Intercom

1. I'm a faculty or staff member. How do I submit a story to Intercom?

To get into Intercom, just go to the website (https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom), log in with your Netpass username and password and click on "Contribute and Manage Stories." Choose the appropriate topic from the dropdown menu, such as "News and Notices" or "Learning Opportunities," or whatever fits your item.

On the next page, fill in the fields labeled "Title" (i.e. headline), "Intro Text," and "Body Text." The intro text is the first paragraph or so of your story, and should not be repeated in the body text field. You can type directly into the fields, or paste text from another document. Use the paste as plain text button for best results.

The "Publish Date" is the date and time your story will be published online. If you do nothing, the story will publish immediately by default. If you would prefer that your story be published at a later date and/or time, use this field to set those.

The "Archive Date" is the date and time when your story will move from the specified category into the Intercom archive. By default, this date is six months from when a story is submitted. Archived stories remain online and are still searchable at the Intercom website.

When you're done putting in the content, click "Preview before publishing." On the Preview screen, make sure your story displays as intended. You can edit at this point, if necessary, and preview again. When you're ready to publish your story, click "Publish." If you'd like to save your story as a draft and not publish it right away, click "Save story as a draft." You can find and edit your story later by clicking on the "My Stories" tab, then on "Drafts." If you have changed the date and time so the story won’t post immediately, you still need to click the “Publish” button.

Stories submitted in most topics will publish immediately; those in the HR News and Technology categories require approval by a moderator before they go live, which may take one to two business days.

We strongly recommend that you write and save your story on your own computer before submitting it to Intercom, so that you do not lose your story if something goes wrong.

2. I'm a student. How do I submit a story to Intercom?

Student posting is restricted to the "Student Organizations" topic. To post to the "Student Organizations" topic, the student must be an officer of a registered student organization. The Office of Student Engagement and Multicultural Affairs maintains this list. Intercom uses it to allow student postings to the "Student Organizations" topic. Students can begin the recognition process by visiting the Student Organization Recognition Process page or viewing the Ithaca College OrgSync page.

A student who is not an officer of a registered student organization may ask a faculty or staff member to submit a notice on his or her behalf. To post to an approved topic, follow the instructions in question #1.

3. How do I put web links in my story?

Web URLs and email addresses may be hyperlinked using the handy edit tools, which are similar to what you might see in Microsoft Word. To insert a link, click on the "Insert/Edit Link" icon. In the pop-up box under "Link Type," choose "URL" to paste in a web address, or "Email" for an email address.

4. How do I publish a story I've written?

At the bottom of your story, choose “Preview before publishing” and then “Publish." It will be forwarded to the moderator if necessary, or it will go live immediately if no moderator approval is needed.

5. Why can't I just email you my story and ask you to submit it for me?

The Intercom moderator cannot submit your story for you because the software that runs Intercom would show the name of the moderator as the story contributor instead of you.

6. Can I submit a story and have it show someone else's name as the author?

Sorry, no. You can, however, include a line at the top of your message such as "Posted on behalf of Jane Smith," or something similar.

7. What is the maximum image size allowed?

Images must be below 15 MB in size, and preferably much smaller. If you try to attach an image larger than 15 MB to your story, the system will reject the photo and the story text -- meaning you will lose all photos and text and have to start over again. If you aren’t sure, publish the story without the photo and then go back and add it later.

8. I need help editing my story. Can you do that for me?

Intercom is a community-based system, meaning that submitters are the ones ultimately responsible for the accuracy of the information they post. Intercom moderators ensure that the content of Intercom stories adheres to college policies, but they do not copyedit or fact-check your submissions.

All Ithaca College publications and websites, including Intercom, follow the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition. You can find guidance on the college's editorial standards at the Office of Marketing Communications website.

Office of Marketing Communications: Editorial Standards

9. How can I see a list of stories I've previously submitted to Intercom?

At the top left of the Intercom home page, under "User Functions," click on "Contribute and Manage Stories." Then, at the top center, click on "My Stories." You have the option of viewing a list of either live stories currently on the Intercom site or a list of your story drafts that have not yet been published. The page defaults to drafts.

10. Will I receive confirmation that my story has been published?

Intercom does not send out email confirmations; however, to see whether your story is currently online, click on "Contribute and Manage Stories," then on "My Stories." The "Live Stories" list displays all stories that you've submitted in the past. If you need to make changes to a story, just click on "Edit" next to the story's title. Your story will also be displayed on the Intercom home page.

If you don't see your story in "Live Stories," check the "Drafts" list -- you may have saved your story as a draft rather than publishing your story.

11. When is the deadline for each Intercom Roundup?

The email Roundup automatically includes all stories posted since the last Roundup. It goes out Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning around 1:00 a.m. If you would like your story to be part of a specific Roundup you must submit it before midnight on that day.

12. How do I request that my story start or end on a specific date?

Use the "Publish" and "Archive" fields (see question #1) to control when your story posts and is archived. By default, all stories are archived six months after publication. If you're submitting a story to a moderated topic -- HR News or Technology -- simply put a note at the bottom of your story body: "Please start this story on XX/XX/XX" or "Please end this story on XX/XX/XX." Keep in mind you need to choose your dates carefully in order to make the automated Roundup (see question #11).

