1. Getting Around
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Whether it's Teams or Public Forums,
SAE discussion forums should stand for standardization.
The website is located on SAE web server at http://forums.sae.org.
Anyone can enter the Public Forums. The Team Forums
were established as private areas in which the
SAE Committees can conduct committee activities. User
id and password required to access.
If you have any questions, contact your SAE Staff
Representative to assist you.
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- Open your web-browser.
- Enter the web address - http://forums.sae.org
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OR Go to the SAE Home Page;http://www.sae.org;
from the top command bar select
Login / MySAE (located on top, right side).
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- On SAE website,http://www.sae.org,
go to MySAE/Login located on the right side of
the web page .
- "Change User Id or Password" link
is located on the left side of the web page.
- Use the "Change your User ID or Password"
form to make any changes in your ID or password.
- Use "Maintain Preferences" for various
publications, news information and access to the Forums
area.
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When you login using your user id and password,
a list of private forum(s) will appear in the left column
called Teams.
To view another forum and access the folders and
tools, click on its linked title in this listing. Refer
to Figure 2.1 Main Menu.
The forum(s) listed under Teams are the ones
you participate in.
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Figure 2.1 Main Menu
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Calendar entries are also called appointments. To
add an appointment to a calendar, you need to be the
calendar owner, or you need to have permission to add
entries. By default, you have permission to add appointments
to your personal calendar.
To add an appointment to a calendar:
- From the calendar, click on the Add entry toolbar
item.
Forum displays the "Add a calendar entry"
form. You must provide a title, a start time, and an
end time. All of the other information on this form
is optional.
- By default, the date on this form is the day you
are currently viewing. To specify a different date,
use the Date row in the "Entry date and time"
section.
- To enter the start time and end time, use the drop-down
menus, or click on a link in the list of provided times.
If the entry does not start at the beginning of the
hour, you can click on the links to the far right of
the list, which provide fifteen-minute increments. For
an all-day event, click on the Set an all-day event
link at the bottom of the "Entry date and time"
section. The words "All day" then appear in
the Start time and End time menus.
- To add a repeating appointment or attach a link,
click More options, located toward the bottom of the
page (if you are using Netscape 4.7, just scroll down).
Click on the information icons ( ) on this part of the
form for more information about adding a repeating appointment.
- Click Submit entry.
The calendar page reappears, displaying the new entry.
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Figure 2-1-1 Calendar
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Modify a Date Entry by clicking on name of the appointment
. A popup box appears (Figure 2-1-2) giving the option
to modify or delete the entry.
Figure 2-1-2 Popup box
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See Appendix B regarding Business Card
and modifying personal information.
To obtain a member list, click on List Team Members
and enter the Detailed Committee Roster (Figure
2-2) area at the top of the Team Member page. Rosters
can include mail listing, sorted by alpha or role code,
and address information.
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Figure 2-2 Roster Options
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E-mail messages can be sent to anyone listed as a
team member on a forum. Only team members with an e-mail
will receive e-mail*. If an e-mail address needs changing,
contact the SAE staff representative or update on SAE
Homepage - MySAE.
*Note: Updating on Business Card profile will not update
in SAE database (roster).
Send mail to the entire team, or use the Ctrl key
supported by Windows for selecting multiple items in
a list. If you are using another computer platform,
use the method supported by your system.
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Only the Team Admin (SAE Staff Representative) can
change the team's properties. As a team member clicking
on Team Tools gives the following information:
general description of the team, a list of the membership,
and name of the Team Admin.
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3.0 Uploading to Teams
or Public Forums
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Procedures on posting documents.
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Figure 3-1-1 Add a File
form
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Forum provides an HTML editor available with Microsoft
Internet Explorer, and a text editor available with
all supported browsers. The HTML Editor allows you to
enter formatted text.
HTML Editor is available when adding, folders, documents,
URLs, Survey questions, and discussion topics.
You can also cut and paste text from other applications
such as Microsoft Word, Excel, Wordpad, Notepad, and
more.
