Some of you have expressed frustration over the OneTech portal logging you out or expiring your session while you were still working. I thought I would devote a post to explain how OneTech sessions are handled by the server and what you can do if your session is expiring prematurely. Session timeout values are set for each user depending on their role in the system (i.e. Student, Faculty, Staff, etc...). When you login to OneTech, a cookie is set for your browser that starts counting up from 0 to start your session timeout timer. (Cookies are small bits of information that are used to store things related to websites that you visit). As the timer counts upward toward the upper limit of your timeout value, the web server periodically checks this value against the value that matches the timeout setting for your particular role. When the timer setting approaches the timeout value for your role, you receive a message in your browser stating that your session is about to expire. You then have the option to extend your session by clicking "OK." When you want to logout of the portal you should always click on the "Logout" icon in the upper right corner. However, some people close the browser window without logging out first.
April 2007 Archives
When it comes to supporting our end users I often have occasion to ask someone for their password in order to help them with a problem and I'm often suprised at what they tell me. We are constantly working to improve our network security as well as the security of our information systems. At a system administration level, we keep and maintain (in my opinion) a very strong password policy. In other words, the passwords that you would need to gain access to administer the various computer systems on campus would be impossible to guess. I know, I know...some person could somehow randomly type in the correct password but the chances of that are mathematically impossible. So when I find out that people have not changed their password from the default (we are working to change the default password to something more secure), or their password is extremely easy to guess (it forms a word that is common or resembles some part of their name or is a series of the same exact character) I start to feel very uneasy.
It seems that there is a misunderstanding among some of our users regarding the ability to customize their layout. When you log in for the first time you are given a default layout. A layout is simply the tabs and channels that you see by default before you do any customization to your layout. Hence, if you don't like some of the channels in your layout or you think they should be in a different spot or on a different tab, all you have to do is customize your layout to reflect your personal preferences. Customize it! This is one of the huge benefits to using the OneTech portal system as opposed to a static website that you cannot change. There are plenty of resources online to help you learn how to customize your OneTech layout. One of them is the Tutorials section of the OneTech Resource site. http://cservices.atu.edu/onetech/tutorials.htm. Here you will find several video tutorials that will show you step-by-step how to add channels, delete channels, and even create your own tab. The OneTech Resource site can also be accessed via a link on the OneTech login page just under the login box. So...if you do not like the position of a particular channel...move it! Or...if you do not want a certain channel in your layout at all...delete it! That's the beauty of it....you get to customize what you see and how you see it.
