) .......................................................... 18

5.16

Alert When Stop Start (Worker Service Setting) ..................................................... 18

5.17

Alert When Queues Overdue (Worker Service Setting) ............................................ 18

5.18

Is Email Disabled (Worker Service Setting) ............................................................ 18

5.19

Is Tasks Disabled (Worker Service Setting) ............................................................ 18

5.20

Alert for Operational Statistics (Worker Service Setting) .......................................... 19

5.21

Worker Service > Email Sender Address (System Value) ......................................... 19

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5.22

Worker Service > Email Sender Friendly Name (System Value) ............................... 19

5.23

Worker Service > Service Owner Email Address (System Value) .............................. 19

5.24

Worker Service > SMTP Server (System Value) ...................................................... 19

5.25

Worker Service > SMTP Server Username (System Value) ...................................... 19

5.26

Worker Service > SMTP Server Password (System Value) ....................................... 19

6

Importing Data .......................................................................................................... 20

6.1

Data Import Specifications ................................................................................... 20

6.1.1

Student Import ............................................................................................. 20

6.1.2

Other Permission Group Import ..................................................................... 21

6.2

Importing Student User Data from ProMonitor ....................................................... 21

6.3

Importing Student User Data from ProSolution ...................................................... 23

6.4

The Data Import Procedure .................................................................................. 23

6.5

Importing Wizard – Importing Status Summary step .............................................. 24

6.5.1

Importing Summary List Fields ....................................................................... 25

6.6

Importing Wizard – Final step ............................................................................... 26

6.7

Scheduling Imports ............................................................................................. 26

7

User Accounts and Permissions Maintenance ................................................................ 29

7.1

System User ....................................................................................................... 29

7.1.1

New / Maintain System User .......................................................................... 29

7.1.1.1

User Details ........................................................................................... 29

7.1.1.2

Students ................................................................................................ 30

7.1.2

System User Command ................................................................................. 31

7.1.2.1

Lock all accounts with no students in the current academic year ................ 32

7.1.2.2

Lock all visible accounts .......................................................................... 32

7.1.2.3

Unlock all visible accounts ....................................................................... 32

7.1.2.4

Reset\Set passwords for all visible filtered accounts .................................. 32

7.2

Permission Groups ............................................................................................... 33

7.2.1

New Permission Group .................................................................................. 34

7.2.2

Delete Permission Group ............................................................................... 34

7.2.3

Permission Group Details ............................................................................... 34

7.2.3.1

Assigning Actions to the Permission Group ............................................... 35

7.2.3.2

Special Actions for Permission Group ....................................................... 35

7.2.3.3

Administrator-Only Permissions ............................................................... 37

8

ProPortal Usage ......................................................................................................... 38

8.1

Usage ................................................................................................................ 38

8.2

History ............................................................................................................... 38

9

Maintenance – Web Pages .......................................................................................... 40

9.1

Maintenance – Custom Menu ............................................................................... 41

9.2

Maintenance – User Account Report / Email Text ................................................... 42

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1 Introduction

Welcome to the Administration Guide for ProPortal.

This administration guide covers all aspects of configuration and management of ProPortal.

ProPortal is a multi-role portal designed for use with ProMonitor and ProSolution. ProPortal requires access to at least one of the ProMonitor or ProSolution systems. ProPortal is able to display student ILP pages from ProMonitor and student information pages from ProSolution.

Note that ProPortal supersedes the Student Portal supplied with ProMonitor.

There are four parts to the ProPortal system – the Administration Utility, the worker service, the

Database and the Web Application.

1.1

The ProPortal Administration Utility

The ProPortal Administration Utility is a Windows based utility and is used to:

 Import User Account Data (Student, Parent and Employer)

 Create and Administer all user accounts and permissions

 Assign Students to User Accounts

 Create and maintain User Permission Groups (e.g. Assessors, Head Teachers etc.)

 Assign ProPortal Web Pages to Permission Groups

The Administration Utility will typically be available to a restricted number of Administrators of the ProPortal System. The administration utility will be installed on the Administrators PC.

1.2

The ProPortal Database

The ProPortal Database is a Microsoft SQL Server database and is compatible with MS SQL

Server 2005 and above. Note that there is no support for versions of SQL Server prior to 2005.

The database holds all of the information managed by the ProPortal Administration Utility.

1.3

The ProPortal Website

The ProPortal website is installed on a web server which can be made available across the intranet / internet as necessary. The web server uses information from the ProPortal Database.

If ProMonitor pages are referenced, the web server will need to access information from the

ProMonitor database. If ProSolution pages are referenced, the web server will need to access information from the ProSolution database.

1.4

ProPortal Worker Service

The (optional) ProPortal Worker Service is used to automate imports of data into ProPortal. It is also used by ProPortal to send emails to an SMTP email server after an automated import has completed. It is installed on a server that can connect to the ProMonitor SQL Server database and to an SMTP email server.

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1.5

Limitation of Liability

Compass Computer Consultants Ltd shall, under no circumstances, be liable for any damages or losses arising out of the use or inability to use this software product or any software product used in conjunction with this software product.

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2 ProPortal Database Connectivity

All ProPortal data is held on MS SQL Server within the SQL Database ProPortal.

2.1

Administration Utility

The Administration Utility relies on the contents of the deployment files for database connectivity and upgrades. These can be found in a folder held on a file server on the network which should be made available by creating a network share. Each time a new upgrade is released, the Administration Utility deployment file should be placed here for the client PCs to download (automatically). By default, all client installations of the Administration Utility will look to the ProPortal.dbconfig file contained within the deployment files folder for the database connection settings.

