Things are seldom as simple as they appear and never as simple as promised. When OCFS told us that no software would be needed to access Connections via the Internet what they really meant was: A) If you already have Citrix software on that PC, and/or B) Not as much software needs to be installed as before.
With that said, if you can access Connections at https://connections.ocfs.ny.gov on the computer of your choosing you do not need to do anything at this point.
If you try and cannot, you are probably getting a dialogue box asking you what program should open a Citrix file, or advising you that the Citrix software is needed. These instructions are for you.
Go to our super secret tech test site: http://www.ndstaff.org/PDFgallery.htm . At the top of the page you will see that I have created a space called “New Connections Software”. In this space are links to the software, the OCFS instructions, and a copy of this e-mail.
This is what you are going to do: download the software and instructions to your computer, read the instructions, install the software, and configure the software by entering a web address. It really should not take you more than twenty minutes and you only have to do it once to achieve Connections bliss. (Caveat: re-read the first line of this document)
To download, place the cursor over the icon, click your RIGHT mouse button and select “Save Link As”. To start the installation once the software has downloaded to your computer, just click on it twice like you are opening up a document. At some point during the installation, (and it might be after your computer restarts) you will be asked to enter the web address of the server you are trying to reach. You should enter https://connections.ocfs.gov/Citrix/PNAExt/config.xml . I only entered https://connections.ocfs.ny.gov and it figured out the rest by itself. Note: you have to be connected to the Internet for the software to accept this address.
After a successful installation, a new icon for the Citrix Online Plugin will appear at the lower right hand corner of your screen. If you click on it, it will appear to allow you to access Connections from there. It doesn’t work, and you don’t want to use it anyway. Now you can use your web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc) to go directly to https://connections.ocfs.ny.gov .
Every once in a while, especially when you start up your PC and are waiting for your wireless connection to kick in, you will get a dialogue box saying that this software cannot connect to the server and asking you to re-enter the address. You can just click cancel. I will eventually figure out a way around this.
I am sorry that this information did not get out sooner, and that we have only been able to do a handful of installations so far. Part of the problem is the erroneous information we had been given by OCFS and the limited number of PC’s that we could experiment on that did not already have Connections software on them.
With that said, if you have problems with the installation please feel free to call me on my cell at 866-5063 during those times when a human might normally be expected to be awake. Also, once you have completed the installation could you share your experience (whether good or bad) with me? We need to expand our knowledgebase on this and your feedback will be a big help as we prepare to help the next person. Either call me with your comments or shoot me an e-mail at .
(Joe Gallagher 12/12/2009)