Instructions for Creating Your UB eportfolio (alpha version 1.2)Summary
- Terms used in the eportfolio
- Install the eportfolio application
- Remove the eportfolio application
- Open the eportfolio application
- Add personal information and upload files
- Move files to the web and/or burn to CD
Terms
Here are some terms you might be unfamiliar with--at least, in the context of an electronic portfolio.
- Electronic portfolio: A digital archive of your work and achievements, as well as your reflections on them
- UB eportfolio: a software application that helps you build an electronic portfolio to distribute on the web or on a CD to potential employers, graduate school admissions offices, and others.
- Eportfolio installer: a file, setup.exe, that installs the Eportfolio Builder on your machine and creates the default folders for your eportfolio.
- Eportfolio Builder: an interactive window that lets you enter data about yourself, upload documents and files that will be included in your eportfolio, and choose a theme for your eportfolio.
- Content Item: we use the term "content item" to refer to any document or file that you add to your eportfolio with the Eportfolio Builder. Content items are also commonly referred to as artifacts.
- UBFS space: The University at Buffalo provides server space for students to use to store files and maintain a personal web page. UBFS is accessible from public computing facilities on both campuses, and a client--software to use for accessing UBFS--can be downloaded to your home computer as well. For more information, see http://www.cit.buffalo.edu/ubfs/.
General Notes and Reminders
- Save your work often, especially when you quit the application.
- VERY IMPORTANT: If you have a Preview window open (from clicking on Preview or Choose Your Theme), you cannot work in the Eportfolio Builder. Be sure to close any open Preview windows before going back to the Eportfolio Builder to work.
Detailed Instructions
Installing the eportfolio application
- Insert the CD into your CD drive.
- The installer should open automatically. If it doesn't, you can manually install the eportfolio application by double-clicking on the file setup.exe on the CD-ROM.
- By default, the eportfolio application will install in your Program Files directory.
- If you want to install the application in a different location, use the choose location button to find the directory you want to install to. Please note that you must have administrative privileges to the directory you choose in order to install the eportfolio.
Removing the eportfolio application
- Locate the folder where you installed the eportfolio application on your hard drive.
- Delete the entire folder and all its contents.
- Pull up the list of programs by selecting All Programs from the Start menu.
- Right-click on the listing for the eportfolio.
- Choose Delete to delete the eportfolio from your program list.
- Locate the eportfolio icon on your desktop and delete it.
Opening the eportfolio builder
The Eportfolio Builder is the window that opens when you choose Create a New eportfolio or Choose an Existing eportfolio after choosing Build Your Eportfolio on the start screen of the application. In the Eportfolio Builder you can add personal information and files, and change the tab labels.
- You can open the Eportfolio Builder at any time from the program menu or the icon on your desktop (if you didn't uncheck the box to add an icon to your desktop during installation).
- If you have previously saved an eportfolio, you can open it with the Open an existing eportfolio button. If you have not saved an eportfolio, or if you want to create a new one, use the Create a new eportfolio button to do so.
- The opening screen of the eportfolio application offers you two options: Build Your Eportfolio or Eportfolio Tools. The build your eportfolio button opens the Eportfolio Builder and allows you to enter personal information, upload files, choose a theme, and preview and save your eportfolio. The eportfolio tools button opens the Eportfolio Tools window, which provides help and documentation for the eportfolio application, as well as some ideas about what to include in an electronic portfolio and how to present your materials.
- Click the build your eportfolio button to open the Eportfolio Builder.
Preparing your documents for your eportfolio
You might want to prepare your content items to be uploaded to your eportfolio. Some tips:
- Scan any documents that are not in electronic format (such as certificates) that you want to include in your eportfolio. Scan at a mid-level resolution to save file space, and save the scanned images to .pdf, .gif, or .jpg format.
- You may convert your data files (such as your resume, papers, etc.) to .pdf format. Two free .pdf conversion tools, pdfSuite995 and OmniFormat, are available at http://www.software995.com. You may also use the online document converter at http://docupub.com to browse your hard drive for a file and convert it to .pdf.
- Keep in mind that any documents or files that you upload to the Eportfolio Builder will add to the total amount of space needed for your finished eportfolio. If you intend to put the eportfolio on a CD or on the web, be mindful of the amount of space your uploaded files will need.
Entering data and documents and previewing your eportfolio
- Use the Personal Information tab to enter your name, address, and other information about yourself. You can also enter an introductory essay, and you can upload your resume, using the Browse for File/Resume button.
