Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Does Stu's EduWeb run on an iMac?
A: No... and yes.  The EduWeb setup program is a Windows application, which means you need to run it on a Windows computer.  But the webpages and folder structure it creates are totally platform independent.  The EduWeb folder that constitutes the student-centred intranet can be transferred to a webserver, an Apple Mac, a Linux box, a Novell Netware or Windows NT server.  Apple Macs can access the intranet without restriction.  If there is a desire to run the EduWeb application itself on an iMac, you need a Pentium emulator such as Real PC or Virtual PC to allow you to run Windows on the iMac.  With EduWeb 2004 and later, there are numerous new applets such as the News, Calendar, Photo Gallery, Photo Studio and FTP programs.  These are all Windows programs and cannot be run on an iMac without a Pentium emulator.  However, all that is required is one Windows PC in the school, and all of these applets can be used. [top]

Q: Does Stu's EduWeb work with any school administration system other than OASIS?
A: EduWeb has been designed and developed specifically for use by New South Wales Government schools.  An export/import filter for the NSW OASIS with ISP Console system is included.  Contact Stuart Hasic directly if you would like to use EduWeb outside of the NSW Public Schools system. [top]

Q: Our primary school has composite classes across the school, divided into Stages, not Years - i.e. Years 1 & 2 combined make up Stage 1 with all classes made up of students from both Year 1 and 2.  In EduWeb, these students' web pages get separated by year, even though they are in the same class.  Is there any way to keep all students from an entire class together?
A: Yes, but it requires a little editing of the SCHOOL.TXT file before you run Eduwebsetup.exe.  The problem doesn't lay with EduWeb, but with OASIS.  All students are marked as being in a Scholastic Year in OASIS, not a Stage, so it doesn't matter if students are listed as being in the same class in OASIS, they are still in separate scholastic years.  After you have exported your SCHOOL.TXT file from OASIS, you need to edit the file manually using Notepad or WordPad (Start...Programs...Accessories...WordPad).  You should use WordPad because it offers a Search and Replace function.  Run Notepad and open the SCHOOL.TXT file from your EduWebSetup folder.  

You'll see all your students in alphabetical order.  After the given name and DET User ID, you'll see YR followed by a number or a letter K.  This is the Scholastic Year.  Choose Edit...Replace.  In the Find what field, type in YR2 and in the Replace with field, type in YR1 then click the Replace All button.  Repeat to replace all occurrences of YR3 with YR2, then YR4 with YR2, YR5 with YR3 and YR6 with YR3.  Save the file and exit Notepad.  What you've effectively done is redefined all your students into Stages instead of Years.  NOTE: If your school only has some composite classes, you will have to be more careful about which students' scholastic years are changed in the file.  Now run EduWebsetup and when it reads in the students, you'll notice it only allows Years 1, 2 and 3 (and Kindergarten usually).

Select those years and the other options as necessary and install your EduWeb.  Then when you view your created EduWeb, you'll see the Years page only shows Kindergarten, Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3.  Edit this webpage and rename those year links as Stage 1, Stage 2 and Stage 3.  From there, each of your stage classes will have all students shown and won't separate out those in different years.  This same procedure can be used for very small schools to make all classes appear in the one year if desired.  [top]

Q: I would like my EduWeb folder created inside another folder, not directly off the root of the drive.  How can I do this?
A: EduWeb only allows you to specify the drive letter that you'd like the EduWeb created on.  It then creates an EduWeb folder directly off the root.  However, once it's created, you can move it anywhere you like.  All the links in the EduWeb are relative, so it doesn't matter where the EduWeb folder finally ends up.  It is always recommended you install your EduWeb to a local C: drive first, check it, then move it where you want it to go on your server, then apply the user privileges as detailed in the Instructions page.  [top]

Q: I have filled in the EduWeb installation screen, but when I click "Install Stu's EduWeb", I get an error message that says "Error Code 75".  Why am I getting this error?
A: This error usually indicates that you are not logged onto the Windows PC as a local administrator. Logon as an administrator and try running EduWebSetup.exe again.  [top]

Q: I have a Mac fileserver running OSX Server as the network operating system.  How can I transfer the EduWeb I created on a Windows computer's hard disk to the Apple server's hard disk?

