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MyMurdoch FAQ

[ questions ] Frequently asked questions

  1. What is MyMurdoch?
  2. What is a portal?
  3. How do I access MyMurdoch?
  4. How do I login to MyMurdoch?
  5. I am having problems with login to MyMurdoch
  6. What is single sign-on?
  7. I need help to navigate MyMurdoch
  8. Why do I need to logout?
  9. What is a portlet?
  10. What portlets are in the repository?
  11. What is a portal page region?
  12. How is MyMurdoch able to display my data?
  13. Why do I need to login again to get to the MyInfo system from the MyInfo page?
  14. Why do I need to login again to get to My Library from the MyServices page?
  15. Will MyMurdoch have notices for important dates?
  16. What does 'Customise Your MyMurdoch Home Page' mean?
  17. I'm not finding what I need on the MyMurdoch pages
 

[ answers ] Answers

1. What is MyMurdoch?

MyMurdoch is a Web-based application that enables information specific to you to be aggregated or pulled together from different sources at Murdoch and displayed within web pages. MyMurdoch, is a personal portal, as you identify yourself at login and the information displayed depends on that identification process.

When you login to MyMurdoch, you will find content that includes information about your Course and Unit enrolment; links to your Unit Materials in the Learning Management System (LMS) and Lectopia; your Personal Calendar based on the Activities you have enrolled in via the 'MyInfo' system; the items you have on loan from the Library; and the Booklists for your Units.

MyMurdoch is also used to 'push' data to you. For example, you will find content that includes current issues with computing facilities and services, such as advice on the 'MyUnits' page of scheduled downtime for the LMS, or on the 'MyInfo' page of technical problems with the 'MyInfo' system.

MyMurdoch uses the left hand side of each page to display the subject line of recent announcements and to post notices on a pinboard. The aim is to bring events and other activities, such as elections or applying for parking permits, to your attention in a timely manner where dates are involved.

The MyMurdoch web pages are referred to as portal pages. These pages use portlets to display content. Some of the content displayed on portal pages is using data pulled from sources outside Murdoch. You will be able to add portlets that bring you news headlines from the ABC and the latest weather details from the Bureau of Meteorology. The source of data will be acknowledged when derived externally to Murdoch.

There is a portlet repository associated with MyMurdoch. The majority of the portlets have been developed here at Murdoch, but some of the portlets have been developed by other universities and organisations. On your 'MyMurdoch Home Page' you can customise the display to include portlets of your own choice that you select from the portlet repository.

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2. What is a portal?

A portal is a Web-based application that provides personalization, single sign-on and content aggregation from different sources, and hosts the presentation layer of information systems. Aggregation is the process of integrating content from different sources within a Web page. A portal may have sophisticated personalization features to provide customized content to users. Portal pages may have different sets of portlets creating content for different users.
[  Java World  ]

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3. How do I access MyMurdoch?

MyMurdoch, the Student Portal, can be accessed by:

  1. Selecting the link offered with the MyMurdoch image on the right hand side of the Current Students page
  2. Selecting the | MyMurdoch | tab from the horizontal menu bar on the Current Students page
  3. Or, by using the Search box on the right hand side of the top of the University Home Page and searching on the term "mymurdoch", or, "student portal".

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4. How do I login to MyMurdoch?

When you click on the MyMurdoch tab on the horizontal menu bar on the Current Students page, a MAIS login screen will display.

At the login screen you will need to enter your Murdoch Username and Murdoch Password.

If you have forgotten your password, refer to Murdoch Password Help (Students).

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5. I am having problems with login to MyMurdoch

Browser Related Login Problems

If you click on the MyMurdoch tab on the horizontal menu bar on the Current Students page, but don't then see the MAIS login screen and instead get a popup window prompting you to login, then you may be using a browser, or browser version that is known to have problems with login to a portal using Oracle Portal software.

There is a known problem with version 9 of Opera and Oracle Portal software. If you are using Opera as your browser, then you are advised to either upgrade your browser, or use an alternative browser.

