Policies and Guidelines

Why can't my students view attachments within various tools provided by Sakai?

Please check your student's resources Read permissions under Resources. If they are not allowed to read the resources, they cannot view the attachments of any tools (Announcements, Syllabus, etc.).

You can set your student's Read permissions as follows:

  1. Go to Resources on the left hand menu
  2. Click on Permissions on the menu at the top
  3. Select Read Resources permissions under student and click the Save button.

Note: The default setting is for students to have this permission already in place. If you are experiencing this issue, please make sure the settings have not been changed from the defaults.

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Why can't I see my sites after adding/dropping a course?

Sakai updates enrollment information automatically three times a day, at 2:30AM, 12:30PM and 5:30PM. It can also be updated manually upon request by your college's IT staff. If you have recently added or dropped a course, have waited for one of the three automatic update periods, and are still unable to access your expected course site(s), please contact your college's IT department.

Note: If you are not yet officially registered for the course, you must be added to your sites in the Auditor role. Otherwise, you will be removed automatically by Sakai due to your official membership status. Once your membership is updated by the Registrar's office, your role will automatically change to Student by Sakai.

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How can I reuse or import Sakai material from other sites?

Sakai allows our users to reuse materials from other sites they've previously had within Sakai:

  1. Go to Site Info for the site in which you would like to import materials
  2. Select Import from Site
  3. On the next screen, choose one of the following:
    1. I would like to replace my data: You will be able to select only one source site from which to import data. This is the recommended option
    2. I would like to merge my data: this option is especially useful when you need to pick and choose materials from another site
    3. I would like to merge my user(s): this option only merges user accounts with the users in the new site, none are ovewritten
  4. Select the source site
  5. Click Continue
  6. Check the box next to each tool containing source material you want to import. If the box is grayed out, it means the corresponding tool was not enabled in the new site
  7. Click Finish
  8. Ensure that all materials are properly imported. Update all dates for assignments, announcements, etc. in your new site:
    1. Edit imported items, which are saved as draft or hidden, via choosing the Edit button under an item in question
    2. If you had an interactive syllabus or schedule with links to your Resources or other tools like Assignments, you will need to update each link individually
    3. Note that student materials such as comments in a forum, submitted assignments and tests, etc. will not transfer from site to site
    4. Although Podcasts is not listed as an option to select for importing, the podcast contents will get carried over to your new site, if both source and destination site have the Podcasts tool enabled.
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How can I add an image to the HTML Editor?

Please see How can I add an image to my Site Information Display? under the "Home, Sites" tab.

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How can I create an Ubersite (Course Site Consolidation) request?

Please click this link to see instructions and make a request.

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Where do I find the Welcome Page and how do I use it?

  1. After you load into Sakai but before you login, you can find the Welcome Page underneath the Message Of The Day
  2. Click on the Faculty Guide, Student Guide, or Sakai Policies link, or click on their respective icons
  3. Click on one of the buttons that displays to learn more about a specific tool or topic
  4. Click on one the links that displays to open a more comprehensive guide to a tool or topic
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How can I create announcements in one site and display them on the other sites?

Use the Merge feature in the Announcements tool, if you have more than one site and you would like to send a single announcement to the other sites you belong to. This will allow you to take all of the past and future announcements from one site and aggregate it into your designed sites:

  1. Click on Merge on the top menu and you will see a list of all of the sites to which you belong
  2. Select the sites you would like to share your announcements with, and click on the Save button to make the changes.

Note: Announcements that are merged from the original site cannot be edited or deleted in the merged sites. You can only merge your announcements to the sites in which you have an instructor role. You can also read further detailed information on this topic in the Help > Instructor Guide > Announcements > How do I merge announcements?

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Why can't I (instructor) grade peer review assignments after the due date has passed?

When adding peer review to your assignment, it is important to consider the dates:

  1. The Open Date is when students can start submitting to the Assignments tool.
  2. The Due Date is when the assignment is due, which means students are no longer allowed to submit their assignment unless late submissions are allowed.
  3. The Accept Until Date is usually the same as the Due Date unless you do accept late submissions. If you accept late submissions, this date should be set to a later date than the Due Date. Any submissions sent after the Due Date and by the Accept Until Date will have a red Late flag.
  4. Students may begin peer reviews on their classmates' submissions after the Accept Until Date passes.

Note: Do not make any changes to the assignment once the peer review period has begun. It might trigger unexpected results such as losing student work.

