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How to Create Your Own Portaportal Site

Portaportal is a free website devoted to helping you create your own organized list of favorite sites for use with your students, their parents, and any interested others.

For good examples, see our list of teacher portaportals by visiting the RCPS main page at http://www.rockingham.k12.va.us then clicking on the “Teacher Hotlist” link on the left side under “Popular Sites” or go there directly with this link: http://www.rockingham.k12.va.us/hotlists/hotlists.htm

 

To create your own Portaportal site, follow these steps:

1. In your favorite browser, visit the Portaportal web site: http://www.portaportal.com

2. Click one of the Signup links offered:

3. Enter the information requested then click the "Join Portaportal" button.

 

4. Immediately, an email is generated that asks you to confirm your desire to create the site.

5. Go ahead and tend to this now. Launch your email and read the message that was just sent. This message contains a number of important things, not the least of which is your user ID and password. Be sure to keep your password secure. Also, it contains a guest access link that is very useful to anyone who wants to access your site.

Click the link that it asks you to click and your Portaportal site will be confirmed.

6. Click the Begin button to start creating your site.

7. Start by creating categories. You can have a lot or a few. You can start with one or two now then add more later. Click the Add Categories button.

8. The "Add Categories" screen gives you the opportunity to add 5 (or fewer) categories at a time. There's no limit (none I know, at least) to the number of categories you can establish. Enter a category or two then click the Add Categories button as shown.

9. Click the Add Link button (the "+" button) in one of your category windows.

10. Provide the name of the site, the web address and (optionally, but recommended) a description of the site. Include an icon beside some sites or not at your own discretion.

Tips:

** Use two separate browser windows - one for your Portaportal and the other for searching for links.

In your favorite browser (my favorite is Firefox), pull your File menu to New Window.

Then, search in this new window and when you're ready to go back to your Portaportal site, use your Window menu and select My Portaportal. Use the Window menu to toggle back and forth between your Portaportal site and your links sites.

** Always copy/paste the web address (URL) instead of trying to type it.

Highlight the entire address in the browser, choose Edit - Copy

Then use Edit - Paste to insert the address in the URL window in the Add Links screen.

NOTE: Either paste over or delete the existing "http://" in the url window before pasting (highlighted below.) If you leave it there then add the entire address again (e.g. http://http://www.google.com), the extra http:// in the address will make the link NOT work!

11. Click the Add Links button when you've added a link or two.

12. If anything about the link needs to be changed (or if the link needs to be deleted), use the Edit Link button (it looks like a pencil).

13. Here, you can delete the link entirely, edit the link name, address, include or remove an icon, edit the category name, or move the category around (nesting it inside another folder, for example.)

Click the Save Changes button at the bottom of the window to apply the changes.

 

Other tidbits:

*** You can add a subcategory to any category by clicking this button in the category window:

Be careful about using the ABC button to alphabetize your links if you're not positive you want to do this. It does this with no warning!

*** You can add new categories or delete categories by using the buttons at the top right of your screen.

The ABC button at the top of this screen alphabetizes your CATEGORIES. It does here, however, offer you a warning prior to its reorganizing them.

*** You can test your links periodically to check for dead links.

Click the Advanced button at the top right of your screen.

Scroll down and locate the test links section. Click the Begin test button and it will automatically check each link for you. If you have a lot of links, it takes a while. It provides a nice onscreen status report.

 

AND ONE VERY IMPORTANT THING BEFORE YOU EXIT ...

*** Change your preference to ALLOW GUEST ACCESS. Otherwise, nobody but you will ever get to see your links! This is a one-time change. It makes sense to do it now so you will not forget to do it later!

To do this, click the Preferences button at the top right of the screen.

In the Preferences screen, look for the area shown below:

Select "allow guest access" beside guest access. You may also want to personalize your guest greeting and your guest window title. Reordering mode is handy to turn on so that you can easily arrange the order of your categories and links. Experiment with these preferences to learn about the various options.

Before leaving this screen BE SURE TO CLICK the "change user preferences" button to apply the changes you have made.

*** Tell others about your site.

Once you have allowed guest access, you're ready to invite visitors! Your address is http://guest.portaportal.com/your-login-id

For example, this fictitious one is http://guest.portaportal.com/failesfun The name you choose for your login is the name used in your address. Remember that this guest address was provided to you in the confirmation email.

Send me (Stephanie Failes) your name, school, subject/grade level, and guest access address and I will add you to our RCPS teacher hotlist site.

 

Additional Notes:

Nobody can alter links on your site by going in through the guest access link. Only you, with your password-protected login, may add/delete/change links in your site so please secure your password.

You can now delete a Portaportal site (only your own!) by using the Advanced button at the top left when logged into that site.

You may create more than one Portaportal site, if you want!

*** BACK UP YOUR SITE! ***

Be sure to save a local copy of your site regularly in the event that the developer would suspend this service (gulp!) Read the blog post Prevent a Portaportal Disaster to learn how to save your sites.