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Carleton College

Technical Support for the AAF Volunteer Portal

Below you will find help for common questions and technical issues for the AAF Volunteer Portal. If you don't find the help you need below, please report the problem to us and we will be happy to assist you.

Windows PC Users
Fix for Internet Explorer 9 Users
Fix for Internet Explorer 8 Users
Macintosh Users
Firefox Users
Login Problems
Pop-Up Blockers
Printing
Browser Bookmarks/Favorites

Windows PC Users

For best results, use Internet Explorer 8 (preferred) or Mozilla Firefox (acceptable) to navigate the AAF Volunteer Portal. If you choose to use Firefox, please see Special Notes for Firefox Users below.

Fix for Internet Explorer 9 Users

Volunteers using IE9 have reported issues with running reports in the Portal. In Windows 7, please follow these instructions to uninstall IE9, and return to your previous version of Internet Explorer.

  1. Click Start
  2. In the search box, type: view installed updates, and hit enter
  3. Search for: internet explorer
  4. Right click it
  5. Click Uninstall
  6. Restart your system, Internet Explorer 8 will automatically be restored.

Fix for Internet Explorer 8 Users

Volunteers using IE8 have reported issues with viewing reports in the Portal. Please follow these instructions if you have recently installed IE8 and are experiencing these issues.

  1. Open Internet Explorer.
  2. Click on Tools in the toolbar and select Internet Options. 
  3. Click on the Security tab in the Internet Options window and select Local Intranet.
  4. Click on Sites. A Local Intranet box will open.
  5. Click on the Advanced Button and add https://cognos.carleton.edu in the Add section.
  6. Click Close once the address has appeared in the Website box.
  7. Click OK in the Local Intranet box.
  8. Click OK to close Internet Options.

Macintosh Users

Use an up-to-date version of Mozilla Firefox for best results and see Special Notes for Firefox Users below. Safari and Internet Explorer for the Macintosh do not work well with the Portal software.

Special Notes for Firefox Users

The AAF Portal software has a known problem in Mozilla Firefox: it does not display scroll bars when a report is too large for the browser window. If using Firefox, these tips will help you view your full reports:

  • Use the up/down and left/right arrows on your keyboard to view portions of any report not visible in the window. These will work in place of the scroll bars.
  • See the Printing section below for tips on viewing/printing reports in PDF format. When viewed as PDFs, portal screens will have scroll bars.

We recognize that the absence of scroll bars is an inconvenience to our volunteers who use Macintosh. We are working with the software vendor in hopes of remedying this problem.

Login Problems

On the AAF Volunteer Portal login page, you will need to log in with your Carleton username and password. If you experience difficulty logging in:

  • Make sure your Caps Lock key is off. Passwords are case-sensitive.
  • Confirm that you have the right username and password. Our automated password recovery system allows alumni with email addresses on record with the College to easily obtain their log in information.

If you're still experiencing problems, contact us for assistance.

Pop-Up Blockers

Some features of the Volunteer Portal pop up in a new window. Therefore you may experience problems using/viewing all the features if your web browser preferences are set to block pop-up windows. We suggest that you disable pop-up blocking during your session. Here's how:

  • Firefox: Go to the Tools menu, choose Options, then un-check the box that says "Block Popup Windows"
  • Internet Explorer: Go to the Tools menu, choose Internet Options, and click the Privacy tab. Un-check the box that says "Block Pop-Ups".

Printing

For best results in printing reports, click the View printable format button to convert the report to PDF before printing. You'll find this button in the upper left corner of each report.

The PDFs will print better on most systems than trying to print from the browser screen. You will need a current version of Adobe Acrobat Reader (free download here) to view PDFs.

Browser Bookmarks/Favorites

We do not recommend saving AAF Volunteer Portal screens as bookmarks or favorites in your web browser. Because the Portal is an online software application, not a regular web site, bookmarking these direct links to specific screens will not work correctly when you use them to return. Instead, you can: