TOPICS

Getting an account

RSS News

Library

Forums

Calendars

Help Desk

Getting an account

First of all, you do not need an account to explore this site and learn more about Interactions in Understanding the Universe. You only need an account to get to some of the "work" areas of the site. If you are unsure, here is a good place to start learning about I2U2.

To obtain an account you will need an "invitation code". Contact Bob Peterson or another I2U2 staff member to get one.

RSS News

The news feed on the front page is set up so that you can subscribe to it using using "RSS", which allows you to see when there is a new article without having to visit the site. The way you subscribe to an RSS news feed depends on your browser. Instructions can be found here. You can also add an RSS feed as a "gadget" to your personalized iGoogle page .

Library

The I2U2 Library is a wiki where members of the I2U2 community can collaborate on shared documents, or simply upload documents to be shared with others. The software used for this wiki is called MediaWiki. It is the same software used by the Wikipedia, so if you know how to use Wikipiedia you know how to use our Library, and vice-versa.

Every page in the Library has a helpful navigation bar at the left side of the page, and this includes a "Help" link to help you learn how to navigate and edit the wiki.

In addition to the main entrance, the Library also has sub-sections for various programs, such as the QuarkNet e-Lab Fellows. Everything is stored in one wiki, but you may find it easier to start your visit to the Library in one of the more specialilzed sections.

Forums

This site provides on-line discussion forums so that members of the I2U2 community can collaborate and discuss various topics. Some tips:

• It helps personalize the discussion if you upload a forum picture (a "headshot"), which is shown along with your name next to each of your postings.

• HTML is not allowed in forum codes, but you can use a similar set of markup codes called "BBcode", which is summarized here.

• Remember that it's harder for people to detect irony or other subtlties in this format, so please try to write clearly.

Calendars

If you use Google Calendars you can subscribe to the I2U2 calendar via that service, and it will be superimposed over your other calendars. See the instructions at the bottom of any of our calendar page.

To use Google Calendars you need to set up an account with Google, based on your e-mail address. It can be based on any existing e-mail address -- it does not need to be a Gmail account (but it can be).

Help Desk

If the topics above didn't help answer your questions, you can ask for help in the Help Desk Forum.