The database connection settings may be viewed and edited (for the local client) from the

About screen within the Administration Utility. The About screen (available from the main menu) shows the Name and Server of the SQL Database from the Database Connections tab:

Database Connection information on the About screen

To test the connection to the SQL server click the “Test” button next to the database name.

You can change the database connection properties by pressing the configuration tool button in the lower right corner of the screen.

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2.2

Web Application

The Web Application relies on the settings provided in the ProPortal.dbconfig file that is located at the root of the Web Application on the web server (e.g. C:\inetpub\wwwroot\proportal).

2.3

ProPortal Worker Service

The worker Service relies on the settings provided in the System Settings and System Values screens within the ProPortal Administration Utility.

2.4

Editing the Database Configuration (.dbconfig) Files

Compass ship a utility that is installed automatically when the server components are installed / updated (e.g. Web Application / Server deployment files for the Administration Utility).

Therefore you should be able to double-click the ProPortal.dbconfig files and they will open in the db configuration settings editor automatically.

Alternatively, but not recommended, the settings can be altered in these files manually by opening the database configuration files in Notepad and saving.

IMPORTANT

Any changes made to the ProPortal.dbconfig file for the Web Application will not take effect until IIS has been restarted. To do this, open IIS Manger and restart the IIS server.

Alternatively, open the Services Manager on the Web Server and restart the IIS Service

(together with any other dependent services it prompts you for) from there.

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2.5

ProPortal Components

The Server components do not need to be installed on separate servers. They are pictured separately in order to show the connectivity between them.

The components of the ProPortal system

The ProPortal User PCs use a browser (e.g. MS Internet Explorer / Mozilla Firefox / Google

Chrome) to use ProPortal. A connection to the web server and a browser is all that is necessary. No additional software installation is required.

The IIS Web Server holds the ProPortal Website. The website files are typically located in

C:\Program Files\CompassCC\ProPortal\Web Application. (This location may be altered as necessary).

The Web Server will need to optionally reference the ProMonitor and ProSolution databases to use information from these systems.

The SQL Database Server holds the ProPortal Database. It is essential that the database is backed up regularly (i.e. nightly and prior to a database upgrade).

The ProPortal Administration Utility enables administrators to configure the system, import data and maintain user accounts/permissions. This will typically be installed on a limited number of

PCs. The ProPortal Client Launcher must be installed on the client to run the Administration

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Utility on that PC. The ProPortal Client Launcher software installation is supplied as a separate file supplied alongside the main installation file. When you start the ProPortal Administration

Utility, the ProPortal Client Launcher runs and checks the file server to see if an updated version of the deployment file is available (which it downloads if necessary). It then opens the

ProPortal Administration Utility.

The File Server holds the ProPortal Administration Utility Client Deployment File and the

ProPortal.dbconfig file to identify the database location and login credentials to the

Administration Utility. The deployment file (in the format ProPortal.n_n_n.deploy) is shipped with the main installation file when installing / upgrading ProPortal.

The optional ProPortal Worker Service is a service that should be installed on a server that can connect to the ProPortal SQL Server database and to an SMTP email server. The worker service is installed as part of the main setup.exe. During setup, you will be required to enter a series

These are stored in the files

ProPortalWorkerService.exe.config and ProPortalWorkerService.dbconfig in the selected install location typically C:\Program Files\CompassCC\ProPortal\WorkerService. (This location may be altered as necessary). The status of the worker service may be viewed within the

Administration application (About Screen), the status of each individual task within the Task

Manager screen.

For more details, please refer to the ProPortal Installation Instructions provided with the

Installation/Upgrade files.

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3 ProPortal Worker Service

The Worker Service is a Windows Service that is usually installed on the Database server, though can be installed on any server that can connect to the database server.

The ProPortal worker service is used for scheduling imports, see Scheduling Imports

The Worker Service performs various functions that are part of the system:

• Processing of the Tasks Queue

Technical details and configuration settings:

The Task Queue

All the tasks, whether scheduled or triggered by a user’s actions from within the application, are executed on the server by the Worker Service. In order to execute a Task, a record is added to the Task Queue. The Worker Service periodically reads the task records from the Task Queue that need to be executed.

Tasks are generally processed in order of the Due Date although Tasks can also have a priority set. A Task with High Priority will jump to the top of the queue; similarly tasks of low priority will give way to other tasks.

Tasks can be added to the queue with a Due Date that is in the future, these tasks will not be executed until on or after the due date.

If the Worker Service is stopped while there are still pending Tasks on the Queue, these Tasks will be executed when the Service starts up again. (Unless a user manually deletes them from the queue from the Task Builder screen)

By default tasks on the queue are executed sequentially (one after the other).

A task is made of up of one or more steps. The individual steps are always executed sequentially.

Some Action types are defined as having to be run on their own while no other tasks are running (For example re-index database and backup database). When one of these tasks is added to the queue, the Worker Service will ensure that Tasks containing these actions are run in isolation while no other tasks are running (effectively stopping the queue until the isolated tasks have completed).

NOTE: You can pause the processing of the Task Queue by ticking the “Pause Task Service” tick box on the Task Builder screen.

Scheduling

The scheduler adds tasks to the Queue based on the Schedule configured for the Task in the task Builder.

When the Worker Service is started, only Tasks that should be scheduled after the start time of the Service will be processed. So for example if there were some tasks that were scheduled to

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ProMonitor Administration Guide run at 10:00 and then the Worker Service was stopped at 9:55 and started again at 10:05, the

Tasks from 10:00 will be missed. If this happens you can always manually add Scheduled

Tasks into the Task Queue from the Task Builder screen.

