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MyLaw Help

This guide is designed to provide help using MyLaw to the UCLA School of Law community. If you need additional assistance, please email: mylaw@law.ucla.edu.
URL: https://libguides.law.ucla.edu/mylawhelp

Events & Event Planning

You can find additional assistance for planning your events on the MyLaw Events & Event Planning Site.

Approval Process and Guidelines

  1. Announcements and Events posted from Student Org. and Journal sites must be reviewed before they are visible in MyLaw. The review process may take up to two working days, so please plan accordingly.
  2. Announcements may only be displayed for 7 days.*
  3. Events may only be displayed up to 2 weeks in advance of the event.*
  4. If you need to have any exception to this process or these guidelines, please email studentaffairs@law.ucla.edu with a brief justification.

*Note: Announcements and Events may be entered into MyLaw at any time, the restriction is only based on the display dates.

Creating New Content for your Student Organization Site

The easiest way to create new content on your Department or Student Organization MyLaw site is to Use the "Create" link in the upper right corner of the top banner.
.

Once you click "Create" you must select the type of content you wish to create on your site (Announcement, Event, Deadline, Content Page or Document).  Note: Student Organizations should never select "Deadline"  If you belong to more than one department or student organization, you must also select the appropriate site for which you are creating new content.

Once you select the type of content and the specific site, click Next.  This will take you to the form that must be filled out to create the new content.  (Please see the separate boxes for detailed instructions about creating an announcement, creating an event, creating a content page or link, and uploading documents to your site.

Creating Announcements

(Note the items marked with a red asterisk are required fields)

If you are creating an announcement using the "Create" link, skip to Step 2.

Make sure you are on your "Portal Content Management/Targeting Site" (See "Getting to Department Site Management" to the left)

  1. Locate your Department Announcements web part and in the lower left corner click on "Add new item."

    (Please note that this displays only active announcements.)
  1. Add a Title to your Announcement (required).
  1. Leave announcement type as General.
  1. RECOMMENDED: Add a one sentence summary (255 characters max) of the announcement.  Users can see the summary on their home page and in the UCLA Law Insider email before opening the full announcement.
  1. More detailed information can be added into the Body.

    NOTE: Copying content directly from Word will cause formatting problems. Be sure to paste your content into a text editor like Notepad or TextEdit first, then copy that text and paste into your content area.

You can use the controls in the content editor at the top of the form to make formatting changes to your content, such as adding italics, bulleted lists, links (see linking instructions) or tables. Please do not apply "your own font." If you would like a training session on more advanced features of content editing, please email mylaw@law.ucla.edu
  1. Add images or documents, if desired.

To add an image to your announcement posting, see the box to the left about uploading images in MyLaw.

To link to a document from your announcement posting (such as a form or flier), see the linking to documents box below.  
  1. Adjust the Start Displaying and Stop Displaying dates (both are required). The default is to start displaying today and stop displaying a week from now. 
  1. Requires Read Receipt?

    Student Organizations should NOT use this feature.
  1. Select the "Targeted Audience(s)" for your announcement. Please be sure to think carefully about your targeting and ONLY target to appropriate audiences.

    NOTE: If you do not select an audience, then no one will be able to see your announcement.
  1. Request item to be made public? 

    NOTE    : This feature is not used with announcements.
     
  1. Request item to be featured? Checking this box will make a request for this item to be considered for a featured item in the UCLA Law Insider email.
  
  1. Topics (Required):
    Only the topic !MyLaw Only should be used with announcements.

    To add your topic, simply click on !MyLaw Only in the left box and then click "Add >"
 
  1. Click "Save"
  

Creating Events

(Note the items marked with a red asterisk are required fields)

If you are creating an Event using the "Create" link, skip to step 2.

Make sure you are on your "Portal Content Management/Targeting Site" (See "Getting to Department Site Management" to the left)

  1. Locate your Department Events web part and in the lower left corner, click on "Add new item."

    (Please note that this displays only active events.)
  
  1. Add a Title to your Event (required).
  1. Add the Event Location.
  
  1. RECOMMENDED: Add a one sentence summary (255 characters max) of the event.  Users can see the summary on their home page and in the UCLA Law Insider email before opening the full announcement.
  1. More detailed information can be added into the Body.

    NOTE: Copying content directly from Word will cause formatting problems. Be sure to paste your content into a text editor like Notepad or TextEdit first, then copy that text and paste into your content area.

body content

You can use the controls in the content editor above to make formatting changes to your content, such as adding italics, bulleted lists, links (see linking instructions) or tables. Please do not apply "your own font." If you would like a training session on more advanced features of content editing, please email mylaw@law.ucla.edu
  1. Add images or documents, if desired.

To add an image to your announcement posting, see the box to the left about uploading images in MyLaw.

To link to a document from your event posting (such as a form or flier), see the linking to documents box below.  
  1. Add the Start Displaying Date for your event (required).

