Adobe Spark is Now Creative Cloud Express

• December 14th, 2021
• in Software News

Adobe Creative Cloud Express is a new mobile app and web platform that has replaced Adobe Spark. Creative Cloud Express is a template-driven platform that makes it easier than ever before to create professional and captivating designs.

Creative Cloud Express combines the powers of Adobe Creative Cloud and Adobe PDF tools into one application, allowing users to create social media posts, promotional posters, videos and more. Creative Cloud Express has a similar look and functionality as Adobe Spark, but with new assets and editing features.

Key Features

• Access to 20,000 premium Adobe fonts and 175 million royalty-free licensed Adobe Stock images
• Simple drag-and-drop functions to quickly customize thousands of creative templates
• Ability to remove backgrounds from photos, trim and merge videos, turn videos into GIFs and convert/export PDFs in a few clicks
• New templates specifically for resumes, logos, book covers and more
• Shared Templates and Shared Brands to ensure brand consistency across teams
• Seamlessly manage social media publishing workflows with ContentCal features, once integrated with Adobe
• Integration with Creative Cloud Libraries

Check It Out

Creative Cloud Express is available on the web at adobe.com/express, and as a mobile app.

1. UA faculty, students and staff access Adobe Creative Cloud Express at adobe.com/express
2. Select “Log in with school account”
3. Then log in with your myBama email address and password

Learn More

Want to learn more about Creative Cloud Express? Make plans to attend our upcoming webinar January 13 at 1pm.

Zoom Log in – Change to Log in with SSO

• November 9th, 2021
• in Software News

By Dec. 16, all UA Zoom users must log into Zoom through single sign-on using their myBama credentials rather than a unique username and password.  To log in with SSO, users can select the SSO button in the Zoom app, enter ua-edu for the domain, then login with their myBama credentials. No changes will be made to HIPAA-compliant accounts at this time.  Additional information is available on the OIT website.

Mac OS Monterrey

• October 26th, 2021
• in Software News

Apple released its latest operating system, Monterey, on Oct. 21, 2021. OIT strongly encourages end users to not upgrade at this time. Upgrading to Monterey will interfere with critical services including McAfee antivirus software.

IT admins should always test an OS in a test environment and wait for further recommendation from OIT before putting the OS into production as any issues that cannot be resolved internally may require further updates from Apple.

September 2021 Software Spotlight – Adobe Creative Cloud

• September 24th, 2021
• in Software News

This month’s software spotlight is Adobe Creative Cloud!

Earlier this month we hosted Adobe Day which featured UA students, faculty and staff showcasing their use of Adobe tools. Adobe is often thought of as a tool for “creatives” and while that may be true, Adobe offers many tools that we can all use to enhance work.

Adobe Spark is one of our favorite tools to use instead of a PowerPoint presentation, Adobe Premiere Rush is a great tool for basic video creation/editing, and Adobe Spark Mobile can be used to create animated images for social media. Good news – we have upcoming trainings on all of these tools! Check out our OIT Events Calendar for details.

Visit the OIT software catalog to learn more about Adobe Creative Cloud. Plus, join the Adobe Creatives Microsoft Team to join a community of Creative Cloud users.

August 2021 Software Spotlight – LastPass

• August 27th, 2021
• in Software News

One of our favorites in OIT is LastPass. LastPass is a secure password management tool that can create and store passwords in an encrypted environment. LastPass is available as a browser tool and a mobile device app. Get to know LastPass through their YouTube channel.

Bonus! Recently LastPass rolled out a “Family as a Benefit” perk that allows LastPass users to share the service with up to 5 friends and family members.

Learn more about LastPass in the OIT Software Catalog and start using it today!

Adobe Day – Sept. 17

• August 24th, 2021
• in Software News

Make plans to attend Adobe Day, Friday, Sept. 17 in Gorgas Library. We’ll feature guest presenters and panelists who share how they use Adobe Creative Cloud software.

At Adobe Day 2021, we’ll dive into new Adobe offerings that utilize some of the most exciting trends in emerging technology: interactive design, on-the-go video storytelling, and more. As a reminder, Adobe Creative Cloud is available to all UA students, faculty and staff. This event is designed to spur creativity and encourage the use of Adobe Creative Cloud software across campus. We hope you’ll join us!

Learn more at adobe.ua.edu.

Listserv Upgrade – Aug. 15

• July 28th, 2021
• in Software News

Listserv will undergo a system upgrade Sunday, August 15 at 6:00 am. The Listserv web interface will be unavailable for 1 hour while the upgrade is performed. Any messages sent during the maintenance window will be put in a queue and will be sent once the upgrade is complete at 7:00 am.

This upgrade brings an updated look to the Listserv web interface. Our team will be updating instructions for managing a Listserv through the updated interface.

Blackboard Learn Unavailable Aug. 5 – 13

• July 21st, 2021
• in Software News

Blackboard Learn and certain tools accessed through Blackboard Learn (Panopto, Collaborate, and Turnitin) will be unavailable from Aug. 5 until Aug. 13 for a database migration and upgrade. This move will help provide a more stable, scalable, secure, and updated Blackboard Learn experience for UA users.

More information is available on the CIT website.

Microsoft to Retire Skype for Business Online

• July 21st, 2021
• in Software News

Microsoft is retiring Skype for Business Online on July 31. Skype functionality has been fully integrated into Microsoft Teams. After July 31, if someone attempts to use Skype for Business Online for calls, chats or for scheduling new meetings, they will be redirected to Microsoft Teams.

Access to Crimson Google Drive Will End May 2022

• July 1st, 2021
• in Software News

After the Spring 2022 semester, Google Drive will no longer be available to UA students and alumni with Crimson Google accounts.

Current UA students with a Crimson Google account (students enrolled before May 2021) should move all Google Drive content to Microsoft OneDrive. Alumni and former students should export content to a personal storage space.

Faculty and staff who share content with students using Google Drive should also transition to use OneDrive.

This project is a function of OIT’s initiative to consolidate redundant email and cloud storage environments at UA. One major step in this project was completed by migrating Crimson email accounts from Google to Microsoft O365. Coincidentally, Google will be limiting available storage space for Google for Education customers in 2022, further accelerating the need to move away from the Google platform.

See more information, and step-by-step guides for moving content, on the OIT website.