NOTE: Scheduling is not affected by the “Pause Task Service” tick box on the Task Builder screen, items will still be added to the Queue by the Scheduler but just won’t be processed while the Task Queue is Paused.

The Email Queue

The Worker Service sends messages added to the Email and queue. These messages can be added by users from within the Main Application or by the Execution of a Task.

When a Task executes a Message, it does not execute the Message immediately; instead, the

Task will add any Messages that need executing to the Appropriate Message Queue. The

Worker Service then will process the Messages from that queue.

Configuring the Worker Service

From the Admin Utility, a number of System Settings and System Values are available to configure the Worker Service to send emails or to perform tasks (e.g. automated imports). See the System Settings section within this admin guide for more details. The Worker Service

MUST be able to connect to the ProPortal SQL database on the SQL Server.

To configure this database connection, open the ProPortalWorkerService.dbconfig file installed alongside the Worker Service files using the CCCDBConfigEditor utility (from within Windows

File Explorer, right click the file and choose Open with…).

If a change is made to any of the System Settings or to the .dbconfig file, you must restart the

ProPortal Worker Service (from within Service Manager on the PC onto which the Worker

Service is installed)

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4 Starting ProPortal

4.1

The Administration Utility

On a PC where the Administration Utility has been installed, you can either:



Click the Windows Start button and select All Programs - ProPortal – ProPortal

Administration Utility

Or



Double click the desktop icon for ProPortal Administration Utility

The first time ProPortal is started, it will seek out the deployment file it needs. ProPortal will request the location of any file it cannot find. When it has downloaded the file, you will be prompted to log on.

4.2

Logging on to the ProPortal Administration Utility

When the ProPortal Administration Utility starts, the Logon window is displayed.

The Logon Window

NOTE

The default Administrator Username and Password are:

Username:

administrator

Password:

[no password required]

After logging onto ProPortal for the first time, you should create a password for the administrator account at the first opportunity. Note that you can use the System Settings screen within ProPortal to use Windows Authentication also, but this applies to both the

Administration Utility login AND the Web Application.

Once you have logged into the Administration Utility, you will be able to create user accounts to allow other users to access the Administration Utility and the ProPortal Website as necessary.

Note: Only users in the Administrators role can open the Administration Utility

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4.3

Licence Keys

To use ProPortal a valid licence key must be entered.

If there are no valid licence keys when the application starts then the following message will be displayed;

Clicking “Yes” will open the about box on the Licences tab:

Licence information on the About screen

This screen can also be opened by selecting Help > About from the main menu.

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To view the full details of the licence key, click the details ( ) button next to the appropriate key.

To delete a licence key, select the appropriate key(s) and click “Delete”

To add a new licence key, click “New” and the following screen will appear;

Add licences screen

Select the module from the list; enter your organisation code and licence key. This information will be provided by Compass when you purchase a licence key.

You can also enter your organisation name in the Organisation Description field, this however is optional.

Once all details are entered click OK.

You will need to restart the application before all changes to licence information are reflected in the system.

4.4

The Web Application

On a PC that has a web browser, connect to the server on which the ProPortal Web Application has been installed by:



Typing

//[Server Name]/ProPortal in the Address Bar

This can be made available as a hyperlink from an appropriate place within the college Intranet

Web pages.

When the Web Application starts, a series of checks take place:

Check Date Format: The IIS account must be configured to use UK regional settings (Date

Format dd/mm/yyyy).

Check Database Connection: Test whether the Web Application can connect to the database.

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Check Database Version:

Check System Locked:

Check Licence:

Check Windows Login:

The ProPortal Web Application and Database versions must be compatible.

Login to ProPortal can be prevented by switching on the System Locked flag in the Administration Utility.

A valid licence key must be present within ProPortal.

If Windows Login is switched on (via the Administration Utility),

ProPortal attempts to verify the current windows login with activated accounts within ProPortal. If the account cannot be verified, a login screen is displayed.

4.5

Configuring the ProPortal Web Application (for first use)

ProPortal is shipped by default with a single user account – administrator. The system comes supplied with four Permission Groups – Administrators, Student, Parent and Employer. You may assign / un-assign web pages as necessary to each of these Permission Groups.

You must import Student Information into ProPortal and these students must be assigned to

ProPortal login user accounts. Each user account may only belong to a single Permission

Group.

To import Students into ProPortal, refer to the Data Import section within this Guide.

User Accounts may be imported or they may be created on an individual basis using the System

User screen.

4.6

Setting the college logo in the Web Application

The logo displayed in the top right corner of the web page can be changed to show your own college’s logo. To do this:

1.

Copy your college logo file into the “userarea” folder within the ProPortal website on your IIS Server (usually at “C:\program files\compasscc\proportal\userarea\”)

2.

Remove the file “collegelogo.gif” from the same folder.

NOTE

The maximum height of the image allowed is 75 pixels. The width of the image should be no more than 300 pixels. If the image is any larger, then its size will be reduced automatically which may lead to the image appearing distorted.

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5 System Settings and System Values

System Settings and Values affect the whole ProPortal System.

5.1

System Locked

It is possible to prevent users from accessing the ProPortal Web Application by turning on the

System Locked flag. This facility is useful when essential maintenance work may be required – for example upgrading ProPortal. Users that are already logged in are unaffected. Access to the Administration Utility is also unaffected.