A: There are a few different ways.  One easy way is to copy the entire EduWeb folder to a large enough USB Thumb drive or Flash Disk.  But it's much easier to connect your Windows computer to the same network as the Mac server.  With OSX Server, you can logon to the server from a Windows workstation. Once you have done this, you can simply drag and drop the EduWeb folder from the C: drive to the Mac server's hard disk.

Briefly, the process involves creating a login name/password for the Windows computer on the Mac server and access rights to a folder, creating a share point.  From there, make sure your Windows PC is connected to the network and you have the Client for Microsoft Networks installed in Network Properties.  Choose Start...Logoff and then login as the username/password specified on the Mac Server.  Double-click My Network Places and you should see the Mac server displayed as an IP address or by its server name - eg. 10.xx.xxx.xx (where x is some number). Double click it and you should then see the share point you created.  Open My Computer and drag the EduWeb folder from C: drive to the share point on the Mac server.  More specific help on this process can be provided by your Regional Technology Support team.  [top]

Q: I'm having problems with some students editing other students' web pages.  What options do I have to restrict the editing of pages only to the owners of those pages?
A: The most common installation of EduWeb is on a server where all students login using a common username such as "STUDENT".  This provides all students with access to all student webpages which requires students to respect the work of their fellow students.  The most secure way of protecting students pages is to allocate individual login names to the server for each student and allocating user rights to their own path for each user.  Take a look at my two "Individual Student Login Wizards" I developed for Windows 200x Server and Novell Netware.  If you have already created individual login names for each student, read the next question.

A compromise (if you don't want individual login accounts to your server) would be to create login names for each scholastic year - eg. Kinder, Year1, Year2 etc.  You can then apply restrictions to only allow students from one year to edit webpages from their own year.  The EduWeb structure allows for this.  A further option is to allow all students read-only access to the EduWeb system, but when a student wishes to edit his/her page, they ask a teacher to use a special login name (for your server) which allows write access and editing of the pages.

Ultimately, students must be made aware that vandalising other student's work and webpages is not acceptable and will be dealt with according to the school's discipline policy.  It should be likened to one student ripping up another's workbook.  A Warning message is placed by default on all class pages to alert students that they should not be editing anyone's pages except their own.  An effective backup strategy is also vital.  The EduWeb folder (and all its sub-folders) should be backed up EVERY day.  This can be as simple as dragging a copy of the EduWeb folder to another computer's hard disk.  [top]

Q: I have a Netware Server (or a Windows 200x Server for that matter) at school and have created Individual Student Logins using your Logins Wizard program.  How can I apply specific user rights to each login to allow each student to only be able to edit their own EduWeb pages?
A: A utility has been developed for both Netware and Windows 200x server systems which uses the ewshrtct.dat file created by EduWeb to allocate Read, Write, Create, Erase and Modify (RWCEMF) rights to each user's own EduWeb folder structure.  The utility is available for free and is included in the Logins Wizard downloads from stuhasic.com.  Included in those downloads are specific instructions for its use.  This utility should only be used by network administrators. The free utility at the stuhasic.come to create and maintain individual student logins on Windows 200x servers can be found here.  For Novell Netware servers, click here.  [top]

Q: What happens next year? How can I transfer the students' pages to their new classes?
A: Don't bother!  EduWeb lets you keep your previous year's student pages intact.  In 2006, the student pages were stored in a folder called 2006 inside the eduweb folder.  In 2007, there's a new 2007 folder sitting beside the 2006 folder.  Just export from ISP Console, re-run EduWebSetup and create a new EduWeb on the same drive for the new year.  Create a link to the new EduWeb on your existing startup webpage, and tell your students to create a link to their page from the previous year to give their earlier work even more life!  If you already have an older EduWeb structure on your server that you wish to keep, please follow the advice in this Update Guide.  [top]

Q: Since I created my EduWeb, some students have left and some new enrolments have started.  How can I take account of these changes in the existing structure?  Do I just re-export from OASIS and re-run EduWebSetup?
A: Absolutely NOT!  Once an EduWeb has been created, the EduWeb Setup program cannot modify it.  You have three choices: (a) Delete the entire EduWeb and create a new one (at the loss of everyone's work), (b) Use the "Add a New Student to EduWeb" Utility (ewaddstudent.exe) which can be found in the EduWeb folder on your server, or (c) manually make the changes. There are some useful instructions for manually adding new students to Windows systems on the downloads page.  However, the utility to allow for extra students to be added to an existing EduWeb structure (which can only be run from a Windows PC), is the easiest way to go.  Instructions for this utility are on the Instructions page.  For students that have left, it is recommended that you don't delete their EduWeb folder, just delete the link to their page in their Class webpage.  [top]

