I'm sure John would love to hear all your feedback guys, so please feel free to post your thoughts about the services included in the portal, if it is easy to use, and the concept of having everything in one place!

And be sure to post in the Portal forum to have a chance at winning those Titles gift cards!

Having everything in one place is smart! I look forward to seeing where this will lead to, though I'm graduating soon so probably won't be using it as much as first years would. First years will really find it useful I'm sure.

Finally, a more convenient way for me to check my e-mail. Maybe I'll remember to do it more often now.

So who's been on Maccess already? I'm still not able to get on.

I have a few comments about Maccess...

Standards Compatibility
What technology are you using that you proclaim to be standards compliant? As far as I recall, Safari is one of the most standards compliant browsers on the market (latest releases have passed the ACID 3 test with 100%). Unless you are using some sort of ActiveX technology, there shouldn't be anything that stops Safari from working on Maccess.

Along with Apple's claim that they've penetrated nearly 40% of North American University student market with their Macs, I hope you really look again at the "statistics" you are basing your assumptions off that internet explorer is somehow the most popular browser.

Solution: Fix it.

Shoddy Security
You guys have reduced MUGSI's and WebCT's multiple password requirement to a single, incredibly "secure" password prompt (which some users like to let their browsers memorize). This is utterly unacceptable solution to a problem that never existed. If I log in to the system, and then leave for a washroom break... I don't want another person accidentally accessing everything about my school career.

Solution: Add in an option to make that every section of the website that requires a password every time.

Design
Seriously?

Opera:

Firefox:

I don't even want to comment on this:


I think you guys need to get together and think about what problem Maccess has fixed. Good luck!

I haven't been able to access the new website yet, but I think one of the points of the whole idea of centralizing all the services was to only have to login once. I think that is much more convenient than having to go to all those different sites, when you can access it all in one site.

With regards to the "shoddy security" you are talking about, I don't think it would be too bright to ever "log in to the system, and then leave for a washroom break". If you did that with MUGSI, someone else could easily access a lot of your information as well anyway. Would you say that MUGSI's security is "shoddy" then just because you don't have to login to view every single secure page? It's not like you have to login multiple times in that system; why would you do it with this one? (Note, however, that I don't actually know how secure the system overall really is...)

As for design, I think the site is still in its early stages so I'm sure it will be improved over the years...I agree that it does look a little basic/needs some improvement from your screen shots though.

Only having to login once to access all the services is more convenient in my opinion. You can login once and get access to mugsi, your mac email, webct, etc without logging in again. And the login seem quite secure, its the same as mugsi. Just need to remember to logout, how hard is that?

For those unable to login, here is a screenshot of just some of the tabs and options you are able to use once in the portal. Also check out the powerpoint presentation in the announcement post for more screenshots.

I like that this has been organized all together, it's a great idea.
I would however really, really like to see better password protection as a member has already stated. Putting my password in once doesn't cut it for me, not when it's my Mac ID.

I think maccess is a good idea! Most of what I wanted to say has been said, so I'll just add my two cents to Wankey's comments

Originally Posted by wankey

I have a few comments about Maccess...

Standards Compatibility
What technology are you using that you proclaim to be standards compliant? As far as I recall, Safari is one of the most standards compliant browsers on the market (latest releases have passed the ACID 3 test with 100%). Unless you are using some sort of ActiveX technology, there shouldn't be anything that stops Safari from working on Maccess.

Along with Apple's claim that they've penetrated nearly 40% of North American University student market with their Macs, I hope you really look again at the "statistics" you are basing your assumptions off that internet explorer is somehow the most popular browser.

They've said that if enough students request Safari that they will look into supporting it. From what I gather, it's a beta launch and they are looking for feedback on ways to improve. The more people that go into the portal and post that they want it to work on safari, the better. With so many students using macbook laptops these days, i think it's a valid point. I use a macbook myself, and I find myself using both Safari and firefox.

Originally Posted by wankey

You guys have reduced MUGSI's and WebCT's multiple password requirement to a single, incredibly "secure" password prompt (which some users like to let their browsers memorize). This is utterly unacceptable solution to a problem that never existed. If I log in to the system, and then leave for a washroom break... I don't want another person accidentally accessing everything about my school career.

Solution: Add in an option to make that every section of the website that requires a password every time.

I don't understand, MUGSI and WEBCT could be as easily compromised if you login to them and then go for a washroom break? One of the advantages to having everything in one place is only having to login once to access all of the services contained within Maccess, which I think is more convenient. As long as you make sure to logout when on a public computer then I don't see the problem, but if you forget to logout then it could be potentially dangerous since mugsi gives access to SOLAR which can let people mess things up. Maccess needs to logout when you close the window, cutting off your session and making you have to login again like mugsi does, or have it timeout if you're in too long.

Originally Posted by wankey

Design

You're complaining about how it looks? lol I think it looks better than the existing yellow mugsi theme. anything is better than that!

Originally Posted by wankey

I think you guys need to get together and think about what problem Maccess has fixed. Good luck!

It did fix a problem, it put all the services that were once scattered all over the place into once spot with one login. McMaster's website was really confusing for me in my first year since theres so much information and services that are hard to find. Maccess appears more organized which is good, I think first year students will like things being in one spot dont you?

The idea of having all the links to the services we need to use in one place is great. I don't see the need for automatically logging into them though, especially since (apparently) there is a forum feature (*cough*big brother watching it*cough*).

I wouldn't want to be logged in to MUGSI if I just want to see what someone replied to my post on MacInsiders.

John.. Hello! which forum post in the portal do we have to respond to in order to get a chance at winning the giftcard and when is the contest ending?

maccess is a nice concept having everything in one place. I agree with other users that the one login is not necessary but convenient.

macess looks cool

A further note on Safari. When we first tested with Safari the portal didn't work so we programmed it to send the note that you now see. We did not re-test against the new version of Safari (3.2) - we didn't want to delay further. We will be re-testing shortly and by all accounts I would expect Safari to work effectively. I can't give you a time-line yet but we are working on it.

Originally Posted by laura.m

John.. Hello! which forum post in the portal do we have to respond to in order to get a chance at winning the giftcard and when is the contest ending?

Well, wouldn't it spoil the fun if I told you? The first gift cert has been won. I posted in the Miscellaneous forum. Good luck on the next one. (Hint - I am not working late at the office tonight but I do have to log in from home.)