Site Administration

Manage Sakai sites, pages, tools, and groups through administrative interfaces

Site Administration

Sakai organizes content and tools into sites (also called workspaces). This guide covers administrative site management capabilities.

Understanding Sites

Sites are the primary organizational unit in Sakai.

Site Types

Course Sites: Academic course workspaces

• Structured by term/semester
• Include gradebook, assignments, resources
• Linked to course management systems

Project Sites: Collaboration workspaces

• Department projects
• Research collaboration
• Committee workspaces

Portfolio Sites: Student portfolio sites

• Personal showcase spaces
• Controlled by individual users

User Sites: Personal workspaces (My Workspace)

• One per user
• Site ID pattern: ~userid

Site Structure

Each site contains:

• Pages: Navigation tabs
• Tools: Functional applications (Assignments, Resources, etc.)
• Groups: Subsets of participants
• Roles: Permission sets (Instructor, Student, etc.)

Sites Tool

The Sites administrative tool provides full site management capabilities.

Accessing Sites Tool

1. Log in as administrator
2. Navigate to Administration Workspace
3. Click Sites tool

Creating Sites

1. Start Site Creation

   In the Sites tool:

   1. Click New Site
   2. Enter site details
2. Configure Basic Information

   Required fields:

   • Site ID: Unique identifier (cannot be changed)
   • Title: Display name
   • Type: course, project, portfolio, etc.
   • Description: Site purpose/description
   • Short Description: Brief summary
3. Set Site Properties

   Optional settings:

   • Skin: Visual theme
   • Published: Make site visible to participants
   • Joinable: Allow users to self-join
   • Public: Allow anonymous access
   • Join Role: Default role for joiners
4. Add Pages and Tools

   1. Click Pages tab
   2. Click New Page
   3. Enter page title
   4. Add tools to the page
   5. Configure tool properties
5. Add Participants

   1. Click Add Participants
   2. Search for users
   3. Assign roles
   4. Click Save

Site ID Conventions

Recommended patterns:

# Course sites
CSCI-101-F2026
MATH-201-Spring-2026

# Project sites
project-faculty-senate
research-climate-change

# User sites (automatic)
~jsmith
~mjones

Editing Sites

Modify Site Information

1. Find Site

   1. Search in Sites tool by ID, title, or type
   2. Click on site to view details
2. Edit Properties

   Click Edit to modify:

   • Title and descriptions
   • Skin
   • Published status
   • Joinable settings
   • Public view setting
3. Save Changes

   Click Save to apply changes.

Site IDs cannot be changed after creation. To change a site ID, you must create a new site and migrate content.

Managing Pages

Pages provide navigation structure within sites.

Adding Pages

1. Access Pages Tab

   In site editor, click Pages tab

2. Create New Page

   1. Click New Page
   2. Enter page title
   3. Select page layout (single column, multi-column)
   4. Click Save
3. Add Tools to Page

   1. Click Edit Page
   2. Click New Tool
   3. Select tool from list
   4. Configure tool properties
   5. Click Save

Page Properties

Title: Display name in navigation

Layout: Visual arrangement

• Single column
• Two columns
• Three columns
• Custom layouts

Popup: Open page in popup window

Custom URL: Link to external content

Reordering Pages

Change page order in navigation:

1. In Pages list, use drag-and-drop
2. Or use up/down arrows
3. Changes save automatically

Deleting Pages

1. Select page to delete
2. Click Remove Page
3. Confirm deletion

Deleting a page removes all tools on that page. This cannot be undone.

Managing Tools

Tools provide functionality within sites.

Available Tools

Content Tools:

• Resources - File sharing
• Lessons - Structured learning modules
• Web Content - External content embedding

Communication Tools:

• Announcements
• Messages (email archive)
• Chat
• Forums

Assessment Tools:

• Assignments
• Tests & Quizzes
• Gradebook

Collaboration Tools:

• Calendar
• Schedule
• Roster
• Site Info

Adding Tools

1. Edit Page

   1. Navigate to site → Pages
   2. Select page or create new page
   3. Click Edit Page
2. Add Tool

   1. Click New Tool
   2. Select tool from list
   3. Configure tool settings:
      • Tool title
      • Special configuration
      • Properties
3. Save Tool

   Click Save to add tool to page

Tool Configuration

Many tools have configurable properties:

Resources Tool:

• Default view (list, details)
• Upload quota
• File type restrictions

Assignments Tool:

• Student submission notifications
• Resubmission options
• Grade options

Gradebook Tool:

• Grade entry type (points, percentages, letters)
• Category weighting
• Extra credit

Tool Permissions

Control which roles can access tool functions:

1. Click Permissions in tool config
2. Check/uncheck permissions per role
3. Click Save

Example permissions:

• annc.new - Create announcements
• content.new - Upload files
• asn.submit - Submit assignments
• gradebook.gradeAll - Grade all students

Managing Groups

Groups divide site participants for targeted activities.

