Embedded google docs

Question

Embedded google docs

I've got a strange one. A school I work at uses a Content Management System for their website, class webpages, child / parent forums etc - you can see the site here - http://stpatkai.ultranet.school.nz/Home/

I don't have a lot to do with it but the teachers are having a lot of trouble with embedded Google docs and other embedded secure sites. The teachers create a survey or similar using Google Docs. They then embed these on the class webpage on the CMS for the students to click on and respond to.

The laptops they are using have Snow Leopard patched up to the latest version with two accounts - Admin with full rights and a Student account which has Parental Controls implemented but with everything except System Preferences enabled to be open and the Dock locked. If the students are working in the Student account, the Google Docs page will not load, and under Safari, Activity shows an error message that starts - 'An SSL error has occurred and a secure connection to docs.google.com can't be made'

If you go into the class webpage under the Admin account, all is fine.

Obviously I don't want the children working in the Admin account - they've stuffed up enough already, but I can't find anywhere to enable the secure connection to google.docs

The stupid thing is that if they use some old eMacs running Tiger, the children have no problems accessing the google docs in the Student account but it doesn't load under Snow Leopard???

Any thoughts gratefully received.

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Apr 2, 2012 7:15 PM

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Answer 1

Apr 2, 2012 8:04 PM in response to Howard Pettigrew1

HI Howard ...

the Google Docs page will not load, and under Safari,

Make sure Safari is not running in 32-bit mode.

Right or control click the Safari icon in the Applications folder then click Get Info. In the Get Info panel, if the box next to: Open in 32 bit mode is selected, deselect, quit then relaunch Safari to test.

edited by: cs

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Answer 2

fane_j

Level 4

3,697 points

Apr 3, 2012 1:14 AM in response to Howard Pettigrew1

Howard Pettigrew1 wrote:

under Safari, Activity shows an error message that starts - 'An SSL error has occurred and a secure connection to docs.google.com can't be made'

See

<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2900>

The problem is Parental Control's Internet content filter. It blocks all https requests:

--

https note: For websites that use SSL encryption (the URL will usually begin with https), the Internet content filter is unable to examine the encrypted content of the page. For this reason, encrypted websites must be explicitly allowed using the Always Allow list. Encrypted websites that are not on the Always Allow list will be blocked by the automatic Internet content filter.

--

You need to set it up explicitly to allow it, as described in the Apple KB doc I quoted.

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Answer 3

Apr 5, 2012 2:06 AM in response to Carolyn Samit

Checked this. Operating in 64 bit mode!

Thanks for responding!

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Answer 4

Apr 5, 2012 2:09 AM in response to fane_j

Finally, thank you, thank you, thank you. I knew what the problem was and that the answer had to be somewhere. Just didn't know where to look. Only problem is we have just gone on holiday today for two weeks and I am away to a very beautiful part of New Zealand in the morning, but I am very confident you have hit the jackpot. Can't wait to come back from holiday to try it! There will be some very happy teachers. Many, many thanks!

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