5.2

Use Windows Authentication

When this flag is switched on, ProPortal will allow Windows Authenticated logins. This means that when the Web Application starts up, the Windows username for the individual is checked against the username held against the activated ProPortal User Accounts. If a match is made,

ProPortal will start without the prompt for a Username and Password. If no match is made, the

ProPortal Login screen will be displayed. This flag also affects the ProPortal Administration

Utility login.

5.3

Enforce Strong Passwords

When this flag is switched on, ProPortal will enforce the policy of insisting that user passwords are at least 8 characters long and contain at least 3 of the following in a password – Uppercase character(A-Z), Lowercase character(a-z), Number(0-9) and symbol (e.g. $,%,# etc..).

Passwords generated by ProPortal from the Admin Utility will be Strong and conform to this convention. When a user changes password within the web application, the password must be

Strong and conform to this convention.

If users already have passwords set before this system setting is enforced, they will still be able to use their password until it expires (see next section) or they choose to change it voluntarily – in which case the system will expect a Strong password to be entered. Please note that this setting does not apply when Use Windows Login is switched on.

5.4

Allow Password Expiry

When this flag is switched on, the password will expire after the specified number of days. The expiry date of a password is calculated as the date the password was created / last updated plus the number of expiry days. When the current date is within 10 days of the password expiry date for a user, the user will be asked to change password when they next log into

ProPortal. The Password Timeout (days) is set in the System Values screen. Please note that this setting does not apply when Use Windows Login is switched on.

5.5

Password Expiry (Days) (System Value)

This is used to configure the number of days after which the password must be changed. It is used in conjunction with the System setting “Allow Password Expiry”.

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5.6

Use ProMonitor

When this flag is switched on, the ProMonitor pages will be available within ProPortal providing a valid ProMonitor licence can be found within the ProMonitor application. If your college does not have a valid licence for ProMonitor or wishes not to see the ProMonitor pages within

ProPortal, then this flag should be turned off.

5.7

Use ProSolution

When this flag is switched on, the ProSolution pages will be available within ProPortal providing a valid ProSolution licence can be found within the ProSolution application. If your college does not have a valid licence for ProSolution or wishes not to see the ProSolution pages within

ProPortal, then this flag should be turned off.

5.8

Use Worker Service to Send Passwords

When this flag is switched on, the ProPortal Worker Service shall be used to send password information to users in an Email via a SMTP email server. Note that the Worker Service must be installed and configured to send emails – use the System Settings and System Values to do this. If this system setting is switched off, ProPortal will attempt to use Outlook on the users

PC (MS Outlook must be installed).

5.9

Give students control of viewing access

When this flag is switched on, a student will have the ability to allow or deny access to their web pages to all other permission groups (e.g. Parent, Employer). This is done by a student on the user information screen in the web application (click the username in the top right of the web page).

If, however, a permission group has been allocated the Override Student Denies Access permission, then the student will NOT be able to deny access to any users within that permission group.

5.10

Unlock Existing User Accounts On Import

When importing accounts, any accounts that were locked that exist in the import are set to be unlocked.

5.11

ProSolution - Student Exam Timetables

This setting applies to the ProSolution Student Exam Timetable page. If this flag is set to true, then the exam timetable page will use a combination of Exam Entry data and Seating Plans to generate Student timetable. If this setting is set to false, the page will just use the Seating

Plan.

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5.12

User can reset forgotten password

When this flag is switched on, on the login page of the web application, a link is displayed that says “Forgotten your Password?”. Note that this is only displayed if the ProPortal Login page is displayed and a user has attempted to log in and entered an incorrect password. Pressing the link will allow a user to enter their username and password, and if valid, ProPortal will regenerate an email and email the user. The text displayed on the “forgotten password” page may be customised using the system values “Forgotten Password – Information 1” and

“Forgotten Password – Information 2”.

5.13

Forgotten Password - Information 1

The text of the first paragraph displayed on the Forgotten Password page of the web

Application. This will only be visible if the system setting “User can reset forgotten password” is switched on.

5.14

Forgotten Password - Information 2

The text of the second paragraph displayed on the Forgotten Password page of the web

Application. This will only be visible if the system setting “User can reset forgotten password” is switched on.

5.15

Custom Links Category Text (System Value)

This system value is to customise the category text of the custom links menu group, if custom links are set up within ProPortal. To set up custom links, from the main menu, from the main menu, select Maintenance | Web Page Menu | Menu.

5.16

Alert When Stop Start (Worker Service Setting)

When this flag is switched on, will send alert messages to the service owner when the Worker

Service is stopped and started using the ServiceOwnerEmailAddress

5.17

Alert When Queues Overdue (Worker Service Setting)

When this flag is switched on, then the service will send alert messages to the service owner when there are Tasks, Scripts or Emails on the queue that have been pending for too long.

5.18

Is Email Disabled (Worker Service Setting)

When this flag is switched on, the worker service will not process Emails.

5.19

Is Tasks Disabled (Worker Service Setting)

When this flag is switched on, the worker service will not process the Task Queue, The Script

Queue or the Configured Task Schedule.

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5.20

Alert for Operational Statistics (Worker Service Setting)

When this flag is switched on, the service will send alert messages to the service owner when an operational error occurs (such as disk out of space, can't connect to database etc.).

Operational Statistic error messages are also displayed in the ProMonitor About Box.

5.21

Worker Service > Email Sender Address (System Value)

The default email address from which email messages are sent, if no other email address is specified. NOTE: In the user interface this is called “System Email”.

5.22

Worker Service > Email Sender Friendly Name (System Value)

The email friendly display name used when sending from EmailSenderAddress.