Creating Groups

1. Access Groups

   In site editor:

   1. Click Groups tab
   2. Click New Group
2. Configure Group

   • Group Title: Display name
   • Description: Group purpose
   • Membership: Select users to include
3. Save Group

   Click Save to create group

Group Use Cases

• Lab Sections: Divide large courses
• Project Teams: Collaborative assignments
• Discussion Groups: Targeted forums
• TA Assignment: Assign TAs to specific students

Group-Aware Tools

These tools can filter by group:

• Announcements
• Assignments
• Forums
• Calendar
• Resources
• Gradebook

Site Templates

Templates provide starting configurations for new sites.

Using Site Templates

1. Create a site with desired configuration
2. In Sites tool, select the site
3. Click Save As Template
4. Name the template
5. When creating new sites, select the template

Built-in Templates

Sakai includes default templates:

• !site.template.course - Course site template
• !site.template.portfolio - Portfolio template
• !site.template - Basic site template

Customizing Templates

1. Access Realms Tool

   In Administration Workspace, click Realms

2. Edit Template Realm

   1. Search for template (e.g., !site.template.course)
   2. Click to edit
3. Modify Roles and Permissions

   • Add/remove roles
   • Adjust permissions
   • Set default role
4. Save Template

   Click Save - affects all new sites using this template

Template changes only affect new sites. Existing sites must be updated individually.

Batch Site Operations

Perform operations on multiple sites.

Batch Site Creation

Create multiple sites from CSV:

siteid,title,type,term,description
CSCI-101-F26,Intro to CS,course,Fall 2026,Introduction to Computer Science
MATH-201-F26,Calculus II,course,Fall 2026,Calculus II
ENGL-110-F26,English Comp,course,Fall 2026,English Composition

Archive Multiple Sites

1. Access Archive Tool

   In Administration Workspace, click Site Archive

2. Select Sites

   1. Search for sites by term or pattern
   2. Select multiple sites
   3. Click Archive Selected
3. Download Archives

   Archive files saved to:

   ${sakai.home}/archive/
   

Batch Import

Import archived content into sites:

1. Upload archive files
2. Select target sites
3. Choose content to import
4. Execute import

Site Properties and Metadata

Common Properties

# Site properties (accessible via Site Info)
term=Fall 2026
term_eid=F26
contact-name=John Smith
contact-email=[e-mail]
site-request-course-sections=CSCI-101-001,CSCI-101-002

Custom Properties

Add custom properties for institutional needs:

Site site = siteService.getSite(siteId);
ResourcePropertiesEdit props = site.getPropertiesEdit();
props.addProperty("custom-property", "value");
siteService.save(site);

Site Quotas

Manage storage quotas for sites.

Setting Quotas

Configure in sakai.properties:

# Default site quota (MB)
content.quota=500

# Quota by site type
content.quota.course=1000
content.quota.project=500
content.quota.portfolio=250

Per-Site Quota Override

1. Edit site in Sites tool
2. Click Properties
3. Set CONTENT_QUOTA property
4. Value in MB

Soft Deletion

Sakai supports soft deletion for site recovery.

Enable Soft Deletion

# Enable soft delete
site.soft.deletion=true

# Days to keep soft-deleted sites
site.soft.deletion.gracetime=30

Restore Deleted Sites

1. In Sites tool, enable “Show deleted”
2. Find soft-deleted site
3. Click Restore
4. Site restored with all content

Permanent Deletion

After grace period:

1. Sites automatically purged
2. Or manually purge via Sites tool

Site Search and Filtering

Search Criteria

• Site ID
• Title
• Type
• Published status
• Creation date
• Modified date
• Creator

Advanced Filters

Combine multiple criteria:

Type: course
Term: Fall 2026
Published: Yes
Created: Last 30 days

Realm Management

Realms control permissions and roles.

Realm Hierarchy

!site.template              (Base template)
  └─ !site.template.course  (Course template)
       └─ CSCI-101-F26      (Individual site)

Editing Site Realms

1. Access Realms Tool

   Administration Workspace → Realms

2. Find Site Realm

   Search for site ID (e.g., CSCI-101-F26)

3. Edit Permissions

   1. Select role
   2. Check/uncheck permissions
   3. Click Save

Bulk Realm Updates

Update permissions across multiple sites:

1. Modify template realm
2. Use realm update script
3. Changes propagate to child realms

Best Practices

Site Organization

• Use consistent naming conventions
• Include term/year in course site IDs
• Organize project sites by department
• Document site creation policies

Performance

• Limit number of tools per page
• Archive old sites regularly
• Delete unused sites
• Monitor site quotas

Maintenance

• Regular permission audits
• Clean up orphaned groups
• Review soft-deleted sites
• Update templates as needed

User Experience

• Consistent page layouts
• Clear page titles
• Logical tool organization
• Minimize navigation depth

Troubleshooting

Cannot Access Site

Check:

• Site is published
• User has site membership
• User has appropriate role
• No realm permission issues

Tool Not Visible

Check:

• Tool is on a page
• Page is not hidden
• Tool permissions for role
• Tool is enabled globally

Slow Site Performance

Investigate:

• Large number of files in Resources
• Heavy database queries
• Too many tools on single page
• Inadequate caching

Next Steps

User Management

Manage users and roles

Security

Configure site security

Configuration

Advanced configuration

Database Setup

Database administration