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Figure 3a HTML Editor
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To retain the original formatting of pasted text,
make sure that the View HTML checkbox is not selected.
Figure 3b HTML Editor:
Displays HTML
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Figure 3c HTML Editor:
Stop using HTML Editor
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PDF (Portable Document Format) shall be used as a
standard document file upload to both private and public
discussion groups. Acrobat Reader allows anyone to read
and print PDF documents. (Free Download Application)
Attached for your convenience is the Adobe
Acrobat Reader.
Please note that you will need to click on this link
to download the reader to view .pdf files contained
within the forum.
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3.2.1 Adobe Acrobat
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Acrobat PDF is a file format based on the Adobe Postscript
printer language. With Acrobat, any application can
be converted to the PDF format.
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3.3 Bulk Upload
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As Team Admin (SAE Staff Representative) - clicking
on Team Tools - Administration - under
Manage forum features click on Bulk upload
documents. This command lets you upload one or more
files. For each file that is uploaded, a new entry is
created in the selected folder (Figure 3-3-1).
(Note: When using Bulk Upload applet for the first
time you may be asked to download "Sun JVM"
- a safe option.)
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Figure 3-3-1 Bulk Upload: Select folder for uploading
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This form-based upload method (Figure 3-3-2) allows you to browse to select files for uploading.
Figure 3-3-2 Bulk Upload: Form-based method
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Use the Multi-file upload applet (Figure 3-3-3).
Use the Java applet to upload entire folders or a larger number of files. Click on the Browse button
located at the lower end of the screen to take you to a location on your computer for the files or folders
you want to upload.
Figure 3-3-3 Bulk Upload: Multi-file Upload Method
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- Enter the forum topic to which a ballot (vote) is
to be placed.
- Using the Add drop down box select "Add Survey
Question".
- Question, what is being queried.
- Comments, statement.
- Voting options, enter the answers
from which voters will chosse. For multiple answers
use commas. Example: Yes, No, Waive
- Number of days until survey closes,
enter length of time that survey is active for voting.
- Secret Poll, where you can choose
to keep all responses hidden until poll closes.
- Add attachments, check box to add
a file or document to ballot.
- Click OK to create the Survey
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Figure 4-1 Add a Survey
Question
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- When a user visits a forum, any Survey Question
entry (Ballots, Polls, etc) that the user has not yet
voted on will display a
icon.
- Voted on Survey Questions will display the
icon
- Once a user votes on a Survey Question, the
icon switches to a
icon ( for that user only).
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- Click on the survey link
- Click on the "Vote" button located at
the far right on the screen.
- Indicate your vote by clicking one of the radio
buttons (answers)
- Click OK.
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Figure 4-2 Survey
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The software will prevent voting more than once.
However, it will allow you to change your vote before
the vote closes by modification or deletion.
Changing vote by modification:
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- Click on your vote
- listed underneath the survey question.
- Using the "Modify/delete" box, select
"Modify".
- Indicate your new vote by clicking one of the radio
buttons.
- Click OK.
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Changing vote by deletion:
Once vote has been deleted, a new vote can be entered.
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- Click on your vote
- listed underneath the survey question.
- Using the "Modify/delete" box, select
"Delete".
- This takes you to "Delete items from"
page and you select the entries you want to remove.
- Click OK.
- You are then taken to the :Confirm Delete Request".
- Press OK to delete.
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The Unseen features are one of several methods that
you can use to keep track of new or modified information
in Forums.
In addition, you can apply the unseen feature to
a single discussion forum, to all discussions forums
to which you have access, or to all discussions forums
to which you have access in your zone (through the site
map and forum tracker). When you use the feature in
a single discussion forum, you see new or modified entries
(or a list of these entries) directly (Figure 5-2).
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5.1 Unseen Entries Summary
of Activity
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Click on the List Unseen toolbar item on the blue
toolbar.
