THE ADMINISTRATION MENU:

After launching the “Home” stack, you’ll quickly discover that the Administration menu bar selection is the starting point for all initial setup and later modifications of your Student HomeCard™ home stack.  Here are the choices that appear under this pull down menu, and a short description of how each choice is used:

                                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                                                   Fig. 3

Modify Student HomeCard™ ...
Used to create the initial appearance and operation of your custom home card.  After entering the proper password, makes all of the menu choices accessible. (As shown in Figure 3 above).

 

                                                                                                                                   Fig. 4

Lock Student HomeCard™ ... 
When you have finished initial setup or making changes, will cause all of the menu choices except “Modify Student HomeCard™” to go dim, and only permit leaving the home card when the correct password is entered.  This step “freezes” all of your setup or changes, and prepares the “dashboard” for use by users of the “public” Macintoshes. (Result shown in Figure 4 above).

 

                                                                                                                                                Fig. 5

Change Password ...
This should be your FIRST step before beginning use of Student HomeCard™.  The stack is distributed with NO PASSWORD at all, and you MUST change it immediately.

To enter your new password, you’ll first be asked for your old one (Fig. 5 ).   Remember, there is no password on the original distribution of Student HomeCard™, so you do not need to enter anything in the field next to "Enter Old Password".  In future changes, however, you’ll have to enter your unique “old” password.  If you are not good at remembering passwords, write it down in an inconspicuous place.  Student HomeCard will only be as effective as the degree of importance you place on not revealing the password to anyone but persons authorized to modify Student HomeCard™.  If you are cavalier about this, expect havoc to reign on your Macs.  (Isn’t avoiding havoc the reason you are reading this in the first place?)

Of course, if the password is inadvertently discovered by unauthorized persons, you should change it ASAP... preferably with no one watching over your shoulder.  While no one can read the password on the screen, some persons are very adept at watching typing fingers, and can thus discover a password.

Then enter your new password twice in the two fields for that purpose. If they do not match (hunt-and peck people rejoice), the dialog box will tell you as in figure 5, and you may re-enter both of them.

 

                                                                                                                   Fig. 7

Create a Stack button ...
Makes a new button that will launch the HyperCard stack you select when it is clicked by a user.  It does not matter where the stack is located (i.e. local hard disk or server).  You’ll be presented with a standard Macintosh dialogue box asking where (what disk) the stack is that should be opened.  THIS IS THE ONLY TIME THIS WILL HAPPEN.  Henceforth, when the user clicks, the stack will open immediately without the dialogue box.  WHEN YOU HAVE CREATED AND PLACED YOUR NEW BUTTON, REMEMBER TO CLICK THE “DONE” BUTTON. (Figure 7 above).  You must click “DONE” after EACH new button is created.

Create an Application/Document button ...
Makes a new button that will that will launch an application (e.g. MacWrite, FileMaker, etc.) or document (e.g. English lesson, spreadsheet, other prepared lesson) when clicked by the user.  You’ll be presented with a standard Macintosh dialogue box asking where the stack is that should be opened.  THIS IS THE ONLY TIME THIS WILL HAPPEN.  Henceforth, when the user clicks, the stack will open immediately without the dialogue box.  The button will assume and retain the icon of the application or document you select for launching.  WHEN YOU HAVE CREATED AND PLACED YOUR NEW BUTTON, REMEMBER TO CLICK THE “DONE” BUTTON. (Figure 7 above).  You must click “DONE” after EACH new button is created.

Create an Apple Menu button ...
Makes a new button that will launch the Apple Menu item you select.  If you create a button for the Chooser or the Control Panel, the button will be overidden by your settings in the Chooser/Control Panel Access... menu item.  WHEN YOU HAVE CREATED AND PLACED YOUR NEW BUTTON, REMEMBER TO CLICK THE “DONE” BUTTON.  (Figure 7 above).  You must click “DONE” after EACH new button is created. If you are running System 7, these buttons will only function if you have chosen to keep the Finder open under System 7, as described later in this chapter.

