Web Services Frequently Asked Questions

No, Google Forms are not used to collect student or public community data. If you require an online form to collect data on a public-facing website or social media, please get in touch with Web Services and we can help! 

Web Services can provide a web-based form to collect your data and provide timely reporting while securely storing your information.

There are many reasons we promote the use of official TMCC web-based forms on our public-facing web pages and digital communications.

• To ensure the College has long-term access to your data: Google forms data is usually tied to a personal account, therefore the data is not stored in a central, secure repository for future use by the College.
• To make the form look and feel like a TMCC page: Google forms are not branded with our logo and colors, and they don't follow TMCC web standards for best practices, style guide, usability, and accessibility.
• To provide a professional user experience: Google forms do not function the same way as the hundreds of other forms we have on our website do, so the user experience is not the same, which can cause confusion.
• To assist with last-minute edits and distribution: Google forms are not reviewed and tested by Web Services to ensure your form is successful and reaches the widest audience via a website link.

No. Google Sites should only be used for faculty web pages.

All TMCC department Web pages must follow the administrative Web Publishing Procedures. If you need to set up a new department/program/club website, please contact Web Services.

Add your TMCC event to our Events Calendar by completing our Submit Event form. The earlier you post your events, the more time it will be publicized! You can post events months in advance!

Note: Only TMCC-related or sponsored events are permitted, and the event organizer must have a current and valid TMCC email address.

Web Services collaborates with a designated web content contributor (full-time faculty or staff member) from your department or program to update existing TMCC web pages or create new content. Recognized student organizations should coordinate their web requests through their faculty or staff advisor.

Please read through the TMCC Web Publishing Procedures for a complete description of the process.

If you still have questions, please contact us.

Web Services provides monthly Google Analytics Looker reports to designated web content contributors and to any faculty or staff member upon request. Please contact us for more information.

The TMCC Website Search provides a number of advanced search options to help you find exactly what you're looking for on our website.

Match ALL search word (Boolean AND)

Search for pages which contain ALL of the given search terms. The results will be sorted in order of the number of terms matched, and the determined relevancy score. Click the "match all search word" radio button to enable this search option. This is the defaulted selection.

Match ANY search word (Boolean OR)

Search for pages which contain AT LEAST ONE of the given search terms. The results will be sorted in order of the number of terms matched, and the determined relevancy score. Click the "match any search word" radio button to enable this search option.

Wildcard Searches

You can use wildcard characters '*' and '?' in your search terms to search for multiple words and return a larger set of results. An asterisk character ('*') in a search term represents any number of characters, while a question mark ('?') represents any single character.

This allows you to perform advanced searches such as "zoom*" which would return all pages containing words beginning with "zoom". Similarly, "z??m" would return all pages containing four letter words beginning with 'z' and ending with 'm'. Also, "*car*" would be a search for any words containing the word "car".

Exact Phrase Searches

An exact phrase search returns results where the phrase of words are found, in the same order that they are specified. For example, an exact phrase search for the words "green tea" would only return results where the phrase 'green tea' appears. It would not return pages where the words 'green' and 'tea' are found separately, or in a different order such as, 'tea green'.

To specify an exact phrase search term, you need to enclose the words that form the phrase using double quotation marks. You can also combine the use of exact phrase searches with normal search terms and wildcard search terms within a single search query (e.g. "green tea" japan*). Note however, that wildcards within exact phrases (e.g. "green te*") are not supported.

Exclusion/Negative Searches

You can precede a search term with a hyphen character to exclude that search term from being included in your search results. For example, a search for "cat -dog" would return all pages containing the word "cat" but not the word "dog".

Category Searches

You can restrict your searches to a specific category by choosing a defined category from the drop-down box. 

Employee information is updated as follows:

• Directory: The data that populates the TMCC Faculty and Staff Directory is maintained by TMCC's Human Resources (HR) Office using Workday.
  • If your office location or telephone number changes, please update that in Workday
  • Once Workday is updated, it usually takes 24 hours for it to show up online.
• The separate Department and College Area Telephone List is maintained by the Marketing and Communications Office.
  • If your department telephone number changes, please inform them as well as Web Services.
• Department/Office Web pages: Web Services maintains the faculty and staff listings on your department's web page, including the contact information block on your department's homepage and the "Contact Us" page.

The TMCC home page (https://www.tmcc.edu) includes College News, upcoming events from the TMCC Events Calendar, and quick links to important college departments and resources.

• To request a news story for the home page: please contact the Marketing and Communications Office.
• To add an event to the Events Calendar, which displays on the home page as well as many sub-pages: please complete the Submit Event form.

For large web projects, please complete a Web Project Request. Details on what to expect after submission will be provided on the confirmation page.

TMCC departments can designate a staff or faculty member as a web content contributor and enroll them in CMS training through Web Services. CMS access is optional but provides the ability to directly add and update certain content.

A workflow is in place to ensure quality control, with all submitted content reviewed by Web Services before going live. However, once trained, the designated CMS web content contributor is authorized by their department to make website updates.

For more information, contact Web Services and review our guidelines on Web Content Responsibilities.

TMCC recognizes that third-party social media/community-building websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and many others offer alternative ways to reach and communicate with community members and students. The setup and use of these websites are permitted and must follow specific policies and procedures.

Be familiar with the Web policy for External Web Publishing, Social Media and Mobile Applications.

When creating content, refer to our Social Media Procedures and Social Media Content Guidelines.

