Answers

Table of Contents

Upcoming Answers Cloud Migration

Upcoming Answers Cloud Migration: What You Need to Know

As part of our ongoing commitment to continuous improvement and innovation, ITS is re-envisioning Answers in the cloud. ITS will migrate existing public Answers spaces to the new cloud platform over the next eight months. Within the next month, owners of these spaces will receive communications with timelines and next steps for this migration. As we shift our focus to a unified, publicly accessible self-service resource, Intranet and personal Answers Spaces will be discontinued at a later date. Answers administrators will contact owners of these spaces within the next month. If you own one of these private spaces, you can take action today by inventorying your space(s) and reviewing the alternatives found at Alternatives to Answers Private Spaces.

What is Answers?

Answers is, primarily, a knowledge base of technical self-help information. Content focuses on SU systems and technical services and includes solutions to common problems, how-to’s, FAQs, tips, and configuration advice.

Answers is a publicly available system run by ITS-AASC at Syracuse University. Anyone on the internet can view the content unless it has been specifically restricted (by default, content is not restricted).

Answers is also a working intranet system for internal collaboration by departments, groups, and project teams. Intranet Spaces, in Answers, are configured as restricted areas, not publicly available. You must have an AD account to log into Answers. Use your NetID and password.

Many people have contributed to the information in Answers. While ITS's plan is to eventually check and moderate all content, we cannot currently guarantee the accuracy or relevance of all content.

Logging In

Answers public knowledge base can be browsed anonymously and a wide range of information can be accessed, however the information presented is limited. To get the most out of Answers, log in with your NetID and Password to access additional restricted content and Intranet Spaces.

Navigating Answers

There are many ways in which a user can navigate the content within Answers. Items such as Breadcrumbs, Page Trees, Navigation Bars, and Search Boxes all exist to make getting around Answers easier.

Search Box

In the search box you may enter any combination of words to receive a list of hits. Every page in Answers contains a search box in the upper right-hand corner to search pages and attachments.

For more searching tips: Searching Answers

Breadcrumbs

As you navigate deeper into Answers, you may find yourself wondering where you are. One of the easiest ways to find out is to look at the Breadcrumbs. The Breadcrumbs are found at the top of every Page, right below the Top Navigation Bar. Breadcrumbs let you go up levels in the page hierarchy to move around Answers.

To view the Breadcrumbs, click on the "..." above the page title.

Page Breadcrumbs Links with Elipsis

After clicking the "...," the Breadcrumbs will expand showing exactly where you are within a Space.

Full Page Breadcrumb Links

Each item in the Breadcrumbs represents a Page in the hierarchy above the current Page within the Space. Click on any of the links in the list to move to that location.

Child Pages

The Child Pages presents you with a list of the Child Pages of the current Page, as well as the Parent Page. This option will be available only when the sidebar is collapsed, and can be accessed by clicking on the Child Pages icon denoted below in the image. This will only display the Child Pages of the current page, and you cannot navigate all of the Pages within the Space through here!

Child Pages Menu

Page Tree

The Page Tree gives you access to the entire structure of the Pages within the Space. It can be used for quick navigation by expanding through all of a Page's Child Pages, thus eliminating the need to click Page by Page to navigate to where you need to go. To access the Page Tree, expand the sidebar by clicking the ">>" icon on the bottom left, and it will be displayed within.

Side bar page tree with child pages expanded

Spaces Versus Pages

Within Answers, the content is divided into Spaces and then into Pages to allow for easier discovery of information. Below lists the differences between Spaces and Pages.

Spaces

A Space is a primary section that contains a collection of related Pages. Each Space is individually owned and managed by it's Space Owner(s).

Spaces can be navigated through the categories on the top navigation bar, or through the Space directory. Each item in each of the dropdowns from the categories in the top navigation bar is a different Space. Depending on if you are logged in or not, you may be presented with different sets of Spaces.

Top Header Menu Bar

To access the Space directory, select the Spaces dropdown from the top navigation bar, then select Space directory.

Spaces Expanded showing Space Directory Option

Pages

A Page is what contains the content within a Space. A Page can include text, images, attached files, tables, and much more to represent the information that it is trying to convey. A Page can also have sub-Pages to the n-th degree, thus allowing for a high level of organization and separation so that information is easier to locate.

Additional Documents for Answers Content Help

More help pages for working on Answers pages and content is available from the Answers Content Help page.

Answers Training Sessions

ITS holds training monthly training sessions on using Answers, from covering the basics, to administrating your space. See the following page on the available upcoming training sessions and how to sign-up: Answers Training Login Required

Content Editing Policy and Information

Only users who have specifically been assigned edit or create permissions can modify and/or add content within Answers. For additional help on creating, editing, or managing content, go to the Answers Content Help page.

ITS has access rights to change pages at their discretion without consent from the author, editors or contributors at any time, if the page does not follow or meet SU or Answers guidelines and policies.

Adding offensive/malicious material (even in restricted spaces) will not be tolerated!

Please visit the Answers editing policy before creating content on Answers: Answers' Editing Policy

Requesting a New Space in Answers

Send an email to aascsys@syr.edu. Include the desired space name and a contact person for the space.

Contact Us

If you cannot find the answers you need, request help by contacting the ITS Help Desk at help@syr.edu or by calling (315) 443-2677 (see Support Services for hours of support).

To request a change to a page, suggest new content for answers, comment on the system, or seek additional assistance, contact the ITS Help Desk at (315) 443-2677 or send an email to help@syr.edu.