Forum displays a summary of activity in all discussion
forums to which you have access. (Figure 5-1)
Review the count of new or modified entries in each
of the discussions, and choose one to investigate (theoretically,
one with a high activity count).
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Figure 5-1 Unseen Entries
Summary
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5.2 Unseen Entries within
a Forum
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To see a list of the new or modified entries in one
discussion forum (Figure 5-1), click on the linked number
that represents the count, which is located to the left
of the discussion forum's linked title. Then, in the
list, you can click on the linked titles of new or modified
entries you wish to see, using your browser's Back button
repeatedly to return to the list.
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When you are finished viewing all entries you care
to see, you can click on the
OK button labeled "Mark everything seen."
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Figure 5-2 Unseen Entries
within a Forum
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6.0 Show a Subset of Entries (Filtering)
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In a discussion forum, you can search for entries
that match certain criteria, and then have the forum
display only those entries. This is called filtering.
To filter the forum:
- In the discussion forum, look for the "User
filters" row, between the blue toolbar and the
list of entries.
- Click on the Add/modify/delete filters link.
The Configure Filters page appears.
- Click Add.
The "Specify the search command..." page appears.
- Give the filter a name, and fill out the form to
specify its search command. Be as specific as you choose.
This is the information that Forum searches for when
you apply the user filter to the list of entries.
For example, if you want to see only those entries created
by a specific author, enter the author's name in the
Author(s) text box in the Search Qualifiers row.
If you choose, you can specify several criteria.
For example, you can specify a simple search string,
an author, and a keyword.
- Click OK.
Forum redisplays the forum. The name of the new filter
appears in the User Filters row, and it is activated
(you can turn it off by clicking None).
Your filters are personal; no other user sees them.
Also, when you filter the entries in a discussion and
then log out, Forum remembers the use of the filter
and applies it when you log back in.
To delete a filter, click on the Add/modify/delete
link, select the filter, and click Delete.
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7.0 Discussion-entry ratings
With the ratings facility, your forum manager can
allow you to rate discussion topics on a scale of one
to five. When you view an entry, the average of all
of its ratings to date appears as a number of stars
at the top of the page. The stars also appear in a "Rating"
column in the list of entries. You can search through
entries or set up user filters using specific rating
averages. For example, you can specify that you want
to view only five-star and four-star entries.
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8.0 Move to Another Discussion (Import/Export)
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If you want to move entries instead of copying them,
follow these steps, then delete the entries from the
original discussion forum.
To move or copy entries across discussions, you need
to export the entries to a file, and then import the
contents of the file into the other discussion forum.
By default, all users have the right to export entries,
but only the managers have the right to import them.
To use the import/export feature to copy entries
to another discussion forum:
- From the discussion forum, click on the Tools toolbar
item.
- In the drop-down menu, click on the Import/Export
menu item. The "Import or Export Forum Entries"
page appears.
- Click on the "Export entries from this folder"
radio button, then click OK. The "Export Forum
Entries" page appears.
- Click on the names of the folders and entries you
want to export.
To choose more than one in each of the lists, Ctrl+click
on the items.
Forum displays the "Download the export file..."
page.
- Click OK, and save the file (exportFile.html) to
a directory on your computer.
Be sure to remember the name of this directory.
- Click on the After the download... link to make
sure that the download was successful.
If it was successful, then the export is complete. If
it was not successful, repeat the steps above.
If you have the right to import the entries, follow
the remaining instructions. Otherwise, ask a manager
to complete the task for you.
- Access the discussion forum to which you want to
copy the entries.
- From the Tools menu, click on the Import/Export
menu item.
- On the "Import or Export Forum Entries"
page, click on the "Import entries into this folder"
radio button, then click OK.
The "Import Forum Entries" page appears.
- Click Browse and locate the exportFile.html file
that you saved to your computer.
Click OK.
A status page appears.
- Click Close.
Forum displays the list of entries in the discussion
forum, which now contains the newly imported entries
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Forum tracker, when set up and utilized, will
quickly show which committees you selected have unread
entries. This will include a total count of unread entries.
