August 2, 2006
Where Did That Link on myUMBC Go?
We moved a few things when we redesigned myUMBC. For the most part, everything is located under the same tab as it was in the last version. It looks different, though, and you might have to look around the page a bit to find it the first time you need it.
If you're looking for something and can't find it, here is a list of the links we moved:
| Appication | Old Location | New Location |
| Blackboard | Tab at top | Link on top, right of Start page and in toolbar at top of every page. |
| Admin Rights (includes Grad School Imaging) | Personal | Administration |
| myUMBC Announcements | Personal | Gone—replaced by myUMBC Announcements blog. Contact jward or elewis for more information |
| PeopleSoft | Services | Administration |
| Etravel | Services | Administration |
| Campus Card | Services | Personal |
| View Financial Information | Services | Administration |
| Current Account Information | Services | Personal |
| 24-month Account History | Services | Personal |
| Bursar's Office/Student Billing | Services | Personal |
| Online Payments | Services | Personal |
| Financial Aid | Services | Personal |
| Show financial aid inquiry | Services | Personal |
| Student Org Event Request Form | Services | Campus Life |
| Student Org Registration Form | Services | Campus Life |
| Student Org Event Manager | Services | Campus Life |
| Microsoft Software Purchase | Services | Campus Life and Services |
Posted by jward at 2:24 PM
July 12, 2006
Preview Our New Internet Sites
In August, UMBC will launch a new home page on our Web site and a new myUMBC portal. Please take a look at both and let us know what you think. (Note: These are mock-ups and not all features work.)
Posted by jward at 1:16 PM | Comments (1)
May 22, 2006
Fall 06 Design: Moved Log Out Link
Based on some user feedback (and internet convention), we swapped the myUMBC app links (myUMBC, Blackboard, WebMail) and the user info/log out link on the black toolbar at the top of the new portal design. We also added small icon to the log out link to make it stand out a bit more.
This change adheres to two internet conventions:
1) A link to "home" in the upper left corner
2) A log out link in the upper right corner
I don't know what we were thinking with the original placement.
Old: http://userpages.umbc.edu/~bcjones/portal/2006-05-20/
Current: http://userpages.umbc.edu/~bcjones/portal/current/
Posted by bcjones at 12:18 PM | Comments (1)
January 9, 2006
myUMBC Issues and Feedback
OIT is aware of login problems to myUMBC, which are caused by issues associated with our Oracle database server. OIT staff members are working to address this and other issues as quickly as possible.
Please continue to let us know what problems you are experiencing. You can leave your comments here, or if you prefer for them not to be public, you can use the feedback form.
In the interim, you can log in directly to the following resources:
Old myUMBC
https://your.umbc.edu
PeopleSoft
Blackboard
http://blackboard.umbc.edu
Webmail
https://webmail.umbc.edu
myUMBC Accounts
http://accounts.umbc.edu
Thank you for your patience,
OIT
Posted by jward at 4:29 PM | Comments (13)
December 20, 2005
myUMBC will change on January 6
When you log into my.umbc.edu on January 6, it will look a bit different from what you’re used to seeing. The new myUMBC is built on a different, more scalable platform that will ultimately provide more services to faculty, staff and students.
If, for any reason, you are confused by the new look or can’t get to something you need, you can easily switch to the old, familiar view by clicking on the “Olde myUMBC” button in the upper left corner.
The old version of the portal will remain active until February 17. After that date, the new portal will become our only myUMBC portal. The look, for now, is similar to what you’re used to seeing. We hope to begin adding functionality, features and a new look later in 2006.
You can get a sneak preview of the new portal by clicking on mybeta.umbc.edu. You’ll find a “feedback” link at the top of this test version of the new portal. Please use it to let us know what you think.
Click here for more information on why myUMBC changed.
Posted by jward at 4:47 PM | Comments (9)
September 30, 2005
OIT Portal Group Releases myUMBC "Beta"
Following the "sneak peek" of a new portal announced Aug. 30, OIT's portal development team has released the myUMBC "beta" for general use and feedback. To login, visit http://mybeta.umbc.edu.
What's New
* myUMBC beta is now running on the uPortal open source framework;
* The new "Courses" and "Communities" tabs link directly to each users available Blackboard sites;
* Documentation, FAQs and updates about future releases will be available on the "Support" tab.
What You Can Do
Our goal for this first release was to provide all personal information and functions available in the current myUMBC, but do so on the new uPortal framework. If you find otherwise, please let us know by providing feedback in the comment form below.
Future Plans
* Study user feedback & performance (October)
* Ongoing updates, fixes, enhancements using this blog as a "change log" (Fall 2005)
* Determine whether the beta or current versions becomes default (December-January)
If you have questions, comments, suggestions or concerns, please respond using the form below or send email to helpdesk@umbc.edu.
Posted by fritz at 2:41 PM | Comments (8)
August 30, 2005
OIT Portal Group Working on New myUMBC
When it launched in 1999, myUMBC was one of the first university portals and (at the time) it was cutting edge technology. But over the years it has been showing its age.
For the past few months, OIT’s New Media and SysCore groups have been focused on creating a new "myUMBC" environment, working with an open-source portal called "uPortal" (http://www.uportal.org), which has been developing over the past few years as a mature portal platform. Targeted specifically at higher education, institutions like Princeton, Duke, University of Delaware and Virginia Tech have chosen uPortal; many of which have similar technologies in-place, such as Blackboard and PeopleSoft.
Switching to a platform such as uPortal will allow us to integrate other technologies into the myUMBC experience, quite often without directly engaging programming talent.
“We have been enjoying a collaborative development with New Media,” says Rob Banz, coordinator of Core Systems and architect of the UMBC user directory. “While we have been working on the integration and infrastructure of the system, they have been setting up the layout, design, and population of content. In the previous incarnation of myUMBC, such a cross-group collaboration would have been difficult, if not impossible.”
A few weeks ago, OIT’s portal group announced general availability of the "pre beta" new portal. Style, design, integration -- basically everything -- is still incomplete. But to get some feedback as to what people think, the portal group set up a blog at http://www.umbc.edu/oit/webdev/news where you can ask questions, make comments, and read about current development efforts.
The new portal will launch in "beta" on or around September 19, but for now here are some screen shots of what you might see for the personal, academic and business services tabs.
Posted by fritz at 10:39 AM | Comments (4)