1-Box Onsite™: The Administration Console

The Administration Console allows you to "push" the address (URL) of a Website (or Java or Thin-Client application) along with a browser preferences to all stations with a single click. Preferences and addresses (URLs) can be pre-stored under a "service name", thereby making it easy for non-technical individuals to easily select and "launch" the correct service to all stations.

Easy to Start Administration

Start the administration console by pressing "Ctrl+Alt+A" on the keyboard of any station. Enter the administrators password when prompted (printed in your administrators guide). [Note: The Admin Console cannot be run on more than one station simultaneously]

From here you can add, edit or delete a service. Alternatively you can launch the selected service to all browsers, or view the service administration page.

Adding a Web Service

Clicking "Add Service" allows you to pre-store URLs and browser preferences. Once stored, you can switch between websites or "services" simply by selecting the correct service and clicking "Launch Browsers". This feature is particularly useful for situations such as training where you want to demonstrate multiple URLs within the course of an hour.

• Service name - Choose a descriptive name specific to the event or task in question. If there are multiple similar events, we suggest you include a date and/or city (i.e. Chicago Registration, July 14th).
• Service URL - Either type or copy (Ctrl-c) and paste (Ctrl-v) the URL from the browser toolbar.
• Admin URL - Some web services contain a page providing summary information relevant to the service at hand. For onsite registration this page might information such as number of completed registrations. 1-Box Onsite offers the ability to optionally pre-store a this second URL for convenient "one click" access from the administration console.

Save Website for Off-line Browsing

With 1-Box Onsite you can showcase your website without the expense of onsite Internet connectivity (potentially saving thousands of dollars per event). Use the "Save Snapshot" feature to store entire websites to hard-drive ready for off-line browsing.

After entering the URL simply click the "Save Snapshot" button. This brings up a dialog prompting for the levels of depth you wish to copy and the maximum file size. This feature saves all linked web pages and other files (including images, PDF files, Macromedia flash files, etc.). It can as long as 20 minutes to download and store all the pages depending on the number of levels, the size of your site, and the speed of your connection.

This appends the date the site was copied to the service name showing how up to date the copy is.

"Userful.com (copied 10/24/03)"

These locally saved "snapshots" can be deleted by deleting the service itself.

Browser Preferences

Browser preferences are pre-stored with each web-service, ensuring the browser's user interface is consistent with event's requirements. The default browser configuration is "full-screen kiosk mode". This mode maximizes screen usage and protects user privacy by preventing users from accessing the browser history. Since Full Screen Kiosk Mode does not include navigation buttons, keystrokes, or mouse clicks users can only navigate by clicking on links within your page. If "forward" and "back" navigation is desirable, be sure to include appropriate buttons within the web-pages themselves.

The following browser preferences can be set for each pre-stored service:

• Show Window Taskbar -- This enables multiple overlapping browser windows and the familiar graphical "Taskbar" at the bottom of the screen to switch between windows. We recommend this feature be enabled for training and instruction, and for services that rely on pop-up windows, but disabled for tasks such as registration.
• Show Toolbar -- Here you can enable or disable the toolbar, along with specifying the individual toolbar elements you want to appear.
  • Navigation Buttons (Forward & Back)
  • Print button
  • Refresh, Stop, Home buttons
  • Magnification control (allows users to increase the size of print in the browser window)
  • Address bar
  • Exit Button (clicking this restarts the browser clearing all cookies and browser history)
• Show Bookmarks toolbar -- This toolbar is recommended when 1-Box Onsite is being used for public web browsing. The toolbar includes Google, stock-ticker, and news search boxes, links to popular Web Mail programs, and translation shortcuts.
• Show Status bar -- The status bar occupies a bit of extra screen real-estate but provides users with extra information (such as the presence of a secure connection, a progress indicator when loading web pages, and the URL when you point to a link).
• Show Print Confirmation Dialogs -- By default, print jobs are sent automatically to the printer, without confirmation from the user. This feature makes it easy to auto-print receipts by including some simple JavaScript in the confirmation web page. Enabling this option means users are asked to confirm printing)
• Enable Right-click & Keyboard shortcut navigation -- This feature allows users to revisit pages in the browser history hence should remain disabled (along with the navigation buttons) for situations where protecting user privacy is important. When enabled this allows users to revisit pages accessed previously from that station and potentially compromise the privacy of previous users. An alternative approach to privacy protection is to enable the "Exit button", which when clicked restarts the browser, clearing all cookies and browser history.

Filtering

Filtering can limits browsing to preset list of domains and block access to any other URLs. Allowable URLs should be separated by spaces. For example entering "Userful.com e-complex.com" would prevent users from accessing any other sites, regardless of whether they typed the address into the address bar, or clicked an external link on a Userful.com web page.

Screensaver

Optionally display a screensaver after a preset period of inactivity.

Administrative Tools

This menu provides additional tools

• Printer Admin -- Shows the print queue, allows you to print test pages, and administer the printer. 1-Box Onsite also offers a web-based print queue which can be accessed from any web browser connected to the "1-Box Onsite".
• Set Date & Time -- System time is only displayed to end users for services which "Show Window Taskbar"
• Network Setup -- Allows you to change network settings
• Proxy Server Config -- Allows you to enter settings for a proxy server
• Terminal -- Used only for resolving issues with Userful support.
• Log a Bug -- Use this for feature suggestion or to report an issue with 1-Box Onsite.
• Reset All Stations -- Clears any modifications, Java files, or other items stored by users. This step is only necessary if one or more stations is behaving strangely.
• System Info -- Allows you to view and print key system information.

Clearing or Restarting a Station

Stations can be individually cleared or restarted by pressing "Ctrl+Alt+Del", or clicking on the exit button (if it has been enabled within the Toolbar). This feature can be used to exit the browser.