Q: How can I include my own content in each student's topic pages?  I would really like to provide them with a starting point for each topic rather than leave them to their own devices.  Is this possible?
A: You're in luck!  The EduWeb Topics Utility will do exactly what you ask and more.  Take a look at the Instructions page to find out how it works and what it does.  It is installed in your EduWeb folder on your server (it's called ewtopics.exe for Windows PCs).  A Step-by-Step guide titled "How to Create and Distribute EduWeb Templates" is available for download and includes everything you need to know to create and distribute EduWeb templates for use with student pages at your school.  Get this 24 page guide from the Downloads page. [top]

Q: I have an Apple OSX Server.  Can I use the EduWeb Topics Utility?
A: Yes, you can, PROVIDING you run it from a Windows PC.  Login to the Apple server with a Windows computer, and run the EWTOPICS.EXE file  from the EduWeb server path on your Windows computer.  Make whatever changes to topics you like, and those changes will be reflected in your EduWeb when you access it using iMacs.  [top]

Q: What about Backing up the EduWeb?  Do you have any suggestions about the best way to do this?
A: Backing up your EduWeb student-centred intranet is extremely important!  Being an area on your server accessed by possibly hundreds of students with changes occurring regularly, a backup is probably your only insurance in case of hard disk problems on your server, theft of the server or malicious attacks by students.  And backups will need to be performed regularly - I recommend daily.  One effective backup strategy involves using five computers.  Label each one Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday respectively.  Then on each day, go to that day's PC and drag the ENTIRE EduWeb folder from the server to the local hard disk to make a copy of it.  When you get to the first PC again (the following week), just make sure you Replace All to overwrite old versions of files.  Using this method, you have five days' worth of backup that you can go back to if you need to recover a specific file or group of files.  No tapes, no CDs, just dump it all onto separate hard drives.  And don't forget to do it!  [top]

Q: We'd like to extend the front page of EduWeb to incorporate other pages and information for our school's intranet.  How do we make our own buttons that look like the ones in EduWeb?
A: Hopefully you won't have to because I've already thought of that.  While EduWeb 2004 and later includes many extra school intranet pages, you may want some other ones.  In your EduWeb EWImages folder, there are a host of additional buttons in your selected colour scheme that haven't been used on any of the default pages.  These include buttons for Newsletter, School Council, P&C, Community and several others.  If the button you'd really like to have is not included in your EduWeb folder, send me an e-mail specifying the title of the button(s) and the colour scheme you've selected and I'll quickly make it for you and send it back via e-mail.  But if you would like to make lots more buttons of the same style, go to the Downloads page and download the free program I used to create the buttons in the first place, together with the template file for your chosen colour scheme (Windows only).  [top]

Q: We are using the EduWeb Shortcut Creator, but would like to change the default name of the shortcut that is created on the desktop from "My Work" to "My EduWeb Folder".  Can we do this?
A: Yes you can.  You can actually change it to whatever you like.  The setting is in the EWShrtct.ini file in your EduWeb folder.  Edit the file with Notepad.  The first two settings in there are the name of the shortcut and the current year of your EduWeb structure.  Do not change the year, or anything else only change the words BEFORE the first comma (,) in the file.  Save it, then run EWShrtct.exe to see your new shortcut.  Remember, when you run EduWebsetup next year to create a new EduWeb structure, the shortcut name will revert to "My Work" and will have to be changed again using the same procedure.  [top]

Q: When using the EduWeb Shortcut Creator on some Windows PCs, I am getting an error "Run-time Error 430".  What does this mean and how can I make the program work properly?
A: This error indicates that the computer in question does not have a recent installation of the MS Windows Scripting Host (WSH) Engine.  You need to upgrade your Windows installation using the WSH update on the EduWeb Download page.  [top]

Q: When using the EduWeb Photo Studio, I get an error when I'm trying to save a photo I've taken.  Why is that?
A: This usually only happens if you have individual logon accounts setup and the student has not selected their own name from the list of student names.  Because they have no rights to write to another student's folder the error occurs.  Make sure you are logged on as the correct user, choose that name from the list and the photos should save fine.

