FAQs

vPortal FAQs

vPortal Frequently Asked Questions

What is an AoD?

This is a streaming "Audio on Demand" presentation.

What is a VoD?

This is a streaming "Video on Demand" presentation.

What is a "course"?

A course is a set of one or more presentations.

What is a "topic"?

Topics are index points within a presentation. A topic is like a chapter heading and for slide presentations each slide is a new topic.

Why do search results sometimes not have underlined search terms in them?

If your search string is not highlighted in the presentation title, then try clicking on the "Detailed Results" link to see where in the presentation the search results are. If the search string is not highlighted in the Detailed Results, then the text being searched for is in the text of a particular slide.

Why am I getting the error "You have attempted to access a restricted service. This portal requires access from authorized domains only."?

There may be a couple of reasons: (1) You are not trying to launch the portal from an authorized page in your company's network (but perhaps have instead bookmarked the site). This is also known as a "referring domain" issue. Instead of bookmarking the portal directly, bookmark the page that calls the portal. (2) Some Internet security/firewall packages block the "referring domain" as a privacy issue. As our software uses this string value as part of our security checks, it is important to allow the vPortal.net site access to it. Here is a solution for Norton Internet Security 2005/2006:

1.	Right-click on Norton Internet Security icon in systray

2.	Select "Open Norton Internet Security"

3.	Under "Status and Settings", click on "Privacy Control"

4.	Click on "Configure"

5.	Click on "Advanced"

6.	Click on "Add Site"

7.	Enter vportal.net

8.	Click on "OK"

9.	Click on "vportal.net" in the panel on the left

10.	On the right, uncheck all the boxes under the Global settings tab

11.	Choose "permit" for all the radio buttons (especially important for "Information about visited sites")

12.	Under the User Settings tab, uncheck all the boxes

13.	Choose "permit" for all the radio buttons

14.	Click "OK"

15.	Click on "OK"

16.	Close NIS window

17.	Try accessing needed page/portal and proceed with searching/requesting

How do I perform a search?

To perform a search, enter a keyword or string into the search box. By default, vPortal will perform a search across all the content data in the database, including presentation title, presenter name, slide title, slide data, transcript text, and metadata associated with the individual presentations. The following search options are available:

Search Using: Alter the manner in which vPortal looks for matches by selecting one of the following search modes:

•	All Words: Returns matches when all words entered occur, regardless of order, location, or proximity of their occurrence.

•	Any Words: Returns matches for any of the words entered, whether others occur or not.

•	Exact Phrase: Treats the words entered as a single phrase.

Search Within: When browsing within a course or presentation, you have the additional option of restricting the scope of the search to:

•	Current Course: When selected, will only search the current course for results.

•	Current Presentation: When selected, will only search the current presentation for results.

Results Display: You may select the granularity with which vPortal displays the results:

•	Presentations: Searches all data within vPortal but displays only presentation titles in search results.

•	Topics: Searches all data within vPortal but displays only topic titles in search results.

•	Topics & Transcripts: Searches all data within vSearch and displays topics and transcripts in search results.

Filters: You may optionally apply additional filters to the search results as follows:

•	Filter by Date: Restricts the search to the date range you specify.

•	Filter by Category: When available, restricts the search scope to the category or subcategory selected.

How do I properly view search results?

Search results are displayed at the presentation level by default. The presentation appears above the topic results with additional information and launch options for the presentation. The search term is bold and underlined within the topic title. If nothing is highlighted in the title, the search string exists either within the transcript for that topic or within the body text of the associated topic. Clicking on a topic title launches the presentation at the time that topic occurs within the presentation.

When displaying 'Topics & Transcripts', the transcript search results appear beneath the associated topic with the search term bold and underlined. Clicking on a transcript segment launches the presentation at the time the transcript occurs within the presentation.

When displaying 'Presentations', only presentations and the associated information and options appear in the search results. Clicking on the presentation title launches the presentation from the beginning. Additional icons to the right of the presentation title may provide links to transcripts, various media options, and additional downloads associated with the particular presentation.

Place the mouse over the links to view additional options. Click the book icon to the left of the link to add a bookmark at that point within the presentation. Click the 'Browse' link to browse into the presentation topics and transcripts.

How do I sort search results?

Search results are displayed according to search relevance by default. Select a desired sort option from the pull down menu at the top of the results. Options include Relevancy, Most Recent First, Oldest First, and Alphabetically.

How do I browse content?

To browse into content, place the mouse over the 'Browse' button in the main menu. The menu expands to reveal categories. Place the mouse over the category names to reveal subcategories. Content on the site may be associated with one or more subcategories. Click on the subcategory to see a list view of the content associated with that subcategory.