5.23

Worker Service > Service Owner Email Address (System Value)

If entered the various emails will be sent keeping the recipient in touch with the health and state of the Worker Service. Alerts can be sent:

• When the service is started

• When the service is stopped

• When the service starts to have an error message (For example can’t connect to the database)

• When the service recovers from an error

• When items on any of the queues are overdue. (This is often a sign that something has gone wrong with the Worker Service or that the Worker Service and/or the Database Server is straining under a heavy load)

5.24

Worker Service > SMTP Server (System Value)

Name of an SMTP email server within your organisation which the Email service will use to send emails

5.25

Worker Service > SMTP Server Username (System Value)

An optional user name used to connect to the email server. NOTE: If blank the user credentials used to connect to the Email server will be the user account the Worker Service runs under.

5.26

Worker Service > SMTP Server Password (System Value)

Password to use when using SMTPServerUsername.

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6 Importing Data

ProPortal allows user account information to be imported from multiple data sources. Data may be imported about Student User Accounts, or for any other Permission Group defined within

ProPortal. (E.g. Parent, Employer, Head Teacher etc…)

6.1

Data Import Specifications

The following tables outline the field names, data types and maximum length expected by the import routines used in ProPortal.

IMPORTANT: When importing from a database the data source field names must match that of the import specification. All field names in the import specifications are case sensitive. Also the field names must match the order in which they are shown in the import specification.

6.1.1

Student Import

This import is for creating student accounts. The Email Address field is optional and is only required if you wish to distribute passwords via email. Similarly the Date of Birth field is only required for the student import if you wish to set student passwords to their date of birth.

Field name Data Type / Max

Length

Example Mandatory

/ Optional

StudentRef Alphanumeric / 12

StudentUserName Alphanumeric / 50

PMH1234567 phill

Mandatory

Mandatory

StudentPassword

FirstNames

Surname

AcademicYearID

Alphanumeric / 50

Alphanumeric / 50

Alphanumeric / 50

Alphanumeric / 5

01051992

Phillip

Hill

10/11

Optional

Mandatory

Mandatory

Mandatory

EmailAddress Alphanumeric / 100 PhillipHill@college.

ac.uk

Optional

Notes:

 Does not allow duplicates – duplicate defined as same StudentRef, StudentUsername and

AcademicYearID.

 All other fields are updated for combinations of StudentRef, StudentUsername and

AcademicYearID.

 If a blank password is imported then the password field will not be updated.

 Usernames must be unique in ProPortal – across all Permission Groups.

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6.1.2

Other Permission Group Import

This import is for importing users other than students e.g. Parents, Employers, etc. The

StudentRef and AcademicYearID fields are used to identify a student that this user will be able to access.

Field name Data Type / Max

Length

Example Mandatory

/ Optional

Mandatory

Password

Surname

FirstNames

StudentRef

Alphanumeric / 50

Alphanumeric / 50

Alphanumeric / 50

Alphanumeric / 12 password

Smith

Michael

PMH1234567

Optional

Mandatory

Mandatory

Mandatory

AcademicYearID

EmailAddress

Alphanumeric / 5

Alphanumeric / 100

09/10 Mandatory

[email protected] Optional

PermissionGroup Alphanumeric / 50

Notes:

Employer Mandatory

 Does not allow duplicates – defined as UserName, StudentRef, AcademicYearID.

 The Permission Groups must already exist in ProPortal.

 The UserName is used to identify the user and will not be updated.

 If a blank password is imported then the password field will not be updated.

 Usernames must be unique in ProPortal – across all Permission Groups.

 Users can only be in one Permission Group.

6.2

Importing Student User Data from ProMonitor

If you have been using the Student Portal module with ProMonitor, you will already have substantial Student User account information. This may be imported into ProPortal using the import facility.

From the main menu select Import. Within the Import Type selection list, select Student Import

(ProMonitor Student Portal Users). Your selection will be highlighted in blue.

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Import Type Selection Screen

With the above selected, click the button located towards the bottom left of the screen. This will display the Add Import form. Within here enter the name of the ProMonitor

SQL server, database and connection details. Test the connection by pressing the Test button.

The view vPT_StudentUserImport must be entered at the bottom of the screen.

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Import ProMonitor Student Users

Please note that this import is only available for ProMonitor Version 7 and above.

Pressing next will begin the process of copying the data from ProMonitor to ProPortal. See 5.4

The Date Import Procedure for more details on the remaining steps of the wizard.

6.3

Importing Student User Data from ProSolution

In a similar way to ProMonitor, student accounts can be imported from ProSolution by selecting the Student Import (ProSolution) option. Enter the connection details for the ProSolution server and use the view vPT_StudentAccounts.

6.4

The Data Import Procedure

From the Main Menu, select System >> Import– the import data wizard will open.

You must first select the type of import from the list located at the top of the screen.

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Import Type Selection Screen

You will then need to provide the details of where the data to import can be located. This will either be a file (Text File) of which the location can be specified by pressing the button. A Database connection details for a Database or Excel Worksheet details (Database,

Excel). The details of which can be provided by clicking the button.

After an item has been added, Clicking the Next button will begin the Import process, a progress bar will appear and then when the next stage of the import is complete, you will be taken to the Importing Status Summary Step.

6.5

Importing Wizard – Importing Status Summary step

Import Progress Step

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The importing Status Summary step shows one row for each item that is being imported. Each row will show the status of the item.

NOTE: Once the import process has started, you cannot navigate back to the previous step to pick more items to import, to do this complete the importing of the current items and then start the import Wizard again for any new items.

 Preview Data button: To preview any data imported during the Import process, highlight the row and click the Preview Data Button, this opens the Browse Data screen.