System Related Login Problems

Error Page

As part of the authentication process for MyMurdoch, login uses data that has been reticulated from the MAIS (Murdoch Authentication & Identfication System) to the University's Active Directory and then synchronised with MyMurdoch's Oracle Internet Directory (OID). If there are technical problems with the synchronising of data needed to complete the authentication process, this may mean your details have not been added, or not updated, in the Oracle Internet Directory. Although the reticulation of data from MAIS to Active Directory happens overnight for new entries in MAIS, and every 5 minutes for password changes, the synchronisation process between Active Directory and Oracle Internet Directory is only carried out once a day.

If after entering your Murdoch Username and Murdoch Password at the MAIS login screen the page displayed includes an error message, this may be due to the full authentication process not completing successfully. Successful login requires a login session to be created in the MAIS database and in MyMurdoch's Oracle Portal database. If the Portal database is temporarily unavailable, or if your entry in MyMurdoch's Oracle Internet Directory (OID) has not yet been added, or not updated, then a login session in Oracle Portal's database cannot be created for you.

For example, there may be an error message such as 'You don't have permissions to perform this operation - WWC-41415'. If this, or a similar message displays on an error page with a URL similar to https://my.murdoch.edu.au/portal/page/portal/common/Error, check the IT Service Desk web site to see if a notice has been posted to advise users of a known problem with login to MyMurdoch.

If there is no notice on the IT Service Desk web site, to assist us to resolve technical problems with MyMurdoch's infrastructure, please contact the IT Service Desk on (08) 9360 2000.

Please Note: If your entry in the MAIS database has been added very recently, you may be advised to wait 24 hours and then try to login again to MyMurdoch, as this will allow sufficient time for the addition or update of your entry in the Oracle Internet Directory with data reticulated from the MAIS.

500 - Internal Server Error

If when you try to login to MyMurdoch your browser returns an error page (eg. https://my.murdoch.edu.au/portal/page/portal/common/Error) with a '500 Internal Server Error' message, this may be due to technical problems with MyMurdoch's Oracle Internet Directory. A 500 Internal Server Error may also be returned by the Oracle Single Sign-On Server (https://sso2.murdoch.edu.au).

If your browser displays an error page with this type of message, check the IT Service Desk web site to see if a notice has been posted to advise users of a known problem with login to MyMurdoch.

If there is no notice on the IT Service Desk web site, to assist us to resolve technical problems with MyMurdoch's infrastructure, please contact the IT Service Desk on (08) 9360 2000. Please have the following information available when you phone:

  • any recent name change (eg. recently married)
  • the URL of the page reporting an error message, eg. URL begins with https://sso2.murdoch.edu.au; or with https://my.murdoch.edu.au/

If you have changed your name recently, then your entry in Oracle Internet Directory will be checked by Portal administration staff.

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6. What is single sign-on?

When you login to MyMurdoch, you will also be logged into the Murdoch Authentication & Identification System, or MAIS. This means that when you select a link from a portal page to a system or service that usually requires you to enter your Murdoch Username and Murdoch Password (at a MAIS login screen), you may not be prompted to login again unless a set time period has elapsed and your login session details held in the MAIS database are too 'old'.

If you select a link to a system or service that does not use the MAIS login screen (eg. MyInfo, My Library, Webmail), you will be prompted to login again.

Although the 'MyInfo' system also uses the MAIS database for authentication, single-sign on is not available. For security purposes, you will always be prompted to login to the 'MyInfo' system, even if you have already logged into MyMurdoch.

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7. I need help to navigate MyMurdoch

Tools and systems to support you in your studies at Murdoch have been grouped together into a set of web pages. These pages are referred to as portal pages, and collectively they offer the MyMurdoch content.

To assist you to navigate MyMurdoch, a horizontal menu bar with a number of tabs, enables you to move between the portal pages.

This horizontal menu has the following tabs:

There is also a tab for access to the Student Help page. Select this tab if you need to contact the IT Service Desk for advice on, or assistance with navigating MyMurdoch. On the Student Help page you will find a link to online services, such as IT Live Support.

To assist you to move between MyMurdoch, the Current Students page, and the University Home Page, the top header for each portal page has a set of standard links.

and to find information resources not available via MyMurdoch, a search box:

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8. Why do I need to logout?

A logout link is provided on each portal page below the horizontal menu bar, on the right hand side, next to your name and Murdoch Username.

You are advised to use this logout link at all times to ensure that when you have accessed a MAIS restricted system or service from a portal page, you have not only logged out from MyMurdoch, but also out of the MAIS database, the 'MyInfo' system, the Learning Management System (LMS) and Lectopia.

