Sakai Project Sites

What is a Sakai project site?

Sakai project sites can be set up to facilitate collaboration for college-sanctioned committees, project teams, task forces, departments, clubs, etc. Project sites work just like course sites, but are not tied to a semester or to a course roster. The same set of tools are available in project sites as in course sites.

Project sites do not have "instructors" or "students" but instead have the following roles:

• maintain = This role has instructor-like privileges: can add, edit, and delete content, can add/remove users, and can see unpublished sites.
• access = This role has student-like privileges: can view content and submit forum posts, assignments, tests, etc; can see only published sites

IMPORTANT: The person requesting the project site will have the "maintain" role and will be responsible for the site's content, for adding/removing users, for assigning appropriate roles to users, and for publishing the site so others can see it.

How can I get a Sakai project site created?

A Sakai project can be created at the request of a college employee who has completed the pre-requisites to use Sakai as an instructor.

To request a Sakai project site, send an email to sakaihelp@durhamtech.edu with the following information:

• Title for the site (brief is good, spaces are fine)
• Name of person responsible for the site
• A brief description of the purpose of the site and who (in general) the participants will be

NOTE: After sending your request, it usually takes a few days for your project site to be created. We will notify you by email when it's ready.

After it has been set up, how do I access my project site?

To access your project site, log in to Sakai, click on More Sites, and look under the Projects heading. (The Projects heading is usually near the bottom of the More Sites window. You may have to scroll down to see it.)

How do I add content to my project site?

Adding content to a project site works just like adding content to a course site. A wealth of information can be found on the Sakai Resources for Instructors web site. Or sign up for Sakai Training to refresh your Sakai skills.

How do I add users to my project site?

Before you begin: To add users to a project site, you must know their Durham Tech login IDs (ex: jordanm2323). All employees (full and part time), all credit students, and non-credit students who have used Sakai should have Durham Tech login IDs. If a user does not have a Durham Tech login ID, he/she cannot be given access to the site.

To add users to your project site:

1. In your project site, go to Site Info > Add Participants.
2. In the box provided, enter the Durham Tech login IDs of the persons you wish to add, one per line. Then click Continue. (You can copy/paste login IDs from an Excel column, Word document, or other similar source.)
3. Select the role you want the users to have. If unsure, choose the "access" role, and click Continue. (Later, you can give particular individuals the "maintain" role if needed. See step 6 and the tip below.)
4. You can opt to have an automatic email sent to users letting them know you have added them to the project site. (Do not choose the email option if the site is "unpublished".) Click Continue to move on.
5. Click Finish to add the users.
6. On the lower half of the screen, you will see a list of all site participants. Here, you can change anyone's role if needed. Be sure to click UPDATE at the bottom to save any changes you make to roles.

TIP: Limit the "maintain" role to a small number of trusted users (one to three, as a rule of thumb) and to those who have completed Sakai instructor training. It's bad practice to give too many individuals (especially untrained ones!) the full editing and deleting capabilities that come with the "maintain" role.

How do I remove users from my project site?

1. In your project site, go to Site Info > Add Participants.
2. Scroll down to view the list of participants.
3. For any participant you wish to remove, just click the REMOVE box to the far right of their name.
4. Scroll down and click UPDATE to remove the selected user(s).

How do I publish my project site so others can see it?

In order for users who have the "access" role to see your project site, you must "publish" the site.

To publish a site, just click the Publish Now button in the upper left area of the site (just under the Durham Tech logo).

If for some reason you need to "unpublish" the site again, go to Site Info > Manage Access, select "Leave as Draft" and click UPDATE.