Once Forum tracker is set up, see Appendix A.1 Setting
Up Forum Tracker, all that is needed is to click
on Tracker from the main menu (Figure
1-1) to view which forums have any unread entries (Figure
A.1-1). Next to the list of SAE forums that contain
a number is a hyper link to get access to the list of
unread entries.
In addition, unread entries link is also on each
subcommittee's Discussions and Documents forum page.
This link allows a quick check of that subcommittee's
discussion forums. Refer to Figure A-1-2.
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Figure A.1-1 Personal
Forum Tracker
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Appendix A.1 Setting Up Forum Tracker
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To set up forum tracker or update an existing tracker:
- Click on Tracker from the main menu
- Under Configure click on ‘Select Local
Forums to be Tracked.' This will bring up a list
of all SAE forums, Figure A.1-2.
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Figure A.1-2 Forum Tracker
Selection
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WARNING - DO NOT use unread entries
on main menu. This will start your browser bring
up all unread entries in all SAE forums. Use
on Private Team only.
To select a forum to be tracked from the list similar
to Figure A.1-2:
- Use the "Ctrl" key to make multiple selections and
select the forums to be tracked by using your mouse
clicker
- Click on OK at bottom of page.
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Setting Up a Business Card
- Click on your name on the Main page.
- Click on Modify Profile to update your personal
information to be seen by team members.
To add a photo: have a scan image or digital photo in
a gif or jpg format on your hard drive. Try to keep
the width no larger than 100 pixels. Use the 'Browse'
button to locate file and upload to include with your
profile. Refer to Figure B.1-1.
- Click on OK at bottom of page.
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Figure B.1-1 Modifying
User Profile Information
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Forum provides tools on the Forum toolbar that are
located above on the right side of the blue tool bar.
One Forum tool is the search tool.
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Appendix C.1 Search within One Forum
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You can search through the discussions to which
you have access. Click on the Search Forum.
Forum displays the Standard Search Form (Figure
C-1-1). To specify additional criteria (such as the
entry's author, keywords, or creation/modification date),
click on the Advanced Search Form link above the "Search
text" text box, in the upper-right corner.
Enter a word or words contained in the discussion
entries for which you are searching. If you wish to
search for a phrase (several words) that must be contained
in the entry, enclose the phrase in quotes (for example,
"all the king's horses"). Click on the OK button on
the bottom of the search form.
Forum displays a list of all of the entries in all
of the discussions in the current forum that match your
search criteria. To view an entry, click on its linked
title.
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Figure C.1-1 Search in
a Forum
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'Search all' only applies to the Teams that you
a linked to and all Public Forums.
To search for an entry across all Public Forums, do
the following:
Click on the Search all toolbar item, which is above
the right side of the blue toolbar. Enter a search string
in the "Search text" text box. Forum uses the AltaVista
Search engine to search through its entries. Use the
AltaVista "simple query" syntax. If you are new to using
this search engine, simply begin by typing words you
are looking for, as follows: orange juice julius drinks
OJ. To search for an exact phrase, enclose the phrase
in double quotes, as follows: "orange juice"
Search can be limited by using qualifiers such as
"Author" or "Keyword" and by a "Date"
range.
Click on the OK button.
Forum displays the linked titles of entries that
match all or part of your search string. By default,
Forum places the entries toward the top of the list
whose content matched "more" words in your search string,
and places the entries toward the bottom of the list
whose content matched "fewer" words in your search string.
(This is called ordering by relevance.)
Forum also searches the content of files that users
upload into forums (such as Microsoft Word or PDF files).
If you prefer to limit your search to a single forum,
view the forum first (see Appendix C-1), and then click
on the Search toolbar item. Forum then searches through
only the currently displayed discussion.
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Figure C.2-1 Forum Search
Facility page
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E-mail notifications are one of several methods that
you can use to keep track of new or modified information
in Forums.