Therefore, you cannot grade until the peer review period has ended. If you click the Grade button during the peer review period, a warning will pop up with the words similar to "Instructor grading is disabled until after the review period: Jan 30, 2017 5:10 pm." However, you may observe peer evaluations through the Reviewed by column in the Grade view.

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How many characters are allowed in a blog's title?

Currently, blog entry titles are limited to 255 characters or less. If you input a title with more than 255 characters, you will receive an error message.

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How can I print my calendar?

You can print your calendar using the Calendar tool in Home:

  1. From your Home tab, click Calendar
  2. Click the Printable Version link.

Note: Keep in mind that the Calendar tool contains all of the important dates from all of your sites.

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How can I export events from my Sakai schedule to my iPad's calendar?

In the Calendar tool, go to the Publish tab (either public or private).

For public events,

  1. Name the calendar.
  2. Check Enable Subscription and Save.
  3. Copy the URL for that site's .ics file.
  4. Open the link on an iPad.
For private events,
  1. Click Generate.
  2. Copy the URL for that site's .ics file.
  3. Open the link on an iPad.

Note: A window should appear to add the events from the Sakai calendar to the iPad app.

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How can I add meetings to my calendar?

Note: You must add the Calendar tool to the site before you create a meeting. If you add the Calendar tool later, you need to add each meeting to the calendar individually:

  1. Click on Signup from the left hand menu.
  2. Click on a meeting title and click the Modify button.
  3. Click the Show other default settings link.
  4. Check the Publish to Calendar checkbox.
  5. Click the Publish Modification button.

More information - how to add meetings to the Calendar tool here

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How do I import events to my calendar?

  1. Click on the Calendar tool in the tool bar.
  2. Click on the Import Events tab.
  3. Use the radio buttons to select the type of calendar you want to import events from.
  4. Click Continue
  5. Click Choose File and select the file you want to upload.
  6. Click Continue.
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How can I participate in a chat room?

To send a message in a chat room, follow these steps:

  1. Enter your message into the text box below Enter Chat Message
  2. Click Add Message or hit the enter or return key on your keyboard to send the message.
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How can I resize the text box in a chat room?

Google Chrome/Mozilla Firefox/Microsoft Edge: You can use the right corner arrow of the text box to alter the size.

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How do I post a message using the commons tool?

  1. Click on the Commons tool in the tool bar
  2. Enter text in the text box
  3. Click Post.
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Why are my widgets disappearing when I rearrange them?

Sometimes while reordering widgets, they may disappear or duplicate. For ones that disappear, they can be found again under the Add a Widget button, and for ones that duplicate a current quick fix is to simply delete the unwanted version of it.

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How can I download/upload multiple files to Sakai resources or Drop Box?

Use the drag and drop function when adding files in Sakai Resources or Drop Box from your computer. This allows multiple files to be uploaded. You can also browse and add multiple files individually.

Note: Make sure you have at least one file stored in your resources folder for your site.

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How can I indicate information is copyrighted?

You can indicate an item's copyright status when adding the item using the Resources or the Drop Box tool.

  1. From your site, click on either Resources or Drop Box
  2. Add an item using Actions tab
  3. Once an item is uploaded, click Actions tab again and click Edit Details
  4. Under Copyright Alert check Display Copyright Alert.
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How can I upload and expand a zip archive in the Resources tool?

There are two ways to upload and expand the zip file into the resources folder

  1. Upload the zip file to a resources folder using the drag-and-drop functionality:
    1. Click Actions and then select Upload Files
    2. This displays Drop Files to upload page
    3. Drag the zip file from your local computer and drop it in the box marked Drop files to upload
    4. This will display a thumbnail of the zip file that will be uploaded
    5. Click Continue to upload the zip file.
  2. Upload the zip file to a resources folder using the Upload File option, and then use the Actions menu:
    1. Click Actions and select Upload File
    2. This displays the Upload Files page
    3. Click Browse to locate and select the zip file in your local computer
    4. Once you are done, click Continue
    5. To expand the zip file, Click Actions and then select Expand ZIP Archive.

Note: The zip file is automatically expanded in the same named folder, but the original zip file remains.

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How can I cite from Google Scholar?

Due to Google disabling support of this feature, you cannot “Import Into Sakai” directly. However, you can still search for articles using Google Scholar, save your results into RefWorks, and reimport these results into Sakai.

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How can I play .au, .mov or mp3 file with Quicktime?

