Description: A project site can be used for collaborative projects, including research, for organizations and groups. Project sites can carry across a semester and even across years. The tools available in a course site are also available in a project site.

 

 

TRACS is Web based, so you use a Web browser to access it. If you need information on preferred browsers and other computer basics, see the TRACS “Getting Started Guide” or “Student Guide”.

Create a Project Site:

Step 1: Log in to the TRACS site at http://tracs.txstate.edu/portal/login

Step 2: Enter your Texas State Net ID (username) and password. Click on the [Login] button and a new screen will appear. This screen is your My Workspace.

Step 3: Click on [Worksite Setup] in the left-hand toolbar.

Step 4: In the new screen, click [New].

Step 5: On the next screen, click the round radio button next to Project Worksite. Click [Continue].

Step 6: Enter Project Information. This includes a title for your site, an optional description of the site and short description. Click [Continue] to go to the next step, [Back] if you need to make changes on the previous screen or [Cancel] to exit without creating the project site.

Step 7: Select the tools you will use in your site by clicking the checkbox to the left of the tool name. Click again to deselect the tool. A short description of each tool is provided.

You can also choose to reuse content from other sites you may own.

Step 8: Click [Continue] to go to the next screen, [Back] to go to the previous screen to make changes, or [Cancel] to exit without creating the project site.

Step 9: If you selected Mailing List Archive, News or Web content tools, you will need to customize them by entering additional information in the Customize Tools screen. If you have not selected any of these tools, continue on to Step 10.

Each site has an automatically generated site email address, which you can view in the Mailing List Archive tool. Email sent to the site email address is copied to all site participants. As participants drop or add the course, they will be dropped or added from the email group appropriately.

Enter a name in the Site email address field. This name should reflect the site name, be short, should be easy to remember and cannot contain strange characters in the name.

To display a link to an RSS news feed, enter a title for the site and the absolute URL which includes the http://www.

Add additional RSS news feeds by selecting the appropriate number of items from the drop-down More News Tools field.

To link to a website, enter a title and the URL after the http:// that already appears in the field. The title you enter will appear in your course home page and will be linked to the URL you enter.

Add additional websites by selecting the appropriate number of items from the drop-down More Web Content Tools field menu.

Once you have made your selections, click [Continue].

Step 10: Set access options for your site. The Publish site checkbox is selected by default. Uncheck it to make the site unavailable to participants.

To allow your site to be joined by anyone logging into TRACS, check the Can be joined by anyone with authorization to log in checkbox. If you choose this option select a role for those that join your site from the dropdown menu.

Step 11: Click [Continue].

Step 12: Confirm the site setup selections. Click [Create Site] to create your site, [Back] to return to the previous screen to make changes or [Cancel] to exit.

Add Participants to a Project Site:

Step 1: Log in to TRACS and select your project site tab.

Step 2: In your project site, click on [Site Info] in the toolbar.

Step 3: Click [Add Participants].

Step 4: For participants with Texas State usernames, under “Username(s)” type the participant’s username. If you wish to add more than one participant, enter each username on a separate line. For participants without official usernames, under “Guest(s) Email Address (external participants, e.g. jdoe@yahoo.com)”, enter their email addresses, one per line.

Step 5: Click [Continue].

Step 6: Choose the roles for the participant(s) you are adding. If you’re assigning different roles to participants, use the drop-down list next to each name to select the appropriate role.

If you’re assigning the same role to all the participants you’re adding, use the radio buttons to select the appropriate role.

Step 7: Click [Continue].

Step 8: An email can automatically be sent to the user informing them of their addition to the site. Select the appropriate radio button and click [Continue].

Step 9: Verify that the participant’s names are correct and click [Finish].

Edit Participants:

Step 1: Go to the Site Info screen and in the participant list, use the Role drop-down list to change a participant’s role.

Step 2: Use the Status drop-down list to activate or de-activate a participant.

Step 3: Click [Update Participants].

Delete participants:

Step 1: In the participant list, under Remove, check the box(es) next to the participant(s) you would like to delete.

Step 2: Click [Update Participants].