A PDF of this document is available, if you prefer to print it out.
The support person for WordPress (the software platform hosting Chapman's e-portfolios) is Jana Remy. She can be reached by email at remy@chapman.edu or by phone at 714-744-7934. Policy questions and requests to make additions to an e-portfolio after the deadline for submission must be done through the Office of Faculty Affairs. For the latter requests, contact Eileen Besner at besner@chapman.edu or by phone at 714-997-6544.
TABLE OF CONTENTSThe URL for the home page for your e-portfolio is of the form http://portfolios.chapman.edu/your-Chapman-username. (Thus, if your email address is jones@chapman.edu, then the home page for your e-portfolio would be http://portfolios.chapman.edu/jones.) Note that e-portfolios are visible only to a selected set of individuals and that access is controlled by special WordPress logins created for each individual or committee that will need to view your e-portfolio during the review process. For more information on who will be able to view your e-portfolio, consult the section on access restrictions for your portfolio below.
The various individuals who will be viewing your e-portfolio in the context of your Tenure and Promotion or Critical Year Review will be accessing the site using this URL and, after logging in, will "land" on your e-portfolio's home page and navigate within the site from there.
Access restrictions for your e-portfolio
There are only three sets of individuals who can make updates to your individual e-portfolio: (i) you, (ii) staff in Faculty Affairs (who will eventually be adding evaluations from the various committees and administrators that play a role in the evaluation process) and (iii) system admins for the WordPress server. You are responsible for adding all of the content that reviewers will use in writing their evaluations, including content for several of the pages under the "Peer and Administrative Evaluations" tab. (If you are ever in doubt about whether you or Faculty Affairs are responsible for supplying content on a particular page, you should contact Eileen Besner for clarification. Basically, the same rules apply for electronic and paper portfolios.)
You will always be able to view your e-portfolio; however, your ability to edit your e-portfolio will cease between the deadline for submission and the deadline for FPC evaluations. In 2011-2012, the deadlines for faculty up for Tenure and/or Promotion are June 3 for the portfolio to be evaluated by external reviewers (for those faculty who have opted to use an electronic portfolio for external review) and August 19 for the portfolio to be evaluated internally. For candidates up for Critical Year Review, the portfolio deadline is September 9. Portfolios will be reopened to candidates after the deadline for FPC evaluations. In 2011-2012, these dates are February 3 for CYR and March 2 for Tenure and/or Promotion. Between these two sets of deadlines while review is taking place, any changes to your e-portfolio (e.g., an update in the status of a manuscript submitted for publication) must be done through the Office of Faculty Affairs. Contact Eileen Besner if you need to update your e-portfolio during this period. Staff in Faculty Affairs and system admins for the WordPress server have admin access to all e-portfolios and are able to view your e-portfolio at any time. Your School or College Dean and Associate Dean(s), and the Chancellor will be able to view your e-portfolio during the review process and afterwards. All other individuals (your department Chair, and FRC and FPC committee members) will only be able to view your e-portfolio for a limited time during the review process.
The e-portfolio site you will be creating is intended to be used only for the purpose of academic review; it is not a general web site for you to describe your work to the greater Chapman community or to the world. However, the WordPress platform we are using for hosting e-portfolios permits the easy export of content from the site you create to another WordPress site. If you are interested in sharing your site more broadly, Jana Remy can show you how to export the content in your e-portfolio and import it into an open WordPress site that permits sharing.
To log into your e-portfolio, go to http://portfolios.chapman.edu/your-Chapman-username/wp-admin. Enter your Chapman username and the special password assigned to your e-portfolio. (This password was included in the system-generated email you received to inform you that your e-portfolio has been created.) Note that this password is not the same password as you use for logging into other Chapman systems. If you ever forget your password, you can automatically request WordPress to generate a new one for you and send it to you via email by clicking Lost your password? on the login page under the boxes in which you would normally enter your username and password. The system-generated email will be sent to your Chapman email address.
Once you have logged in, you will land on your e-portfolio's "Dashboard." From here, you can add media and edit pages.
There are two types of content that can be included on pages in your e-portfolio: media that is either linked to or embedded within a page and text. Text is added to a page using the editing window. Media can also be added using the editing window; however, if you want to upload media but aren't sure which page it will eventually appear on, you have the option of uploading it to your e-portfolio's Media Library. To upload media using the Dashboard, click on Add New under the Media header, click Browse to locate the media file on your computer, then click Upload. Note that there is a 100 MB limit on the size of any single file uploaded to the server. This limit should be adequate for most media. If you work with video and will be uploading files that exceed 100 MB, please contact Jana Remy to have your file size limit raised. Each e-portfolio is limited to a total of 250 MB of media. Again, if you work with video and expect to exceed this limit, contact Jana Remy.
