How to Access Google@CPS Student Accounts

Follow this link for instructions on accessing and changing your student account passwords.

FirstClass Procedures to Forward Mail or Save to File

FirstClass data will not be mass-migrated to the new Google@CPS accounts. However, we know that you may have some messages that you would like to preserve.  This can be done by either forwarding them to your new Google@CPS account, or by saving the messages as files.  

To forward FirstClass messages to your Google@CPS account:

1. Open the message in your FirstClass mailbox or conference/workspace container.
2. Select the Forward icon from your Toolbar, or click Message → Forward.
3. Enter your own email address: username@cps.edu in the To: line as the recipient.
4. Click Send from your toolbar and the message will be redirected to your Google@CPS account.
5. NOTE: Forwarded messages will be subject to the CPS retention policy of one year, after which they will be purged from either mailbox.

To save FirstClass messages as files (Save multiple messages at once):

1. Select one or multiple message(s) from your mailbox or conference/workspace container.
2. Select File → Export.  A Browse for Folder window will appear.
3. Select the file location where you would like to save the message(s) and select OK.
4. Your messages will be saved to the file location.  
5. Each message will create its own folder with three different file type options for you to view your message: Rich Text Format (MS Word), Text Document (Notepad), and XML Document (View in Web Browser).

Advanced Tips and Practices

Click the link for Advanced Tips and Best Practices for Email, Calendar and Docs (must be signed into Google@CPS to view).

Two New Webinars

Advanced Email Techniques -  http://safarilive.cps.k12.il.us/sml/play/admin/5-google1 
    (The screen share will appear a couple of minutes in.)

Drive Collaboration and Google Groups -  http://safarilive.cps.k12.il.us/sml/play/admin/6-google-2 

Enjoy!

Quick Fix: Notifications Not Working

If your email notifications aren't working, follow these steps:

1. Make sure Notifications are turned on in your mail settings (Gear, Settings, General, Notifications).
2. In Chrome, click the wrench icon in the upper right corner.
3. Choose Settings.
4. Click Show advanced settings
5. Under Privacy, click Content settings...
6. Under Notifications, choose Allow all sites to show desktop notifications
7. Click OK and close tab.

Notifications should start working again.

Tip: Use Outlook to view archived .pst files

If you have archived .pst files, please be aware that they will not be migrated to Google@CPS. However, you can set up Outlook to view theses files. (If you do not take these steps, Outlook may freeze if you try to open it.) Here's how:

1. Click the Start Menu
2. Click Control Panel 
3. Click Mail 
4. Click Email Accounts
1. (In Outlook 2003) Select View or Change Existing Email Accounts and click Next
5. Select the Exchange accounts
6. Click Remove
7. Click OK
8. Click Close
9. Close the Mail Setup window and reopen Outlook 

Take caution: When you go into Outlook to view archived .pst files, you are not working in a live environment. That is, you will not be able to receive, send, forward, or reply to messages. You should consider your archives view only.

Tip: Set up Google Drive

1. When you first log into Google@CPS, you'll see the word "Documents" in the black bar atop the screen. Click it.
   
2. A new window will open up and you'll see a big blue button that says "Get started with 5GB free". Click it. (Note that this 5GB is separate from your 25GB mailbox! Also, documents created in Google Drive do not count against your 5GB.)
   
3. Once inside Drive, click "Download and install Google Drive". This will create a syncing folder on your computer. This is handy because you can now drop files into this folder on your desktop, and they will automatically sync to Google Drive (just like Dropbox). Generally, since these files are Word, Excel, PDF, etc., they will take up part of your 5GB (unless you opt to convert them to Google Docs).
   
4. Now, when you go to the black bar at the top, you will see "Drive" not "Documents".
   
5. Start creating, sharing and collaborating!

You Asked: How do I set Google@CPS as my default email client?

To set Google@CPS as your default email client, follow these instructions from Google Help:

When you open email in Chrome, a message may appear at the top of the page asking if you'd like to allow Gmail to open all email links. If you click the Use Gmail button, Gmail's compose window will open the next time you click a hyperlinked email address on a page. Click No and your computer will continue to open email links the same way as before.

You Asked: What about my archived email?!

Many Outlook users currently archive email to .pst files for future reference. According to Board policy, it is okay to archive or print email that you need to keep beyond the one-year retention policy.

In Google@CPS, however, archiving batches of email isn't supported. Instead, to "archive" individual emails, you can do one of the following:

• Print them
• Save them locally as a PDF 
• Copy and paste the content into a Google Doc
• You will have to save any attachments separately.

If you need to access your currently archived .pst files, you will have to use Outlook to view them. These files cannot be migrated to Google. (And even if we were able to do that, email older than one year would disappear.) See instructions for setting up Outlook.

Finally, don't confuse Google's "Archive" button with offline archiving. They are completely different. In Google@CPS, archiving an email simply takes it out of your inbox and saves it to behind-the-scenes folder called "All Mail". This allows you to get it out of your way while still being able to reference it for up to one year. Email in the All Mail (Archive) folder will be deleted after one year just as if it were in your inbox.

Tip: Gmail Offline

On the train or on a plane, if you find yourself without an Internet connection, you can still manage your inbox by enabling Gmail Offline.

• Just go to Gear, Settings, Offline.
• Click "Install Gmail Offline".
• When the Web store opens, click Launch App. 
• Once installed, choose "Allow offline mail".

Now, you can set the amount of email you want synced: 1 week, 2 weeks or 1 month. Read email or compose email offline! When you get back online, your mail will be sent, and a new sync will occur.

Jennie Magiera Talks about Google@CPS

Google is coming! Google is coming!

For the past several weeks I feel like this is all I can talk about... and with good reason! I have had the privilege to test run the new Google@CPS system. How is it? Since you can't see me right now, I'll let you know: I have a huge smile on my face.

Google Apps brings a myriad of collaboration and creation opportunities to the hands of both students and educators. Here are a few things I've tried and am excited about for the upcoming year:

Survey Says! Pilot Users are Excited about Google@CPS!

With 212 responses from pilot users, we're boiling over with excitement about Google@CPS!

Responding were 122 Outlook users and 90 FirstClass users.

• 87% of all pilot users say they are moderately to completely pleased that CPS has switched to Google.
• 93% of all pilot users are pleased with communication and with training

FirstClass Users

• 97% say they are moderately to completely pleased that CPS has switched to Google 
• 93% say that Google@CPS is an improvement over FirstClass
• 87% say they can do everything they did before 

Outlook Users

• 80% say they are moderately to completely pleased that CPS has switched to Google 
• 71% say that Google@CPS is an improvement over Outlook
• 80% of Outlook users say they can do everything they did before