The focus of most third-party social media/community-building websites is usually personal in nature: information about faculty or staff, personal opinions and information, teaching philosophies, etc.  Please refrain from creating any third-party social media pages that may be perceived as an official TMCC department or program Web page.

Use social media to supplement and/or enhance your existing Web presence only.

If you need to create an official TMCC department or program website, please follow the official Web procedures. It is mandatory that you first contact the Marketing and Communications Office and Web Services before setting up any social media account.

Once a social media account has been created for a TMCC department or program, please provide the administrative log-in information to TMCC’s Marketing and Communications Office. This is required so that TMCC can link to your third-party site, and for everyone's protection - if the author/employee leaves TMCC, there is no way to update/edit the site. Therefore, having a copy of the log-in information on file is essential.

Please do not make the login information the same as our TMCC Network login credentials. Use a "department@tmcc.edu" address and a generic, non-personal password.

TMCC reserves the right to enforce this policy by removing links to third-party websites and/or recommending the site creator remove or change site content as needed.

Truckee Meadows Community College can be found officially on many of the most popular social networking sites.

The built-in PDF viewers that come with most modern browsers are not always suitable for more than basic printable PDF documents. It is recommended to use Adobe Acrobat Reader for viewing all TMCC PDF documents and forms.

To make sure your browser will open PDF files using the Adobe Acrobat Reader by default, following these directions.

1. Download and install the latest Adobe Acrobat Reader on your workstation.
2. For Chrome:  Use the Acrobat Chrome extension that allows you to open PDF files in the Acrobat Reader desktop app to offer a consistent and reliable PDF viewing experience. Read how to open PDFs in Acrobat Reader from Chrome.
   For Firefox: Read how to use Adobe Reader to view PDF files in Firefox.
   For Safari on Mac OS: Read how to configure Acrobat to display PDF files in Safari.

More information about configuring browsers to use the Adobe PDF plug-in to open online PDF files can be found on the Adobe Support website.

PDF files are typically created from Microsoft Word (or in some cases, Excel).

Every PDF posted online should have a corresponding Word or Excel file stored in your department’s shared drive. The department’s designated and trained web content contributor should:

1. Use "Track Changes" in Word (or Excel) to make necessary updates.
2. Submit the updated file to Web Services for conversion, optimization, and posting.

Web Services will ensure all PDFs are branded and styled according to TMCC’s style guide and optimized for fast and easy online access.

To update or remove a PDF file on your department’s web page, please contact Web Services and provide us with the following details:

Where is the PDF located?
Provide the web page address/URL where the document is posted (e.g., https://www.tmcc.edu/web/downloads).

What is the document’s title?
Share the exact title as it appears on the website (e.g., "Media Release Waiver").

What is the file's web address/URL?
Provide the direct URL of the PDF file (e.g., https://www.tmcc.edu/sites/default/files/documents/mco-media-release.pdf).

It is recommended to use Adobe Acrobat Reader for viewing all TMCC PDF forms. Download the PDF form and open it using the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Firefox and Chrome have built-in PDF viewers; however, these viewers do not support many features available in Adobe Acrobat Reader. TMCC PDF files opened in these default viewers may experience display errors or issues with saving form data.

Therefore, Adobe Acrobat Reader is the preferred viewer for all TMCC PDF files, especially for forms. As long as Adobe Acrobat Reader is used, or the Adobe Reader browser plug-in, form data will be saved if the filled-in form is saved locally.

Please note that not everyone's computer is set up to use Adobe Reader by default.

View the separate FAQ to learn how to make Adobe Reader the default PDF viewer on your computer and browser.

First, decide whether or not the information you want to publish should be included as content on your department's Web pages.

If it's a form, decide if it should be an online HTML form or a fill-and-print PDF. Note: most forms today should be HTML, not PDF. Web Services can assist you with any questions you may have.

If you decide to still publish a PDF file:

• Step 1: Contact your department's designated web content contributor who is knowledgeable in how to use the official TMCC template and styles and how to publish to the website. If you do not have a web content contributor, consult with your dean/director to select one for your department and contact Web Services.
• Step 2: If you are a web content contributor and have not received training, contact Web Services to learn more about the official TMCC templates and styles required for posting online files.
• Step 3: Download the official PDF template.
• Step 4: Add your content to the document and apply the built-in styles.
• Step 5: Once complete, send the Word file to Web Services to complete the PDF optimization and post online.

If you have any questions please contact Web Services.

Use of the TMCC template establishes a consistent "look-and-feel" for all downloadable PDF files, documents and forms, from the various academic and administrative departments within TMCC.

The template includes an official EEO statement and TMCC logo, the official department name, and certain other standard variables. TMCC requires use of the approved, standardized template for any files that will be posted online to the TMCC website.

Please familiarize yourself with TMCC's Web Publishing Procedures.

All faculty websites are maintained and updated by the faculty members themselves.

TMCC administrative web pages are designed and developed by Web Services, while content updates are managed by the department’s designated web content contributor.

For more information on the differences between administrative and faculty websites, please refer to TMCC's Web Publishing Procedures.

Faculty web pages created with Google Sites can be accessed quickly and easily through your TMCC Google (Gmail) account.

Otherwise, if you requested a Web hosting account, your faculty website would be accessed via secure FTP. For further instructions, see TMCC web Publishing Procedures and Faculty web Page FTP Access.

Faculty web pages are hosted on Google Sites or a separate web server.

Faculty members who want their pages listed in the TMCC Faculty Web Page Directory must complete the Link My Web Page form.

See Also: Web Publishing Procedures