Help – it’s not working!

I have only been running Allisonmedia.net for a couple of months, and have already heard a range of fascinating and interesting excuses for why the site doesn't work. One or two problems (mostly to do with school computers) are addressed below, while a few others you can forget about ever trying again...

• Your site's blocked at school
• I can't open the worksheets at school
• I can't open the worksheets at home
• I can't find anything
• I tried to open a page and it wasn’t there
• I don't like the colours on your site

No it isn't. If you can't see the site, then either

• You've mistyped the address (very likely)
• There's an Internet connection problem on your computer (very possible)
• There's a temporary glitch with the site webserver (very unlikely)

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“I can’t open the worksheets at school...”

The worksheets are all produced as Adobe Acrobat files. If you click on the links, they should open in a browser window so that you can view and print them. On some of the school computers this doesn't work. In this case, you need to do the following:

1) Save the file to your My Documents area
Use the right-click menu (in Windows) and select "Save target as...". Save the PDF file into your folder.

2) Launch Adobe Acrobat
From the Start > Programs menu, find and open Adobe Acrobat Reader (It may just be called Adobe Reader).

3) Open the PDF file
Once the programme has opened, select File > Open and find the PDF file you just saved into My Documents.

The worksheets are all produced as Adobe Acrobat files. If you click on the links, they should open in a browser window so that you can view and print them. If they don't, the following suggestions may be helpful.

1) Do you have Adobe Acrobat reader installed? If you don't, click the link to install a copy onto your home computer. This is a worldwide standard piece of software, not some dodgy piece of virus-prone file-sharing nonsense, so parents have no reason to worry. Once you have installed the software, the files should open without any difficulty.

2) "I've got Acrobat reader, but the links still won't open."
Some older versions of Windows and Acrobat suffered compatability problems, causing computers to crash. Try using the right-click menu (in Windows) or the Mac equivalent to download the worksheets into your My Documents area. You can then open your My Documents folder and open the files from there. Acrobat files all end with the letters .PDF .

3) "I've done that - but when I double click on the file, nothing happens."
It's possible that your computer doesn't understand it needs to use Acrobat Reader to open the PDF file. Try this:

• Right-click on the PDF file and select Properties.
• Alongside where it says "Opens with: Unknown Application" click on the "Change" button.
• Follow the instructions to find the Acrobat Reader software on your computer.
• Once you have associated the PDF file extension with the Acrobat Reader software, you should be able to open the files without difficulty.

4) "No - it's still not working."
If you've reached this stage, then one of the following is almost certainly true:

• Your computer was built when I was still at school
• You're too lazy to work and should stop looking for excuses
• You're the unluckiest person in the world

If any of these is the case, I have just one solution: Come to your lessons and look after the handouts - then you won't need the website...

These are the most important pages on the site: they tell you what you've missed and outline homework assignments.

Confused Sixth formers should note:

• I see A1 students twice each week: Monday S2, Wednesday S4. I teach them Media Language and Film & Broadcast Fiction.
• I see A2 students three times each week: Monday S1, Wednesday S3 and Thursday S5. I teach them Key Concepts and Advertising & Marketing.

The other important item which appears on every page of the site is the Homework Diary - this lists homeworks due in the next two days to help you keep up to date. Each homework description links to the more detailed lesson outline so that you can access any of the materials you have mislaid.

The green section of the site covers the different Media-specific Modules I teach at GCSE and A level. This section isn't finished yet, but most of the basic material is all there.

The purple section of the site will cover the Key Concepts of media education. This section isn't ready yet, but will arrive soon.

I run this site in my spare time (hah!) and mistakes are inevitable. If something doesn't work, please contact me so that I can repair the problem.

Buy a pair of sunglasses and stop complaining.   ;-)