 Display Errors button: To view Warnings or Errors for a file, highlight the file in the

List and click the Display Errors button. This opens the Import File Errors screen.

 Remove button: To remove a file and cancel the importing of that file (for example if there are too many problems with the file), highlight the row and click the Remove

 button.

6.5.1

Importing Summary List Fields

Import Stage:

 Ready for Preview: The Data has been imported from the file but has not been saved to the database yet. This can be for one of two reasons: The option, allow the user to preview the data is Ticked in the Import Definition or there were warnings or errors found during the import process.

 Completed: The Data has been saved permanently to the database

Error Status:

 Errors: Import could not be completed; no data from the file has been imported.

 Warnings: Import has completed but one or more rows of data contain errors or warnings and as such data could be missing from the import. (See Display Errors button for details)

 Success: Import has completed with no errors.

When no errors are found, the row will be displayed as shown below:

Browse Data Screen

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Each line that was imported into the system is visible here. This data has not yet been permanently saved into the database.

NOTE: Lines with errors will not be imported, whilst lines with warnings have been imported but may have data missing or have data that is invalid according to the validation rules in the system.

Hovering the mouse cursor over the icon will display a tooltip displaying any validation or error messages that occurred during the importing process.

Import File Errors screen

This screen shows a summary of all the errors and warnings in the file (in a single text box at the top half of the screen)

Also shown is a list of all the errors and warnings in each line of the file that is being imported, along with that actual text from the line in the file and the Line number in the file itself.

6.6

Importing Wizard – Final step

The final step of the wizard displays a summary of the data that has been imported into the system from each file.

Click the Finish button to close the wizard.

6.7

Scheduling Imports

For scheduled imports to be executed successfully the ProPortal worker service must be installed, for details on configuring the worker service see ProPortal Worker Service , for details on the installation of the worker service see the installation guide.

Imports can be scheduled from Maintenance > Task Manager. There are five import tasks which can be scheduled from the configured tasks tab. These are;

 Other Permission Group Import (Database, Excel)

 Other Permission Group Import (Text File)

 Student Import (Database, Excel)

 Student Import (ProSolution)

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 Student Import (Text File)

The Task Manager screen allows the user to view information about the status of the Tasks.

This includes all the scheduled imports which have been created. The creation of custom tasks is not allowed within ProPortal.

The Screen is split into 3 tabs:

• Configured Tasks

• Queued Tasks

• Task History

Configured Tasks

The user can modify each of the import tasks from within this tab by clicking the ellipsis button against each task.

A wizard will then appear which will allow the user to modify when the tasks is scheduled for and where the data is going to be imported from.

The first tab displayed is the Task Details tab. This is where the times of the import schedule can be altered. In order for a task to run it has to be enabled from this screen. The task owner will be the user who will be emailed after the task has completed.

The second tab is the task steps. Each import will have one task step. Clicking the ellipsis button will allow the user to provide information about where the data is being pulled from (for example the server details for a database import).

The final step will simply save the task with the new details

Queued Tasks Tab

Whenever a Task is due according to its schedule, or whenever a Task is triggered by a user’s actions in the system it will be added to the Task Queue.

All Queued Tasks can be viewed on the Queued Tasks tab. Tasks that have not yet started have a status of Pending. These Tasks can be removed from the Queue and prevented from being processed by clicking the Delete button while they’re selected in the list. Once a task status has been set to Running deleting the Task it cannot be deleted.

Once a task has completed running, it is moved from Queued Tasks to the Task History tab.

Task History Tab

Shows the history of Tasks that have been executed, allowing the user to see which Tasks executed successfully and which ones failed.

By default the list of tasks on the Task History tab shows only Tasks that have been executed in the last 30 days. (Right-clicking and removing the filter will show the full task history)

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Click the Details button to view more information about the Task on the Task History Details screen.

This displays the following information about the specific time the Task was executed: (Some of these fields are visible in the Task history list)

• Description: Description of the Configured Task

• Trigger type: Trigger Type of the Configured Task

• Queued Date: The date and time the Task was added to the Queue (Created Date from the Queued Tasks tab)

• Started Date: The date and time the Worker Service picked the Task off the queue and started executing it.

• Ended Date: The date and time the Worker Service finished working with the task (The time the Task failed or the time it completed successfully)

• Status: Complete means there were no errors, Complete with errors means that the

Task did not successfully complete all the steps defined in the Configured Task.

• Duration: The total time in minutes the task took.

• Status Summary Text: Short description of what happened when the Task was executed.

• Error Message: The Text of the error message that caused the Task to fail (Blank if the

Task was completed successfully)

• Trace message: A blow by blow account of what happened inside the Worker Service while the Task was being executed. This can be useful to Compass support staff in diagnosing any issues with the Task Execution.

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7 User Accounts and Permissions Maintenance

This screen can be used to create and maintain user accounts, Permission Groups and the web pages the Permission Groups have access to.

User Accounts & Permissions screen

7.1

System User

The System User screen allows you to create and maintain user accounts, to assign a

Permission Group to an account and to assign student(s) to user accounts.

7.1.1

New / Maintain System User

From the System Users screen, press the ellipsis button alongside the username to maintain an existing user, press New to create a new user or Delete to remove the user account.

7.1.1.1

User Details

Use this tab to maintain details about the user. If you flag a user as “fixed”, the user cannot be removed or details changed subsequently. The “administrator” user supplied with ProPortal is a fixed user.

If a User is “locked out”, they will be prevented from being able to log into ProPortal (both the

Administration Utility and the Web Application).