The editing window for updating a page can be accessed in one of two ways.
(1) From the Dashboard: Click on Pages (the button in light blue under the label "Pages" in dark blue).
Mouse over the name of the page you wish to edit and click on the Edit link that appears when the page name is moused over.
(2) From the page: If you are viewing a page of your e-portfolio and you are logged into WordPress,
you should see
an Edit this page link at the bottom of the page. Click on the link to go to the editing window for that page.
Always remember to save your work when you are done editing a page. If you navigate away from the editing window without clicking Update, your changes will be lost!
From the editing window, you can update the content that appears on that page. (Do not update the title of the page, as this affects the name of the page that appears in the site navigation: these navigation names are specified by Faculty Affairs and correspond to the tab names used in paper portfolios. They may not be changed.)
To add text, simply click in the large white textbox and start typing. The visual editor uses icons and conventions for formatting text that are very similar to those used in Word and other text processing programs. If you are unsure what a particular formatting command does, mouse over the icon in the visual editor toolbar and the name of the tool will appear in a small window. You can copy and paste text from other documents into the textbox; however, special care should be taken when copying and pasting text from a Word document (see below).
Just below the textbox on the editing window is a Preview button. Click it to view how your page will look with the recent updates. If you are satisfied, close the Preview window to reveal the editing window and click Update to save the changes made during your most recent editing session. If you navigate away from the editing window without clicking Update, your changes will be lost!
Adding text that has been copied from Word document
Special care must be taken when adding text copied from a Word document, as Word inserts tags that are not visible when the text is viewed in Word but can interfere with tags used in the formatting of web pages. Do not copy and paste text from Word directly into the editing window's textbox. Instead, click in the textbox on the location you would like the inserted text to appear and then click on the Paste from Word icon on the toolbar. Paste the text from Word into this textbox, then click Insert.
Media (images, audio, video, and PDFs) can be added directly into a page using the editing window, or indirectly, by first loading them into the Media Library from the Dashboard and then adding them into an individual page from the Media Library. In either case, you must have a copy of the media file(s) on your computer in the final format in which it will appear in your e-portfolio.
WordPress can accept image files in any web-suitable format (JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP). In most cases, you will want an image to appear embedded in a page; however, there may be instances (e.g., a high-resolution image that is larger than the e-portfolio's pages) in which you want the image to appear in a new window by itself, linked to from a page in the e-portfolio.
To embed an image in a page, access the editing window for that page, move the cursor to the location in the editing textbox where you wish the image to appear and click on the Add an image icon immediately to the right of "Upload/Insert." If you have already uploaded the image to the Media Library, select the "Media Library" tab on the media upload window; otherwise, select the (default) "From Computer" tab. Browse for the image and click Upload (or Show, if you have previously added the image to the Media Library). Use of the image editor is not recommended. -- It is better to have the image ready for upload in the form in which you want to use it. The remainder of the upload/insert page allows you to add descriptive text, specify the image's placement on the page, and specify whether you want the viewer to be able to click on the image to see the original. (Select None if you do not want the image to be clickable.) Specify the size and click Insert into Post to add the image to the page.
There may be cases (e.g., high resolution images that are much larger than the e-portfolio's page) when you want an image to appear in a window by itself, not embedded in one of the e-portfolio's pages. To do this, first upload the image to the Media Library. Copy the complete URL for the image file in its location on the WordPress server into your computer clipboard. (This URL is visible when you access the image in the Media Library, immediately to the right of "File URL.") Be sure you copy the complete URL. Now, return to the editing window for the page in which you want the link to the image to appear. Type in the text you wish to turn into a hyperlink (e.g., "click here to view the image"), then highlight that text and click the icon for the Insert/edit hyperlink tool. (The tool's icon looks like a piece of chain.) An insert/edit link window will pop up. In that window, paste the URL of the image you wish to link to, overwriting the string "http://". On the next line, select "Open link in a new window" and click Insert. Now, a hyperlink to the image should appear in the editing window.
WordPress supports both embedded and linked video in Windows Media (.wmv), QuickTime (.mov), and Flash video (.flv) formats. If you wish to include video in your e-portfolio that is currently in some other format, you will need to convert it to one of these three formats prior to uploading it to the server. If the video you wish to upload is currently on a VHS tape or DVD, Media Services (mediaservices@chapman.edu or 714-997-6808) may be able to assist you in converting it to an acceptable file format.
