Having difficulties with the tech in an online course?

This FAQ is all about technical questions. If you have a registration question, go here. If you have a general question, go here.

When in doubt: Rebooting or opening a new browser window fixes most of the technical issues students run into.

Jump to a specific question: 

• Where do I find all the classes? 

• Learning to use Pathwright the Course Platform

• I’ve changed my email address. How do I update my email in Pathwright?

• I try to register, but the system doesn’t do anything after I click “register”. What should I do? 

• I am a student in your classes but the platform isn’t working. What should I do?

• Browser recommendations

• What are the computer system requirements for this class?

• Passwords

• Notification settings

• SUBMIT steps

• Photos

• Why are my photos in Pathwright sideways or upside down?

• Tips for taking clear photos

• Resizing a photograph in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements

• I don’t have fast enough internet to watch videos. Will you have this content available in DVD format?

You’ll find answers to most technical questions right here. If you don’t see your question answered below, please get in touch via email. In your email please include: what you’re trying to do, what isn’t working, if there are any error messages, what browser you’re using and any screenshots you have of the problem. Send your question to support@rebeccamezoff.com 

The link to get into all the classes is this one: https://rebeccamezoff.pathwright.com/library/

My online classes are hosted on a platform called Pathwright. If you need help learning how to use Pathwright in the course library here, there is a free course called Learner’s Guide which will help you get started.

You can easily update the email address attached to your Pathwright account. You’ll find your profile on the top right of all Pathwright pages, click on “go to profile settings” and change your email address there.

This usually happens when you try to register with a username that the system would not accept. If this happens to you, scroll back up and look for error messages. Then correct those errors and try registering again.

Here are some basic things you can try if you are having difficulties with accessing the online platform or making parts of the program work.

Pathwright works well on PC and Mac computer systems as well as mobile devices like iPads or even your mobile phone.

There are so many different computer systems out there that it is difficult to troubleshoot all of them, but here are some basic recommendations that work for most problems.

1. Open a new Pathwright window. The class platform works best if you open a new window every time you start a session. Refreshing the browser page can also work if things aren’t looking right.

2. Open a new browser window: The best browser for Pathwright is Google Chrome. Mozilla Firefox, Safari, or Microsoft Edge also work well. Updating older versions of these browsers is advised. Sometimes things don’t work because you have neglected to do browser updates. Chrome and Firefox are free downloads and may solve any technology problems you’re having. Most problems ARE browser issues, so please keep your browser up to date. (Internet Explorer is no longer supported. You must get a new browser if you’re still using IE.)

3. Reboot your device: Sometimes your computer just needs a little wake-up call. Restarting your device can often fix most problems. 

4. Check your internet speed: There are times when the internet gets slow for whatever reason and if your videos aren’t playing, you might want to check your bandwidth (google “internet speed test” and check that number against what you’re being charged for by your internet provider). If everyone in the house is streaming video on a different device, that might be your problem.

5. Give Videos Time to Load: Sometimes you have to give the video a little time to load, especially if your internet connection is borderline fast enough. This is called buffering (or the spinning wheel of death if it never stops). 

6. Adjust the video quality under settings: If you’re having trouble with the videos, you might find it helpful to adjust the video quality (don’t worry, this won’t ruin the learning experience). I host my videos on Vimeo and the video player has a little settings gear icon. Click that and you’ll have the option to change the quality. Vimeo is supposed to automatically decrease the quality when your internet speed is slower, but this doesn’t always work and if you choose a lower number from the pop-up, you may find the videos play without buffering. 

7. Try a different device: If your computer just isn’t working and you’ve tried the things above, perhaps try someone else’s computer or your iPad or phone. That will tell you if it is that particular machine or if it is something else.

8. Take a break: Sometimes when I am so frustrated by technology issues that I find myself swearing under my breath a little, walking away and enjoying a different activity can be preferable to throwing your laptop across the room. Perhaps push RESTART before you walk away. Your computer will have a new perspective when you come back.

