SupportNet Login Help

SupportNet Accounts

To use SupportNet you must be registered account holder. Staff in schools and other educational establishments, and support staff in LEAs and other IT support organisations are welcome to apply for an account. Accounts are for named individuals, not establishments. Setting up an account typically takes about 24 hours.

Logging in

Your User ID and password are sent to you by email. Your password can be changed in SupportNet via your Profile.

Please note that User IDs normally contain underscore characters, but never spaces. Sometimes this is not obvious when an ID is displayed as it may be underlined and the underscore may be hidden and appear to be a space. IDs and passwords are NOT case-sensitive.

You should not need to log in separately to Web Support (the Capita online help desk) as your SupportNet password will give you access both to SupportNet itself and to Web Support.

Access Rights

When your account is created, an access code is attached which controls what material you can view on the site. This is designed a) so that you see see what is interesting and relevant to you without having to wade through a lot of material that isn't and b) to maintain confidentiality of certain materials which are published specifically for particular groups of members. For example, Schools and Support Teams each have their own discussion forums and cannot access those for the other group.

If you suspect that you may have the wrong access, please advise us and we will adjust it; for example, if you are unable to locate resources to which you are sure you should have access. If we discover errors we will recify them promptly and publish a message on the site's home page (for you only) telling you that an adjustment has been made.

Password Retrieval

If you forget or mislay your password, you can click the "Password Retrieval" button and your login credentials will be sent to your registered email address. You will be asked to enter your email address, which must match the one in your profile. This is also the address to which the details will be sent. Please be sure to keep your email address up to date in your profile or this useful function will not work!

The ID and password we send you by email is almost 100% certain to be correct and to function as it should - it is a fully automated process. If you find that it doesn't work, the most likely cause is that you're entering it incorrectly, so please try again. It's best to cut and paste the information into the login dialog to ensure accuracy. If you still have difficulties, please read the next section below.

Access Problems

Increased security applied via browsers and firewalls can cause problems. SupportNet is tested with both Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. However, to work correctly:

1. "First party" cookies must be enabled in your browser's options.
   How to do this?
   Internet Explorer: Tools|Internet Options|Privacy|Advanced. Select "Accept" under "First-party cookies"
   Firefox: Tools|Options|Privacy|Cookies. Check "Allow sites to set cookies". It is advisable also to check "for the originating web site only".
2. Pop-up windows must NOT be disabled. If you have disabled popup-up windows, you will need to list *.capitaes.co.uk as an exception where pop-ups are permitted.
   How to do this?
   Internet Explorer (Windows XP SP2 only): Tools|Internet Options|Privacy|Popup Blocker|Settings. Either allow all popups OR (preferably) enter *.capitaes.co.uk in the Settings section.
   Firefox: Tools|Options|Web Features. Either CLEAR the "Block popup windows" box, OR enter *.capitaes.co.uk in "Allowed Sites".
   Toolbars: some add-in toolbars for Internet Explorer, including the Google toolbar, include a popup blocker. Please refer to the instructions for your toolbar.
3. Your firewall must not prohibit HTTP header information from being sent by your browser. Some firewalls, including Norton, do this by default. Refer to the documentation with your firewall.
4. Your browser should not prevent windows from being resized. This is a default behaviour in Internet Explorer running under Windows XP SP2.
   How to do this?
   Internet Explorer (Windows XP SP2): Tools|Internet Options|Security|Custom Level. Find "Allow script-initiated windows without size or position constraints" and ENABLE it.

If you are repeatedly asked to log in, it is likely that your browser does not have cookies enabled. If you click a link and nothing happens, it is likely that pop-ups are disabled. If occasional pages fail to work, your firewall may be stopping header information.

If the advice above does not help solve any login and usage problems, please contact our support staff by clicking the Contact Us button. Bear in mind that some problems may have a cause at your end we can do nothing about.

Download problems

It is not unusual to encounter problems when downloading files. This does not usually mean that the file itself is corrupt or missing - the problem is just as likely to be at your end, or to be the result of a transmission fault! If you suspect that a listed file really is "bad", please use Home|Email CapitaES to send a fault report to the webmaster. Don't forget to mention which file you were trying to download - there are thousands...

Problems with PDF files are particularly common. If you encounter difficulties with these files, please try the following before contacting us:

• Try again a few minutes later - obvious, but it often works.
• If you use Adobe Reader, go to Edit|Preferences|Internet and disable the Display PDF in browser option.
• Try an alternative PDF reader - www.foxitsoftware.com is the best source for a good free reader.
• Download the file instead of trying to open it in situ.

Disability Discrimination Act

To comply with the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act, SupportNet has an alternative interface designed for maximum accessibility. To use the alternative interface, click "Plain text" on the menu. This version responds fully to changes made to text size, font, etc. through your browser's display options.

Members who would not normally use the plain text option may find that it offers a workaround means of accessing data should a fault develop with one of the site's "rich text" pages.

Please advise us of any shortcomings in our provision of DDA-compliant pages as this is a provision we take very seriously.

Logging Off

Using the Logoff option on the menu when you have finished your SupportNet session contributes to site security and frees up resources on the server, improving performance for other users. Please log off when you finish