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Home . Text: First steps

UNITRACC First steps

For the first steps on UNITRACC we recommend our 10-minute Guided Tour. The following introduction shall enable a fast operational entry and effective use of the platform.

Description of the User Interface

To be able to combine the variety of the content and functions in the areas Inform and Research, Teaching and Learning as well as Working in one platform, a specifically adjusted user interface - optimized for internet applications - was developed.

The UNITRACC user interface is divided into the areas Menu bar, Main display area, Window manager and Taskbar.



The menu bar at the top is for navigation and overview: The menu bar gives you access to the content of UNITRACC.

The menu bar additionally has an icon bar, which enables fast access to platform overlapping functions as well as the quick- and professional-search.

Use the icon bar to access UNITRACCs online help.

The main display area shows the UNITRACC content and the programs. In the area "Information" this especially applies to the technical information in the form of multimedia technical books and in the academy area the whole range of teaching material are shown. The working area presents the tools and applications.

The window manager, left: The window manager administers your favorites and lists the history function. Technical books would have the index of contents at this point.

The task bar: The task bar is in the bottom line. The bar has been designed similar to the functions and structure of the taskbar known from Windows. The task bar always includes the UNITRACC-button as the base application program and gives tips about all opened main applications, e.g. course or technical books. By clicking on the buttons you are able to change between the open program areas.

Navigation

The navigation within the platform stretches across two navigation elements and is specially designed to ensure that both parallel elements are always visible.

The first fixed navigation area is the menu bar in which the introduction categories are located. The navigation categories on the top level offer differently defined access to the UNITRACC content. When an introduction category is selected then a submenu opens which displays the different sub-categories. By selecting a detailed sub-category you access the UNITRACC contents.

The content pages contain navigational possibilities via cross references in the text. A function bar is available from a specific information depth.

The function bar provides standard functions. These functions are dependent on the content shown on the page. The most frequent standard functions are:

Browses one page back.
Browses one page forward.
Leads back to the first page, to the initial point of the current document.
Return to the last seen page.
Adds the current page to the favorites.
Releases the page content for printing in a new browser-window.

The second navigation area is on the left: The window manager contains the favorites and history. The history function also documents your position and thus makes your orientation easier.

File bookmarks in the favorite list

Bookmarks (favorites) enable an active handling of the platform by saving the interesting pages. It is nearly possible on every page to set a bookmark.


To do this click on the icon "Transfer in to favorites" in the function bar. The appropriate page is saved in the windows manager in "Favorites". This allows you to access specific content from your favorites list.

To delete one or more favorites please mark the checkbox in front of the listed entry. Then delete the marked entries by clicking on the Icon "Delete selected". "Gewählte löschen".

Histroy and Backtracking

A history function makes sense because it helps you with the orientation on the platform and allows you to retrace navigation paths. The history records all visited pages in UNITRACC in a chronological order. As a standard the last 20 visited pages are shown and listed. You can return to former pages using the listed entries.

The history can be completely emptied by clicking on the icon "Delete all".

The Backtracking functions enables you to return to a former visited point - however only in a specific order: Using Backtracking you can return to the last visited page and therefore retrace your path step by step.

For this click on the icon "back" in the function bar to reach the last visited page.

Research- and Information- Possibilities

With the platforms search function the whole content of UNITRACC can be searched with the full text mode. The following is then scanned according to the entered term: Contents, assigned keywords, descriptions and further metadata. There are two search possibilities: Professional and quick-search. You can enter one or more search items in the search field and link the terms via the search operators.



  • The quick-search enables you to search in all UNITRACC content - without any restrictions
    • Enter one or more search terms on the input box.
    • Click on the button "Go!" and the query will start.
  • If more than on term is entered then these terms are automatically linked with "AND".
  • With the professional search you can narrow the search area down. For this purpose you can use the provided form. The professional search offers many different possibilities for your query. For example the following:
    • Boolean operators
    • In full text or with keywords
    • In specific categories
    • Time periods

Further information about search operators and search strategies can be found in the online-help.

The search results additionally display links and "descriptions" of the listed document. This should help you for the assessment of the search results.