    This is the date your event will start displaying on the MyLaw home page, your department site home page and the UCLA Law Insider email. NOTE: Your event will display in the MyLaw Calendar immediately, once it is approved and not based on this date.

Please do not set this date more than two weeks before your event.
TIP: You may wish to send out a "Save the Date" announcement (see instructions above) which you can set to display for a few days.
  1. Add the Start Time and End Time for your event.

 

 
  1. Check "Requires RSVP?" if you  would like your targeted audience members to RSVP to your event,

    When you use this feature, MyLaw provides you with a list of attendees and a list of those who have either said they are not attending or who have not yet responded. See the "RSVP Reports" section in the Department Site Management Tab in this guide for more details.

Do not use this feature if you are using an external RSVP program, like Google.
  1. Select the "Targeted Audience(s)" for your event announcement. Please be sure to think carefully about your targeting and ONLY target to appropriate audiences.

    NOTE: If you do not select an audience, then no one will be able to see your event.
  1. Request item to be made public? When selected, this item will display in the calendar on the Law School's public website.

    NOTE: You must also select at least one "Web" Topic in the topics section below or your event will not be exported to the public website.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If your Event contains images or links to documents located in MyLaw, these will not appear or be accessible from the public site. Please contact mylaw@law.ucla.edu for assistance with documents and images intended for the public website.
  1. Request item to be featured? Checking this box will make a request for this item to be considered for a featured item in the UCLA Law Insider email.
  
  1. Topics (Required):
    If your event is intended for Internal audiences (Law School Only), select only the topic: !MyLaw Only

    If your event is intended for public audiences and you want it to appear on the public website, see the next box below.

    To add your topics, simply click on the desired topic(s) in the left box and then click "Add >"

    To remove a mistakenly added topic, click on the topic on the right side and then click "<Remove."

 
  1. Public Web Topics - There are a number of topics that start with "Web - "  If you are adding your event to the public calendar, you must choose one of these Public Web Topics.  

    You may choose Web - Student Organization or Web - Area of Focus (select the appropriate area of focus for your event topic). 

    NOTE: Never choose the public web topic that is labeled for a center or program at the Law School. These may only be used by affiliated Center or Program Staff.


Note that you will see specific "Web-" topic recommendations for your department, center, etc. directly below the topics list.
  1.  Click "Save"
  

Creating Content Pages or Links to External Web Pages

(Note the items marked with a red asterisk are required fields)

If you are creating a Content page or link using the "Create" link, skip to step 2.

Make sure you are on your "Portal Content Management/Targeting Site" (See "Getting to Department Site Management" to the left)

  1. Locate your Department Content Pages and Links web part and in the lower left corner, click on "Add new item."
  1. Add a Title to your page or link
  1. If you are creating a link to an external web page, enter it here, including http://

    (Skip to step 6)
  1. If NOT linking to an external web page, add text and / or images to Page Content.
     

    NOTE: Copying content directly from Word will cause formatting problems. Be sure to paste your content into a text editor like Notepad or TextEdit first, then copy that text and paste into your content area.

You can use the controls in the content editor above to make formatting changes to your content, such as adding italics, bulleted lists, links (see linking instructions) or tables. Please do not apply "your own font." If you would like a training session on more advanced features of content editing, please email mylaw@law.ucla.edu
  1. Add images or documents, if desired.

See separate box about uploading images in MyLaw.

To link to a document from your page, see the linking to documents box below.  
  1. Review the Show on Date - the default is Today, but you can specify a future date
  
  1. If desired, set an expiration date (Expires) for your content or linked page which will remove it from your Department home page on a given date

 
  1. Choose a Content Category, or enter one not on the list. Content Categories organize your pages by grouping them together for easy access.  You MUST keep the names of Content Categories consistent (including matching case) for them to be most useful and be wary of typos.

 

This chart illustrates how the Content Category displays on the "Public" view of your site:

Listing of Content Pages in Portal
noting Content Categories:

Categories of content pages in
Public Display's Left Navigation
  1. Select your targeted audience(s) for the page
  • If targeting content to faculty and/or students, be sure to also target it to staff since they may also need to view this information.
 Targeting
  1. Choose the Sort Order - if you have multiple pages in the same Content Category, choose the order in which the page is displayed in the left navigation. The default is alphabetical, but if you need to change this, you need to update the sort order for each content page within the content category.
  
  1. Select Hidden if you do not want your audience(s) to see the page in the left navigation (however, you can link to this page from another content page).
  
  1. Click "Save"
  

Uploading Documents to a Department or Student Organization Site

Before uploading a document to MyLaw, please consider some best practices in naming your documents:

  • File names should not contain any special characters (specifically they cannot contain \ / : * ? " < > | # { } % ~ &)
  • File names should be chosen carefully since documents display in alphabetical order based on file name.
  • By default, MyLaw overwrites existing files with the same names when uploading, so be careful to name your files accordingly. (Note: this can be a useful default when regularly updating the same document). 

