To find a help topic either read the whole file from end to end or press the CTRL (control) and f keys simultaneously to bring up the generic browser search facility (enter a single word or a short phrase).
Q. Can I use a shortcut to get to the website quickly ?
A. Look at the URL (or web address) for this website. You should see a tiny picture of the school shield to the left of the URL.
This tiny picture is called a favicon.
Place the mouse pointer on the favicon, click (and hold down) the left mouse button.
Drag the favicon onto your desktop then let go the left button.
You should now have an icon on your desktop which, when clicked, takes you straight to the school website.
This website can be reached via URLs www.stmaryscolton.co.uk or stmaryscolton.co.uk - "www" is optional.
When accessing the site at your work place the favicon may not appear. This may be due to a first layer of web servers (called proxy servers) not passing the favicon through to your browser. This "feature" is something over which we have no control.
Q. Can I still get school documents in paper form ?
A. Yes. All school documents will continue to be available in paper form, on request.
Q. Why doesn't the school web site come up in a search engine ?
A. We have deliberately kept the school web site hidden from search engines up until now. A number of legal and technical issues had to be addressed before we were certain that the site was ready for public display. In the coming weeks we will be submitting the web site to the major search engines.
Q. Why does the school prospectus take so long to display ?
A. The school propectus is a very large document, orginally in Microsoft Word format. We experimented with Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) and Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) translations of the original document with varying degrees of success. In HTML form the document downloads relatively quickly but text appears badly misaligned on the screen, especially in the vicinity of pictures. The rendering of HTML files on screen is also highly browser dependent, with Firefox 2.0 in particular being unable to display PNG files correctly. In PDF format the download is slower but the document is rendered more acurately than in HTML, but often with inconsistently spaced font. In conclusion, the prospectus is best viewed in its original form and we have given you the option to choose between downloading the Word or PDF formats.
Q. I've seen a problem on the website. To whom should I report the problem ?
A. For performance problems, broken links, browser rendering problems etc, email the webmaster.
For typos or gramatical errors that occur in posted documents, email Mrs Outhwaite.
If you have ideas for extra features or would like to suggest changes, email Mr. Lovern. This site is very much a "work-in-progress" and we value your input.
All of the above email addresses can also be found in the Contact Us section.
Q. What browser/monitor setting/operating system/modem speed is it best to view the website with ?
A. The website is best viewed using Internet Explorer (IE) version 5.5 or greater. The site has also been tested against the Firefox browser version 2.0+ which renders pages 99% correctly though without the special effects that IE 5.5+ offers. Where possible images are displayed using ALT tags to allow non-graphical browsers to access the site. The recommended resolution setting for your monitor is 1024 x 768 (pixels) minimum. The site has been tested on Windows 98, Windows XP and Windows 2000 software platforms; performance on Mac OS is unknown. Where possible images are kept to 800 x 600 (pixels) so that the site can be viewed over dial-up as well as broadband connections.
Q. What's the idea behind the web site ?
A. The school web site has been developed with a number of ideas in mind. St Mary's plays a significant role in the community of Colton. The web site allows people not directly involved with St Mary's to better understand the school and connect with the community.
The school also consumes significant amounts of paper each year printing documents for distribution to parents. The web site allows the same information to be distributed with greatly reduced paper consumption and, therefore, ties in with the school's environmental policy.
Finally, school web sites are often quite static; they display only factual information which rarely changes. This web site is different. There are facilities for displaying the children's own work, viewing homework, viewing photo albums of significant school events, a dynamic poster facility to advertise forthcoming events and a ticker tape style stop press banner for alerts. The emphasis is on giving ownership of the site to the children and staff so that it becomes an integral part of school life.
Q. How do I find out what homework has been set for my child ?
A. Click the "Homework" link in the navigation panel on the left hand side of the screen. This will display the "Teachers Notes and Homework" web page. Each of the year groups within the school has its own drop down selection list e.g. all the homework for Year 5 is listed in the Year5 section. Simply click on the appropriate file and the teachers notes on the homework are displayed.
Q. Why isn't the site hosted in the county council web space ?
A. The site is hosted by a professional, Glasgow based, web hosting company www.easyspace.com. Easyspace were chosen
because they offer features (Perl, PHP and CGI access) that were not available on the council's site.
Easyspace provide low cost hosting, good support and high reliability.
Q. Can I upload my child's work to the website ?
A. No. To protect the site, and the children, from malicious cyber attacks, we have restricted the file upload facility to school staff only. If you have a picture or piece of your child's work you would like uploaded to the site then please talk to your child's teacher. Please note that pictures containing images of children can only be uploaded if the school has written permission from the all of the parents of all of the children in the photograph. The school secretary maintains a record of all parental permissions.
Q. I can't find the answer to my question. What do I do ?
A. If you can't find what you're looking for then email the webmaster and I will email back with an answer. If the same type of question arises several times then I will extend the help file to include appropriate information on that topic.