Mar 2010
Preparing Your Home Directory
14.March.2010 12:20 Filed in: Tech Tips
What is the Home Directory?
Each user has a home directory. It is represented by the house icon and the user’s username as pictured below. Until the deployment of MacBooks to staff, these home directories have really only existed on the school server. Now, with the MacBooks, they will exist on the laptop, and that home directory will sync to the server when the user is in the District.
Inside your home directory, you have a series of folders that are automatically created as part of the home directory. (These are pictured below.)
Everyone’s home directory should look just like this—with these same folders in the same order (alphabetical).
There should not be any other files or folders laying out at this level in the home directory. In many cases, staff and students do have files and folders sitting here. These should be moved, typically to the Documents folder. (The Desktop folder will also sync, but we recommend having as few files on your Desktop as possible.)
Until now, these home directories have only existed on the server. For staff members who are assigned an individual computer for their use, such as a Staff MacBook, this home directory will automatically sync from the server to your computer when the Technology Office team sets up your computer. Thus, it is critical that all of your files are correctly organized in this folder prior to your school’s MacBook Set-Up Day.
So, get your Home Directory in order ASAP!!!
Each user has a home directory. It is represented by the house icon and the user’s username as pictured below. Until the deployment of MacBooks to staff, these home directories have really only existed on the school server. Now, with the MacBooks, they will exist on the laptop, and that home directory will sync to the server when the user is in the District.
Inside your home directory, you have a series of folders that are automatically created as part of the home directory. (These are pictured below.)
Everyone’s home directory should look just like this—with these same folders in the same order (alphabetical).
There should not be any other files or folders laying out at this level in the home directory. In many cases, staff and students do have files and folders sitting here. These should be moved, typically to the Documents folder. (The Desktop folder will also sync, but we recommend having as few files on your Desktop as possible.)
Until now, these home directories have only existed on the server. For staff members who are assigned an individual computer for their use, such as a Staff MacBook, this home directory will automatically sync from the server to your computer when the Technology Office team sets up your computer. Thus, it is critical that all of your files are correctly organized in this folder prior to your school’s MacBook Set-Up Day.
So, get your Home Directory in order ASAP!!!
Moving from CommuniGate to Exchange
14.March.2010 11:52 Filed in: Tech Tips
Beginning in March 2010 and continuing through May
2010, new Apple MacBooks will be distributed to all
non-administrative, certified staff members. During
this same period, all District 21 staff members will
be moved from the CommuniGate email server to
Microsoft’s Exchange 2010 server.
Certified staff members will utilize Entourage 2008 with Exchange Web Services as their primary application for accessing their Exchange 2010 email, calendar, contacts, tasks, and notes. Entourage 2008 is installed on individual Staff MacBooks. Initial training with Entourage 2008 will take place when staff members receive their laptops. From there, staff members will be able to access the wealth of resources available on AtomicLearning.com to learn more about Entourage 2008.
Non-Certified staff members, such as assistants and custodians among others, will access their Exchange 2010 accounts through the web browser using Outlook Web Access. These individuals receive their initial training from District Technology Office staff or building iTech teachers.
(Central Office staff in the Business Office, Human Resources, and Operations will use Outlook 2007 as the client through which they will use to access their Exchange 2010 email, calendar, contacts, tasks, and notes. Training for these individuals, where necessary will come from District Technology Office staff and via AtomicLearning.com.)
Some important information about the move from CommuniGate to Exchange:
Finally, the day before staff members receive their MacBooks, users will cease to receive new emails in their CommuniGate Inboxes. They can log in to CommuniGate and send emails during the interim period, but no new emails will arrive there. Users will be able to view new emails once they have logged in to their Exchange client, Entourage 2008 or Outlook Web Access (OWA).
Certified staff members will utilize Entourage 2008 with Exchange Web Services as their primary application for accessing their Exchange 2010 email, calendar, contacts, tasks, and notes. Entourage 2008 is installed on individual Staff MacBooks. Initial training with Entourage 2008 will take place when staff members receive their laptops. From there, staff members will be able to access the wealth of resources available on AtomicLearning.com to learn more about Entourage 2008.
Non-Certified staff members, such as assistants and custodians among others, will access their Exchange 2010 accounts through the web browser using Outlook Web Access. These individuals receive their initial training from District Technology Office staff or building iTech teachers.
(Central Office staff in the Business Office, Human Resources, and Operations will use Outlook 2007 as the client through which they will use to access their Exchange 2010 email, calendar, contacts, tasks, and notes. Training for these individuals, where necessary will come from District Technology Office staff and via AtomicLearning.com.)
Some important information about the move from CommuniGate to Exchange:
- Email from CommuniGate will not be transferred to Exchange. When you are first moved in to Exchange, you will have an empty Exchange 2010 Inbox.
- You will have continual access to your CommuniGate Inbox until June 2010. No new emails will come in to that Inbox, but it can serve as an archive during the transition to Exchange. On a daily basis, it will only be necessary to check this email daily.
- If you would like to do so, you can forward your CommuniGate messages to yourself, but this is not recommended. You will not be able to reply to the original sender of those messages. Rather, it is recommended that if you would like to archive certain emails, you should do so by saving them as PDFs and filing them as documents in your home directory. You can do this by using the Print dialog box on a Mac and choosing Save as PDF from the lower left corner of that Print dialog box.
- In Late June 2010, the CommuniGate email server will be permanently disconnected and will no longer be accessible.
Finally, the day before staff members receive their MacBooks, users will cease to receive new emails in their CommuniGate Inboxes. They can log in to CommuniGate and send emails during the interim period, but no new emails will arrive there. Users will be able to view new emails once they have logged in to their Exchange client, Entourage 2008 or Outlook Web Access (OWA).