Since Apple no longer supports Quicktime on Windows due to the security issues with the player, we recommend all users should uninstall Quicktime from their Windows computer. Instead, Windows Media Player is a better choice for playing .au or mp3 files on Windows. However, we have also experienced Windows Media Player crashes with some some legacy .mov files, which is a known and reported issue within the Sakai community. VLC player on Windows is able to play many legacy .mov files with the proper client side configuration. For the Mac users, we recommend using Chrome due to a Firefox crash with Quicktime 10.4. Firefox is working well with Quicktime 10.3 though.

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How can I restore files deleted by mistake?

Claremont Sakai allows you to restore accidentally deleted files without an admin's help:

  1. Go to Resources on the left hand menu
  2. Click on Trash
  3. Select the files you would like to restore. You can also select all deleted files by selecting the square box next to the Title
  4. Once you select the files you would like to restore, click the Restore button above. It will allow you go back to the resources folder and check whether all deleted files are restored.

Note: Files will only be available for restoration for 30 calendar days following the deletion date.

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Why can't I change the permissions of a subfolder?

Permissions of any folder in Resources are inherited from its parent folder. Permissions can be added as you trace down the folder hierarchy, but permissions granted in a parent folder cannot be denied (nullified) in the child folder. If you see greyed-out permissions in the child folder, it means that these permissions have already been set in a folder further up the hierarchy.

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How can I make specific files or folders visible only to selected groups?

  1. Click on Actions next to the particular file or folder you would like to make visible to selected groups
  2. Select Edit Details and select Display this folder and its contents to selected groups only. It will display all available groups in the site and then select the groups
  3. Click on the Update button to save.
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Why can't I upload my file to the Sakai Resources tool or the Drop Box?

There are several cases where you may not be able to upload your file into Sakai successfully. The most popular cases are,

  1. If the file size is more than 100MB, you will receive an error message. You will need to compress your file and use zip file functionality to upload your file, or split your file into smaller files and upload them separately.
  2. If you attempt to upload a file with a name in excess of 247 characters, you will receive an error message. Issues can also arise if you store the file inside many folders so that the resulting file path is greater than 255 characters. Please make your file and folder names concise and simple. Please also review the Sakai File and Folder Naming Conventions to ensure that your folders and files will work in Sakai when you create a new folder or file.
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Why can't I open or download files?

Claremont Sakai may allow you to enter special characters in the folder or file name. However, if you use special characters (or any computer reserved characters) in a file name or folder name, your site participants may not be able to open or download the file properly. Please review the Sakai File and Folder Naming Conventions to ensure that your folders and files will work in Sakai, when you create a new folder or file.

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How do I create multiple folders in Resources at once?

  1. Click on the Resources tool from the tool bar
  2. Click on the Actions dropdown menu and select Create Folders
  3. Click Add Another Folder to create multiple folders
  4. For each folder, use the text box to enter the folder name and the Add details for this item link to add additional information
  5. Click Create Folders Now.
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How do I search for a file in the Resources tool?

  1. Click on the Resources tool from the tool bar
  2. Click on the All site files link
  3. Use the search bar to conduct a keyword search and the button with the chevron icon to display all of your folders and files.
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Why can't some of my students reply to emails sent with the Email tool?

If the student cannot reply to emails sent with the Email tool, please report this as an issue with your college's Sakai support team.

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Why can't I see my emails show up in the Email Archive tool?

If this is the first time using Email Archive in your course site, type something into the searchbar and press Search. Then, press Clear Search and the emails should show up. If this doesn't fix the issue, then please ask for assistance from your college's Sakai support team.

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How can I grade a student's submitted forum?

Note: You MUST first add the Gradebook tool into your site and then add your gradebook item (e.g. Discussion 1) into your gradebook.

There are several different ways to get to the grading screen:

  1. View overall statistics by student or topic. Use this method, if you want to give students a global forum grade:
    1. Select Statistics & Grading at the top of the Discussions page
    2. Click either Statistics & Grading by User or Statistics & Grading by Topic.
  2. Grade an individual topic:
    1. Click the title of a topic
    2. Select Display Message Content to view a student's submitted post
    3. Select Grade, and enter a grade with your comments
    4. When finished, click Submit Grade
    5. OR, use the More drop-down next to a topic on the front page of Discussions
    6. Select Grade.

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How can I view the descriptions of forums with attachments?

