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If you have not already done so, apply for a new form. You'll be asked to provide an
abbreviation for your college, department or organization. For example, if you
were creating a form for the Chemistry Department, you might use the
abbreviation chem.
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After you are notified that your form has been created,
login at the AskPSU Administrator Login at
https://clc.its.psu.edu/askpsu/admin.pl
using your Penn State
Access Account.
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Press Enter or click on OK to continue.
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The AskPSU Administrator Menu is displayed.
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Select
Update Form on the administrator menu. A page will be displayed that
lists your AskPSU forms.
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Select the form you want to work on by clicking on the radio
button next to the form.
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Press the Update button to continue.
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An Update Form that allows you to enter the basic information required for the AskPSU form
is displayed.
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Select the format of your AskPSU form by selecting either the simple(1-page) or advanced(2-page)
Form Type. Refer to type of form for more information regarding
Form Types.
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Complete the Page Title field. The text you enter
here will follow the word "Ask" at the top of your form. In general, it is best
to have a short title to provide basic information to visitors. Refer to
Sample Page Title for more information.
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Complete the Introductory Text. This optional
introductory information will appear under the page title.Refer to
Sample Introductory Text for more information.
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Complete the Footer Text. This optional
information will appear in the footer section of the form. It can include a link to a webpage/contact person
to reach in the event of problems with the form. Refer to
Sample Footer Text for more information.
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Complete the Followup Text. This optional text will
be displayed on a Web page after the visitor submits your form. See the
Sample Response page for text examples.
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Press the Continue button to continue to the
Update Topics for URL screen (where URL gives the link to your AskPSU form).
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In the advanced 2-page format, an option of displaying topics on the main page in a single column or two columns
is available. Choose the appropriate format depending on the number of topics available and enter the number of
topics to be displayed in the left column.
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Click on Add Topic to add a new topic to your form.
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Enter a Topic name. This can be any word or phrase you
think visitors might search for on your Web site.
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Enter a Description. This can be a brief description of
the topic that is being added. Note that the description can be a maximum of 200 words.
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Include the Topic e-mail address or the URL corresponding to this topic.
The email address should correspond to that of the person(s) who can best answer questions related to the
topic listed on the same line. In the advanced format, if an email address is entered in this
field, a simple form will automatically be created that allows the user to send messages to this
email address. In the simple format, the topic is added to a drop down list of topics that
the user can choose from.
Note that the URL can be used only if the advanced 2-page format of the form is selected.
The URL needs to correspond to an already existing askpsu form or a form that you will apply for and
create(just like a normal form).
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Check the Hide box if you prefer that visitors not
see the e-mail address(es) the message is being sent to, in case you entered an email address
in the previous step.
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Note:
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If you do not check the box to hide the email address, when a question is submitted, the
follow-up message will display the address, suggesting that further questions may be directed
to that email address.
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In the field Your email has been sent to, enter
contact information. We recommend that you use an organization name rather than
a person's name. This is the text that will be shown to visitors after they
submit the form. See the Sample Response page
for text examples. Note that if a URL was entered in the previous step, you can
leave this field blank.
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Click the Save Changes button to commit the changes to the database. A message indicating
that the changes have been saved is displayed.
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Complete steps 16 through 22 for each additional topic.
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Choose the Alphabetize Topics and Renumber
buttons to change the order of your topics. As you enter new topics, they are
assigned numbers in multiples of ten, but you can change the order at any time
using either of these buttons or by entering a number.
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In the advanced format, you may choose the layout of the final form. Topics may be displayed in a single
column layout by selecting the radio button Display in 1 column, (the default selection)the
AskPSU form looks similar to the following example form :
You can also select the radio button Display in 2 columns ... , specifying the number of topics
that should be displayed in the first(left) column in the box provided. If we specify 2 topics for our sample
form,
and Click on the Save Changes button,
The final AskPSU form looks similar to the following :
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Use the Save Changes and View Results buttons
to check your form. If further changes are needed, simply go through the above
steps again. The URL for your postcard form is displayed at the top of the
postcard.
