App-Trac User Manual

From Humanitarian FOSS Summer Institute 2008

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App-Trac is a web-based kiosk system. The system will monitor usage of literacy software to provide a good evaluation for student needs, and will provide an administrative tool for organizing users and instructional periods, as well as other helpful administrative tasks. Designed at Trinity College for Literacy Volunteers of Greater Hartford as part of the HFOSS Summer Institute supported by the National Science Foundation.

About App-Trac

Basic Overview

App-Trac is a kiosk mode application designed at providing a simple user interface for tracking student usage of literacy software and generating reports. It is a web-based tool and has functionality for:

• time-tracking, login, clock-in
• application loading
• adding users
• generating reports

It also provides the functionality for multiple user access levels, allowing different users to access different tools based on their access level, and any privacy concerns.

Kiosk Mode

App-Trac is designed in kiosk mode, which means that it uses the entire screen of the computer on which it is running, and disables access to the underlying operating system. This simplifies the user experience and provides security against system interference.

Getting Started

System Requirements

Platforms

Browsers

• Mozilla 1.4+ or 1.7+
• IE 6.0 SP1+ or 7.0
• Firefox 1.0.6+
• Netscape 7.x

Installing App-Trac

Double click on the apptrac_setup.exe file on your desktop. Select Run, and the Installation Wizard will start. Agree to the licence agreement, and just select the main component to install. The files will be extracted, which may take a few moments. When it is done, click Finish, and

will appear on the desktop.

To configure your Apache Tomcat port, navigate to C:/Program Files/Apptrac, and open conf.txt in a text editor (Notepad is fine). Make sure that Tomcat is running and your database is set up, and double click on the desktop image.

User Types and Permissions

There are currently four different types of users. Each has a different access level, used to determine what kind of tools they can use.

• Student: A student has very limited access in App-Trac. A student typically has no password (less confusion that way), but one can be easily added if necessary. Students have access to literacy applications and to a set of literacy web links. Access to other websites is disabled.
• Volunteer: Volunteers can add and view users, and access the literacy applications and web links. Volunteers can also clock in, just as if they were clocking in to a workplace. App-Trac will record the time they clock in, and the time they clock out when they leave.
• Staff: Staff are a level above Volunteers. Staff have access to all user functionality, including adding, editing, and removing users from the system. They can also access the literacy software and web links.
• Administrator: Administrators have access to all functionalities of App-Trac. This includes:
  • all user control (view, add, edit, remove)
  • report generation

Logging in and Clocking in

What's the difference? Logging in is the process of entering the App-Trac system for the purpose of using its functionalities. Any user can log in. Clocking in is like a timestamp. It records only the entry and exit time of the user, and is reserved for volunteers. A user can be simultaneously clocked in and logged in. Clocking in and logging in are entirely separate functions.

• Login Screen:

The login screen easily controls any number of users. Start typing in your username and Apptrac will display a limited list of options, which gets smaller as you enter more of your username. Once you have found your username, click on it, and then enter your password into the password box and click "login."

To clock in, a user (Staff or Volunteer) can click on a button in the top-left of the login screen: Clock in/Clock out. This will bring them to the clock-in screen, which is similar to the login screen except that the only options are clock in and clock out.

Once the user selects their username and enters their password, they can click on either clock in or clock out, and then Apptrac will return to the login screen. The tracking ability will keep track of the users who are clocked in. There are 2 reasons for this. One is to be able to keep track of when someone is working, and the other is to display within Apptrac pages so that users, particularly students, can see who is on duty if they need help, as is shown here:

Applications

On the top menu, click on Application Control. The options for controlling applications are on the side, as shown.

Adding Applications

From Application Controller, click on Add Application. Here you can fill in a form to add the application to the database. You will need the application's name and filepath for that computer.

Loading Applications

To load an application, click on Use Applications from the Home screen, or from the Application Control screen. This will bring up a list of applications the user currently has access to. Select the application you'd like to use, and Click on Load Application at the bottom of the screen. For Students, this will automatically show up when they login.

Editing an Application (Name or Path)

If you need to edit an application's name or filepath, you can click on Edit Application from the Application Control page. You will see a list of current applications on the left, and a form for editing on the right. Select the application you wish to edit, and fill in the proper information. Click on Submit, and then Okay.

Removing an Application

Removing an application is simple. Click on Remove Application from Application Control. A list of applications will display on the right, similar to the list in Edit Application. Select the application you wish to remove and click on Remove.

User Control

Adding a User

Adding a user is quite simple. On the “Home” page, click on “User Control” at the top. This will display “User Controller” at the top, and a new side menu. Click on “Add User”.



To add a user, fill in the form, including their username and full name, a password (if applicable), their access level, and a particular image for that user.

Until further updates, in order to allow access to specific applications, ignore the list of them in the Add User screen, and click Submit. You will see a confirmation message; click Okay or press Enter. To add applications to a user's access list, go to Edit User.

Editing a User's Information

Editing a user is almost exactly like adding a user. In the User Control page, click on “Edit User”. You will see a list of all current users on the left. Scroll until you find the user you want to edit, and select it.

Next, fill out the form displayed, just as you did when adding a user. Not every field has to be filled in in order for the user to be updated. To add application to a user's list of accessible applications, select them in the list, holding Control to select more than one. When you are done, click Submit and then Okay.

Removing a User

To remove a user and all associated information, click on Remove User from the User Control page. Find the user you want to remove from the displayed list.

Select it, and click “Remove”.

Note

The “View User” link displays a list of all active users.

Reports

Types of Reports

There are currently 3 types of reports: one for a logging report, one for a clock report, and one for links reporting.

Generating Reports

Generating reports is easy. Just got to Report Control from the homepage and select the report you want to view from the side menu. The report is displayed right on the screen.

Or, you can export the report as a spreadsheet by clicking on the link in the top left corner. Then, you can view and save the report to Excel or another spreadsheet application.

Additional Information

References

Sun Microsystems. “What are the system requirements for Java 6?” Java.com

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