If a description was written, it will be visible under the forum name in the forums list or under the forum name if you click on the title. To view the attachments, click on the highlighted text that says View Attachments under the description.

Note: Students cannot access a Forum until it contains at least one topic.

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How can I change forum permissions?

You can edit permissions in the Forum Settings. By default, there are 6 roles and 7 permission levels. Navigate to the tabs as follows:

  1. From your site, click Discussions
  2. Click Forum Settings
  3. Select the role (i.e. Auditor, Instructor, Student, etc) to change permissions for
  4. Set the permission (i.e. Author, Contributor, None, etc) level as desired.

Note: The default functions will appear under Which you can customize below, and you can also change this table.

Note: The new setting will only affect forums and topics created in the future which means if there is a forum or topic created by a student in an author role, and later on that student role is changed from author to contributor, the student can still edit/delete the topic he already created before, but he cannot create a new topic anymore.

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How can I print in Forums?

  1. Go to the Forums tool and select the topic you want to print
  2. Under that topic, there will be a list of posted threads. Click on the Print tab situated to the right of the other tabs
  3. A new window will open. Click on the Printer icon in the upper left corner to select print options. This will print every conversation within the topic, including the reply messages.

Repeat this process for other topics. Please also note that you can print an individual thread instead of the entire topic.

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How can I print from the gradebook?

There is no print function in both Gradebook tool. However, you can use the Export function to save the file and print it from the saved files as follows:

  1. From your site, click Gradebook
  2. At the top, click Import/Export
  3. Select either Export Gradebook or Custom Export
  4. It will download a file that you can print from your device.

Note: The browser print function does not work very well, but you can also do that as follows:

  1. Internet Explorer: Click the Gear Icon in the top right corner and choose Print from the drop down menu, or click the File menu and choose Print.
  2. Mozilla Firefox: Click the Three Lines Icon in the right top corner (or click the File menu) and then choose Print.
  3. Google Chrome: Click the Three Lines Icon in the right top corner (or click the File menu) and then choose Print.

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Why are grades I've entered in other tools (Assignments, Forums, Lessons, and Tests & Quizzes) not appearing in the gradebook?

When you create an item in a non-gradebook tool, if you want that item to appear in your gradebook, make sure to associate it with a preexisting gradebook item or, if you are able to, select an option that creates a new gradebook item to pair with the item you are creating.

To release the grades to the student in Assignments:

  1. Go to Assignments
  2. Click on Grade
  3. For each student: click on Save and Release to Student at the bottom of the assignment's grading page
  4. For all of the students: after you finish grading individual students, click on Return to List, and click Release Grades at the top right corner and next to Download All and Upload All links on the main grading page.
To release grades to students from Tests & Quizzes,
  1. Go to Test & Quizzes
  2. Click on your assessment's Action drop-down menu
  3. Click Settings and make sure that Grading Options is selected under Grading and Feedback. To only release the items to students in this instance, do the following:
    1. Select the Gradebook tool
    2. Click Edit next to the name of the item
    3. Select Release item to students
    4. Click Save Changes
  4. To set your gradebook settings to release/display items to students,
    1. Select the Gradebook
    2. Click on Settings
    3. Click on Grade Release Rules
    4. Select Display released Gradebook items to students
  5. Click Save Changes.
Please note that you can use the Feedback tool to extend the grade scale since Feedback allows you to create/maintain your own gradebook in a spreadsheet. Please also note that there is a known issue where you cannot change the grade scale with the + sign. Please contact your help desk which can provide you with a workaround to address this specific issue.

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How do I import grades into the gradebook?

Please see this Help document for detailed steps including screenshots.

Please note that there is a known issue for Windows users running Microsoft Office. Currently, the Gradebook tool allows you to import CSV files, and the built-in export feature generates a CSV file by default. If you are using Windows and want to use an Excel Workbook (xslx), please convert your excel file to a csv file. Mac users may use either CSV or Excel files, as the issue does not affect MS Office for Mac.

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How do I hide grades from students in the gradebook?

In Gradebook, you can hide an individual gradebook item or the course grade from students.

To hide an individual gradebook item,

  1. Go to Gradebook and click Grades
  2. Click on the down arrow icon next to the name of the item
  3. Select Edit Item Details from the menu that opens after you click on the down arrow
  4. Once the Edit Gradebook Item window opens, uncheck Release item to students? to hide the grade from students.

Note: You cannot include an item in the course grade and hide it at the same time.