Note: To receive e-mail notifications, your registration
information must include your e-mail address.
By default, in order for you to receive e-mail notifications
for a particular discussion forum, that forum's manager
must specify your username or a group to which you belong
in the forum's distribution list. If your manager does
not do this, you do not receive e-mail notifications
for that particular discussion forum.
To override the manager's settings and to ensure that
you receive e-mail notifications for a particular discussion,
do the following:
- Click on the linked name of the discussion forum
you want to track using e-mail notifications.
- Click on the Tools toolbar item, located on the
left side of the blue toolbar.
- In the displayed menu, click on the Set Notification
link. Forum displays the "Notification for..." page.
- Click on one of the following
Enable E-Mail Notification check boxes:
- Use Forum Default E-mail Notification (Default)
Checking this box indicates that you receive e-mail
notifications about activity in this discussion forum
only if your manager specifies your name or a group
to which you belong in the discussion's distribution
list.
- Disable E-Mail Notification Checking this box disables
e-mail notification for this discussion. This setting
overrides settings made by the discussion forum's manager.
So, if you check this box and if your name is on the
discussion forum's distribution list, you do not receive
e-mail notifications.
- Enable E-Mail Notification (Digest Style) Checking
this box indicates that, periodically, according to
a schedule set by your discussion manager, you receive
one e-mail message with summaries of all activities
in the discussion forum since the last time you received
a notification. This setting overrides settings made
by the discussion forum's manager.
- Click on the OK button.
E-mail notifications contain links to one or more
new or modified entry. When you click on the link in
the e-mail message, it invokes your browser (if it is
not currently running) and displays the entry.
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Figure D.1-1 Set Notification on Tools Menu
Figure D.1-2 Setting Email
Notification
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Under Team Properties additional facilities such
as the Team Web File System can be added to your forums.
(It cannot be removed once it is checked.)
The web file system enables sharing of files with
teammates or transfering your files across computer
systems. Placing files in the web-file system provides
easy access from home, on business trips, while working
in another office, or anywhere from which you can access
Forum. The system looks and feels similar to most file-access
programs. It uses a folder/document organization.
To add a file to the web file system, do the following:
- Click on the Web files system item, located on
the current level of the team forum.
- In a new browser window, Forum displays your top
directory. The name of this directory is your Forum
username.
- If you have not yet created subdirectories, then
Forum places a newly added file in this top directory.
If you have created subdirectories, navigate to the
subdirectory in which you wish to place the file.
- In the top frame, click on the Add button, as follows:
For illustration only: Click on the Browse button to
locate a file on your computer to add to the file system.
You may repeat this process for up to five files at
a single time.
- Click on the OK button
To add more than five files, repeat steps 3 through
5 until all of the desired files have been added.
The middle-left frame lists your directories. For
every directory, Forum displays the linked name of the
directory and the directory's Properties icon, which
appears as one of the following:
For illustration only: 
When you click on the linked name of a directory,
then Forum changes the folder icon from "closed" to
"open," and displays the directory's files in the middle-right
frame.
Forum places the file's Properties icon next to the
linked filename, as follows:
For illustration only: 
To view a file, click on its linked name.
To replace this version of the file with an edited version,
simply add the file to the same directory using the
same filename. Forum overwrites the old file with the
edited version.
The process of editing files using the web-file system
is different than editing using an application such
as the Windows explorer. To edit a file using the web-file
system you copy the file from the web-file system to
your local computer, edit the file locally, and upload
the file back into the system (be sure to use the same
file name).
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To Operate within the Forums
- A reliable Internet connection (AOL, etc.)
- A current version of a popular web browser
- SiteScape tests on a number of browsers, including
Internet Explorer 5.5, 6.0, 6.1, Mozilla, Netscape 7.0,
7.1, and Safari.
Java Plug-in 1.4.2_02 (included in the kit and installed
automatically). To run the various Java-based applets
such as the editing applet, the Java Plug-in must be
installed on the client machine.
- Recommend at least 56K modem
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