Use the Permission Group drop down to assign a permission group to the user. A user must be assigned to a permission group. Only one permission group may be assigned to a user. When creating a new user use the apply button after entering the users details to enable the set password button and the Students tab.

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System User Details screen

You can set or change a password by clicking the Change Password… button. For more on changing user passwords see 7.1.2.4.

7.1.1.2

Students

Use this tab to view the students that are associated with the user account. Add Students by pressing the Add… button; remove their association with the user by pressing the Remove… button.

Student Allocation screen

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Pressing the Add… button will open the Add Student screen. This is a multi-select screen; holding the

Ctrl key on the keyboard while selecting students with the mouse will allow multiple students to be selected (highlighted in blue). Alternatively, hold the

Shift key on the keyboard while selecting students to choose groups of students. Press OK to associate the students to the user account.

Use the academic year drop down to assign students in previous/future academic years.

Add Student screen

If the user belongs to the Student permission user group, only one student may be associated.

7.1.2

System User Command

The command button is displayed at the bottom of the System User screen. Pressing the arrow on the right side of the button displays the options available.

The Command button on the System User screen

Many of the available options work with the filter that is applied to the System User screen.

Applying a filter will restrict the number of visible records. To apply a filter, right-click the mouse while the pointer is hovering over the appropriate column in the System User list and make a selection from the filter menu.

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7.1.2.1

Lock all accounts with no students in the current academic year

Locks all accounts without students in the current academic year. This operation will apply to all users and is not constrained by any filters. This will not lock fixed accounts or accounts in the

Administrators Permission Group.

7.1.2.2

Lock all visible accounts

Locks all accounts based on the current filter. This will not lock any accounts based in the

Administrators Permission Group. This will not affect fixed accounts.

7.1.2.3

Unlock all visible accounts

Unlocks all accounts based on the current filter.

7.1.2.4

Reset\Set passwords for all visible filtered accounts

This resets\sets passwords for all visible filtered accounts. This will not reset the Administrator account or any fixed accounts.

The account(s) for which the password(s) will be set are displayed in the list at the top of the screen. If you have MS Outlook as your email Client, you may email the password(s) if a valid email address has been added for the user. Once the email has been sent the corresponding user accounts will have the Email Sent flag ticked and the date and time of the email sent will be recorded. Alternatively, you may choose to produce a printable report. To customise the text that is sent with the password, press the “Customise Report / Email …” button to open the screen to edit the details.

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Set User Account Passwords

The Password may be generated automatically or you may choose to create a password of your choice. If more than one user account is displayed at the top of the screen, and the “Generate

Random Strong Password” option is selected, a different random password is generated for each account. If more than one user account is displayed at the top of the screen and the

“Password of my choice” option is selected, the same password will be applied for all user accounts. Passwords may be distributed by Email / Paper Report.

7.2

Permission Groups

The Permission Group screen is used to manage the Permission Groups which are assigned to the users of ProPortal. There are a number of fixed Permission Groups that come with ProPortal which cannot be deleted. Actions can however be assigned or removed from the fixed permission groups. There is also the ability to create new Permission Groups.

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The Permission Groups Screen

7.2.1

New Permission Group

To create a new Permission Group click the New button, this will load a details form that gives the ability to create a new Permission Group, as well assign actions to the group. This will give users assigned to the permission group read only or editable access to specific web pages within the ProPortal web application. Once you have given the permission group a name press the Apply button to view the actions tab.

7.2.2

Delete Permission Group

The delete button will remove the permission group from ProPortal however Permission groups cannot be deleted if a user is currently assigned to that group.

7.2.3

Permission Group Details

To view the details of the permission group select the ellipsis (…) of the required permission group. The details screen gives the ability to change the name of the group if it is not fixed, as well as providing functionality to assign actions to the group from the Actions tab. The

Permission Group Home Page can also be set from this screen. This will be the default page that is opened in the web application for a user within the Permission Group.

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7.2.3.1

Assigning Actions to the Permission Group

Assigning actions to a Permission Group.

Actions can be assigned to the Permission Group by using the arrow buttons in the centre of the window to move an action from the list of actions available in the left of the window to the list of assigned actions on the right of the window. The actions for Web Pages appear in pairs

‘Open’ and ‘Edit’. The Open Actions gives the user assigned to the permission group the ability to open and view a read only version of the related page. When the Edit action is assigned alongside the Open Action the user assigned to the permission group has the ability to edit the information contained on the page.

7.2.3.2

Special Actions for Permission Group

The Student Permission Group has a set of special actions that are used within ProPortal. The prefix PM indicates a ProMonitor-specific page. The prefix PS indicates a ProSolution-specific page.

Actions, Sections and Field Permissions:

PM - Can Delete Enrichment Record *

PM - Can Edit Achieved SMART Targets

WebSite Allow

PM - Can Edit SMART Target Additional Comment Created by Others

User Can Change Password

WebSite Action

WebSite Action

WebSite Action

WebSite Action

Allow

Allow

Allow

Allow

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PM - Academic Progress

PM - Next Of Kin

PM - NI Number

PM - Email Address

PM - Custom Checkbox 3

PM - Subject Comment

PM - Target Grade 1 *

PM - Target Grade 2 *

PM - Target Percent *

PM - Target Points

PM - Previous School

*

PM - Read and Agreed *

PS - Add Quals on Entry *

PM - Other Progress/Achievements

PM - Meeting Type Fields

PM - Show Subject Comments in Reports to Parents page *

PM - Initial Assessment *

(PM - Further Details Page)

(PM - About My Course)