Please be aware that if you login to MyMurdoch in a public area such as the Library, or in a computing laboratory, and then leave the area without using the logout option provided, then, depending on whether or not your MAIS database session has timed out, you may have allowed another person to have access to your personal details.

After using the logout link it is recommended that you close your Web browser.

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9. What is a portlet?

Portlets are web components specifically designed to be aggregated in the context of a composite page. Uusally, many portlets are invoked into the single request of a portal page ...
[ OnJava.com ]

Most of the portlets used in the delivery of the portal pages for MyMurdoch have been developed here at Murdoch. There are a number of portlets developed by other organisations that have been selected for inclusion in the portlet repository.

Examples of portlets

Personal Information

The Personal Information portlet displays on the 'MyInfo' page. It aggregates data pulled from the Student Management System (MyInfo), the Murdoch Authentication & Identification System (MAIS), the Calendaring System, and from the University Handbook.

Unit Materials

One of the most complex portlets to be developed is the Unit Materials portlet displayed on the 'MyUnits' page. It aggregates data from the Learning Management System (LMS), using a data feed that includes the links to the LMS and to Lectopia, the University's Lecture Recording System.

World News

Portlets offered via MyMurdoch include a number using RSS feeds. Data from external sources is displayed as content on a portal page. For example, World News (from the ABC), which is included in the repository of portlets, can be added to your 'MyMurdoch Home Page' using the Customise tool.

Further Information

Each portal page displays the Further Information portlet in the bottom region of the page.

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10. What portlets are in the repository?

The portlet repository contains portlets that you can select for display in regions on your 'MyMurdoch Home Page'. The repository does not include all the portlets used for the portal pages. For example, the Murdoch Local Time portlet and the Internet Quota Balance portlet are offered as icons on all portal pages below the horizontal menu bar on the right hand side. They are therefore not included in the repository.

Currently the repository includes:

  • Australian News
  • Bookshop Booklist
  • Dilbert
  • Enquiries
  • Further Information
  • Help Services
  • IT Service Desk Issues
  • Library Loans
  • Motivational Quotes of the Day
  • Murdoch Announcements
  • Murdoch Events
  • Murdoch News
  • MyInfo Access - for login to the 'MyInfo' system
  • MyMurdoch FAQ
  • Personal Calendar
  • Personal Information
  • Quotes of the Day
  • Unit Materials
  • Weather
  • Welcome to MyMurdoch
  • Word of the Day
  • World News

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11. What is a portal page region?

The portal pages have been built using regions, or allocated chunks of space. Each region includes one or more portlets. All pages have a left hand side region, a top right hand side region, and a bottom region (although this may vary for your 'MyMurdoch Home Page' where the customisation feature is available). The centre area of each portal page may be divided into two regions, depending on the number of portlets in use on the page and on the requirements for the display of data. For example, the top region on the 'MyUnits' page is one area, wide enough for the Unit Materials portlet. This allows for the display of Unit Codes, Unit Titles, and icons for the online resources. However, the top region on the 'MyInfo' page has several portlets, which are displayed in two columns.

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12. How is MyMurdoch able to display my data?

The portlets developed for MyMurdoch make use of a feature known as Content aggregation.

A number of the MyMurdoch portlets interact with University computer systems that host your data. The content is aggregated, or pulled, usually by interaction with different databases, and integrated for display or presentation within portlets on the portal pages. The content displayed is thus dynamic, although caching of data is used for reliability and for responsiveness.

The databases for these systems are hosted on a number of different computers at Murdoch. The time taken to pull data from a database and display the data in a portlet may be affected by the complexity of the query to the database, the processing capacity of the computer hosting the database, and the setup for the caching of data. Data is cached so that if a database for a system is unavailable for technical reasons (eg. an upgrade of a system), then you will still be able to view data, though not necessarily the most current data.

Some of the data used for displaying content within portlets is fed from systems or programs running on other computers at Murdoch. If there are problems with a data feed, you may find that the information displayed within a portlet is out of date, or cached content. In such situations, you may also see an additional portlet displayed that is a system 'alert' advising you of technical problems.

In addition to displaying your personal data, such as your enrolment details, or library loans, portlets display content based on what Units you are enrolled in, eg. Booklists.

