IT Division - Portal Help

Portal FAQs

What is RSS?

RSS stands Really Simple Syndication. RSS provides a means of automatically receiving constantly updating news or any other type of data, such as blogs or podcasts. Sites such as CNN.com or BBC.com have rss feeds that are available to all users. To actually use an RSS feed, something called an RSS aggregator is needed. They resemble email clients but instead of mail, you are getting news from sources that you have subscribed to. The WKU Portal has a built-in RSS aggregator, which will allow you to view RSS feeds. Click here for a tutorial on configuring an RSS feed with the portal.

What are approval alerts?

The vast majority of portal users can ignore or remove this channel. The approval alerts channel is only available to some directors, department heads, etc.

What is a NetID?

A NetID is what is used to login to the portal. The term NetID can be used synonymously with "username" because you enter your NetID in as well as your password to be able to login. All users of the portal will have a NetID. To lookup your NetID, visit our NetID Lookup page. Because of the Single Sign On feature, your NetID will contain all of your passwords as well as any username you use to access the different applications such as Webmail, Blackboard, Topnet, and Banner.

Why do some links open in a new window and some open in the same window?

Due to compatability issues, some pages will open in a separate window whereas other links will open within the window.

Why can't I stay logged into Blackboard from Firefox?

There is currently an issue with the way Firefox handles cookies from Blackboard. While our solution isn't permenant, it should be able to handle the problem until further updates are done to the portal and to Firefox. To fix the issue, please follow these instructions:

For Windows users:

1. On the Toolbar, click on Tools ->Options ->Privacy
2. Under cookies you should see a box that says "Exceptions." Click on that.
3. For the "Address of website" type : blackboard.wku.edu and click on the "Allow for Session" Button.
4. Click on "Close" button.
5. Click the "Ok" button.
6. Completely close Firefox and re-open it.

For Mac users:

1. On the Toolbar, click on Firefox ->Preferences ->Privacy
2. Under cookies you should see a box that says "Exceptions." Click on that.
3. For the "Address of website" type : blackboard.wku.edu and click on the "Allow for Session" Button.
4. Close the "Exceptions-Cookies" Window.
5. Close the "Preferences" Window.
6. Completely close Firefox(Apple key - Q) and re-open it.