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A s a new web service, we find ourselves answering a lot of questions, often because our approach moves away from the old mainframe shops at the core of many "late adopter" organizations. Our idea is that asking professional IT staff to manage a website, given the prevalence of social networking and secure website tools in the consumer environment, is a luxury only the most affluent organizations should afford. We recognization that our approach is new, and we're constantly looking for feedback, so if you don't see your question answered here, please contact us.
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How do I access the software?
Interpelago is accessed using a web browser, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, Safari, Netscape, AOL, MSN, or Firefox. We recommend using the most recent version. No special plug-ins are required. Interpelago relies on Javascript and cookies, which most browsers enable by default.
Where is Interpelago hosted?
Our sites are hosted by third-party hosting facilities known for providing businesses and institutions with excellent service, including routine backups, a variety of server options, and technical support. Using a third-party hosting service allows us to focus on the Interpelago software and service while providing our customers with the most professional web hosting on the market.
How secure is the data?
Every effort has been made to protect your site and its data. Security measures taken by our hosting provider include SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption, a secure server URL, an intrusion detection system, firewall software, 24/7 support, daily data backup, 99.99% network uptime, a strong privacy statement including membership in the TRUSTe Privacy Program, and redundant, state-of-the-art data centers.
How is the application served?
That depends on the size and processing requirements of the site. Small sites may be served from a shared environment on one computer, which is the kind of hosting included with the Interpelago service. Larger organizations or organizations with intensive image and file processing requirements may upgrade to a dedicated server at an increased cost. Your setup and support team will work with you to make sure you have the hosting capacity necessary to meet the needs of your community's Interpelago site.
I don't want anything from my Interpelago site showing up in a Google search. Is that possible?
Everything posted to Interpelago is kept safely beyond the reach of search engines and site crawlers.
Our organization already has a web site. Can we keep it?
Yes. Many organizations today have websites accessible by the general public. If you have such a site, we can move it at no extra charge to your Interpelago server. Hosted alongside your Interpelago site, your public site will continue to serve as your organization's external face, while your Interpelago site will serve the internal collaboration and coordination needs of your working community—giving you two sites in one.
Our organization already has an IT department and a web server. Can we install your software on our server?
No. The software that runs Interpelago is constantly being improved, updated, and tested. To ensure that your organization always has the latest features, we require that Interpelago run on sites managed exclusively by us. If you need a custom feature added to your Interpelago site, let us know and we'll work together to find a solution that works for everyone.
The web is full of sites where people mislead others about their identity. How can we prevent abuse of the site?
Interpelago does not allow anonymous posting. All information carries with it the ID of the person who posted it. Abuse of the site would require the abuser to post information using the sign-in name and password of another person, a situation most easily corrected by resetting the hijacked person's password. In the worst case scenario, widespread vandalism can by dealt with by restoring the database from a recent backup copy. Every Interpelago database is backed up daily. Individuals can be locked out if necessary.
Our organization uses Macs and PCs. Many of them are old. Will Interpelago work on them?
Probably. The Interpelago site requires recent versions of any of the popular browsers for Windows, MacOS, and Unix, including Internet Explorer, Safari, Netscape, Firefox, Mozilla, AOL, and MSN. It doesn't use frames or plug-ins. If you are using any of these products, it's best to upgrade to the latest version. On Mac OS 9 we test only Internet Explorer version 5.2. The site also requires Javascript, cookies, and pop-up windows.
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We would like to use the data from our Interpelago site for other purposes. Can we get it? How?
Yes. Your Interpelago data resides in a mySQL database, which we will export and make available to you upon request. To access the data, we recommend creating a new mySQL database from that export file. Direct access to your website's live Interpelago database is through the website's edit and admin tools only. If those tools aren't doing what you need them to do, let us know and we'll work on improving them.
Who owns the data?
The person or organization who signs the service contract owns the data generated by your installation of the Interpelago application. Interpelago's privacy statement allows us to collect statistical and other general information on the use of your site but prevents us from copying, selling, showing, or otherwise repurposing information from your site without your explicit permission.
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How do I get my organization's brand identity into Interpelago?
Your site comes with a set of admin forms that make it easy to add or change things like the colors, fonts, logos, and pictures used generally on the site. You can change pictures in the banner area on the sign-in page, to keep the site feeling up-to-date. If you are uncomfortable designing your site on your own, we can put you in touch with a setup team to help you get your organization's brand identity into your Interpelago site.
I'm glad we can customize our Interpelago site, but how can that help us communicate our identity to the larger world?
Everytime you communicate within the Interpelago environment and choose "also send as e-mail," the e-mail message will be framed by your organization's sign-in page colors, banner art, and a sign-in link. You can invite non-members to view something you have posted by sending it as a bulletin for "external review;" the e-mail you send will arrive complete with your organization's look and feel.
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We are a diverse organization that uses a lot of different local area network programs and desktop software. How does Interpelago fit in?
Interpelago is a communications tool for coordination and collaboration, designed to complement other technological tools. Keep everyone using the latest versions of your tools by distributing links to them or the files generated from them through your Intereplago site.
I work with a lot of confidential information that needs to be shared within a group but not with the whole organization. How can I do that?
You can choose to make a group as open or as closed to the community as the situation requires and your organization's site policies allow. The owner of a group can decide who in the community can visit, subscribe, and post and change information. If someone needs temporary access, set an access password for them. If a non-editor needs to post something temporarily, set an editing password and give it to them. It's easy to remove both later.
Group pages can be set as members-only distribution centers; group communications can also be limited to group editors who want to prepare their work "offline" before sharing it with the group as a whole.
Our organization shares a lot of common policies, documents, and tools. How do I make sure everyone has access to what they need?
