Troubleshooting

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This page offers troubleshooting advice for the FatWire Content Management System. Here is a list of reported issues with creating or editing content on the Web site.

How to Report Problems

Please contact web-request@lists.jrn.columbia.edu for assistance and include the following information in your email:
1. A screenshot or text of the error message.
2. Short explanation of the problem.
3. Contact information.

Some Reported Problems

1. I’m unable to login to FatWire via Firefox. Why?
You must download the latest version of Firefox before using FatWire. Please contact tech services at trouble@jrn.columbia.edu if you need assistance. You may need a network administrator to assist you.

2. I can’t see the tabs on the left-hand side of my screen after I login. Why?
Make sure you have the latest Java software installed on your computer. Please contact tech services at trouble@jrn.columbia.edu for assistance. You may need a network administrator to assist you.

3. My session timed out when I hit the “Save” button and I lost my work. Why?
FatWire automatically times out, so you should save your work on a regular basis to avoid losing content on the Web site.

4. How do I add a link to a page?
Enter the following HTML code for a link into the BODY field of the template page:
External Links:
NAME OF LINK HERE

Internal Links:
NAME OF LINK HERE

5. How do I make text bold or italicized on a Web page?
Here are a few HTML tags you can use to modify text on Web pages. Remember to close the tags that you open.
Bold
Italicized

Line break - this tag doesn't need to be closed.

Paragraph

6. Long URL, the URL wraps when I paste it into an email and the recipient can't open the link.
1. Use the Email This function at the top of the Web page. You can include a message as you would with your usual email program and you can send your message to several people at once.

2. If you are sending an HTML email you can link text in the body of the email. Select the text you want to make into a link, then go to the insert menu, the choice at the bottom of the list is hyperlink.

3. If you are going to publish a link in print, or are planning to email the link frequently, contact
web-request@lists.jrn.columbia.edu and ask for a redirect. Allow 24 to 48 hours for the redirect to be set up and tested.

7. I’m unable to open a page because it’s locked by another user. How do I unlock the page?
Contact the user immediately and ask him to “check in” to the page. Check your pages on a regular basis to make sure that you don’t have any pages that are “locked” or “checked out.” Pages that are checked out will appear in the MY CHECKOUTS section in your work area immediately after you login to FatWire. You can also click on the MY WORK tab button at the top of the screen to view pages that are “locked” or “checked out.”

How to unlock a page:

1. View the list of pages listed in the MY CHECKOUTS section. You will see a “Check in” button to the right of the page. Click on the button.
2. You see a page that says “Check InPage Detail.” Click the “Check In” button at the bottom of the page.
3. You have checked out of the page. Now other can access the page.