Introduction

Exercises within PrepToolkit are designed to help facilitate exercise conduct and planning activities. Exercise features include:

• A collaboration space for planning an exercise, including calendars and a documents and media repository specific to your exercise.
• Full conduct capabilities to include MSEL creation, inject release, controller phonebooks, and simulated email.

To learn how to become a member of an exercise, visit the Request Exercise Membership page.

About Page

The About page of the exercise is intended to give an overview of the exercise. Registered PrepToolkit users and guests can view this page; it is not restricted to members of the exercise. (Guests can only access the page if they are provided the link.) Exercise Managers and Moderators can edit the text on this About page. To edit the content, select the Edit link at the bottom of the piece of content. Visit the Web Content page for further details about editing content.

In addition to providing information about the exercise, this page also provides users with the option to request to join the exercise.

Planning Page

The Planning page provides access to five planning features.

• Calendar: The calendar is provided to help participants track events. The calendar provides members with two calendar types: My Calendars (i.e., personal calendars for the user) and Site Calendars (i.e., shared calendars for the exercise). An individual user guide page is provided for this feature. Visit the Calendar page for further details.
• Documents and Media: The Documents and Media feature provides file storage, organization, and versioning. Files can be stored in a hierarchical folder structure, similar to the files stored on your local computer. An individual user guide page is provided for this feature. Visit the Documents and Media page for further details.
• Message Boards: The Message Boards feature provides an online discussion are where people can post and respond to messages. Messages can be organized by categories and sub-categories. An individual user guide page is provided for this feature. Visit the Message Boards page for further details.
• National Exercise Calendar: The National Exercise Calendar feature displays milestones and conduct dates for exercises throughout PrepToolkit. An individual user guide page is provided for this feature. Visit the National Exercise Calendar page for further details.
• Registration Information: This section of the Planning page is only available to Exercise Managers. PrepToolkit provides a registration form for each exercise that managers may opt to use. The Registration Information page includes a link to the registration form. Exercise Managers can copy this link and either email out to guests and users or publish it in the content on the About page. Exercise Managers and Moderators can edit the instructions at the top of this registration form as needed. As guests and users submit registration information, the submitted information will be available via the instructions on this Registration Information page.

MSEL Page

The MSEL page provides access to four features related to the MSEL.

• MSEL: The MSEL is an online timeline of expected actions and scripted events to be injected into exercise play. An individual user guide page is provided for this feature. Visit the MSEL page for further details.
• Dashboard: The Dashboard provides a condensed view of all MSEL events and their statuses. Multiple displays are included, such as event displays by date, Exercise Objective, and Principals' Objective. It includes features to allow you to filter the display by event date, status, and category as well as by key events, if applicable. An individual user guide page is provided for this feature. Visit the Dashboard page for further details.
• Mail: The Mail feature is designed to be used with simulated email accounts for agencies not participating in the exercise. The Mail feature provides access to these simulated emails directly within the exercise site. An individual user guide page is provided for this feature. Visit the Mail page for further details.
• Phonebook: The Phonebook provides a centralized location to store the names and contact information of exercise participants, as applicable. Specifically, the Phonebook is used as the source for all event originators and recipients in the MSEL. An individual user guide page is provided for this feature. Visit the Phonebook page for further details.

Site Administration (Exercise Managers Only)

Exercise Managers have access to a handful of site administration features for their exercise, namely Dynamic Data Lists, the Recycle Bin, and Site Memberships. To access site administration features, select the Menu icon on the top left side of the page.

Below is an explanation of some of the features you will see here.

Recycle Bin

When categories and threads within the Message Boards area and documents and folders within the Documents and Media area are deleted, they are sent to the recycle bin rather than being permanently deleted. Within the Recycle Bin under Site Administration, Exercise Managers can restore these items. Restore the item by selecting the hamburger menu for the target item and selecting Restore. Selecting Delete will permanently delete the item.

Site Memberships

Selecting the Members heading in the toolbar on the left side of the page will expand the Members subsections, which includes Site Membership. Within the Site Memberships area you can approve or deny exercise site membership requests, add new site members, assign and remove user roles, and remove exercise members.

• Approve or Deny Exercise Site Membership Requests: As an Exercise Manager, you will be notified when a user requests to join your exercise. Within the Site Administration area, you can see all pending membership requests by selecting the hamburger menu on the top right side of the page and selecting View Membership Requests.
  
• Select the Reply icon to take action on a user's request.
  
• After selecting Reply, you may review their comments and choose to Approve or Deny their request. You must provide comments in the Reply Comments box in order to save your changes. Be aware that comments in the Reply Comments box will be sent to the user along with the notification of whether their request was approved or denied.
  
• Add New Site Members: To add new users who have not requested to join your exercise, select the blue plus sign icon on the top right side of the Site Memberships administration page. Only self-registered users will be available for assignment to your exercise.
  
  1. Search for names, as needed.
  2. Check the checkbox for the user you would like to assign as a member of your exercise.
  3. Select Done.
• Assign and Remove User Roles: To assign or remove roles assigned to members of your exercise, select the hamburger menu for the target user and select Assign Site Roles. Check the checkbox for any roles you would like to add and uncheck the checkbox for any roles you would like to remove. Select the "Done" button.
  
• Remove Exercise Members: To remove a member from your exercise, select the hamburger menu for the target user and select Remove Membership.