What is Webtools?
Webtools is a continually developing suite of online tools designed to help University of Illinois faculty and staff accomplish their marketing and communication responsibilities quickly and easily. Webtools is currently comprised of Blogs, Bulletins, Calendars, Directory, Email+, Forms, Group Manager, Massmail, Short URL, Skin Designer, Surveys, Transfer and Sponsored.
Terms of Service (TOS)
The TOS must be read and agreed to before access to Webtools is granted. The TOS acceptance prompt will be displayed the first time a user logs in to Webtools.
Storage
All data and files are stored at Amazon Web Services. All files are backed three times a day via Amazon's S3 storage. All database data is backed up continuously via Amazon's RDS processes. Database backups are kept for 10 business days.
Webtools cleanup and deletion
Blogs
- Unused blogs are deleted after three years of inactivity.
Calendars
- Calendar events are deleted five years after the event has occurred.
- Unused calendars are deleted after two years of inactivity.
Group Manager
- Email groups in the Group Manager are automatically deleted if they have not been used in 18 months.
Email
- Email sent data is deleted after 18 months. No reports can be run after this time.
- Emails sent to users will maintain their links as long as SocketLabs, the campus email vendor, agrees to provide them.
- Emails, newsletters and reports are deleted after three years.
- Unsent emails are deleted after 24 months.
Forms and Surveys
- Submissions are automatically deleted after they exceed the Data Retention setting for their form or survey.
Short URLs
- Short URLs are not deleted.
Servers
All servers reside at Amazon Web Services.
Access
All faculty, staff, and students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and UIS have access to Webtools using their Shibboleth login. Students only have access to manage in Webtools, not to create. Staff may grant students access to create if it is needed as part of their job responsibilities.
Sending emails
When sending emails in Webtools the FROM domain must be illinois.edu, uic.edu, uis.edu, or uillinois.edu.
Requesting a new Short URL
All requested Short URLs must follow the criteria below:
1 - The Short URL must start with "go."
2 - The Short URL ends with illinois.edu, uis.edu or uillinois.edu.
3 - The Short URL can not be larger than a fourth-level domain. Example: go.cs.illinois.edu
4 - The Short URL must be a C-Name record pointing to the appropriate A-Record.
Technical support
If you experience problems with Webtools please fill out the contact form.
Legitimate Webtools uses
The applications within Webtools may only be used for purposes related to the University of Illinois. Any usage unrelated to the university will result in the forfeiture of Webtools privileges for that user. Web Services retains the right to determine/identify inappropriate use of the tools. If you have any questions, please contact us.