Embedding video in either QuickTime (.mov) or Windows Media (.wmv) format: From the editing window of the page to display the embedded video, click in the editing textbox to position the cursor at the location on the page where you wish to add the video, then click on the tool icon that looks like a little TV. Select the tab "Local video" if the video has already been uploaded to the Media Library; otherwise, select the tab "Upload video." If you selected "Local video," you should see a drop-down menu with the filenames of all of the video files in your Media Library. Select the video you wish to embed. Leave the other boxes unchanged. If you selected "Upload video," browse for the video file on your local computer and type in the descriptive information if you wish. Note that, unlike with embedded images, you will not see how the final page will look from the editing window. To view the actual page as it will appear to reviewers, click the Preview Changes button. Strangely, QuickTime movies do not display the opening frame along with the player controls: the user has to click the Play button for the video to begin.
Embedding video in Flash video (.flv) format: First, upload the Flash video file to the Media Library. Copy the complete URL for the video file in its location on the server into your computer clipboard. (This URL is visible when you access the video in the Media Library, immediately to the right of "File URL.") Be sure you copy the complete URL. Now, return to the editing window for the page in which you want to embed the video. Click in the editing textbox to position the cursor at the location on the page where you wish to add the video, then click on the Hana video icon. (It should be the right-most tool icon in the editing window.) Paste the URL you just copied into the box labeled "Video(Required)." Type a description if you wish. (This will appear as a caption under the video.) Leave everything else unchanged, with the possible exception of the height and width specifying the dimensions of the embedded video. Note that, unlike with embedded images, you will not see how the final page will look from the editing window. To view the actual page as it will appear to reviewers, click the Preview Changes button.
If you prefer not to embed video into a page, but rather link to the video, first upload the video to the Media Library. Copy the complete URL for the video file in its location on the server into your computer clipboard. (This URL is visible when you access the video in the Media Library, immediately to the right of "File URL.") Be sure you copy the complete URL. Now, return to the editing window for the page in which you want the link to the video to appear. Type in the text you wish to turn into a hyperlink (e.g., "click here to view the clip"), then highlight that text and click the icon for the Insert/edit hyperlink tool. (It looks like a piece of chain.) An insert/edit link window will pop up. In that window, paste the URL of the video you wish to link to, overwriting the string "http://". On the next line, select "Open link in a new window" and click Insert. Now, a hyperlink to the video should appear in the editing window.
Audio is most often embedded in a page. WordPress supports audio in MP3 (.mp3) format. If you wish to include audio in your e-portfolio that is currently in some other format, you will need to convert it to MP3 prior to adding it to your portfolio. (The free iTunes application -- available for both Mac and Windows -- can be used to convert audio files in many audio formats to MP3.) To embed audio in a page, access the editing window for that page, move the cursor to the location in the editing textbox where you wish the audio player controls to appear and click on the Add audio icon. (It looks like a pair of notes in musical notation.) If you have already uploaded the audio to the Media Library, select the "Media Library" tab on the media upload window; otherwise, select the (default) "From Computer" tab. Browse for the audio file and click Upload (or Show, if you have previously added the audio file to the Media Library). Add descriptive data if you wish. Click the Audio player button immediately below "File URL" and then click Insert into post. Note that, unlike with embedded images, you will not see how the final page will look from the editing window. To view the actual page as it will appear to reviewers, click the Preview Changes button.
Word documents cannot be embedded in a page. Rather, they must be linked to from a page. When that link is clicked by someone viewing your portfolio, the Word document will open in a new window. To add a link to a Word document in a page, access the editing window for that page, move the cursor to the location in the editing textbox where you wish the link to the Word document to appear and click on the Add media icon. (It looks like a seven-sided star.) If you have already uploaded the Word document to the Media Library, select the "Media Library" tab on the media upload window; otherwise, select the (default) "From Computer" tab. Browse for the Word file to be uploaded and click Open (or Show, if you have previously added the Word file to the Media Library). In the Title field, type in what you want the link for the file to be (e.g., "Syllabus - ENG 201, Fall 2009"). Scroll down and click Insert into post. Keep in mind that evaluators using an older version of Word may not be able to open it, so save Word documents you intend to upload to your portfolio in 2003 compatible format. Also, formatting is not always maintained when a Word document is opened on a computer different from the one that created the file. If your Word document contains a lot of formatting, it would be safer to convert the Word document to a PDF file and upload it as a PDF.
You may upload a PDF and either link to it or embed it in a page. If you opt to embed it, keep in mind that the width restrictions of pages within the e-portfolio may prevent it from being properly displayed.