- In the Personal Information tab ONLY, you can use the checkbox to designate items that you want to be included in your eportfolio final presentation. The box is checked by default. For each item that you do NOT want to include, select the file name in the left-hand box and uncheck the checkbox.
- You can rename the tabs in your Eportfolio Builder. To do this, right-click on the right-hand corner of the tab whose label you want to change. A small rectangle that says Rename Tab will appear. Right-click on that rectangle, and an editing window will appear. Enter the new name for the tab there. Your changes will appear immediately, but be sure to save your eportfolio to keep the changes permanently.
- Add content items to your eportfolio in the appropriate tabs using the browse for file button on each tab. [Note: the add URL option does not work in the alpha 1.2 version]
- For each content item you add to your eportfolio, you might want to add a display name or a journal entry. To do this, click on the file to select it, then type the name you want to display for the file in the Display Name area on the right-hand side of the eportfolio builder. To add a journal entry, click on the file to select it, then type in the Journal Entry area.
- To delete a file from your eportfolio, click on the file's name and use the delete key on your keyboard to delete the file.
- Choose a theme for your eportfolio by clicking on the choose theme button and selecting a theme. When you select a theme, a preview window will open with the new theme.
- To preview your eportfolio at any time, click on the preview button.
- VERY IMPORTANT: If you have a preview window open (from clicking on preview or choose theme), you cannot work in the Eportfolio Builder. Be sure to close any open preview windows before going back to the Eportfolio Builder to work.
Saving your eportfolio and copying it to the web or a CD
- Click on the save button and choose a location to save your eportfolio in. Do not use spaces in the filename. NOTE: If you want to save your eportfolio in your UBFS space, you need to log in to UBFS before trying to save there.
- When you save, a folder will be created with the name you entered. The folder contains the following files:
- Images (a folder)
- Program files (a folder)
- Eportfolio.exe (the file that launches your eportfolio)
- Eportfolio.html (the web page of your eportfolio)
- Eportfolio.swf (a Macromedia Flash file)
- Eportfolio.xml (an XML file that contains your data)
- It is very important that you do NOT delete or rename any of these files or folders, or the files in the folders. If you do, your finished eportfolio will not work.
- To copy your eportfolio to a CD, you will need to have CD burning software. If you have a CD drive that writes CDs, it came with CD burning software. Please refer to the manual or online help for your specific program to learn to burn CDs. If you are using Windows XP, CD burning capability is built in. For more information, see http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/learnmore/tips/mcneill1.mspx. You can also find information about burning CDs in UB's public labs at http://wings.buffalo.edu/computing/Documentation/win/burningacd.html. The UB School of Nursing IT staff will also make a help document available on the use of Nero software, which can be used when burning in the School of Nursing labs.
- Copy the entire folder with the name of your eportfolio to the CD or to your web space. If you do not copy the entire folder, your finished eportfolio will not work.
- The file that a person viewing your eportfolio needs to open if you supply them your portfolio to them on CD is Eportfolio.exe. It can be opened by double-clicking on its icon.
- If you are going to use your UBFS space to store your eportfolio, remember to log in before you try to save there.
- If you will be uploading your files to your UBFS space so that they can be viewed on the web, you will need to "turn on" your space. To turn on your home page (a personal web page) and use the web interface for your UBFS space, go to http://www.cit.buffalo.edu/ubfs and follow the instructions.
- If you upload the folder to your web space, you need to direct people to the folder you saved your eportfolio under. For example, if you are using your UB personal web space for your portfolio, and you saved your portfolio as "myPortfolio", the URL will be http://buffalo.edu/~yourUBITname/myPortfolio
- How to upload your eportfolio to your UB web space using FTP
- First, download the SSH Telnet client (or use the copy that came on your Tech Tools CD). You can get the SSH Telnet client here: http://wings.buffalo.edu/computing/software/download/win/sshsecureshell.html
- Install SSH.
- Open SSH and create a profile for your personal web space. Under Profiles, choose Add Profile and give your profile a name. Then, with your new profile selected, choose Edit Profile to enter the address and username for your personal web space.
- Enter your information. The Host Name is ubunix.buffalo.edu. The User Name is your UBIT name. Leave the other fields alone. When you click on the OK button, you will be prompted for your UBIT password.
- Be sure your public_html folder is selected.
To upload files, click the up arrow to browse your hard drive and select files.