To hide the course grade,

  1. Go to Gradebook and click Settings
  2. Select Grade Release Rules and uncheck Display final course grade to students
  3. Click Save Changes.
To hide grades every time by default when sent from other tools such as Assignments, Forums, and Tests & Quizzes,
  1. Go to Gradebook and click Settings
  2. Select Grade Release Rules and uncheck Display released Gradebook Item to students
  3. Click on Save Changes.

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How can I (instructor) view the student summary in the gradebook?

  1. Go to Gradebook and click the desired student name
  2. A separate window titled Grade Summary for your selected student will pop-up.
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How do I see statistics for a particular gradebook item?

  1. Click on the Gradebook tool in the tool bar
  2. Find the item you want to look at, and click on the arrow icon below the item name
  3. Click on the View Grade Statistics button.
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How many characters can a comment have in the gradebook?

A comment can have up to 20,000 characters.

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How do I hide/reorder unused Sakai sites from my tab bar?

You can hide unused sites from your tab bar, without deleting or unjoining them, using Preferences in Home.

To hide tabs

  1. From your Home tab, click Preferences
  2. Click Sites
  3. Use the checkboxes to select the sites you want to hide
  4. When finished click Update Preferences.

To reorder tabs

  1. Click on the grid icon in the top right corner to see the Sites.
  2. Favorite the sites you would like to show up on your bar by clicking the empty star icon
  3. Click Organize Favorites
  4. Drag and drop the sites in the order you would like.

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How do I join/unjoin a Sakai site?

You can join/unjoin a Sakai site using the Membership tool in Home.

  1. From your Home tab, click Membership
  2. To join a site,
    1. Click Joinable Sites to see a list of all the available sites that you haven't joined yet. You can also search the site using the Search box
    2. Click Join Now under the site you would like to join
  3. To unjoin a site,
    1. Select the site you would like to unjoin
    2. Click the Unjoin at the bottom of the page.
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How can I add web content to the Home page?

  1. Go to Home and click Worksite Setup on the left hand menu
  2. Select the checkbox for Home and click on the Edit button from the top menu
  3. Add Web Content to Home:
    1. Click on the Manage Tools button in the top menu
    2. Select the Web Content tool
    3. Click on the Continue button at the bottom
  4. After adding the Web Content tool, customize the Web Content tool:
    1. Enter the appropriate title in the Title text field
    2. Enter the URL into the Source field
    3. Click on the Continue button
    4. Click on the Finish button to finish creating your Web Content tool
  5. The customized title will appear on the tab in the left hand menu.
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How can I add an image to my Site Information Display?

To add an image to your Site Information Display, viewable on the default Overview tab when you navigate to a site, you will first need to upload the image you want to use to the Resources tool of your site:

  1. Click Resources from the left hand menu of your site
  2. From the Actions drop down menu, select Upload Files
  3. Drag and drop the file you wish to upload, and then hit Continue.

Once the file has successfully been uploaded to Resources, navigate back to the Overview tab:

  1. Select the Edit top right hand corner of the Welcome Display
  2. Inside the Rich-Text Editor box for Description, find the Image button and select it. This will open up an Image Properties window
  3. Select the Browse Server button and this will open up a list of the image files available in the Resources of your site
  4. Select the image you want to use, and from here you will have the option to edit the display of this image in your Overview via the other options in the Image Description box.
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How do I organize my course sites in Sakai?

You can hide unused sites from your tab bar without deleting or unjoining them, using the Preferences tool in Home.

To hide tabs,

  1. Click on the Sites link in the top right corner of your portal
  2. Enter "FA21" into the Filter sites search bar
  3. Click on the star icon next to the sites that you want to mark as favorites
  4. Sites that you've marked as favorites will have the star icon filled in
  5. Click on the Organize Favorites tab
  6. Each site has an icon with three horizontal lines
  7. Use your cursor to rearrange your favorite sites by clicking on the icon and dragging the site
  8. The divider marks which sites will display with banners in your portal.

If you're having trouble finding a site,

  1. Click on the Worksite Setup tool under the Home banner
  2. Search for "FA21" or another keyword
  3. Click on the title of the site you want to see
  4. You will be taken to that site and it will appear as a banner in your portal
  5. To keep that banner as one of your six favorites, refer to the 8 steps above.
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How can I embed an .mp4 video file to a lesson page?

Embedding an .mp4 video file in a lesson page is currently only supported in Google Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Edge (Windows 10). If you want to embed an .mp4 video file into your page, please use one of those browsers.

