Why HomeworkMatters? is a valid question. Here are a few points to consider in question/answer format:

• Q: Features?
  • A: HomeworkMatters service keeps things simple and sensical. So here's the deal:
    
    
    • No ads! Advertising has its place, but why bombard kids and teachers with yet another load of commercial messages. Using HomeworkMatters puts the focus on the message from the teacher to the student or parent - it's as simple as that.
      
      
    • Flexible online editor - web page programming knowledge is not necessary. All you need is a browser to manage your HomeworkMatters account. The online editor appears in your browser but is much like using a word processor.
      
      
    • Copy and paste from Word* to the online editor - No need to do a bunch of re-typing if you already record your homework assignments / lesson plans in Word - just copy and paste. As with most conversions of this kind, not all formatting is guaranteed to convert perfectly, but basic formatting can be expected to come across.
      * NOTE: The copy and paste conversion results vary somewhat from browser to browser. Also, pictures and other graphics will not be included in the conversion.
      
      
    • Attach files (upload) to any entry (page) on you site - If you need to retain the graphics in a Word document, or have other reason for providing various types of files for students to download, you can add them by just using you browser. It's quick and easy.
      
      
    • Non-English language characters are supported. Therefore, for example, Spanish and French teachers can copy and paste from Word and retain their ñ and ç type of characters.
      
      
    • Export your data at any time, as often as you wish. The export file is a text-only, CSV (comma separated values) version of you data that you can open in Excel.
      
      
    • Archive your data when students don't need to see old assignments (start of new semester or end of year). Archiving rather than deleting, allows you to keep a history/chronology of homework and/or class agenda for your own reference while not cluttering up what the current group of students will view on the site. At any time, you can "Unarchive" any archived entries so it is once again visible to students.
      
      
    • Link List. In addition to creating a full-fledged content entry, you can create a "Link" entry which helps you build a list of web links for you students.
      
      
    • Per-Entry Public / Non-public Status - When you create an entry, it is "Public" by default, which means it appears on the Student View of you site. However, you can choose to make an entry non-public so that it shows up on your login view, but not on the student view. This allows you to prepare information ahead of time and then later just "flick the switch" to Public when you're ready to publish it to students. You can also write class notes for your reference which you may never make public - it's entirely up to you.
      
      
    • Per-Entry Passwords. You have the option to set a password per HomeworkMatters content entry. If there is information you want available to only one person, or a specific group of people, you can password protect an individual entry.
      
      
    • Global Password. If you wish use it, you have the option to set a password so that visitors have to enter a global password to gain any access at all to your site. Note: Per-Entry passwords remain in effect whether or not a global password is used.
      
      
    • "Forum" on Members Site. A forum for members of HomeworkMatters enables you to post feedback about your experience with the HomeworkMatters system. Questions and answers among the community of users can provide help tips and ideas, and influence the direction and future of the system.
      
      
    • "Help Desk" on Members Site. You can create a help desk request if you encounter a problem and you will receive a swift response to deal with whatever issue may have arisen. The forum is "public" (to other members) and the Help Desk is "private" - both facilities are available for you to use as you feel is most helpful.
      
      
    • 99.9% webserver uptime. The physical hardware (Compaq ProLiant ML370 G3 Xeon 3.06GHz/512KB Cache, 2GB DDR RAM, 146GB UltraSCSI Hard Drive) that HomeworkMatters runs on are located at a world-class data center (near Boston, MA) - secure and highly reliable, operating 24/7.

 

• Q: Why wouldn't I just use my school website which allows me to build and upload web pages?
  • A: You certainly can construct individual html files and upload them if your school permits (or perhaps it doesn't but you use some personal webspace from your home Internet Service Provider). If this works efficiently for you, that's great - don't stop.
    
    HomeworkMatters (HM) service may accomplish the goal of communicating class homework and agenda information more quickly and easily, try the demo just to prove yourself right.
    
    The structure of HM helps you manage homework for all of your classes in a simple, logical manner: You decide the next assignment, you go online (from school or home or internet café on Maui) you add a new content entry and click save. Your students and their parents instantly have the most recent homework assignment at the top of the list under the given category.
    
    
• Q: How many homework entries can I accumulate?
  • A: As many has you need. As the list on your site gets quite lengthy, there's no need to delete anything. Use the Archive tool to pack the older stuff away. They remain accessible when you're logged in yet they are completely out of sight from the Student view. You can always "Unarchive" a set of entries at any time.
    
    The idea here is the historic record of your class assignments (and any other class information you decide to post) are always at your fingertips.
    
    
• Q: I have a lot of my class information in Word (.doc) files. Do I have to retype everything to use it with HomeworkMatters?
  • A: If you're using Internet Explorer on a PC computer, you can copy and paste from Word to the HomeworkMatters editor and most formatting is preserved (the conversion isn't perfect, but you can expect most basic formatting to be retained).
    
    Otherwise, you can attach (upload) your Word documents to any entry (page) on your site. Other types of files are able to be uploaded as well. You can retrieve your site files by downloading each of them individually or files bundled together in automatically-generated zip files.
    
    
• Q: I'm I restricted to only making "Categories" equivalent to my "classes" (e.g. "Algebra II", "History", "Spanish I")?
  • No. You can use a category to represent any thing you wish. In fact, the HomeworkMatters "Home" site is built using a standard HomeworkMatters account. You can create and structure information in the way that works best for you.
    
    The HomeworkMatters "Home" site uses categories: "(Intro)", "Contact", "Demo", "FAQ", "About Us" and "Pricing".
    
    You don't even have to setup categories ahead of time. When you create a new content entry, you can type in a new category for the entry, or pick from a drop-down box a category you're already using on your site.