How are you using Fronter?

[tmcd35]

Ooops, should have noticed this before. When you create the button there is a tick box for opening in new window instead of an iFrame. This feature could be very useful!

[GenieNitro]

Just a guess (not tried it out)...

 

Customise the rooms tool package

add a 'user-defined button' pointing at your URL of choice

move the new button to the top of your rooms tool package

 

Whichever button is at the top of the tool package is that rooms home page.

 

EDIT: Just tested the above and it *IS* how it was done. I've just Google as the welcome page in one of our rooms

 

EDIT-2: More testing. The user defined button actually opens *ANY* webpage within a iFrame within Fronter. It doesn't open webpages in a new tab/window as you'd first expect. Just by being at the top makes it the rooms default welcome page, thus auto opens.

 

 

So I've designed a new front page in iWeb.. have included some google gadgets and a google calendar... used a nice wallpaper and some attractive boxes. Definitely much more pleasing to the eye than my previous page. Just made a user defined button pointing to the page (hosted on the school's webspace), moved it to the top of the tools list and voila!

 

Now I can do this am feeling much happier with Fronter...

 

Now all I need is for them to improve their rubbishy file management systems!

 

Steve

[Malph]

I am just setting up a primary school in Fronter and would like to share pages with others by using the import and export tools. Has any one succesfully exported a page including the front page section? I would like to be able to create a bank of pages that others can use as templates to get them started. My authority has one so far accessible via my admin account- so I need to need to take some action.

 

Also does anyone have banks of suitable clip art/pictures images for building? Our trainer said surf the net- I'd prefer a more organised bank of images that could be shared and save us all time.

[Face-Man]

I am just setting up a primary school in Fronter and would like to share pages with others by using the import and export tools. Has any one succesfully exported a page including the front page section? I would like to be able to create a bank of pages that others can use as templates to get them started. My authority has one so far accessible via my admin account- so I need to need to take some action.

 

Also does anyone have banks of suitable clip art/pictures images for building? Our trainer said surf the net- I'd prefer a more organised bank of images that could be shared and save us all time.

 

Unfortunately the Import/export tool is not as good as it should be in fronter at present and doesn't copy the links correct that are used for things such as images and files (hopefully soon to be resolved).

 

The best way to setup room templates for staff to use is to use the copy room tool. This can be done by creating a new room and on the drop down selecting a room you would like to copy as that room. Staff will just need rights to access the templates.

 

As for clip art there are loads of websites out there with clip art on

 

ie

WPClipart top thumbnail page

Open Clip Art Library Drawing Together

or for stock photos

 

stock.xchng - the leading free stock photography site

[Malph]

Thanks Faceman,

I guess I'll have to wait, I was hoping to be able to share some topic pages with other schools- say get a group working on different topic pages so you could share some of the tedious work in setting up pages for more specific areas such as year 6 maths term 1 sequencing.

I found the link to gonville school that you'd posted on another thread to be a really good model setting up the structure for a two form entry primary school. They had used forums really well and I will be setting up templates based on this.

 

Is there any way to turn off "User must change the password at the next login". I don't want to do this individually for 437 pupils, I just want to keep my original set of passwords set up by Fronter.

[TYO]

Hi,

 

Just wondering how you are all using fronter?

 

On the teaching side we have a room for every lesson imported from our MIS system. Content is being gradually added by subject teachers but I think it is going to be overseen by an e-learning person or HOF in each faculty (not sure if this is a TLR or not)

 

On the technical side we have a single sign on meaning users who have logged in to the network or from outside but authenticated against our ISA server using AD credentials are passed through in to the fronter accounts. This means users fronter accounts have to match their AD accounts or we have to add a custom field in AD. We are also in London MLE so the account has to be unique. We also import the timetable using 4 csv files in to fronter from our MIS (Serco) which then creates a second user account and creates a room with correct permissions for every lesson. The two accounts are then merged by fronter once we give them the lists of the two user names.

 

cheers,

 

Tommy

[Wallgo]

Hi,

 

Just wondering how you are all using fronter?

 

On the teaching side we have a room for every lesson imported from our MIS system. Content is being gradually added by subject teachers but I think it is going to be overseen by an e-learning person or HOF in each faculty (not sure if this is a TLR or not)

 

On the technical side we have a single sign on meaning users who have logged in to the network or from outside but authenticated against our ISA server using AD credentials are passed through in to the fronter accounts. This means users fronter accounts have to match their AD accounts or we have to add a custom field in AD. We are also in London MLE so the account has to be unique. We also import the timetable using 4 csv files in to fronter from our MIS (Serco) which then creates a second user account and creates a room with correct permissions for every lesson. The two accounts are then merged by fronter once we give them the lists of the two user names.

 

cheers,

 

Tommy

 

 

Sounds fascinating. Do the kids like it?

[bikeman17]

Thanks Faceman,

 

Is there any way to turn off "User must change the password at the next login". I don't want to do this individually for 437 pupils, I just want to keep my original set of passwords set up by Fronter.

 

The only to avoid this would be to export these users to excel (.csv), create (same/different) passwords for each account on the spreadsheet and then upload the .csv file. This way user will not be asked to change their password.

 

Hope that answers your question.

[TYO]

Sounds fascinating. Do the kids like it?

 

Students do enjoy it as long as there is content. We are looking at getting various bits of software/content that is interactive and can be uploaded straight in to the VLE.

 

However no one apart from IT will ever appreciate the single sign on!

[TYO]

The only to avoid this would be to export these users to excel (.csv), create (same/different) passwords for each account on the spreadsheet and then upload the .csv file. This way user will not be asked to change their password.

 

Hope that answers your question.

 

fronter do like their tick boxes. might be worth contacting support on the off chance your get through to some one who can help.

[Jamo]

[moved] Edited December 11, 2009 by Jamo

[WebbA]

We've had fronter for 4 yr now and its part of everyday school life

 

Email/Chat is through it for staff, no chat for kids

 

Staff notice boards, our finance ordering is done through a fronter room

 

Even classifieds

 

Every department use it to some degree

 

Its mainly staff motivation which is needed and regular training/encouragement

 

People may grumble in general about VLE's but to be honest most are just lazy and dont like change (not implying anything about anyone by this remark, just what ive found in general)

[tdawson]

While I wish that we had stayed on SharePoint I think it is possible to use Fronter and do some good looking pages.

We have transferred almost all of our curriculum content for the departments selected to take part in a pilot to Fronter and the students are using it to access and upload work from outside school.

I think a key element has been making sure that there was SCORM content available for all departments so that they could see some resources before taking the plunge and adding stuff themselves - although of course we had brought the SCORM stuff for SharePoint and it worked fine there.

In line with a lot of the other users here, what we're doing at the moment is using Serif WebPlus to make frontpages for 'Rooms' as this lets you get round the restrictive container nature of Fronter's own tools.

Weirdly, although Fronter blocks using IFrames in text containers now if you use them in an html page which you upload then they work fine.

Edited December 22, 2009 by tdawson