Using the Dashboard and Other Settings
The Dashboard is the central area for managing your ePortfolio preferences, updates, and searching for items. You can quickly review changes to portfolio items you've recently worked on and view ePortfolio items from your peers. You can also add new items to your ePortfolio from the Dashboard. The Dashboard is the main landing page for ePortfolio. To return to your Dashboard from another ePortfolio page, click ePortfolio from the tool navigation.
This guide covers the following topics, use these links for easier navigation:
Using the Newsfeed
The newsfeed consolidates recent activity on your items and items shared with you, providing a quick way to return to active projects. Your items appear in this area if they have been recently edited, commented on, or assessed. If you contribute a comment, an edit, or an assessment to another user's item, that item is also tracked in the newsfeed and you can see contributions others are making.
Filters at the top of the newsfeed enable you to search and view specific sets of content; you can filter recent activity by ownership (yours versus others' items), people and items you've subscribed to.
Quick Reflection
The quick reflection panel above the newsfeed prompts you to record brief thoughts about a current learning experience which you can expand upon at a later date. When you post a quick reflection, it automatically shares with the default sharing group you specified in your ePortfolio Settings.
Note: If quick reflection posts do not appear in your newsfeed, select Include modifications I make on my items in my newsfeed in your ePortfolio Settings.
Changing Your Settings
The Settings area of the Dashboard allows you to change display options and preferences for your ePortfolio. Click the Settings link on the Dashboard, My Items, Explore or Sharing Groups page to access these preferences.
Available Settings
Setting |
Description |
|---|---|
| Display Options | |
| Default List Size | Select the number of items to display in your Newsfeed, My Items, and Explore lists. |
| Number of Activities on Newsfeed Items | Select the maximum number of events you want to be displayed in each Newsfeed item. |
| My Modifications | Choose whether to include activity you make on your own items to your Newsfeed. |
| Number of Unread Invites on Dashboard | Select how many unread invites appear on your Dashboard. |
| Date Range | Select how many days of past activity you want to show in your Newsfeed. |
RSS Updates |
Select from Feedback RSS or Invite RSS feeds here. |
| Item Defaults | |
| Item Feedback |
Choose whether you want to allow comments or assessments by default when creating new items. Note: These settings enable commenting and assessments; you still need to set permissions around who can add comments or assessments. |
| Sharing Settings | |
| Invite Delivery Method |
Select Email Invitation if you want to receive an email when others invite you to view items from their ePortfolio. Note: A copy of the invite is always added to your Invites page. |
| Default Sharing Group | Select a default sharing group to apply to all new items in your portfolio that meet your filter criteria. Use this option if you consistently share new items with the same group of users. |
Checking Your Invites
The Unread Invites widget displays your recent invites, including the author of the invite, the message content, and the associated portfolio item. See Viewing items shared with you for more information about Invites.
1. View the Unread Invites area of your Dashboard for recent invites or click View all invites for past invites.
2. Click the subject of the invite. Open the ePortfolio item associated with the invite by clicking its name. You may have to click the More button to see the ePortfolio item you received an invitation to view.
3. You can mark any ePortfolio invites received as Read or Unread, or Delete them by selecting the checkbox next to the invite and selecting one of the three options at the top of the page.
Subscribing to an RSS Feed
RSS feeds allow you to receive external notifications when changes occur in your portfolio. There are two RSS feeds that you can subscribe to:
- Feedback RSS: Notifies you when edits, comments, or assessments are made to one of your portfolio items (does not include changes that you make yourself).
- Invite RSS: Notifies you when you receive a new invite to view another user's item.
To use the RSS feeds you must subscribe to an external RSS reader. There are many free RSS readers, such as Live Bookmarks and Google Reader, available on the internet.
- Click
Feedback RSS on the Dashboard page or Invite RSS on the Invites page. - Follow the appropriate steps for adding the feed to the reader of your choice.