  1. Click on the Lessons tool
  2. Click Add Content +
    1. Click Embed Content on the Page
    2. Either upload the file, paste the URL, or use embed the file code
    3. Click Save.
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How can I upload multiple items to a lesson page?

  1. Click Add Content +
  2. Then Add Content Links
  3. Upload your selected files
  4. Click on the Save button to finish uploading your files

Please note that if you use the Choose Files option on the Add Content Links page, please be careful when using the Remove button. You may unintentionally delete all of your uploaded files.

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How do I embed a Google Drive video in Lessons?

  1. Open Google Drive
  2. Find the video you want to embed
  3. Set the share setting to Public on Web
  4. Double click on the file so that it opens in iFrame
  5. Click on the icon that shows three vertical dots
  6. Click Open in new Window
  7. Click on the icon that shows three vertical dots in the new window
  8. Click Embed item...
  9. Copy the code in the text box
  10. Navigate to your Sakai site
  11. Click on the Lessons tool from the tool bar
  12. Click Add Content +
  13. Click Embed Content on the Page
  14. Paste the code into the text box
  15. Click Save.
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How do I embed a widget for announcements, forum conversations, or a calendar in the Lessons tool?

  1. Click on the Lessons tool from the tool bar
  2. Click Add Content +
  3. Click Embed Calendar, Embed Announcements or Embed Forums Conversations depending on which widget you want to add
  4. If you choose Embed Announcements or Embed Forums Conversations use the dropdown menu to select the number of announcements or conversations you want to add and click Save.
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How can I add a news feed?

  1. From your site, click Site Info
  2. Click Manage Tools
  3. Check the News box and then click Continue
  4. Enter a title for the news feed in the appropriate field
  5. Enter the URL for the RSS news feed in the appropriate field
  6. When done, click Finish.

Note: Multiple feeds can be added; simply choose the number of additional feeds you want to add from the More News Tools dropdown menu.

Note: To change the title and URL of any RSS feed in the toolbar, use the Options at the top of the RSS feed page.

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How can I link Box to Sakai?

  1. Login to Box with your user id and password
  2. Select the folder or file you want to link and click Link
  3. Copy and paste the link in the box
  4. Login to Sakai and select the appropriate site
  5. Select Site Info from the left side menu bar
  6. Click Manage Tools, select Web Content, and click Continue to go to the Customize tool instances page
  7. Enter a name in the Title field and paste the link in the Source field
  8. Click Continue and Finish to add the Box link to the site tools
  9. The Box link now displays as a tool in the left side menu.
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How can I subscribe to content via RSS feeds?

  1. Podcasts: Please note that modern browsers do not provide RSS readers anymore. They only load xml files rather than the webpage. You can subscribe to the RSS feed of your site's podcasts using a podcatcher such as iTunes:
    1. Copy the given URL
    2. Paste the URL into your podcatcher's settings.
  2. Blogs, Wiki: You can subscribe to other contributors' blogs in order to get the new entries via an RSS feed:
    1. Click the RSS icon next to the blog you wish to subscribe to
    2. Copy the given URL
    3. Paste the URL using any RSS Feed subscription service or use your browser features

    Note: Comments on blogs are not displayed in the RSS Feed

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How can I access podcasts via an RSS feed?

  1. Mozilla Firefox:
    1. Before going to the Podcasts tool, download the Feedbro add-on for Firefox
    2. Once the extension is installed, navigate to the Podcasts tool and click on the RSS icon . This will open a new tab that displays the RSS file
    3. While you are on the RSS file page, click on the Feedbro icon on the top-right of your browser. Then click Find Feeds in Current Tab. Finally click Subscribe
    4. You can now click on Feedbro again then click Open feed reader. Finally click on the podcast title on the left-hand side to view your podcast.
  2. Google Chrome:
    1. Before going to Podcasts tool download RSS Subscription Extension (by Google) to your browser
    2. Once extension is added go to the Podcasts Tool and click the Subscribe Now button
    3. You will see the browser may be using Bloglines as the feed; if so, click subscribe. If this does not work, go back and change feed to Yahoo or other trusted feed reader websites that can be added
    4. Once you find a feed reader that works, you can add the page to your bookmarks by clicking the star in the top right of the browser.
  3. Microsoft Edge:
    1. Before going to the Podcasts tool, download the Feedbro add-on for Edge
    2. Once the extension is installed, navigate to the Podcasts tool and click on the RSS icon . This will open a new tab that displays the RSS file
    3. While you are on the RSS file page, click on the Feedbro icon at the top-right of your browser. Then click Find Feeds in Current Tab. Finally click Subscribe
    4. You can now click on Feedbro again then click Open feed reader. Finally click on the podcast title on the left-hand side to view your podcast.
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How can I set the permissions in the Roster tool?