The systems and services from which data is currently sourced include:

Announcements System
BookNet System
Calendaring System
Enquiries Management System (EMS)
Internet Traffic and Modem Time Quota System
Learning Management System (LMS)
Lecture Recording System (Lectopia)
Library System (Millennium)
Murdoch Authentication & Identification System (MAIS)
Student Management System (MyInfo)

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13. Why do I need to login again to get to the MyInfo system from the MyInfo page?

The 'MyInfo' system uses a different login process to that used by MyMurdoch. There is no single-signon at this stage.

Although the 'MyInfo' system does use the MAIS database for authenticating users at login, this login process is different to the process used to login to other systems and services restricted via the Murdoch Authentication & Identification System (MAIS).

For security purposes, you will always be prompted to login to the 'MyInfo' system, even if you have already logged into MyMurdoch.

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14. Why do I need to login again to get to My Library from the MyServices page?

My Library uses a different login process to that used by MyMurdoch. There is no single-signon at this stage.

My Library uses the same authentication method as is used for the Library's Electronic Course Materials Service (ECMS); the IT Service Desk System; and Webmail (ie. Active Directory, or AD).

The login process where AD is used for authentication is different to that used where systems and services are restricted via the Murdoch Authentication & Identification System (MAIS) and the MAIS login screen displays. The latter supports login persistence and this means you are not prompted to login again unless a set time period has elapsed and your login session details held in the MAIS database are too 'old'.

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15. Will MyMurdoch have notices for important dates?

Yes, MyMurdoch will be used to display notices on the Pinboard on the left hand side of the page. For example, at the beginning of the year you will see notices about Parking Permits, Census Dates, and closing dates for applying for Commonwealth Scholarships.

Events will also be publicised via MyMurdoch. You can expect to see University promotional items placed on the Pinboard as well. Events such as the Careers Fair and Postgraduate Information Evenings will be publicised in this way.

The portlet repository also includes a portlet for listing upcoming 'Events' to be held at or by Murdoch.

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16. What does 'Customise Your MyMurdoch Home Page' mean?

MyMurdoch provides limited personalisation features.

You can personalise your experience of MyMurdoch by using the 'Customise' tool offered on your 'MyMurdoch Home Page'. The customisation feature enables you to add and delete portlets to regions on your 'MyMurdoch Home Page'. Customisation does not include changing colours and icons displayed.

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17. I'm not finding what I need on the MyMurdoch pages

The bottom region of each portal page offers a Further Information portlet. On your 'MyMurdoch Home Page' the Further Information portlet defaults to a set of Quick Links, including:

  1. Faculty Student Administration
  2. Handbook
  3. Library
  4. Quota
  5. Student Learning
  6. Teaching Timetable
  7. Webmail

Links offered under 'Quick Links' may change over time.

On the 'MyInfo', 'MyUnits', 'MyServices' and 'Student Help' pages, the Further Information portlet offers a set of useful links related to the theme of the page. For example, on the 'MyInfo' page you will see a set of Administrative links, whilst on the 'MyUnits' page there is a set of Academic Assistance links.

On the 'MyServices' page, the set of useful links, includes 'Childcare Centre', 'Food Outlets', 'Lecture Theatre Locations', 'Maps' and 'Parking'. At the end of this set of links you will find an option for 'More ...'. If you select 'More ...', the corresponding page in the Student Information Index will display, allowing you to browse for other useful links, or to use its Search box. The Student Information Index is a subset of entries in the Murdoch A to Z Index. It includes entries that have been flagged as relevant to students.

The Further Information portlet lists the following service categories:

Murdoch Search

If you are unable to locate the information resource, service or system you require via the Further Information portlet, try the Murdoch Search. This search box is offered on the top right hand side of:

  • each MyMurdoch page
  • Current Students page
  • Student Help page
  • Student Information Index pages
  • University Home Page

This Murdoch Search will search all the following:

  1. Murdoch A to Z Index
  2. Units Index
  3. Campus Directory
  4. Campus Search Engine (the index of Web Servers on the Murdoch University domain is selective, ie. not all Murdoch Web Servers have been indexed)

The search results will be grouped into these four categories, with the default display being a list of 'links' found in the Murdoch A to Z Index.

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