First, upload the PDF to the Media Library. Copy the complete URL for the PDF file in its location on the server into your computer clipboard. (This URL is visible when you access the PDF in the Media Library, immediately to the right of "File URL.") Be sure you copy the complete URL. Now, return to the editing window for the page in which you want the embedded PDF to appear. Move the cursor to the location in which you wish the embedded PDF to appear and type
[dciframe]file URL,400,250[/dciframe] replacing file URL with the URL of the PDF you just copied. The numbers 400 and 250 can be altered to adjust the width and height, respectively, of the embedded PDF. Note that, unlike with embedded images, you will not see how the final page will look from the editing window. To view the actual page as it will appear to reviewers, click the Preview Changes button.
If you prefer to link to the PDF, first upload the PDF to the Media Library. Copy the complete URL for the PDF file in its location on the server into your computer clipboard. (This URL is visible when you access the PDF in the Media Library, immediately to the right of "File URL.") Be sure you copy the complete URL. Now, return to the editing window for the page in which you want the link to the PDF to appear. Type in the text you wish to turn into a hyperlink (e.g., "click here to view the document"), then highlight that text and click the icon for the Insert/edit hyperlink tool. (It looks like a piece of chain.) An insert/edit link window will pop up. In that window, paste the URL of the PDF you wish to link to, overwriting the string "http://". On the next line, select "Open link in the same window" if you wish the PDF to open in the same window, requiring the viewer to use their browser's back button to return to the e-portfolio; select "Open link in a new window" if you prefer the viewer to be able to view both the PDF and the page simultaneously. Finally, click Insert. Now, a hyperlink to the PDF document should appear in the editing window.
WordPress allows you to add a link to a page or to media hosted on the WordPress server or hosted on some other server. Please read the warnings below about including links to pages external to your e-portfolio.
Adding a link to content internal to e-portfolio
You can insert a link to a media file or to a different page from any page of your e-portfolio. Instructions for adding a link to an image, video, Word Document or a PDF are given above. To add a link to a different page within your e-portfolio, you must determine the page's URL. The easiest way to do that is to return to the Dashboard (either by using the Back button or by navigating to http://portfolios.chapman.edu/your-Chapman-username/wp-admin/), click Pages, mouse over the page you wish to link to, and select View. Copy the URL of this page into your clipboard. Go to the editing window for the page you wish to add the link to. Type in the text you wish to turn into a hyperlink (e.g., "2005 Publications"), then highlight that text and click the icon for the Insert/edit hyperlink tool. (It looks like a piece of chain.) An insert/edit link window will pop up. In that window, paste the URL of the page you wish to link to, overwriting the string "http://". On the next line, select "Open link in the same window." Finally, click Insert. Now, a hyperlink to the page should appear in the editing window. Note that it is possible to create new pages that are not part of the main navigational structure. If you wish to do this, contact Jana Remy for instructions.
Adding a link to an external site
Faculty are strongly discouraged from linking to external sites that they control, as this circumvents the requirement that a candidate up for review may not alter his or her portfolio after it has closed for evaluation. If you have created a scholarly or creative site that cannot "fit" within the confines of the WordPress platform, please contact Eileen Besner as soon as possible to discuss your options for including this in the body of work represented in your e-portfolio.
You may link to external sites that you do not control. To do this, simply type in the text you wish to turn into a hyperlink (e.g., "click here to go to site XYZ"), then highlight that text and click the icon for the Insert/edit hyperlink tool. (It looks like a piece of chain.) An insert/edit link window will pop up. In that window, paste the URL of the web site you wish to link to, overwriting the string "http://". On the next line, select "Open link in a new window" and click Insert. Now, a hyperlink to the site should appear in the editing window.
Be wary of linking to pages within sites that make content available on a subscription basis (e.g., electronic versions of journals), as these links may not work as expected for people trying to access that page during the review process. If you do link to a page within an electronic journal, double-check that the page will be accessible (i) from off-campus (as many subscriptions permit access by IP address) and (ii) without going through some earlier page. Here is a good rule of thumb: if you want to link to a page inside an electronic journal, first find the URL for the page to link to, then email that URL to yourself. Open the email on a different computer from off campus (while not using VPN) and see if the link works. If it does, you can safely insert it into your e-portfolio. If it does not, it would be better to avoid linking to that site and instead copy the relevant content to your computer and upload it to your e-portfolio.
You may occasionally find it useful to create a new page for your e-portfolio. This will most often happen when you need to break up a single page of the e-portfolio into multiple pages (e.g., breaking up the links to your scholarly/creative work into years -- one page per year). If you wish to create additional pages, contact Jana Remy for instructions.