13. How can I make my story an "Intercom Top Story"?

Users may request that their story be featured by contacting the Intercom moderators at intercom@ithaca.edu. Intercom Top Stories appear in the myHome portal at the top of the home page, as well as at the top of the Intercom website. Please note that moderators can receive many requests, and may not be able to accommodate them all.

myHome at Ithaca

14. How do I submit an Intercom alert?

First submit the alert story as you would a normal Intercom story.

You'll need approval from your vice president, the president, or the provost before the alert can be sent.

This approval must be sent to the Intercom moderator (intercom@ithaca.edu) before the story can be sent as an alert. The approval message should include information about the story so that we can identify it among other submissions (for example, the title, who submitted it, what it's about). It should specify whether the alert is to be sent to students only; to faculty and staff only; or to students, faculty, and staff.

After we receive the notice of approval, the story will be sent via email as an alert to the Ithaca College community. It will include the name of the person authorizing the alert as well as the person who submitted the story.

15. How do I repeat a story so that it appears in the roundup again?

Click on "My Stories" to see a list of your live stories. Click "edit" next to the title of the story you'd like to repeat. Under "Publish Date," set the date and time to the current time or to a date in the future that you'd like to run the story.

Due to the volume of stories that appear in each Roundup, we ask that you run your story a maximum of two times. Instances of stories repeated more than once, or repeated in multiple topics, are subject to deletion or archiving by the moderator.

Intercom Etiquette and General Netiquette

16. What types of stories are not appropriate for Intercom?

Solicitation and advertising of for-profit activities are not appropriate for Intercom. Please do not post stories about items you have for sale or real estate for rent. These stories will be deleted. Craigslist is a more appropriate forum for these kinds of posts. Additionally, any stories that use vulgar language, are nonsensical, or are attacking in any way, will be removed.

17. Why shouldn't I use the CAPS LOCK?

In electronic communication words in all-caps are universally considered YELLING! Please read this staff member's elegant post on the subject:

"A Plea to Stop Abusing the CAPS LOCK"

18. How do I change the location or time of my event in an Intercom posting?

Please submit a new story as a courtesy to notify readers of the change. Use a headline that includes words such as "Location Change." In many cases scores of people will have already viewed the original notice. In addition, change the event location or time in the original notice to avoid any confusion (see see question #9 for editing information).

Reading Stories

19. The Intercom roundup I receive displays in plain text. How can I view the fully formatted version?

If you're using IC Webmail, go into "Options," then "Settings." In the "Display" section, make sure the "HTML Messages" option is set to "Show external content immediately."

If you're using another email client such as Outlook, Thunderbird, or Eudora, look under the Help menu for a topic about viewing HTML-formatted messages. The procedure will differ slightly among different email clients.

20. How can I avoid having to log in to Intercom every time?

If your computer is in a secure location, you can simply log in to Intercom once per month.

Try this:

Go to https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom.
Log in with your Netpass username and password.
Under "User Functions," click on "Log-in settings."
For "Remember me for," choose "1 month," and save the setting.

If you share your computer with others, however, this is not ideal and you should log in and out each time.

Alternatively, you can read Intercom by logging into myHome and then clicking on any story in the Intercom portlet or the link "Visit Intercom" in that portlet. The myHome log-in automatically logs you into Intercom as well.

myHome at Ithaca

21. Do I need to log in?

Anyone with an Internet connection can view the Intercom site, so you don't need to log in to browse most of the stories. Log-in is required, however, for some topics and for the more interactive functions -- contributing stories, adding comments to stories, and customizing the presentation of some aspects of Intercom.

22. Can I subscribe to RSS feeds for the various Intercom topics?

Yes. To learn more, visit our RSS page:

Intercom: RSS Feeds

Subscribing/Unsubscribing

23. I'm a student, faculty, or staff member. How do I unsubscribe from the Intercom roundup?

All faculty, staff, and students at Ithaca College are required to receive the Intercom Roundup, as it is a primary channel for timely and official communications of the college.

For this reason, they cannot unsubscribe. If you are graduating or otherwise leaving the college, you will be automatically removed from the list when your email account expires, which can sometimes take several months.

24. I'm an alumnus, retiree, or member of the local community interested in Ithaca College news. How do I subscribe or unsubscribe to the Intercom Roundup?

To subscribe, send an email to majordomo@lists.ithaca.edu with the following message in the body:
subscribe intercom-Roundup [your email address]
To unsubscribe send an email to majordomo@lists.ithaca.edu with the following message in the body:
unsubscribe intercom-Roundup [ your email address]
You can also subscribe or unsubscribe at the following pages:

2. Troubleshooting

1. I can't log in!

Make sure you are using your Netpass username (just the first part before the @), and not your whole email address. If you have forgotten your password, you shouldn't be able to get into myHome either. If you need to, you can reset your password by visiting the Email Account Utility website.

Email Account Utility

2. I logged in earlier, but it's asking me to log in again.

Intercom will automatically log you out after a while if you have not changed your log-in setting. If you are the only user of your computer, you can go to the menu called "User Functions," select "Log-in settings," and tell Intercom to remember you for longer.

3. I contributed a story, but I don't see it!

A story may take up to two business days to be published if submitted to a moderated topic (Tehnology or HR News). All other stories should be visible under "My Stories" immediately (see question #9). If a story you have submitted has not appeared after that, please email us at intercom@ithaca.edu.

Last Updated 04/20/20