Introduction to Acalog

Acalog is a Catalog Management System

• The 'Gateway' is the public side of the system, which results in the user interface seen at calendar.ualberta.ca

• The 'Publisher' side of the system acts as a database of calendar pages, as well as a simple text editor.  From this back-end, the Calendar editor can manage the structure and organization of all Calendar pages.  You can access the Acalog Publisher here: https://ualberta.acalogadmin.com/login.php

Structure of Pages in Acalog

• There are several different types of page types in Acalog.  Each of these is formatted differently in the system. Two of the most common types are:

  • Program Pages

  • Custom Pages.  Custom Pages are essentially a single Text Box (see below).

• A Program Page is made up of cores.  

  • All programs start with a Program Core, which has a title, and can also include a text box or course list.

  • Additional cores (called Associated Cores) can be added: 

    • A Sub Core is unique to this program

    • A Shared Core can be shared amongst different programs

  • A program page can only be assigned to one faculty within the Calendar hierarchy

• The basic layout of every Associated Core is that it has a title and then may include a Text Box and/or a Courses List.  Text boxes must always come before the courses list.

• The Text Box acts like a word document in that you can add and format text and links.  You can also include bulleted or numbered lists, as well as tables. When linking externally, regular hyperlinks are used.  When linking internally within the Calendar, Permalinks are used.

  • Hyperlinks are static.  All changes are done manually.

  • Permalinks are dynamic.  These links are to specific named pages, programs, or courses in each Calendar, and will change catalog numbers for each publication.  They will always point to the named page in the current calendar. The Acalog system can track how many permalinks are created for each page.  If the Permalink uses the title of the target as link text, it will be automatically adjusted if the linked target is changed. If custom link text is used, it must be changed manually.

• The Courses List is a formatted list of courses.  Editors can indicate which courses show up in the list.  The convention is to list them alphabetically, then numerically.

  • Courses in the courses list will automatically display the course title and link to the course description if it is active in Acalog.

  • When text needs to be added into the Courses List (or after the Courses List), it is added as Ad-Hoc Text.  Ad-Hoc Text is associated with a specific course shown in the Courses List.  If that course is inactivated, hidden, or deleted, the Ad-Hoc Text will disappear with it.  Ad-Hoc Text has the same functionality as text in the Text Box. Ad-Hoc Text can also be used to show inactive courses.

KEY MESSAGES and BEST PRACTICES:

The Office of the Registrar has created a Suggested Program Template, which takes into account many of these best practices.  Faculties are encouraged to incorporate this new template into the creation or revision of programs in the Calendar.

• All Cores and Sub-Cores must have a heading in order to exist

• Free text should always come before a list of courses

• All ad-hoc text should be directly associated with the course it is attached to

• A Courses List is better for listing courses as its formatting gets automatically adjusted whenever a course is hidden or inactivated.  Listing courses can also be done in a Text Box, but formatting changes must be done manually.

• If a course is inactive, but must still be listed, it should be moved into a separate core rather than being inserted into the Course List using ad hoc text (current practice).

• Where possible, Permalinks should use the full and exact title of the page rather than the title of a section of the page.