2.0 MY DESKTOP

WHAT IT IS: Your home page for a selected web group.

HOW TO GET THERE: My Desktop is the first screen you see after logging in. There is a separate My Desktop for each web group you belong to. You can set your default My Desktop by clicking on (make this my default group) under My Account.

HOW IT WORKS: My Desktop (Figure 2-1) provides an at-a-glance summary of the selected web group. The information is arranged into individual "modules" that you can rearrange. Some of the information displayed is specific to you (My Account, Tasks, RSS Newsfeeds, and My Resources) and some of the information is the same for all members of the web group (Calendar, Forums, Newsroom, and Newest Library Files).

Figure 2-1. My Desktop

There are several quick links on My Desktop that allow you to bypass the menu bar:

• (expand calendar) (paragraph 5.1) and (add event) (paragraph 5.1.3) under the calendar
• user name in the My Account module
• The Calendar (paragraph 5.1), Tasks (paragraph 5.3), Newsroom (paragraph 7.1), and Newest Library Files (paragraph 4) module headings

These quick links are discussed in the relevant sections of this manual.

Depending on your permissions and customization, My Desktop may look different for each of your web groups.

2.1 Customizing My Desktop

Clicking on (Customize page) at the top of My Desktop (just below the menu bar) opens a screen showing the placement of the modules on My Desktop (Figure 2-2). You can change their placement by dragging them into a new location and then clicking Done. Figure 2-2 shows the Resources module being dragged to the other side of My Desktop.

Figure 2-2. My Desktop: Customizing My Desktop

Depending on your browser, you can also rearrange modules on My Desktop by clicking on the module and dragging it to a new location. Figure 2-3 shows the My Resources module being dragged to the other side of My Desktop.

Figure 2-3. My Desktop: Customizing My Desktop (Windows Users)

All users can rearrange the modules on their own desktop, but only root users and administrators can add or delete modules (discussed in paragraph 5.5) or change the appearance of the desktop.

2.2 RSS News Feeds

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds are free content feeds that contain headlines, summaries, and links to full-text articles on web sites. All members can switch between RSS feeds using the drop-down menu (Figure 2-4), but only root users and administrators can subscribe to RSS feeds.

Figure 2-4. My Desktop: Changing RSS News Feeds

To subscribe to an RSS news feed:

1. In the RSS News Feeds module, click on (edit) (Figure 2-5).



Figure 2-5. My Desktop: Edit RSS News Feeds (Root Users and Administrators)

2. To subscribe to an existing RSS news feed, select the news feed from the Select drop-down menu then click on Join (Figure 2-6).



Figure 2-6. My Desktop: Editing RSS News Feeds: Joining an Existing Subscription (Root Users and Administrators)

3. To subscribe to a new RSS news feed, enter the URL in the space provided and click on Join (Figure 2-7). The new subscription will show up under Current RSS Subscriptions (Figure 2-8) and on each member's My Desktop (Figure 2-9).



Figure 2-7. My Desktop: Editing RSS News Feeds: Creating a New Subscription (Root Users and Administrators)



Figure 2-8. My Desktop: Editing RSS News Feeds: Current RSS Subscriptions (Root Users and Administrators)



Figure 2-9. My Desktop: RSS News Feeds: New Subscription

To unsubscribe from an RSS news feed:

1. In the RSS News Feeds module, click on (edit) (Figure 2-10).



Figure 2-10. My Desktop: Edit RSS News Feeds (Root Users and Administrators)

2. In the Current RSS Subscriptions module, click on unsubscribe.



Figure 2-11. My Desktop: Unsubscribing from an RSS News Feed (Root Users and Administrators)