University of Southern California The New MyMarshall Portal

University of Southern California
The New MyMarshall Portal
Launching Fall 2009
Academic Information Services
About MyMarshall
MyMarshall is your personalized portal to information, events, and systems used by the Marshall School of
Business, USC, and the outside world. Through it, you can access systems such as Blackboard, email, calendars,
room reservations, and community groups to name a few. Further, because it is customizable, you can add your
own web links, read the news through RSS feeds, and even change your layout and color scheme.
Accessing MyMarshall
MyMarshall is web based and can be accessed from a computer connected to the internet using one of the
following browsers:
Internet Explorer 7 & 8, Firefox 3 & 3.5, or Safari 3 & 4.
The address to MyMarshall is:
http://mymarshall.usc.edu
The Landing Page
When you arrive at MyMarshall you will be on the landing page. The landing page contains general information that
might be of interest to the Marshall community but does not require a login. Note that because you are not yet
logged in, any changes you make to the landing page cannot be saved.
Switch to MyMarshall Classic
If you are having problems with the new MyMarshall, click
“switch to MyMarshall classic” to use the previous version.
Logging In
Once you are logged into MyMarshall, you will see more content and be able to customize your environment
and save your changes. To login to MyMarshall, click the “LOGIN” button located in the upper right.
Your username is the same one you use for such apps as Blackboard and Marshall Outlook email. Your
password is your Marshall password.
If you have forgotten your
Marshall password,
username or are an
alumni or new student in
need of assistance, click
the appropriate link to
the right or contact the
Marshall Help Desk at
(213) 740-3000.
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Navigating MyMarshall
Once you are logged into MyMarshall,
you will see a screen similar to the
one below. MyMarshall is made up
of content windows known as
Widgets, the Marshall Explorer which
is its navigation system/search engine,
and the tabs in the upper right which
allow customization and account
administration.
Add Content
Use to unhide
existing widgets
and add RSS
feeds.
Change Look
Use to change
themes and
layout (# of
columns).
Logout
Returns
you to the
landing
page.
My Account
Use to change
your password,
secret questions,
contact info, etc.
?
Opens
Help.
Marshall Explorer - Navigation & Search Engine
Use one of the three options shown below to locate Marshall
services, links, applications, etc.
Clear the Search Box
Click the “X” to begin a new search.
Menu Browsing
a) Click a menu name to expand or contract a menu choice.
b) Click a link to access an item.
Search for Links within Menus
As you type within the “Search Marshall…” box, any partially
matching links will appear. You can then click the item you wish
to access.
Marshall or Google Search – Web Page Content Search
This allows you to search web pages for content. Clicking
“Marshall” will search only Marshall pages while clicking
“Google” will search all web pages.
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Coming Soon - The Announcements Widget
The Announcements Widget in the new MyMarshall will allow you to view announcements from all of the
Marshall groups you belong to from a single location. It will be located on the landing page once you login.
 The image to the left shows the
Announcements widget.
Click “More” expand the synopsis to
the full article within the window.
Click a group’s name to go to their
community site.
Coming Soon - The Calendar Reader Widget
The Calendar Reader Widget in the new MyMarshall will allow you to view calendar events from all of the
Marshall groups you belong to from a single calendar. It will be located on the landing page once you login.
 The image to the left shows the Calendar Reader
widget. A date with a dot indicates that there are
events on that day and if you click a day, its events
will be listed below.
If you click an event, its details will
appear below the calendar.
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If you click the
name of a site,
you will be
taken to its
community
site.
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Manipulating Widgets
This section covers how to move, minimize, hide, and unhide widgets.
Move a Widget
To move a widget, place
the mouse on the title
bar until the directional
arrows appear and then
drag to the new location.
Show Options
Use this to access
the widgets options
and settings.
Refresh
Updates the
widget’s content
since the last
load.
Minimize Content
Hides the widget’s
contents but not the
title bar.
Click its Restore button
to unhide the content.
