Waypoint Outcomes Basic System Requirements

Summary:

• Mac OS X, Windows 2000/XP/Vista, Linux.
• Firefox 3.0+ (preferred).
  • Safari 3.0, Internet Explorer 7.0+ also supported.
• Turn off pop up blocking for the address: http://subjectivemetrics.com
• Disable Earthlink, Yahoo and other toolbars if you are experiencing unpredictable behavior.
  • Google's toolbar is just fine.
• Understand the concept of session time.

Session Time:

Important: Waypoint is a web-based software program, which means your computer is constantly communicating with the Waypoint servers. Like online banking and other, similar services, you will be automatically logged out of Waypoint after a fixed period of time.

This is to preserve privacy (users might be accessing Waypoint from a public computer). Unlike online banking, the Waypoint session is quite long: 40 minutes. The Evaluate page features the session time remaining just below the Students drop-down selection box.

The session is reset to 40 minutes after click of Save or Update on the Evaluate page. And, with pop-up blockers turned off, your work will be automatically saved for you if you are logged off because of inactivity during the Evaluate process.

This session time only becomes an issue in scenarios where a teacher is grading very long documents (15+ pages) or when a teacher is interrupted, for instance by a phone call, during the Evaluate process. Waypoint users get used to clicking the Save/Update button regularly to make sure their work is safely saved to the Waypoint servers.

During Element and Assignment creation and editing the session time is not as much of an issue because every save results in the session clock resetting to 20 minutes.

Connected to the idea of a 'session time' is the equally important idea of running only one session at a time. Do not log in to Waypoint more than once from a single computer at the same time. This can result in scrambled evaluations and data loss.

Waypoint Browser and Technical Requirements:

The following browsers are certified to work with Waypoint.

• Mozilla Firefox 3.0 (or higher)
  • Firefox is our preferred browser. It works equally well on Mac or PC, includes built-in spell-checking, and supports our advanced Annotation features.
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 (or higher).
• Apple Safari 3.0 (or higher).

Note: Other browsers may work, but they are not certified to work with Waypoint and the results may be unexpected or undesirable.

Computer Requirements:

• A minimum of Pentium III 500 MHz (Windows) or Apple G3 processor.
• A minimum of 256MB RAM.

Note on Pop-up Blockers:

• Pop-Up blockers, such as the Google bar, Earthlink popup blocker, and those built in to newer browsers, must be disabled to use Waypoint.
  • Most pop-up blockers allow you to specify the Internet sites you wish to allow pop-ups. See your pop-up blocker's documentation for more information. If you do not disable your computer's pop-up blocker Waypoint will not function properly.
• Toolbars such as the Yahoo and Earthlink toolbars can significantly interfere with Waypoint's functionality and should be disabled.

Last modified 11/11/2009 10:35 AM by wp_client_services