Q: When I want to select the Submit News applet in the News or Staff Bulletin Modules, I get an error referring to MSWINSCK.OCX.  Why?
A: Some older computers don't have the MSWINSCK.OCX library file installed on them by default.  As a result, it is necessary to install and register this library file onto all affected PCs.  In the eduweb folder on your server is a program called STULIBFIX.exe.  This is the program that needs to be run on all PCs.  There is no other action required and the problem will go away immediately. 

Q: I want to use the EduWeb FTP Utility to upload my News/Calendar pages to my Internet website.  Why do I get an error about MSINET.OCX?
A: Some older computers don't have the MSINET.OCX library file installed on them by default.  As a result, it is necessary to install and register this library file onto all affected PCs.  In the eduweb folder on your server is a program called STULIBFIX.exe.  This is the program that needs to be run on all PCs.  There is no other action required and the problem will go away immediately. 

Q: I have been trying to create a CD for each student containing their work for the year.  I want to have the CD Auto Play when it is inserted into the CD drive.  How do I achieve this?
A: For Mac computers, your CD burning software should allow you to specify a file to Autorun.  A utility is required for Windows computers to have a webpage (.htm file) autorun.  Check the Downloads page at this site to get a free utility that will auto play a htm file in the PCs default web browser.  Instructions included in the download.  [top]

Q: Why is it that there are more EduWeb utilities and documentation support for Windows users rather than Apple Mac users?  
A: Utility programs developed for EduWeb were developed by Stuart Hasic, the author of EduWeb, which itself is a Windows application.  As a programmer for Windows only, Stuart has no idea how to write similar utilities for the Mac, and all efforts (and there have been numerous) to find a Mac programmer willing to develop similar Mac utilities (for free) have been fruitless.  If you know of a Mac programmer who might like to help out a large percentage of NSW schools, please ask them to contact the developer.  As for documentation, both the "Adding New Users" and "How to Edit Using FrontPage 2000" were initially submitted by schools that were Windows users.  While the developer would love to be able to do absolutely everything himself, the whole point of this exercise is to share ideas and experiences with schools across NSW.  The developer is happy to include on the downloads page any good quality documentation for Mac users if someone would only develop and submit it (screen shots are essential).  [top]

Q: And why does Windows allow you to integrate external documents such as PowerPoint and Word into students' web pages and the Mac doesn't?
A: This is a result of Bill Gates' monopoly of the PC environment.  Microsoft developed Windows, Internet Explorer, FrontPage, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher and so on, and each of these integrate with each other quite well.  So a web page developed in FrontPage and viewed in Internet Explorer can include various external documents. This is obviously a benefit to students because they then get to use various applications to create their work, and can use their EduWeb webpages to link them all.  The Apple Mac environment however is far less integrated as there are numerous software developers in that market, and Microsoft is nowhere near as strong.  For example, MS FrontPage for the Mac is version 1 only and has never been upgraded.  It's quite terrible to use.  Internet Explorer for the Mac doesn't support Proxy Auto Configuration files (PAC) used by the DET Internet Gateway, so schools mainly use Safari, Netscape Communicator or Mozilla.  While Communicator and Mozilla include web page editing software called Composer and it is better than FrontPage for the Mac, it is far less capable of integrating external documents into web pages than FrontPage with I.E. on Windows.  Unfortunately, neither Internet Explorer nor Safari for Mac OSX allow you to "Edit" the currently displayed web page.  This ability is essential for EduWeb to be easily usable by students and staff.  Perhaps in time OSX on the Mac with associated web page editing and browsing software will offer a more comparable solution to Windows.  If you want this imbalance addressed, contact Apple.  [top]

Q: Are there any other template designs available with EduWeb?  The default ones are nice, but we'd like something different.
A: EduWeb offers four different colour schemes, alternative buttons and fonts, but the general format of the pages remains pretty much the same.  The alternative to EduWeb is to manually create the hundreds or thousands of webpages of your own design.  Best of luck!  [top]

Stu's EduWeb is designed and developed  by Stuart Hasic - stu_hasic@yahoo.com.  It is available free of charge for public schools in the state of New South Wales in Australia only.  Other schools interested in Stu's EduWeb should contact the developer directly. (c) 2001-2010 by Stuart Hasic