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Sakai Help - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What web browser should I use?
How much can I upload to Sakai? (Is there a disk quota?)
How do I go back to a tool’s main screen?
How can I see what my students see?
Why can’t my student(s) see a tab for my class?
How do I rearrange or remove my site tabs?
Why is my roster missing some of my students?
Why can’t my students log in to Sakai?
Why am I having trouble using Sakai on my Mac?

What web browser should I use?

Sakai requires one of the following web browsers:

You may also require additional plugins (Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash, etc.), depending on the resources that your instructor uses.

Other web browsers such as Safari, Opera, and Konqueror may work, but are known to have some mostly minor incompatibilities. Older web browsers such as Netscape 4.8 or Internet Explorer 5.5 or earlier (for Windows or Macintosh) will not work.

How much can I upload to Sakai? (Is there a disk quota?)

Currently the disk quota is 1 Gb per site. This can be adjusted by contacting sakai@rutgers.edu. While you can create more than one site, we request that you inform us if you go over 2 Gb total of all your sites so we can more effectively manage the space available to all users.

There are also limits on the size of individual files that you can upload, this varies by tool. For ‘Resources’ the size limit of a single upload is currently 50 Mb, for larger files please use the ‘Upload/Download Multiple Resources’ method.

How do I go back to a tool’s main screen?

Most tools have a start or main screen. The main screen is the screen that you see when you open the tool for the first time. For example, the Site Info tool’s main screen shows basic information for the worksite, and roster information if you are working on a course worksite as the site maintainer.

When you click an action within a tool, (e.g., ‘Edit Tools’ in the above screenshot) you will be taken to a new screen within that tool.

You can go back to the main screen of a tool by clicking the upwards facing arrow next to the tools title.

This will put you back on the main screen of the tool. You can do this anytime when using a tool.

How can I see what my students see?

The best way to see exactly what your students see is to add yourself as a student.

Follow these steps to add yourself as a student:

1. In your course worksite, click ‘Site Info’ in the left menu.

2. Click the ‘Add Participants’ action beneath the title bar.

3. Add your non-Rutgers e-mail address into the ‘Guest Email Address’ text box.

4. Scroll down and click the ‘Continue’ button.

5. On the ‘Choose a role for participants’ screen, select ‘Student’ and click ‘Continue’.

6. Select ‘Send Now’ to send an instructional e-mail to your non-Rutgers e-mail account, and click ‘Continue’.

This will send an e-mail to the e-mail address that you supplied. It contains information about the worksite and how to access it.

If this is your first time adding this e-mail address to Sakai, you will also receive an e-mail with a temporary password so that you can log in to Sakai and instructions on how to log in.

NOTE: you can change your new account’s password once you log in to Sakai by clicking ‘Account’ in the left menu.

7. Click ‘Finish’ to add the account to your worksite.

Why can’t my student(s) see a tab for my class?

There are several reasons why your student(s) may not be able to get in to your class worksite.

1. They have been deregistered.

Students may be deregistered if:

2. They have just recently registered for your class.

If the student has just registered for your class, it may take a day for their registration status to be reflected within Sakai.

3. Your class’ site tab may be in the student’s site navigation drop box.

If a student is a member of many worksites, they may have a drop down box to the right of their site navigation bar.

If a student does not have access to your worksite and needs to participate in the meantime, you can add him or her by following these steps.

1. In your worksite, click ‘Site Info’ in the left menu.

2. Click ‘Add Participants’ beneath the title bar.

3. Add the student’s NetID into the ‘Rutgers NetID’ text box. Click ‘Continue’.

4. Select ‘Student’ for the role and click ‘Continue’.

5. Choose to either send a notification to the student or not send a notification to the student. Either way, the student will be able to enter your worksite. Click ‘Continue’.

6. Confirm your choices by clicking the ‘Finish’ button.

For more detailed steps, see the documentation for the Site Info tool. See section 3.7, Add Site Participants.

How do I rearrange or remove my site tabs?

You can remove old or otherwise unwanted site tabs with the Preferences tool.

1. In ‘My Workspace’, click ‘Preferences’ in the left menu.

2. Click the ‘Customize Tabs’ action beneath the title bar.

3. To remove a site tab from your site tab navigation bar, select a site that is in the ‘Sites Visible in Tabs’ list and click the button.

This will not unjoin you from a site. This will simply remove the tab for the site from your site navigation bar.

4. To add a site to your site tab navigation bar, select a site that is in the ‘Sites not Visible in Tabs’ list and click the button.

5. To change the order of tabs in your site navigation bar, select a tab and move it up or down with the or buttons.

The higher a site is on the ‘Sites Visible in Tabs’ list, the farther to the left it will be in the site navigation tabs.

6. Click ‘Update Preferences’ to make the changes to your site navigation tabs.

Why is my roster missing some of my students?

The database that feeds your rosters is updated every morning at 8 o’clock.

If a student joined a class on a Monday afternoon for example, she will not be instantly added to your roster on Sakai. Her name would show up on your roster on Tuesday morning at around 8 o’clock.

If a student absolutely must be on your worksite, feel free to add them as a site participant. For help adding participants, see the documentation for ‘Site Info’ (section 3.7, Add Site Participants).

Why can’t my students log in to Sakai?

There are several reasons why your students may not be able to log in:

1. They do not have a NetID.

2. They have recently registered for your class.

3. They have been deregistered.

Why am I having trouble using Sakai on my Mac?

Sakai is incompatible with Internet Explorer for the Mac.

Sakai has known compatibility issues with the Safari web browser.

If you are using a Mac, we recommend using Mozilla Firefox. It can be downloaded from:

http://www.mozilla.org