UTIPS Solutions

Julie Q. from USOE forwarded a question on to me:

Clint,

Have you ever found a way to link a document to a calendar on UTIPS?

I didn't think that it was possible, but it turns out that it can be done. There is a slight to moderate geek factor involved - I would say about a 3 on a scale of 1-10. It would involve using some HTML code into either the description or the title of the calendar event. I would put it in the title of the event, because it takes another 3 clicks or so to get to see the description of an event from the calendar view...

I did a sample by linking to a test and a file that I had in my UTIPS account in a calendar I called Testing Calendar (look for events on Aug. 17 & Aug. 20, 2007). The steps for linking a test and a file that has alredy been uploade into UTIPS are the same.

If you have not been scared off by now, click the Read More! link below.

Follow up:

Step 1: Create a calendar if you do not already have one made that you would like to use. This is done by hovering your mouse over Calendar in the UTIPS menu bar, move your mouse down and click on New. Give it an appropriate name, and fill in the decription and view password if you want to, and click Submit.

Step 2: Now we need the address or location of the test or file that you want to be able to access from the calendar. This will be an http type of web address, and you will need the entire address, not just everything after the http and the //. The easiest way to get this is to use the Email function in UTIPS. We aren't really going to email this to anyone, just copy the link address that it will provide.

• For a Test: Select the published test from the list on the left side of the window. Once the test loads in the main part of the window, hover your mouse over Test, and go down and over to Email and click. This will bring up some options to send an email link to someone. All we care about is the linked name of your test between the From field, and the Include the following message: field. Right click (or Control+click on a Mac) on the linked test name, and select Copy Link, or the analagous choice in your browser.
• For an uploaded file: Click on your hard drive icon or title at the top of the test list on the left hand side of the window. Any media that you have already uploaded will appear in the main window. Check the box next to the file or picture that you want to link to. Now, hover your mouse over Media and go down and over to Email and click.This will bring up some options to send an email link to someone. All we care about is the linked name of your test between the From field, and the Include the following message: field. Right click (or Control+click on a Mac) on the linked test name, and select Copy Link, or the analagous choice in your browser.

Still with me? Hope so...

Step 3: Select the Calendar that you want your users to use to view these items. Now, click on the numbers of the date that you want the link to be on. This will bring up a time grid for that day. Now, either select Add No Time Event if you don't care about what time it is listed at, or click on the appropriate hour. This will let you add an event and enter detials about it.

We are almost there!

Step 4: This is where the coding comes in. We will make a link by using the "a" and "/a" tags which are enclosed in brackets - the first "a" starts the linked text, and the "/a" ends the link. This is the format that we will need the title to be in to link to your test or file:

I am sorry that I could not just type the code into this article - it displays the text as a link - which is what we want it to do! Just type in what I have into Word or a text editor, paste in the link that we just copied between the quotes after href=" and the closing ". Change the text that will be the link to what you want it to say, and copy the entire block of text between the left and right brackets into the Event title of your calendar event. Click the Save button, and it is done!

Step 5: Publish your calendar (if it hasn't been done already). Select the calendar from your file list on the left hand side of the window. Hover your mouse over Calendar, then move it down and over to Publish. There should now be a red "P" next to the calendar name in the left-hand list.

Step 6: Test it! To test your link to make sure that you did everything correctly, click on the UTIPS header bar (on the SEDC server, just click on where it says Teacher Zone at the top of the window - it should change to Student Zone).

Select the calendar by clicking on it in the list or underneath your name in the main window. Click on the link that you just made on the date that you created it. Your test or file should be displayed in the main window!

That's it. I was a little long winded, but I would rather tell you too much than not enough. If you encountered any problems with these steps or would like some additional help, feel free to leave a comment on this article and I will help you as soon as I can.