From the list, click on a title to view the presentation or presentations associated with the course. Place the mouse over the presentation title to view additional options. Click the book icon to the left of the link to add a bookmark at that point within the presentation. Click the 'Browse' link to browse into the presentation topics and transcripts. Place the mouse over the (i) to view additional information about the presentation.

Clicking on the presentation title launches the presentation from the beginning. Additional icons to the right of the presentation title may provide links to transcripts, various media options, and additional downloads associated with the particular presentation.

How do I launch presentations?

Launch presentations from either search results or browse view using the following methods.

•	Click on a presentation title to launch a presentation from the beginning

•	Click on a topic title to launch a presentation at that precise topic

•	Click on a transcript segment to launch a presentation at the occurrence of the segment within the presentation

When clicking on any of these items, a pop-up window may appear requesting your internet connection type. Once a connection type is selected, the information is stored in Profile and the selector will not appear. To launch specific media directly, click on the appropriate icon to the right of the presentation. This launches the presentation from the very beginning using the media type selected.

How do I set a bookmark?

To set a bookmark, place the mouse over a presentation title, topic title, or transcript segment in either browse or search mode. A book icon appears to the left of the title. Click the icon to add a bookmark.

Once a bookmark is added, it will appear on the Bookmarks page. Bookmarks may also be added from within the vPresenter interface. Click the 'bookmark' link in the player to set a bookmark for the current topic.

Bookmarks are stored per user.

How do I export bookmarks?

From the Bookmarks page, click the Export Bookmarks box on the top right of the page. A web page containing direct links to each of your saved bookmarks will appear in a new window. Once the page launches, save it to your hard drive. The page may be used as a stand alone web page for reference, or the links may be incorporated into another page. The links generated will launch content at the presentation, topic, or transcript level.

How can I view transcripts?

Transcripts may be viewed in many places. Synchronized transcripts scroll in synch with the media within the vPresenter player interface. Transcripts may also be accessed by browsing into individual topics, as described in Browse Content.

To view the transcripts by themselves, click on the transcript (text) icon to the right of the presentation title. This launches a version of the transcript with segments divided by topic. A table of contents to the left allows easy navigation within the transcript. The 'Print' button on the top right prints a simple text version of the transcript.

How can I download topics/slides?

A PowerPoint icon appears next to presentations with downloadable slides. Click the icon to open the PowerPoint file in the browser. Use the File->Save As option in the browser to download the file to a local drive.

How do I change my profile or settings?

Click on Profile in the main menu to change the connection speed. This will adjust which media bit rate is launched by default when clicking on presentation titles, topics, and transcript segments.

Settings may also be adjusted by clicking the 'Settings' button within the vPresenter player interface. A small pop-up window appears in which a new selection may be made. Once complete, the current presentation reloads using the media appropriate for the new setting.

How can I submit a support request?

When experiencing technical difficulties, click the "Help" button on the navigation bar, and then click the 'Support' button in the main menu using the computer that is having difficulty. A pop-up window with the Support Request Form appears. If your name and email are not pre-populated in the appropriate fields, please enter them. Describe the issue you've encountered in as much detail as possible. When submitted, the support technician assigned to your case will receive system information, as well as your message, that will help him/her address the issue.

How do I properly enable and run content from Audio w/Zip files?

1) Download the Audio w/ Zip file from vSearch

2) Extract the files into a unique folder under a common folder area on your system, for example, 'C:\My Downloads'.

3) Double-click the 'start.html' file in the extracted folder

4) There likely will be a warning from your browser indicating Active Content has been restricted:

Click the bar and 'Allow Blocked Content' to be played.

5) There may be another warning from Macromedia indicating that Flash has "stopped a potentially unsafe operation" from running the Active Content. Click the 'Settings' button.

6) Your browser will be redirected to the Macromedia site where the Settings Manager dialog will appear on the following page:

http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager04.html

7) Click the "Edit locations" pull down menu and 'Add Location'. Browse to the common download folder you setup in Step 2 (eg, C:\My Downloads). That will setup the necessary trust for any future downloads of Audio w/ Zip files.

8) Click on the 'start.html' file again and click the 'Allow Blocked Content' option after the warning bar appears. Now click on the 'Yes' button after the Flash program prompts you again:

In the future, you should now only receive the two warnings, one from Microsoft and one from Flash. This protects you best as your system is still not allowing all Active Content to be run automatically but will allow any future Audio w/ Zip files to be downloaded and run with just a couple of quick prompts.