  1. Go to Roster on the left hand menu
  2. Click on Permissions at the top menu
  3. Select permissions for each role using the checkboxes
  4. Click Save.
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How can I view groups in the Roster tool?

  1. Go to Roster from the left hand menu
  2. Click the dropdown menu in Group and select the group you would like to view.

Please note that you need to create groups first in order to view groups in Roster.

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How can I add/change the dates and times of a meeting (Sign Up workaround)?

  1. For adding different times and dates for a meeting,
    1. From your site, click Sign Up and click Add
    2. Enter the meeting information
    3. Select Meeting Frequency
      1. Note: Specify weekly for reoccurring events
    4. Select the Multiple Slots meeting type, and enter the desired number of slots
    5. Click Advanced User-Defined Timeslots
    6. Click Create Timeslots.
  2. For extending the time range of meeting,
    1. From your site, click Sign Up
    2. Select the meeting you wish to change under Meeting Title
    3. Click Modify at the top of the menu bar, and make any necessary option changes now
    4. Click View or Edit Timeslots
    5. Add a new timeslot, and enter the time either by clicking the calendar or manually typing it
      1. Note: It will be marked new at the bottom
      2. Note: Be careful to follow the correct formation (e.g. 05:30 PM)
    6. Click Continue
    7. When done, select Publish Modification
      1. Note: Previously signed users remain intact under this modification.
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How can I change the "Available To" field after posting a meeting in the Sign Up tool?

You cannot change Available To after posting a meeting. However, you can copy the existing meeting and make it available to other groups or sites.

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How can I obtain the valid share link in the Sign Up tool?

  1. Go to Sign Up on the left hand menu
  2. Click on a meeting
  3. Click the LINK button at the right top corner
  4. You can see the Short URL, and use this link in order to access the signup.

Note: Do not copy the URL in the address bar to share the link. Based on our testing, only the URL provided by the LINK button will work for all participants.

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How can I add participants to a Sakai site?

You can add participants to a Sakai site by using the Site Info tool in your site.

  1. From your site, click Site Info
  2. Click Add Participants to add a participant.

Note: Use the top box for users who already have a Sakai account at the Claremont Colleges.
* If you don't know a user's Sakai username, please call your college's IT Help Desk and they will be able to assist you.
Note: Use the bottom box for guests who don't have a Sakai account.
* Their email address will be their username and Sakai will send them an email with an activate account link. Sakai will only send the email with the activate account link once so if you add the same guest to another site they will not get another activate account email. Please inform the guest user to choose Guest Login rather than Login when logging in.

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How can I add students to a course site?

The automatic Add/Drop scripts update the Sakai course site rosters three times a day during each semester. Students who add a course are automatically added to the course site. Students who drop a course will be inactivated in the site automatically.

If you still wish to add a student before they have officially added the course at the Registrar's Office, you MUST do so by adding the student with the Auditor role:

  1. From your site, click Site Info
  2. Click Add Participants to add a student as an auditor.

Note: The student will be automatically inactivated in the site by the nightly Add/Drop script if they are not listed as an auditor.

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How can I reorder/rename the tools in my site's tool bar?

You can reorder or rename the tools in your site's tool bar using the Site Info tool:

  1. From your site, click Site Info
  2. Click Tool Order
    1. To reorder tools, simply drag and drop the tools into the desired order
    2. To rename tools, click the Settings icon next to the appropriate tool, and click Edit Title.
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How do I create groups in my site?

  1. Go to Site Info on the left hand menu
  2. Click on the Manage Groups button
  3. Click the Create New Group button beneath the title bar
  4. Enter the Group Title and Description for the group
  5. Highlight the names of the site members you wish to add in the Site Member List on the left and click the > button
  6. You may also remove members from the group by clicking on the members' names before clicking the < button
  7. Click on the Add button once you are finished deciding on the members of the group.
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How can I make my site publicly available?

Elizabeth Hodas from Harvey Mudd has compiled a comprehensive tutorial on how to accomplish this.

