Internal Web Site

I have been letting this blog lapse for a few months as the IT Department has been focused mostly on office renovations in Philadelphia.  This has taken a fair amount of my time, and involved work not particularly worthy of discussing with the whole firm.  Suffice it to say that renovations are proceeding along.  We are in the final phase of work in Philadelphia, and hope to have things completed in a few more weeks.

Old Research Home Page Shutting Down

I am going to try to start posting regularly again though.  Today I am posting to announce that next week, we will be shutting down permanently, our old research home page: (10.0.0.251/research/home.html or 192.6.120.251/research/home.html).  The old page has been up and running for 17 years now and has served us well.  It's main shortcoming has been that it is only available when in the office or when using VPN.  We did this originally, because we did not want to make the page visible to the public.

New Research Home Page

Last year, we debuted our new research home page on Google Sites.  You may access the page at research.margolisedelstein.com.  You can access the site from anywhere in or out of the office.  However, we still do not want the site to be accessible by the public at large.  For this reason, you may get a prompt to log in using your Gmail address and password.  If you use Chrome, you are probably already logged in using that account and won't get the prompt.  You can access the site using any browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, etc.).

We have tried to keep some continuity between the old and new sites.  The page may seem a little crude, though this is done on purpose.  I wanted a page that had maximum compatibility with all browsers, old and new.  Using more advanced features often cause problems across browsers.  Keeping it simply hopefully avoids some of that.

There are also a few limitations using Google Sites itself for the hosting.  One particularly annoying one for me is that Sites would not allow me to use drop down lists as we had on the old site.  Instead of that, I have put all the links on a separate page, with the ability to click on section headings at the top of the page to get to the section you need.

Most of the internal links on the page lead to a shared document on Google Drive.   This make it much easier for us to update pages quickly and in real time.  We can update just about anything in a matter of minutes.

Send me your Input

If you notice an error or omission, or have a suggested change, feel free to send it along to me (Mike Troy).  If you think a web site link should be added to the page or find one that is no longer working, please send those along as well.  I am also happy for input on how we can improve or expand the site. If there are key firm documents you think should be added or other ways we can make use of the site to make your life easier, let me know.

I know there are some things on the page that are out of date.  I can only update information when people send it to me.   If there is something out of date that you need, let me know.  That will prompt me to email the person responsible for updated information.

I also have the ability to add online polls on the site.  Right now, I am using that as a method for people to submit phone problems to the help desk.  If people find it useful, we could expand that to other help desk matters (although you can still simply email helpdesk@margolisedelstein.com).  We may occasionally post things about what directions the firm should take regarding technology.

Time Entry Still Limited

One big limitation that still exists is Webview.  Many people use the home page to access Webview. Sadly, Elite has chosen to restrict Webview access to Internet Explorer, and on many new computers requires Compatibility Mode be added for that site in order for it to work properly.  I have argued with Elite about this, but they seem inflexible on the matter.  It's one reason we now offer iTimeKeep, as an alternative method for entering time.  The iTimeKeep app is available for your phone or tablet, and can also be accessed through any web browser at desktop.itimekeep.com.  If you have never used it before, you should be able to log in using your Gmail address and password.  The help desk can always assist if you have trouble.  I mention this, because if you start using a browser other than IE to use the home page, you may be frustrated when you click on the Webview link from there.

Change your Home Page.  

As I said at the beginning of this post, the old page is going away.  For a short time, if you click on a link to the old page, it will simply forward you to the new one.  But at some point, the old Windows 2000 server that hosts that page needs to be retired once and for all.  To avoid eventually getting the dreaded "site not found" screen, you need to update the home page on your browser.

If you want the new home page to appear on Chrome, just do the following:

1. Click on the three dots in the upper right hand corner of the browser
2. Select "Settings"
3. Under "on startup" select "open a specific page"
4. Click on the "set pages" link where you can type or paste the address to research.margolisedelstein.com.  If you already have that page open, you can just click on the "use current page" button.  You can also choose to have it open multiple pages, perhaps the home page and your Gmail inbox.  Just have whatever pages open when you click on that "use current page" button and it will add all of them.

To update your home page in Internet Explorer, simply  do the following:

1. Click on the Gear in the upper right hand corner of the browser, or on "tools".
2. Select "Internet Options"
3. On the "General" tab under "home page"  type or paste the address to research.margolisedelstein.com.  If you already have that page open, you can just click on the "use current" button.  As with Chrome, you can use this to add multiple pages to open at start if you wish.

As always, the help desk can assist if needed.