MyHouse Tech Help
MyHouse Updates
GH Blog
Inclement Weather Text Alerts
Calendars
TECH FAQ
MYHOUSE CLASSROOM POSTS
Effective January 2011: We have shifted most of our regular communications to electronic format. Teachers will post news, reminders, and curriculum notes on their classroom MyHouse page at least once a week. Parents can subscribe to automated updates so that all MyHouse posts are delivered via e-mail. These digest e-mails go out once a day. If there are no posts in a given day, there will be no e-mail digest.
Sign up for automated updates by using the Subscription box featured on the left side of any MyHouse page. After entering your e-mail address, you will see a pop-up window asking you to confirm your wish to subscribe. Then you will receive a verification e-mail in your inbox with a link to click and confirm the subscription. Once you’ve verified the request, you will receive the next scheduled update. You can unsubscribe from these updates at any time by using the link at the bottom of each update e-mail. (Note: All the classroom posts are archived in our MyHouse pages, so you can still always find the information there if you need it.) Problems?
GRETCHEN’S HOUSE BLOG
The GH Blog is a place where we post reminders, news, and interesting web links to early childhood topics. We usually post once a week. You will soon be able to subscribe to receive automatic updates of the GH blog posts by using the Subscription located on the left side menu of our website. After entering your e-mail address in the subscription box, you will receive a pop-up confirmation message. Then you will receive a verification e-mail in your inbox with a link to click and confirm the subscription. Once your subscription is verified, you will receive the next scheduled update. You can unsubscribe from these updates at any time using the link at the bottom of each update e-mail. To view the blog by visiting our website, look at the sidebar item titled, Recent Posts.
INCLEMENT WEATHER TEXT MESSAGE ALERTS
If you’d like to receive automated text message alerts when Gretchen’s House has a delayed opening or closes due to weather or other extenuating circumstances, please subscribe to our Twitter feed. You will need to set your preferences to receive the text alerts. First, set up an account for yourself at www.twitter.com. Once logged into your twitter account, go to www.twitter.com/gretchenshouse. At the top of that page, click on the follow button. Once you see the green check mark and “following” message in that same spot, click on the mobile phone icon to subscribe to automated text messages from us. Problems?
CALENDARS
In addition to the all-center calendar on the main GH website, each center’s special activities are listed on their MyHouse calendar. You can print a copy of this calendar by clicking on the print icon at the top right corner of the calendar.
If your child attends a larger center with a color-coded calendar listings for different wings or classrooms, you can view and/or print the events for one or more colors by clicking the down arrow at the top right corner of the calendar and selecting those classrooms or wings you’d like to include.
If you use Microsoft Outlook and would like to sync any GH calendar with your Microsoft Outlook calendar, you can find directions to do so here. If you use Apple iCal, you can find instructions for syncing here. The calendar urls needed will be displayed below the calendar itself. Problems?
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is the password for my center’s MyHouse? Ask a staff member at your center.
I’m unable to login to MyHouse using the info I got from staff at the center. Remember the login is case-sensitive. Make sure your caps lock isn’t on. If your password includes a zero, ensure you type the numeral 0 rather than the letter O. If your workplace has web controls, ask your work’s tech support if logging in to our site should be a problem or if it can be allowed as a trusted site. If you have an older web browser, we recommend upgrading to the latest version. Otherwise, stop by the office at the center and we can show you how to log in.
I signed up for the email updates but am not receiving them.
- Check your spam folder to see if messages are landing there. If so, be sure to add the digest sender’s address (usually your director’s e-mail address) to your contacts list.
- View the MyHouse pages to see if there have been recent posts. If there have been but you haven’t received them, it’s possible your subscription was not confirmed. E-mail your director to check the status of your subscription.
I receive the e-mail updates but I cannot see the photos in them without going to the site. If you haven’t logged into the MyHouse page in a while, you may need to do so to view the pictures in your mail. Otherwise, this is usually a function of the settings on your web browser and/or e-mail provider. Here is a brief explanation from Leo Notenboom:
Outlook 2003 introduced a security feature whereby all remote images from untrusted addresses are displayed as red X’s by default. In order to view the images you must either add that sender to your safe sender’s list, or right click on one of the red X placeholders and specifically tell Outlook to download and display the images.
Most email programs that display HTML email actually use a browser such as Internet Explorer to do so. That implies that any settings you’ve made to your browser will also impact your HTML email. One such setting controls whether images are displayed at all. Turn that off in your browser, and chances are you’ve turned it off in your email as well.
We recommend googling the issue using the name of the programs you use for email and browsing. The other relevant terms you should use are ”images in email don’t display” or “can’t see images in feed.”
I would like to print a copy of a picture posted on MyHouse but the quality is not very good. You can ask a teacher to e-mail you a digital copy of the file, and/or check our Snapfish account for a higher-resolution version.
I am having trouble syncing with Google calendars.
Unfortunately, we can’t help here, besides ensuring that our calendars are set to be shared. They are. We recommend you try Google’s help forums to find answers. Here is a place to find help if you’re having trouble syncing: Google Calendar Support.
I am following GH on Twitter but I am not receiving text message alerts. You have to enable these alerts in your Twitter account. Once you see the green check mark and “following” message at the top of www.twitter.com/gretchenshouse, click on the mobile phone icon to subscribe to automated text messages from us. Be sure the mobile number associated with your account is the one you want to receive the alerts on.
I only want to receive text messages about snow closings. We “tweet” approximately once a week in addition to using Twitter to post snow day info. When we tweet a snow closing or delay, we have to post another tweet after the weather event is over so that people won’t be confused by old messages. So, in a snowy week, you might receive several messages. You have three options to manage the frequency of texts you receive from us:
- Tweak your Twitter text alert settings according to your preferences. Don’t want to be awoken before 6 a.m. with a snow alert? Set your account not to receive texts between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. Or, if you don’t want to be disturbed at work, set your account not to receive texts during working hours. If we have the unusual event of a mid-day closure or early closing, we would call parents, so you won’t miss important info by choosing this option.
- Turn off text message alerts when you are not concerned about the weather.
- Turn off text message alerts entirely, and instead manually check our twitter feed or website to get the latest info on weather delays or closings.