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Activating Your iTunes U Site

Apple creates your iTunes U site using a default page design and layout. When your site is ready, Apple sends your primary administrator an email with a link to an iTunes U page that contains all the information needed to activate your site. For more information on the default pages, see “Understanding Page Design and Layout.”

To activate your new iTunes U site and begin managing, customizing, and configuring your site:

1. Click the activation link in the iTunes U welcome email you received.

   iTunes U displays a welcome activation page containing information such as your organization name and site display name. The page also contains details on how to provide primary administrator information for your site (including name, email address, Apple ID, and password):

   

2. Verify that your institution information is accurate. You can edit this information to update your organization name and site display name.

3. Provide a single primary administrator for your site, including name, email address, and Apple ID and password. Be sure to select carefully as your site’s primary administrator is the person responsible for adding and removing site administrators, as well as viewing and editing specific site settings.

   If you have an existing account at Apple (iTunes Store, MobileMe, Apple Store, AppleCare), you can use the same account information for your iTunes U primary administrator Apple ID and password. You can create a new account or reset your password at http://myinfo.apple.com.

4. Click Activate.

   iTunes U activates your site and displays a successful activation page containing your site’s primary administrator Apple ID, and information on how you can use the Edit Apple ID Administrator Access page to transfer your primary administrator account to another user, if needed:

   

5. Click Login Here to access your new iTunes U site.

   iTunes U displays your administrator signin page so you can sign in and start using your new iTunes U site. After you sign in to your iTunes U site, iTunes U displays your site’s top-level, or root, page so you can immediately familiarize yourself with your site’s initial structure, design, and layout. You can also begin managing, customizing, and configuring your site.

   The Login Here link is the same signin URL iTunes U sent in your welcome email and displays in the Edit Site Settings page. Use this URL to sign in to your iTunes U site as an administrator, using your Apple ID and password. It’s a good idea to save the welcome email and bookmark this URL for easy future access to your site’s administrator sign in page. For example, to bookmark the URL using Safari, drag the URL from the Edit Site Setting page into your Safari window and then create a bookmark.

   When you first access your site, iTunes U displays your site’s root page. Depending on the specifications you and Apple defined for your site, iTunes U displays a Welcome page (available for both private and public content) or a Public Feature page (reserved for public content).

   A sample Welcome page is shown here:

   

   A sample Public Feature page is shown here:

   

   Your site’s root page can display a collection of descendant Welcome pages and Course pages a user can access. When you click a Course title or thumbnail image in a page, the associated Course page appears:

   

   Course pages contain the audio, video, or PDF content files you and your instructors, staff, or students make available for download. You can organize your Course page content into groups, displayed as tabs, to help manage course information. You can create the following types of groups within a Course page:

   • Simple. A simple group populates track content in a Course page when users explicitly upload tracks to the course in your iTunes U site.

   • Smart. A smart group displays tracks in a Course page by performing a search of your site for all tracks that match the criteria you specify.

   • Feed. A feed group automatically populates track content in a Course page based on a specified feed URL and details. Course content can be updated on a periodic basis and, depending on your site settings, can be updated as often as every day.

   For more details and information on how to create the different group types, see “Creating Group Types,” “Adding Content Using the Upload and Manage Files Webpage,” “Adding Content Using a Feed Course,” and “Adding Content Using a Feed Group.”

6. Determine how you want to administer, access, and use your site. For more information, see “Administering Site Access.”

7. Upload content to your iTunes U site. For more information, see “About Content.”

8. Define your site’s track preferences, site settings, and user access to iTunes U pages and groups. For more information, see “Customizing Your iTunes U Site.”

9. Customize your iTunes U site with your institution’s look and feel, and create and edit iTunes U pages. For more information, see “Designing Your iTunes U Site.”

10. Design a specific look for each Course page within your site, and manage each Course page. For more information, see “Managing iTunes U Course Pages.”

11. Learn about the extra features available when you click “Consider this site for inclusion within iTunes U in the iTunes Store” in the Edit Site Settings page, and expand your iTunes U site by linking to content within your site and using the iTunes search field to find information in your iTunes U site. For more information, see “iTunes U in the iTunes Store,” “Linking to iTunes U,” and “Using iTunes U Search.”

You can also use iTunes U advanced features to view report data about your site, use web services to automate many of your administrative tasks, and debug any problems you encounter while setting up, activating, and integrating your iTunes U site. For more information on these features, see “Understanding iTunes U Reports,” “iTunes U Web Services,” and “Debugging Site Access and Integration” respectively.