Every page of the site has a shelf for resources, such as software and web links, documents, images, and multimedia files. Resources can also be collected on resource pages, which function as hubs for groups sharing a related purpose and as libraries for the whole community.
Maintaining a resource page guarantees that everyone uses only the most up to date version of a resource. If you need people to readily access certain resources, you can easily distribute them to home or group pages. Interpelago's full-text seach feature makes it easy for anyone to find resources that are not designated private.
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What is involved with site setup?
You have the option to inititate an Interpelago site with a 45 day free trial. Should you choose to make an Interpelago site your organization's new communication and collaboration center, you can use Interpelago's setup templates and step-by-step instructions to guide you through the process. Most organizations have the necessary information already in electronic form. We only ask that you designate two people as local site representives for communications with Interpelago's setup and support team. Please let us know about your organization so we can help.
How long will it take to have my site ready?
Once you have all your source information in electronic form, the technical setup of the site will take just a day or two. The flexibility of the site requires that you make a few design decisions in advance, and that process can take time. If you're not entirely sure how to design your site for your organization's specific requirements, don't worry—it's easy to modify later on. Please let us know about your organization so we can help.
What sort of tools does Interpelago provide to make site setup and maintenance easy?
No html necessary. An Interpelago site includes easy to use forms to help you set up and manage everything from distributing site administration responsibilities to determining day and time codes, brand identity, role types, editorial rights, resource categories, and importing people. 12 Website Setup, 6 Appearance Setup, and 8 Maintenance forms are ready to guide you. Interpelago setup templates and instructions are also available.
How are customer service issues resolved?
Interpelago will put you in touch with a setup and support team. Initially, this team will work with your community to help design your site and load data. We ask that your community designate two of its members as local site reps. To ensure smooth communications, we require that all communications with Interpelago go through your site representatives.
Our organization could really use Interpelago but we can't afford it. What do you suggest we do?
Please contact us; Don't let Interpelago's state of the art design and feature set scare you; our goal is to make price a non-issue for any organization (see our buy page to learn about pricing). You may also consider using Interpelago's community sponsor click-through option to get your site to pay for itself as well as enhance your organization's revenue stream.
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Why schools?
Countless studies show that community involvement in schools is good for kids. Making community involvement realistic for more than a handful of people, means removing time constraints for faculty and administrators, resolving scheduling conflicts between work, school, and home, and providing safe places where teachers, students, parents, administrators, and others can work together to help each student feel valued and succeed. Interpelago is committed to providing the tools to help young people and their communities thrive.
Despite all the printing, e-mailing, and postal mailing our school sends out, parents and children complain they don't know about class assignments, meetings or special events. How is using Interpelago going to make this better?
First ask yourself a few questions: how many children live with two or more households where school information only makes it to one of them, if at all? How many move during the school year? How many use e-mail or let their children use e-mail? How reliable are those e-mail accounts? How much paper gets lost in drawers and e-mailed buried in in-box clutter?
An Interpelago site provides all of your constituencies with one place to communicate, collaborate, and get information—no matter where they live or access the Internet.
We input grades and student evaluations through a program on our local network. Does Interpelago do that?
Interpelago is a general communications tool for coordination and collaboration, designed to complement other technological tools in use at your school. It works best with tools that generate files, like SmartBoards, or web-based tools like Wikis and blogs that are easy to link to. If your grading program allows grades to be exported to files, then Interpelago can support that process by sharing those files on private group pages. If you're using a website to input grades, it's easy to post links to that site on any of your Interpelago pages.
Our school has a lot of families who don't have computers at home. How can they use the site?
Interpelago has been designed from the ground up to be accessible by any computer connected to the web, such as those available at most public libraries. It works across operating systems. It also works well on computers that may be shared by more than one person. Setting up a kiosk near your school's front door or making your school's computer lab available to parents are ways to make sure that everyone has access.
We already have a website, why do we need Interpelago?
Just like your front sign, paint colors, and flower-beds, your external website communicates to your community that your school is a vital institution. However, what your external site can't do is communicate specific or sensitive information among the people participating in your school community. Student schedules, parent contact information, faculty communications with each other or with parents... do not belong in the searchable world wide web.
Interpelago brings you the power of the web, safely and securely.
Our librarian and learning specialist maintain reading lists for students and their parents. How do I get them onto classroom pages?
Every page of the site has a shelf for resources, like reading lists, handouts, web links, documents, images, and multimedia files. Resources also can be collected on resource pages, which function like department offices and libraries. If you intend to use a resource regularly, like a librarian sponsored reading list, link it to your home or group page. If you're not sure where a resource is, use the full-text Search command to find it.
We waste paper and spend a fortune on printing and mailing. How does Interpelago help?
Paper is a wonderful way to communicate, but it's expensive and easy to ignore. How many parents discover too late what was happening yesterday from a crumpled handout at the bottom of a backpack? The dissemination of information is the weakest link at most schools. Interpelago can actually help your school save money by making timely information readily available to everyone concerned in the most efficient way possible.
With all the inappropriate advertising connected to commercial e-mail and listserves, we'd rather not have our students online. How is using Interpelago different?
The truth is, students are already online and often without any oversight or guidance. An Interpelago site is like a walled garden of learning; using Interpelago empowers schools to model and teach Internet awareness, etiquette, research, and attribution skills from within the safety of the school's private Interpelago environment.
I'd like to sponsor the startup of Interpelago at a school. How do you suggest I do that?
Use our tell a friend page to send a message and a link back to this site to the principal, PTA representative, or other person affiliated with the school. Tell them to contact us. Donations to most schools are tax deductable. Ask them about it. If you are a local business or non-profit orgnization with an advertising budget, consider asking the school to let you buy a community sponsor click-through on their Interpelago site.
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