Frequently Asked Questions

Stellar FAQ

What browser should I use to access Stellar?

For Stellar to work properly, browsers must be Javascript enabled and support personal SSL certificates. We support Stellar on all MIT recommended browsers.

Is information on Stellar backed up regularly?

Yes. All data files are kept on two separate systems with redundant disks at all times to ensure that we do not lose your data.

What is the difference between an Athena locker and a Stellar site?

There are several differences. An Athena locker, when it is created, is essentially empty. Content, as well as the design of the web pages, must be created manually either by the faculty member, owner or any others designated with administrative privileges. Uploading and downloading files, editing web pages, and other standard activities must be done likewise. Backups are performed nightly, but no archiving is done. With Stellar, several standard pages are created for you automatically using one of several standard designs. Tools are built in to facilitate editing of the site's pages, as well as administration of the class itself (i.e. receipt of homework and management of class sections). Traditionally, Athena lockers have contained one locker per subject and reused each semester by adding and deleting files at will. Stellar provides a new site each semester and materials can be imported from previous semesters as needed.

What is the difference between Stellar and OCW (OpenCourseWare)?

The Stellar Course Management System has been developed to support delivery of classes to students at MIT. A class website contains class materials, student information, homework assignments and a discussion board. To protect student privacy, Stellar websites are restricted to class participants only, although instructors can change the access levels to their course site. Please click here for more site access information. OCW is a free and open educational resource for faculty, students and self-learners around the world. OCW publishes MIT course materials, but it does not provide access to MIT faculty or grant degrees.

The URL for my course site is incorrect; can that be changed?

Site URLS cannot be changed once the site has been created. A new site will have to be requested.

Do I need to request a new Stellar site for each new semester?

Yes, you must request a new stellar site for each new semester. You may request a new Stellar course site by filling out the online site request form. Stellar also provides a tool for importing content from a previous semester's class website to the new site.

How far in advance can a Stellar course website be created?

Stellar sites may be requested at any time, however the intended semester may not always be available as an option. If not, choose the current semester available and then add a note in the comment section of the form letting us know the correct semester for the class site.

How long does it take for a Stellar course site to be created?

Stellar site requests are processed twice a day. You should receive a confirmation e-mail within one business day of your request. If you see a Mismatch Message when requesting your site, the creation of your site may be slightly delayed.

Can a non-MIT person (Harvard/Singapore, etc) have access to Stellar course sites?

Yes, a non-MIT person can access Stellar. They will need an MIT Kerberos account and the instructor or TA will need to add them to the membership list for the class site.

Once a non-MIT student has created a Kerberos Account, how do they log into a Stellar course site?

Instructions for how to log in to a Stellar site can be found on this page https://wikis.mit.edu/confluence/display/SUG2/Logging+In.

Can someone with a 'usernamexx.mit.edu' e-mail address register for an account since they do not have an Kerberos Account and are unable to get certificates?

Anyone affiliated with MIT and has an '@mit.edu' in their e-mail address is strongly encouraged to use their MIT Kerberos Account to access Stellar. If they have not registered for an Kerberos Account, they may do so here.

I have a Collaboration Account, but I've forgotten my password. How do I reset it?

If you forget your password, click on the Forgot Password button when you are asked to enter your password. Or, you may reset your password here.

When I try to access a course site, I get the message 'Bad request! Your browser (or proxy) sent a request that this server could not understand. Error 400' Why?

Users may be directed to this message when there is a build-up of cookies in the browser. Try clearing your cookies and then attempt to access your course sites again. If you need help clearing your cookies, go here for instructions. Note: we are working on addressing this issue.

It's the first week of class and my students are unable to log into the class site because the class Participants list is empty. How can they access the site?

Generally, the registration information is not fully available at the start of the semester. Instructors or TAs can grant access to students not yet listed in the Class List by manually adding their e-mail addresses to the Participants group for the course site. Please see see Adding Users to a Group.

If you would like to access the closed Stellar sites, please email us.

Can students see the membership list once they log in to a Stellar course site?

To protect student privacy, a student can only see their name plus those of others who choose to have their name displayed in the Class Participant list. The instructors, administrators and TAs can see the complete list of participants.

How do I add or remove a student from a class membership list?

Instructors/TAs/Admins can add/remove participants from any group in the membership list except the Class List. If you wish to prevent someone on the Class List from accessing the course site, you may block them from the site. To remove a student from the membership list, seeRemoving Users from a Group. To add a student to the membership list, see Adding Users to a Group. To block a student who is listed in the Class List from accessing the class site, see Blocking Enrolled Students.

The membership list on my class website does not contain the names of registered students at the beginning of the semester. Why?

Class websites use pre-registration data from the Registrar's office to populate the Participants List for academic classes about a week before the first day of classes. The class Participant List is automatically populated with data from WebSIS as it becomes available, usually during the second week of the semester (the week following reg day).

What do the 'enrolled' and 'visible' columns have to do with student access to a Stellar site?

