Spell Checker 22-09-2005

I am often asked about the availability of a spelling check program for Passport. We have found that the best solution is to install a "client-side" spell checker like IESpell (Windows IE) or Spellbound (Windows / Mac Firefox). Each is advertised as "free for personal use" but you would be expected to buy a one-off site licence if you wanted to use either product on multiple machines. Please see How Do I ....

Update
Sidney (@ieSpell.com) advises me that the standard per user fee is appropriate. This would cost $15 per machine (about £11) and is a one-off cost. It gets cheaper the more you buy.

Server Site Maintenance 21-09-2005

Pipex inform us that from the 20th to the 23rd of September, essential upgrading and maintenance will be carried out at their Park Royal Data Centre where the main Passport server is based.
They say: "The work should have no noticeable effects for customers, however with all work of this nature there is always a minor risk element involved."
Passport server does not perform any operations between these hours and it is unlikely that anyone will be using Passport at this time of the morning.

Update
Pipex sysadmins have now confirmed:
"The essential work to be carried out to the Park Royal DC to improve the electric infrastructure will take place in the early hours of the morning between 2AM and 6AM on all four days (September 20th/21st/22nd/23rd). The only day with potential risk of outage is 22nd of September when the AC and lights will have to go down for a small amount of time."
Update
We have passed the risk period and not had any interruption to daytime service.

When is data lost? 20-09-2005

We are occasionally asked to recover data lost when using Passport. Of course we always try our best to see if data entered can be brought back, but if an open form has been closed by quitting the browser, closing a browser window, the computer powering down or a local computer or network crash or connection failure, there is usually very little we can do. Only a Save, Save Draft or a Time Out will send data to our server - once it is there it is secure.

APIR 01-09-2005

Quick reminder to users about APIR. The Connexions APIR (Assessment, Planning, Implementation and Review) Framework is a tool developed by and exclusively for use by Connexions personnel. It will provide useful information for E2E Providers but should not be completed by them.
There is more information in the Tools section of the Support website.

Update
Thanks to Colin Johnston at Ace 2000 for this reminder.

Who Sees What? 30-08-2005

The Helpline is often asked who can log in with whom and what can advisers and managers see. Here are a few simple points about Passport access.

• any Passport Adviser can double log in with any learner registered with a colleague in their own organisation

• an Adviser logging in themselves can only see information about learners in their primary and secondary caseloads

• a Manager logging in using Passport Manager can see all advisers in their own organisation and all of the learners for each adviser

• there is also a link in Passport Manager to load a read-only version of any Passport in the logged-in manager's organisation