The best browser for Pathwright is Google Chrome. Mozilla Firefox, Safari, or Microsoft Edge also work well. Updating older versions of these browsers is advised. Sometimes things don’t work because you have neglected to do browser updates. Chrome and Firefox are free downloads and may solve any technology problems you’re having. Most problems ARE browser issues, so please keep your browser up to date. (Internet Explorer is no longer supported. You must get a new browser if you’re still using IE.)

In some cases, you may need to clear your cache to allow your browser to forget the old information it learned. Especially if you’ve been away from the platform for a while, clearing your cache may be necessary. Google “Clearing cache in X browser” to see how to do that.

You must have an internet connection fast enough to stream video. Dial-up will not be fast enough. Cable, DSL, or broadband of some kind will all work. 

Browser recommendations are Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. Safari or MS Edge also work. 

It is always best to have the latest version of your browser installed and be running a recent operating system. If you're still running the platform that came on your desktop computer in the 90's, I highly recommend upgrading your computer equipment before trying to access this class. Any of the more recent Mac and PC operating systems work well.

This platform works on iPad and is also mobile responsive. If you pay for your internet by the gigabyte, this course isn't for you unless you are willing to pay for much more data. There are many hours of video to stream.

You can change your password from the log-in page. Just click the blue text that says “Forgot your password?” Pathwright will send a password reset email that is good for a few hours. So make sure to look for that and complete the process before it expires. If your password reset link does expire, just request another one.

I cannot tell you what your password is or was. If you mistyped it or wrote it down wrong, that isn’t recoverable, your best bet will be to reset your password with the instructions above.

Are you getting a lot of notifications from the Pathwright platform that you don’t want to get in your inbox? You can manage notifications from Pathwright  in several ways.

You can choose whether to get a daily or weekly email digest or turn off notifications completely. 

To manage notifications: login to your account, click on the bell icon. Then click the blue text that says “Turn on email digest.” From there you’ll see a couple notification options for you to choose from.

Additionally, you can manage notifications for each question. If you see a question posed by someone else that you want to get notifications for, click the blue “Subscribe” text under the question.

To stop getting notifications about a particular question, go back to the question (you’ll likely have a notification about it, just click the “View discussion” link in the email and it will take you to that question in Pathwright) and click the text that will now say “Unsubscribe.”

AND if that isn’t enough, you can turn on and off notifications for individual courses. Under the main menu (top left slide out panel), click Learn to see your list of classes. It’ll look something like this.

You can turn off all notifications for specific classes by changing those toggles.

You CAN leave me a comment on a submit step. This is incredibly helpful for me. Do tell me your thoughts about the weaving and what you might like me to comment on. Upload your file and look for the Leave A Comment text right above the “Complete Step” button. You must leave your comment before you complete the step.

Submit steps are private. Only I or other staff members can see them (which includes Sarah Swett in the Fringeless class and my assistant Holly).

Sharing photos of your weaving projects and seeing projects from other students can be immensely valuable. If you’re running into problems uploading photos, here are a couple common issues previous students have run into and how to solve them. 

If you took images with a cell phone, the platform often can’t tell which way is the top so they may load sideways. If you resave the image in a photo editing software, that will fix the problem. It isn’t really a problem if they load sideways though they are easier for your fellow students to see if they are the correct orientation. If you don’t have the skills to fix this problem, don’t worry about it but please do keep uploading photos!

If you’re uploading photos to the online classes and you want my feedback on them, I do need the photos to be in focus. It doesn’t matter if you take the photos with your phone or any other  camera, but the best way to make sure the photo isn’t blurry is to use plenty of light. Take the weaving outside in the shade or turn on extra lights before taking the photo. If you have shaky hands and you own a tripod, using that can solve the problem. But mostly just increasing the light will mean the shutter is open for less time which means the camera won’t catch the movement of your hand and create blur.

I wrote a blog post about how to do this and you can find it here: https://rebeccamezoff.com/blog/2020/3/24/resizing-images-for-juried-shows

No, I won’t be producing DVDs of the courses. The videos are also not downloadable though the other content is.