What happened to PUNN?
A few questions and their answers show how CANS (Calendar and News System) can help you communicate more effectively through PUNN.
Why did PUNN change?
Prior to the redesign, PUNN took hours to maintain. It was painstakingly recreated using previous PUNN emails. This process was inefficient; it wasted staff time. We couldn't get rid of PUNN, it is too vital a communications resource for the Pacific community. So, PUNN has been automated. PUNN is taking less time to produce and includes more up to the date information.
How can PUNN be "more" up to date?
With the advent of CANS (the new Calendar and News System), resources such as PUNN can be served up from a common database of events, articles and announcements from all-over campus. CANS allows anyone with a PUNetID and password to log in and add their information into the database.
This means that more people are contributing their knowledge. It also means that the person with the information can post it across the site without sending several emails to several departments.
But why does it look different?
The new PUNN takes advantage of advances in email technology and is sent as a multipart message. This means that email software that can read HTML will present the recipient with a version of PUNN that is visually more appealling and easier to use--readers can scan the headlines and click on the news and announcements that interest them.
Those with text-only email readers will see the "text" part of the PUNN multipart message. Its format is similar in style to the HTML, but lacks the images in the masthead of the message. (Sorry, you don't get to see Boxer at the top of your message each day.)
Important Note:
Users of Microsofts Outlook 2001 (Macintosh only) don't get to see either the HTML or the text version. For reasons known only in Redmond, Wash. Outlook 2001 tries to change the HTML into a rich text format. This produces some unexpected results.
There is a significant population of Outlook 2001 users on Pacific's campus, around 20. It is highly recommended that you upgrade to the newest version of the Macintosh operation system (OS X) and a newer email client. (To take advantage of the Microsoft Exchange Server and its scheduling capabilities, you may want to consider Microsoft Entourage.) Contact UIS for details on upgrading.
So how do I submit to the new PUNN?
Submitting to PUNN is a snap, just log in to CANS and click on the button to "Add News (Articles/Announcements)" or the button to "Add Events (Calendar/Upcoming)".
Fill out the form for you CANS item and make sure you select "PUNN" from the "Where do you want your [item] to appear?" selection box. You can also choose to have your news or event to show up for other audiences using this selection box.
When you're finished, click the submit button. Your CANS item will be reviewed by the publisher for PUNN and/or the publishers for any other categories you select.
Questions?
For answers to questions about CANS and the new PUNN contact the Web Manager, webmaster@pacificu.edu or call 503-352-2007.