Hide Widget
Removes the
widget from your
page. You can
unhide a widget
through the “Add
Content” tab.
Content Links
Most widgets contain
clickable links that
typically launch systems,
applications, or pages.
Restore Hidden Widgets
To place a hidden widget back in your desktop, follow these steps.
1. Click the “Add Content” tab.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Click the “All Widgets” link.
Use the scroll arrows to locate the widget you wish to unhide.
Drag the desired widget to your desktop.
Click “Close Panel”.
Reset Widgets to the Default
To return your desktop to its default widgets, follow the steps below. Note that this will hide any custom widgets
you have created.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Click the “Add Content” tab.
Click “Reset Widgets to Default”.
Click “Yes, Reset my Widgets” to confirm.
Click “Close Panel”.
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Changing your Layout and Color Scheme (Theme)
MyMarshall allows you to change the number of columns your widgets display within and change your color scheme
and header images by selecting from a variety of designer themes.
Changing your Layout (Number of Columns)
The steps in this section allow you to change the number of columns making up your desktop.
1. Click the “Change Look” tab.
2. Click the “Layout” link.
3. Click a layout.
4. Click “Close Panel”. (Note that you may need to drag your widgets into the new columns if you added more.)
Changing your Theme (Color Scheme)
Marshall has provided a variety of designer color schemes and images known as themes that you can use to change
the look of MyMarshall. Follow the steps in this section to change your theme.
1. Click the “Change Look” tab.
2. Click the “Themes” link (or one of its subcategories).
3. Use the scroll arrows to browse through the available themes.
4. Click the theme you wish to apply.
5. Click “Close Panel”.
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Creating Your Own Widgets – RSS Feeds
Most users have various web sites they visit every day
for the latest updates on news, events, products, etc.
What an RSS feed allows you to do is collect the latest
headlines from all of your favorite sites in one
location. If a headline & summary interests you,
simply click it to read the full article on the web site.
Assuming the web site provides an RSS feed, you can
create widgets within MyMarshall to display the latest
headlines and summaries from your favorite sites.
The steps in this section show how to create an RSS
widget using NPR’s RSS feed as an example.
Step A:
Copying the RSS Feed’s URL
To create an RSS Widget in MyMarshall, you must go to the site providing the RSS feed
and then copy the path to the RSS feed.
1. Go to the page whose RSS feed you wish to read. (In this example: www.npr.org)
Pages which provide RSS feeds typically have a fairly prominent link to feeds with
such labels as: “News Feeds” or “RSS Feeds”. For NPR’s site, it is “News Feeds”.
2. Find the link to the site’s RSS feed and click it. (“News Feeds” in this example.)
3. Some sites such as NPR offer
multiple feeds based on news
category, click the RSS category you
wish to receive a feed from.
4. A new page should open. Highlight
the address of the new page and
press Control + C to copy the path.
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Step B:
Creating the RSS Widget within MyMarshall
Now that we have the URL to the RSS feed on our clipboard, we will use it to create an RSS widget within
MyMarshall.
1. Login to MyMarshall.
2. Click the “Add Content” tab.
3. Click the link “Make your own Widget”.
4. Click in the “Link” box and press “Control +
V” to paste the URL to the RSS feed you
copied earlier.
5. In the “Title” box, type a descriptive title
for your RSS feed. This text will appear on
the widget’s title bar.
6. Click “Create Custom Widget”.
7. Click “Close Panel”.
Step C: (Optional) Setting the Feed Options
This allows you to specify the number of news items to
display and whether you wish to see just headlines,
headlines & the summary, or headlines, summary, and
images.
1. Click the “Show Options” button located on the
widget’s title bar.
2. Make your desired settings and click “Save”.
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My Account – Administering your Password, Contact Information & Security
To change your Marshall password, security settings, contact information, or forward your Outlook email, click
the “MY ACCOUNT” button located in the upper right.
Once you are in the My Account area, click
the appropriate category for the type of
information you wish to change.
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When done, click “Save “Changes”.
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