Web Editors’ Board

9th January 2013

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Website projectWhere are we now?

• User-testing, analytics and competitor reviews

• Draft information architecture• Documenting of current CMS • Web project manager role

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Research highlights…• Mobile traffic on the rise (doubled in 12 months)• 6th most popular page on the site is the courses database• 66% of external traffic comes from Google and other search

engines• Facebook is the biggest referral source• After English, most external visits come from Chinese speakers• Durham site has too few signs of academic and cultural life• Navigation is inconsistent across the site = big problems• University websites are often not examples of good practice!• Brand is one of the most difficult things to convey on a HE

website• Stories/testimonials are extremely powerful

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Website project

What happens next?

• Tender specification drafted for new web content management system

• New information architecture implemented • Rewriting of top-level content• Design work commences

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CMS Procurement: Your help needed!

As users and editors of the current CMS, what functionality/features would you like to see specified in a new CMS?

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Calendar – drawing together all events around the University

Editors able to input SEO elements on a page

Interactivity – customisation of web pages based on user need

Multiple templates/design options

Improved facilities for adding/scaling images (esp large images)

Ability to change size of image through the editor

Better training / ease of use for editors (and egs of best practice)

Support for producing AV content (in house resource and budget)

Flash player

Blogging system

Easy way of updating from any location

Multiple browsers on PCs for checking web page appearance (also ability to check content on mobile devices)

Easy ways of unpublishing pages

Ease of previewing pages prior to publishing

Ease of previewing and managing navigation

Ability to add randomised content on a page (i.e. for student testimonials, etc)

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‘Drag and drop’ functionality to help with editing pages/sidebars and moving content

Easier approval process and ability to see what has been changed on a page

Better social media integration (less clunky)

Resource and space on website for content provided at a dept level, and support for external areas such as ITunesU

Alert system to let page editor know about system changes affecting a page

Capacity to identify designer, owner, content editor etc for a page

Better way of using tabs within a page (like courses database)

Customisation of ‘comments and questions’ forms

Streamlining, simplifying and making more user friendly mysql databases

Scaling of information on online forms (more control over cell sizes, etc)

Ability for editors to use HTML to maximise design capacity

Audio player embedded into site (suite of players which scale to page layout etc)

Search feature to distinguish between internal and external content

I would really like to see an interactive Events display – i.e. if the College was holding a seminar we could say there was so many places and people could book in, or it would show if all the spaces were full/how many remaining.

I guess it kind of falls under the same thing, but maybe two way communication with databases/spread sheets, I produce the College Almanac, I then put it on line by creating separate events for everything but it would be ideal if it could updated from my spread sheet!

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Editing web pages: Think before you type!

• Data protection

• Advertising Standards Authority

• QAA institutional review

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Editing web pages:Key principles

• Link to / use centrally maintained content wherever possible (especially for course information)

• Distinguish internal from external content• Substantiate claims• Use standard academic department and

college website structures

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Editing web pages:Best practice

• Less is almost always more• Audience needs come first• User journey – what do you want users to do

after reading each web page?• ‘So what?’ Make it memorable and meaningful• Our stories make us really stand out • Consistent narratives