Michigan State University - Research Groups

This website has two purposes: 

1. Showcase research groups in the College of Engineering and MSU Community.
2. Provide a tool for research groups to easily create and maintain their websites, without having to know HTML or use complex editing tools. 

Any research group from the College of Engineering or the MSU community.

You can sign up for a full site, or if you have an existing site, request a group listing.

Please contact us and provide the following information:

For a full research group website:

• The group name / title
• Short name or abbreviation / acroynm 3-6 letters (example: researchgroups.msu.edu/abcde)
• College of the group
• Primary contact name (for admin information)
• Primary contact email (for admin information)
• Contact Details (for public view on the group About page)
• Group logo or picture (if applicable, or we will use our default)
• Short description of the group (200 characters)
• Full description of the group
• Research keywords / tags
• Choice of theme / background (What are my theme options?)

For a research group listing only (example of a group listing):

• The group name
• College of the group
• Lab/Group director name
• Lab/Group director email
• Link to the group's website (if one already exists)
• Any other contact information
• Short description of the group (200 characters)
• Full description of the group
• Research keywords
• Group logo or picture (if applicable, or we will use our default)

DECS will need the following information:

• The group name
• Lab/Group director name
• Link to the group's website
• Short description of the group
• College and Department(s)
• Research keywords
• Group logo or picture (if applicable, or we will use our default)

Once you have the information ready, contact DECS to request a setup.

There are several options to choose from, (click on the images below for a larger version):

For Group Managers: Please have your new member follow the "How do I join a group?" instructions, and request membership. Once they have done this, you will receive an email with directions to approve the request.

Once they have signed in, you can also approve their request by clicking on the number in the "Members" column next to your group name. On the following page, you will see any pending requests, that you can accept or deny.

You can also click on "Add members" by putting member's username into the "List of users" field. Again, the new members must "sign-in" first before you can add them to your group using this tool.

Click on the following links below or using the menu items in the header:

1. Login - (use your Engineering username and password.)

2. Groups

3. Join Up!

4. Click on the "Request membership" link next to the research group you wish to join.

The group's manager will be notified via email of the request.

Yes, but there are a few limitations.  When posting content, we recommend only posting content to one group or the other, and not BOTH.  If content is posted to only one group, it inherits that groups header.  If the content is posted to two or more groups, it will not have a group header.

There is a default logo that can be used. Or, you can use a photo of your research group, or a graphic from a project to represent your group.

You can also contact DECS about putting together a logo for your group.

You can create the following types of content:

• Events
• File Upload
• Member Alumni
• Member Profile
• News & Blog
• Opportunity
• Outreach
• Photo
• Projects and Research
• Publication
• Video

For more information or to start creating content, go to the Create Content page.

Is this limited?
Yes and no. It is a long list of content choices, but it is limited in that, each content type has a small set of required fields, and a few additional non-required fields. If you feel that there is anything missing from the choices, or the fields within each type, please use the contact form and make a suggestion and we will see what we can to accommodate your request.

Tips for adding content:

• Menu
  The menu item associated with many of the content types above may be hidden until content for that section has been published.
• Outreach
  If you only have one outreach page posted, the menu will link directly to this page. If you have more than one outreach page listed, we will show these in a listed format.

1. Login

2. Click "Create Content" in the Group Administration right-side bar.

3. Choose the type of content you wish to create, such as News & Blog, Events, and Publications. Photos and Videos are for the groups Media section. Profile is for adding your group members information, and Member Alumni is to list past group members.

4. Fill in all of the required fields, (indicated with an asterisk *)

5. Click "Save" at the bottom of the page.

To edit any existing content, navigate back to that particular item, and click on the "edit" tab. Or click on the "All Group Content" link, and choose the item you wish to edit from the listing. You can also sort by content types with the "Type" pulldown menu, and click "Apply."

Notes about the toolbar:
If copying and pasting text from a word document or another website page, email, etc., into a body, biography, or abstract field, it is best to use the "Paste as Plain text" tool. This tool is in the top row of the toolbar, fifth from the left.

To insert an image (allowed extensions - png, gif, jpg, jpeg) or a linked document (pdf, doc, ppt, odt)  into your text field, click on the appropriate icon from the toolbar and then click on the following buttons/text:

1. Browse Server

2. Upload

3. Browse

4. Select the image you wish to use, or document, and click on Open

5. Upload (next to Browse)

6. Send to ckeditor

7. Add Alternative Text (for images) and click OK.
 

Anyone who has access to the Internet can see your group's content, UNLESS the "List in groups directory" checkbox is unchecked, and the "Private group" checkbox is checked. In this case, only the group and administrative members can see the posted content.

Example of a public group, listed on the groups directory:

Example of a private group, NOT listed on the group directory:

Please use the contact form and make this suggestion.  We will try to be accommodating wherever possible.  If there is a feature that is not working for others, we may reevaluate its function.