(Note the items marked with a red asterisk are required fields)

If you are uploading a new document using the "Create" link, skip to Step 2.

Make sure you are on your "Portal Content Management/Targeting Site" (See "Getting to Department Site Management" to the left)

  1. Locate your Department Documents web part and in the lower left corner click on "Add new item."
  1. Browse your directories and select the document you wish to upload.
  
  1. Add a Title to your Announcement (required). (Note: The Name field is already filled in as your file name)
  1. Display on Date defaults to today's date, but can be changed to any date in the future. (required)
  1. Doc Expires can be filled in to remove the document from view on your MyLaw site after this date.
  1. A Document Category and be applied to better organize the documents on your site.  You can select from the two categories in the system (Documents or Forms) or you can specify any category you wish.  All documents will be grouped together by category in both the Portal view and the Admin view of your site.
  1. Select the "Targeted Audience(s)" for your document. 

    NOTE: this is not a required field, if you do not select an audience, then this document will not be visible on the right side of the portal view of your site. You can still link to this document from a content page, announcement or event. See the box on Linking to Documents in MyLaw for more information
  1. Click "Save"
  

Linking to Documents in Your Document Library

Text within the body of an Announcement, Event or Content Page may be linked to any document on your MyLaw site (both visible/targeted documents and hidden documents).

Linking to Documents

In the body of your Announcement/Event/Content Page, highlight the appropriate text and click on the Link icon from the ribbon

This will open a window that allows you to link to content on your site (please be patient, it may take sometime for this window to open the first time in your editing session). Note: if you are not seeing the your "Dept CMS Site" please email mylaw@law.ucla.edu for assistance.

  1. Double click on "Department Documents"
  2. Select the document you want to link to (or upload a new document--see below). 
  3. Once you have selected the document or page, the URL for that document will display in the location field.
  4. Click OK.

 

Uploading a Document

To Upload a new document, double click on "Department Documents" and select the Upload link in the upper left corner.

  1. Browse your directories and select the document you wish to upload
  2. Fill out the MyLaw Department Documents Form (if you need help with this, see the Uploading Documents box)
  3. Click Save. (The document will now show in the list and can be selected).

 

 

 

 

Linking to External Web Pages from your Content

  1. In the body of your Announcement/Event/Content Page, highlight the appropriate text and click on the Link icon from the ribbon

     
  2. This will open a very large window (please be patient, it may take sometime for this window to open the first time in your editing session).

     
  3. In this window, the only thing you need is the "Location (URL)" field.  It may already be filled in as shown above. Delete this information and paste your external link or content page link into this field:


     
  4. Click OK

Quick Checklist for Event Approval

This is a quick checklist of items that are commonly confusing and/or reasons that Events are rejected. 

  • Start Display Date - this should be no more than 2 weeks in advance of the Event.
  • Start/End Time - this should be the actual date/time of the event, excluding set up and clean up time.
  • Targeted Audience - think carefully about who is being invited to the event.  If you are recruiting for your group or if this is a networking event, it should only be targeted to students.
  • Request Item be Made Public - this should only be checked if members of the public are invited to your event.  If you check this box, then you must also select a Web Topic.
  • Web Topics - web topics should only be selected if the item has be requested to be made public. Student Organizations should only select Web Topics that are of a specific area of focus and/or the Web Topic for Student Organizations. 
  • Announcement v. Event - Generally you do not want to put in an announcement about an event.  The event entry functions as the announcement in MyLaw. However, if you wish to publicize the event more than two weeks in advance, you can put in a "Save the Date" announcement, which can run for up to a week.

Getting to your Department Site Management

If you are a member of a Center, Department, Student Publication or Organization, from your MyLaw home page you will find your "Department" administration link(s) under the appropriate descriptive header at the top of the left navigation (your headers will differ from the screenshot below, depending on your department membership).*

After clicking on a header, it expands to show links to any "departments" you belong to.  Click on the link for the appropriate department.

This link brings you to your Internal Team Collaboration Site for your department.

From the left navigation, click on "Portal Content Management/Targeting Site". 

This will take you to the admin view where you can add or edit announcements, events content pages, and documents for the Law School community.

*Note: The top (global) navigation brings you to the "public" view of your site, not the Admin view.

Internal Team Collaboration Site

In MyLaw, your student publication or organization also has an internal team site that can be used for your group's internal communications, shared documents, links and contacts.  It is only accessible and visible to members of your group, NOT to the entire Law School community. 

This site is where you should upload any organization documents that you would like to pass on to future leadership in your organization.  To access your team site, from your MyLaw home page you will find your "Department" administration link(s) under the appropriate descriptive header at the top of the left navigation (your headers will differ from the screenshot below, depending on your department membership).*

After clicking on a header, it expands to show links to any "deparments" you belong to.  Click on the link for the appropriate department.

This link brings you to your Internal Team Collaboration Site for your department.

*Note: The top (global) navigation brings you to the "public" view of your site, not the Admin view.

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