Create an Apple IIe Startup button ...
If you are using the Macintosh LC with an Apple IIe Card installed, you can now create a button to launch Apple II ProDOS applications from within the ProDOS partition on the LC hard disk.  To do this, you must have the Apple IIe Card Software version 2.0 or higher.  You must use the IIe Card software to create a ProDOS partition and install the startup document “ProDOS File System” in the System Folder.   (Refer to the manual for the Apple IIe Card Software.)  You will only be able to launch ProDOS files with names that end in “.SYSTEM” (This is a normal part of the ProDOS operating system, and not a restriction of Student Homecard™ or HyperCard.)

Clicking on the Apple IIe Startup button you created will cause Student HomeCard to activate the Apple IIe card if it is installed in your Macintosh LC.  Quitting from the IIe card operation will return you to Student HomeCard.

Create a ProDOS Application button ...
The same conditions that apply to creating an Apple IIe Startup button (above) apply to creating a ProDOS application button.  Unless you have already done so, you'll be asked to select the IIe Startup file on your Macintosh LC.  Next, you'll be asked to select the ProDOS “xxxx.SYSTEM” application file that you have previously loaded on the ProDOS partition (e.g. APLWORKS.SYSTEM, MECC.SYSTEM, etc.).

Clicking on the button you just created will cause the Apple IIe Software to launch, and then the ProDOS application will be launched.  Quitting from the IIe card operation will return you to Student HomeCard.

Create a New Card ...
Walks you through the process of creating a new card, if for instance, you wanted to set up different classes, or different curriculum areas. First, you are asked for the name of the new card to appear in the pop-up menu (Fig. 8):

                                                                                                                                        Fig. 8

Next, you are asked whether you would like to create a button to take the user to that card (Fig. 9). As indicated in the dialog box, the user will already be able to go there by selecting the name of the card from the pop-up menu (Fig. 10):

                                                                                                                                        Fig. 9

Pop-Up Menu in locked mode:

                                                                                                                  Fig. 10

The button creation process is the same for the card button as for any other button in Student HomeCard™.  The card button icon is shown in figure 11:

                                                                                                    Fig. 11

When Student HomeCard™ is not locked, the pop-up menu will appear as follows, allowing the administrator to change the name of that card as necessary (Fig. 12):

                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                  Fig. 12

On changing the name of a card (only the name of the Main Card cannot be changed), the following dialog will appear, in case you have created a button to that card (Fig. 13):

                                                                                                                                          Fig. 13

The button you created will still take the user to that card but the name of the card may no longer match the name of the button.

Chooser/Control Panel Access ...
Brings up the following dialog allowing you to choose which of the options,  if any,  for which you wish to disable student access (Fig. 14):

                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                      Fig. 14

Clicking within the appropriate check box disables access to that item when Student HomeCard is locked.

Hide Finder Under System 7
Is either checked (√) or unchecked, and when System 7 is running, closes or leaves the Finder open when Student HomeCard™ is running. If the Finder™ is closed, don't worry, it will open again when you have quit all running applications including HyperCard™. If you have chosen to leave the Finder™ open, however, it is HIGHLY recommended that you use and purchase MacPassword from EverGreen Software, Inc. (Not associated with ATG, Inc.)

What Else Can I Do?
Information showing how to obtain more information on HyperCard and scripting, enabling you to expand your use of HyperCard™.

Hints & Tips ...

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When you button-launch applications like Microsoft Works™, the user is left in the Student HomeCard folder, and unwanted files may be saved there.  Suggestion:  instead of launching the Works application directly, create a “dummy” or “target” word processor document, spreadsheet, or database file.  Save the target file in a separate folder with a name like DATAFILES or similar.  Then, create a document button that opens the target file.  This will then put the user into the folder containing the target file as their default folder for saving.  You may also want to put instructions in the content of the target file that explain how to close the file they just opened and start a new document, spreadsheet, or database.

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When you are using the Apple IIe software with Student HomeCard, it is best to lock the Apple IIe Option Panel from being accessed by students who can change slot assignments, screen appearance, etc.  To do this, quit Student HomeCard and locate the file named “IIe Prefs”.  Click on it once to select it, and then pull down the File menu and select Get Info.  When the info display for the IIe Prefs file appears, click once in the box labeled “Locked”, then close the window.  The next time a student starts the Apple IIe and attempts to enter the IIe Option Panel, they'll be greeted with a dialog box that only permits them to Continue, Restart IIe, or Quit IIe.  To restore access to the Option Panel, simply use your Administrator password to return to the Finder and unlock the IIe Prefs file.