PS - Submit Address Change Request

(PM - Meeting Details)


(PM - My Strengths and Developments) Grid

PM - Learner Contact Details (PM - Learner Details Page)




(PM – Academic Information)



PS - Submit Authorised Absence Change Request

PS - Submit Personal Details Change Request

**

Override Student Denies Access ***

*Only available to the Student Permission Group

Section

Section

Section

Field

Field

Field

Field

Field

Field

Field

Field

Field

Field

Field

Field

Action

Command

Command

Command

Command

Edit

Show

Edit

Edit

Edit

Edit

Edit

Edit

Edit

Edit

Open

Edit

Show

Edit

Edit

Edit

Click

Click

Click

Click

Allow

**Only available to the Administrator Permission Group

*** Available to all permission groups apart from Student Permission Group. This permission over-rides the system setting “Give Students control of viewing access” for the permission group.

Notes

Section Permissions - Edit (These are applicable to the ProMonitor Meeting Details Page):

PM - Academic Progress

PM - Other Progress/Achievements

PM Meeting

When assigned, the Academic Progress section of the meeting is editable

When assigned, the Other Progress /

Achievements section of the meeting is editable

When assigned, the Meeting Notes fields are editable

Each of the permissions above allow fields in the sections to be editable only if the “PM -

Meeting Details” WebPage (Open and Edit) permissions are granted.

Section Permissions - Open (Applicable to the ProMonitor Meeting Details Page / Reports to

Parents page):

PM - Show Subject Comments in Reports to Parents page When assigned, the Subject comments are visible within the Meeting Page and the Report to Parents Page.

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This permission will allow Subject Comments fields to be viewable only if the “PM - Meeting

Details” WebPage (Open) or “PM - Reports To Parents” webPage (Open) permissions are granted.

7.2.3.3

Administrator-Only Permissions

The Administrator Permission Group has several permissions that are only applicable to that permission group and hence users assigned to the Administrator Permission Group.

Administration Utility Screen Permissions

Ad-Hoc Import Wizard Screen Open

Audit Records Explorer

Feature Usage Explorer

Screen

Screen

Open

Open

Builder

Task Screen

Task Builder Wizard Screen Open

To allow an administrator to use these facilities, you will need to grant these permissions.

Reports

These reports are available to generate and reset passwords. To use these reports, you will need to grant these permissions

New

Passwords

Reset

User

Application

This permission is required to grant access to the Adminstration Application.

AdminApp Application Open

Remaining Action and DataSource Permissions

DataSource and Action permissions are not used by ProPortal. The only “Action” permission used is

“Override Student Denies Access ***” as described in the previous section.

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8 ProPortal Usage

8.1

Usage

The Usage screen is used to view a summary of login statistics for each user account within each of the Permission Groups for a given date range. The login statistics are for the usage of the ProPortal web application and include the number of times logged in and the date of last login. The default date range is set to show statistics for the previous month. To view statistics for an alternate date range simply select the dates required using the date to and date from calendar controls. This screen can also be filtered by permission groups. Selecting a permission group from the user role drop-down box will filter the screen to only show user accounts assigned to the selected group.

ProPortal Usage Screen

8.2

History

The History screen is used to view the complete login history for each user account. The login history provides the date and time of all logins to the ProPortal web application within a given date range. The default date range is set to show login history for the previous month. To view history for an alternate date range simply select the dates required using the date to and date from calendar controls. This screen can be filtered by permission groups and/or a specific user account. Selecting a permission group from the User Role drop-down box will filter the screen to only show user accounts assigned to the selected group. This consequently filters the User

Name drop-down box to users within this group to make filtering easier. To view the login history for a specific user account simply select the required user from the User Name drop – box.

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ProPortal History Screen

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9 Maintenance – Web Pages

The Web Page Maintenance screen is used to change the appearance of the left-hand menu within ProPortal.

Web Page Maintenance

From the list of Web Pages, press the ellipsis button to change the text that is displayed in the

ProPortal ILP Menus. The display text for ProSolution pages is editable using the details screen.

Display Text, Page ordering and category information for the ProMonitor web Pages are changed from within the ProMonitor Administration Utility (Menu Item Maintenance).

Web Page Maintenance – Details

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9.1

Maintenance – Custom Menu

Custom Menus items may be created within ProPortal. This creates a web Page available within

ProPortal containing an iFrame. This can contain a web page that is available internally or externally on the internet.

The Menu Category text may be changed by editing the Category title at the top of the screen and pressing the Update button.

To create a new custom menu item, press the New button.

The custom menu screen

Enter the appropriate details into the Custom Menu details screen. The Title will be displayed in the menu within the ProPortal Web Application.

The URL is the location of the page.

If the flag “Opens within ProPortal” is set to true, then the page is opened within the ProPortal web application as an embedded web page. If set to false, then it is opened on a new tab or popup page (depending on your browser settings).

The “Is Visible?” flag indicates if the menu item is available within the ProPortal web

Application.

The custom menu details screen

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When the page has been created, you must allocate the page to the appropriate permission group(s). Do this by going to the “User accounts and Permissions screen”, clicking the

Permission Groups tab and press the ellipsis button (…) for a selected Permission Group.

The Permission Group Actions allocation screen

9.2

Maintenance – User Account Report / Email Text

This screen is used to change the text that appears within the User Accounts Report when generating passwords for ProPortal Users.

Username and Password Report Maintenance

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The Title text changes the text displayed at the top of the report. The two text fields are used to change the text displayed in the two paragraphs at the bottom of the reports.

Username and Password Report

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Notes

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No results