UMass Amherst Information Technology

Catalog Navigator Help

FAQ and Troubleshooting Guide

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Processing a request Formatting Terminology Troubleshooting

Processing a Request

I’ve forgotten how to log in.
Use your NetID as the username and your 8-digit Campus ID as the password (not your usual NetID password).

Your NetID is your IT account username. For more information on NetIDs, see Understand Your NetID & Password.

Your Campus ID is not the same as your employee ID number. Your Campus ID number is found on your paycheck and on employee ID cards (UCards) issued after 01/2003. You can view your recent paychecks via UMass HR Direct. You can also get your Campus ID by calling Human Resources (545-4549 or 545-6110) or visiting the IT Help Desk in A109 LGRC and asking for your Amherst Campus ID number.

How do I approve a request?

  1. In Catalog Navigator, click Home in the upper right part of the interface.
  2. Click View next to Assigned Change Requests.
  3. Click the request number.
  4. In the Act on Change Request section, choose Approve Change Request from the Workflow Action drop-down menu.
  5. Click Continue.

How can I send a message to the next person in the workflow?
When approving the request, put any notes that you want to pass along in the Action Rationale box rather than using email. This keeps a record of such notes with the request.

I approved the request but I need to make another change.
Contact the next person in the workflow to let that person know you need to make additional changes. He or she can relegate the request back to you. After it’s been relegated, you’ll get an email notification letting you know that you can work on the request again.

If you do not know who the next person in the workflow is, contact Catalog Help for assistance.

Am I done?
Log into Catalog Navigator to see if you have any assigned requests. If so, you have not finished. You must approve the request when you have finished your review even if you made no changes.

Formatting

How can I get it to do single spacing?
Use Shift-Return instead of Return. (You might need to use Ctrl-Shift-Return in some browsers.)

How can I add a link to another web page?
Select the text to be used as the link. In the editor toolbar, click the icon. Fill in the form and click Insert. See the User's Guide for more information on inserting links. (Note that links are inactive inside Catalog Navigator.)

How can I delete a page?
If your request contains content that should no longer be included in the catalog, please email Catalog Help (cc Athena Morris for Graduate Bulletin deletions) and explain which content should be deleted and why. We’ll work with you to determine the best way to proceed. Usually, we will need to wait until the request completes workflow before we can delete the content.

The text formatting isn’t correct.
Make sure that you only paste in plain text if cutting and pasting text from another application, such as Microsoft Word. Formatted text can contain hidden characters that do not play well with Catalog Navigator.

One way to get plain text is to paste formatted text into a plain text application (for example, Notepad for Windows or Text Edit for Macs), then copy the text from that application and paste it into Catalog Navigator.

If you are still having problems with getting the formatting correct, add a note describing the problem in the Action Rationale field when you approve the request. We will fix it when the content comes to us in the workflow.

Terminology

What’s a content item?
Catalog Navigator stores content in a highly modular form.

  • For the Majors Guide, the content is limited to a single page for each major and thus is stored in a single content item in Catalog Navigator.
  • For the Guide to Undergraduate Programs and Graduate Bulletin, the information for each department or program is located in several content items. Each content item usually corresponds to one section in the catalog’s description for your department, such as “Courses” or “The Minor.” In some cases, especially long sections may be broken up into multiple content items. You may need to edit several different content items to complete the updates needed for your department.

What’s a request?
A request is a collection of content items that can be processed together. That is, the content items are all reviewed by the same person and they follow the same path through workflow.

What is workflow?
The process of reviewing, editing, and approving content is called workflow. You can think of workflow as a series of stations, or steps, in the process. A request passes from one station to another, and each station has a specific job to do when it receives a request. Each station must approve the request for it to progress to the next step in the workflow. Changes are not official until the request completes workflow (gets approved at the final step).

Troubleshooting

I'm not the right person.
Requests are set up for and sent to a specific individual and cannot be forwarded to another person. If you are not the correct person to review and edit your program’s content, please send a message to catalog-it-help@it.umass.edu with the name and email address of the correct editor. We’ll confirm the change and set up a new request for that individual.

Can I use Safari or Microsoft Edge?
Problems with other browsers may not show up until you have spent considerable time and effort updating your content. To avoid frustration and re-work, use either Internet Explorer 11, Firefox 40 or higher, or Chrome 45 or higher.

The login page is corrupted.
Click the Logout link on the Home page. If that’s not available, close and restart your browser.

Catalog Navigator says my page is too big.
First, make sure that any text you pasted in is plain text and not formatted text. Formatted text, such as text copied from Microsoft Word, can contain hidden formatting characters that add to the size of your page.

If that’s not the case, contact Catalog Help at catalog-it-help@it.umass.edu for assistance. We’ll help you break the page up into smaller pieces.

Web preview is showing me the wrong information.
Web preview has been inconsistent in displaying updated content. Some users see their new content; some see the old content. Do not worry if web preview does not display your changes.

My changes aren’t showing up in the online catalog.
The University publishes a single, static catalog once a year rather than updating the content dynamically. Your changes will not be reflected in the online catalog until next year’s edition is published.

It’s not letting me save changes/highlight text/It’s just not working right.
If you are having problems saving your updates or experiencing other similar problems, make sure you are using a supported browser. We’ve found that Firefox (version 40 or higher) or Chrome (version 45 or higher) are usually good bets. Internet Explorer 11 is also supported. If these are not options, email catalog-it-help@it.umass.edu for assistance.

If you have not already done so, clear your browser cache. We have recently updated the Catalog Navigator software. If you have used Catalog Navigator before, you must clear your browser cache to use the new version:

Clearing the browser cache in Internet Explorer:

  1. From the Tools menu, point to Safety, then click Delete Browsing History.
  2. Clear the Preserve Favorites Website Data check box.
  3. Select the Temporary Internet Files check box.
  4. Click Delete.

Clearing the browser cache in Firefox:

  1. Windows: From the Tools menu, click Options.
    Macintosh: From the Firefox menu, click Preferences.
  2. Click the Privacy tab.
  3. In the History section, “click clear your recent history”.
  4. From the Time Range To Clear list, choose Everything.
  5. In needed, expand the Details list.
  6. Select the Cache check box.
  7. Click Clear Now.

I still have a question...
Send questions about content to
Guide to Undergraduate Programs: Student Success Office (studentsuccess@umass.edu)
Graduate Bulletin: Graduate Reports (gradreports@grad.umass.edu)

Send questions about using Catalog Navigator to catalog-it-help@it.umass.edu

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