Nothing. The enrolled column refers to those students who have registered for the class. The visible column lets the instructor know whether or not a student's name is viewable by others in the class. As long as a person's name and e-mail address appears in the membership list, they are allowed to login to the class site.

Why is there an apparent discrepancy between Stellar data and WEBSIS data for the first two weeks of the term?

For the first two weeks of each term, Stellar displays both pre-registration enrollment data AND registration enrollment data.  WEBSIS provides only registration data.

What is the benefit of including pre-registration data in Stellar class membership during this period?

Since not all students register on Reg Day, the inclusion of pre-registration data with available registration data provides Course Administrators with a more complete picture of anticipated registrants, status of enrollees and enrollment numbers for courses.  Additionally, pre-registration data is also the ONLY source of recitation section membership information during this period.

Is the registration data in Stellar real-time?

The display of enrollment information within Stellar is dependent upon the availability of registration data as supplied by MITSIS feed via the Data Warehouse.  Stellar automatically consumes all available updates several times a day, but is dependant on the frequency of the of the MITSIS to Data Warehouse synchronization.  Since MITSIS to Data Warehouse synchronization occurs once every 24 hours, registration data displayed in Stellar may be delayed up to (but no more than) 24 hours from the time of input.

I want to use the same materials from a previous semester's site for this semester's site. How can I do this?

Yes. You can import course materials by following these instructions or contact Stellar-Help at the Help Desk.

How long will course materials stay online?

Course materials are available indefinitely (unless the instructor chooses to remove them) but in read-only form, with the exception of restricted materials. Restricted materials are only accessible during the semester for which they were intended.

I imported my course materials into a new Stellar site and placed them in Topic "A". Now I want to move them from Topic "A" into Topic "B". How do I move the documents from one topic to another?

Documents can be moved, one at a time, from one topic to another. To move a document from one topic to another: Click on the pencil icon next to the document you want to move. On the "Edit Material" page, choose which topic you want the document to appear under by clicking the drop down menu to associate with topic. If the topic exists, it will appear in this list and you may then choose the topic you want the document to appear under. Click Submit.

I uploaded materials that are copyright restricted for the class only; however, they are marked as restricted for staff only. Why?

If there is a "release on.." date for the materials, the students will not be able to see the materials until then and they will be marked staff restricted. When the students can see the materials, this will change to restricted to class use.

I uploaded a file to my class website but when students click on the file name, the content comes up as garbage in the browser. How do I fix this?

When a file is added to a Stellar site, the document file type needs to be specified. If "Automatic" (the default) is set, it uses the information provided by the browser. While the browser information is usually accurate, this is not always the case. To fix the issue, click the pencil icon next to the document name and choose the document type on the Edit Material page and click on Submit.

I have a student who missed the final exam and needs to access the restricted files on the closed course site. Since the class is over, how do I get them the materials?

Restricted materials are only available during the semester for which they were intended. The instructor or TA will need to provide the students with copies of the files.

Why can't the students see their grades even though they have all been approved?

The site's Gradebook may need to be configured to show grades to students. Click on the Gradebook link in the navigation bar and then the tab for Configure. Check the box labeled "Display grades to students" under the Student Grade Display section. The grades should then be displayed to the students.

Can an instructor use an e-mail address other than their MIT e-mail address as part of their contact information for Stellar?

Unfortunately, no. If they wish to have e-mail delivered to a different address than the user@mit.edu listed on the class home page, they can have it forwarded automatically to a different e-mail address.

Can students e-mail each other from within a Stellar class site or is it best to create a separate mailing list?

The "send e-mail to class" feature is only available for the instructors, administrators and TAs for that class. However, an Athena mailing list can be requested for the class here.

I added an announcement to a section and want to e-mail the announcement; however, the e-mail goes to the entire class and not just the section membership. Why?

Currently, there is no way to simultaneously post an announcement in a section and e-mail the announcement to section members only. We have added this feature to our development queue. The work-around is to copy and paste the announcement into an e-mail for the section members.

I spent a long time typing up a document into a text box on Stellar and then received a 'permission denied' error when I clicked submit. Why?

If you use the text boxes on a class website page to compose long documents or e-mails, you may exceed the inactivity threshold. The system checks for activity every half hour, so after 30 to 60 minutes of inactivity the system ends your connection. To avoid this problem, compose long documents or e-mails in another editor and paste text in the text box or, for a document, browse for the file to add it to your class website.

When I tried to post a reply in the forum, I got this error message An error has ocurred. For detailed stack trace, please see the page's source code. ORA-12899 value too large for column "SAKAIUSER" ."JFORUM_POSTS_TEXT" . "POST_SUBJECT" (actual 103, maximum 100). Why?

The subject of the forum post has limit of 100 characters. You should keep it within 90 characters to be safe.

When I try to access a course site, I get the message 'Bad request! Your browser (or proxy) sent a request that this server could not understand. Error 400' Why?

Users may be directed to this message when there is a build-up of cookies in the browser. Try clearing your cookies and then attempt to access your course sites again. If you need