View or Download the tutorial.

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How do I create multiple groups at once?

  1. Click on the Manage Groups tab in the Site Info tool
  2. Click on the Bulk Creation tab
  3. Either use the Choose File button to upload a CSV file, or use the text box
  4. To use the text box, type the title of the group followed by a comma, and then type the usernames for the users you want to add to the group with each name separated by a comma
  5. To create more than one group, press enter or return on your keyboard and complete step 4 on a new line in the text box
  6. Click Continue
  7. Click Bulk Create Groups.

Note: If a group is associated with any tool in Sakai (an assignment is released to that group for example), you cannot edit or remove the group.

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My syllabus is already on the web. Could I use that instead?

You can redirect the Syllabus tool in your site to point to a document anywhere on the web.

  1. From your site, click Syllabus
  2. Click Redirect to link your syllabus to your Sakai site.
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How do I add my syllabus to the calendar?

You can add your syllabus to the calendar by following these steps:

  1. From your site, click Syllabus
  2. Click Edit
  3. Check the boxes under the Calendar column for the items you want to add
  4. Click Update
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How can I enable the auto-submit feature on behalf of students?

Sakai can automatically submit any student's work which has been saved by the student, but which has not yet been submitted, after the latest acceptance date passes. In order to enable the auto-submit feature, faculty must navigate to the assessment settings and select the checkbox next to the Autosubmit saved student work after latest acceptance date, unless student has previously submitted text under Availability and Submissions.

Note: If you reuse old exams which contain an old retract date, please reset/change the retract date so that it is later than or equal to the due date. If this is not done, auto-submit will not be triggered due to the date discrepancy.

Note: To reset/change the retract date, Yes, until needs to be checked. If it is not checked, the system will not allow you to change or save the date. Once the new date is saved, you may go back and select No, not after due date.

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How do I create an exception for an assessment?

  1. Navigate to Settings for the assessment in question
  2. Click on the Exceptions to Time Limit and Delivery Date menu
  3. Use the Select User and Select Group dropdown menus to determine who the exception is for
  4. Use the date pickers to choose a new available date, due date, and late submissions allowed date
  5. Use the time limit menus to add a time limit
  6. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Save or Save Settings and Publish.
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If a student has taken an assessment more than once, how do I view all of their submissions?

  1. Click on the Tests & Quizzes tool from the tool bar
  2. Click on the Actions dropdown menu for the assessment you want to view
  3. Click Scores
  4. Click on the dropdown menu to the right of the View header
  5. Select All Submissions.
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Why can’t I add a part into the existing published assessment?

Note: If an assessment has already been published, it cannot be edited by adding more parts. Only draft assessments can have parts added to them. This is because adding parts to a published assessment could result in different students having different assessment experiences, depending on when they access the exam.

Sakai will not allow you to add parts to published assessments, but will allow you to modify them. To do so, follow these steps:

  1. Go to Tests & Quizzes from the Tool Menu in your site.
  2. Click Edit from the dropdown menu next to a published assessment.

You can add a part to a draft assessment as follows:

  1. Go to Tests & Quizzes from the Tool Menu in your site
  2. Click Edit from the dropdown menu next to a draft assessment.
  3. Click Add Part in the overhead bar.
  4. Add a Title into the text box provided.
  5. Add Information (Optional).
  6. Add attachment (Optional).
  7. Select an option for Part Type.
  8. Click Save.
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How can I edit a published assessment?

Note: While it is possible to edit a published assessment by retracting it's published state and republishing, it is not recommmended as it may cause errors and unwanted changes to your test.

Instead, we recommend you to edit the draft assessment. To do so, follow these steps:

  1. Go to Tests & Quizzes from the Tool Menu in your site
  2. Click Edit from the dropdown menu next to a draft assessment.
  3. Make your necessary changes
  4. Click Save.
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How can I add web content from Resources?

  1. Find the URL in Resources
  2. Click on the Actions drop down menu for the file you want to add to Web Content
  3. Click Make Web Content Link
  4. Write a title and click Add
  5. A tool with the title you gave will appear left-hand menu with all of your other tools.
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How can I open Web Content within the Sakai site?

Web Content tools may launch in a new window when clicked, regardless of your selected option. This is due to the linked site's x-frame options. This is controlled by the linked site's configuration, and they may be purposely ensuring that their content is not embedded in other sites.

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Last updated on November 7, 2023, Pomona College ITS