Statue of Thoreau in front of a replica of the cabin he lived in while he was writing "Walden", originally uploaded by Chris Devers.
Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!
The sage of Concord extolled it and it is now the governing philosophy behind the current, and soon to be gloriously improved, union.edu.
The mstoner mock-ups I’ve thus far seen are models of design economy, all the more so when contrasted with what you see now (And remember: “Simplicity in website design doesn’t necessarily equate with a minimalist design aesthetic.”)
In keeping with the spirit of the times, the Office of Marketing and Communications is taking the file to those prolific links, redundant pages, excessive text and gratuitous images that barnacle-like have consumed any defining visual aesthetic. Fear not. This site-wide clean-up is deft and focused; not of a bull in the China-shop variety. And you’ll certainly get a heads-up before our nimble hands make their way onto your little section of the Web.
How to best prepare you ask? Inventory your site. Put yourself in the user’s shoes. Would they be able to quickly find their way around? And remember: Redundancy is the enemy. How to prevent future messes you ask? Scaling back the number of hands in the content management system should corral the chaos. And at the next Web Advisory Group I will be unveiling online content policies to signal that the days of anything goes are now officially over.
And finally, I readily acknowledge that we’ve tantalized you with promises of a new site, for what must seem like years now. Keep the faith. Soon you’ll get to see a sample of what our mstoner artisans have been diligently crafting behind the scenes.
I promise.
Ken George
Office of Marketing and Communications
Wonder if you guys saw this… kind of interesting.
http://www.languagemonitor.com/college-rankings/college-rankings-april-2009
I am curious as to how you intend to maintain domain-wide quality and content control.
As a fellow web developer (and fellow WordPress user), I am well aware of the time and effort that an overhaul of Union’s website will require, and I commend you on undertaking this challenge.
However, I feel that you have neglected one of the key aspects of the Union’s site – the development team. Here, you state what -you- promise to accomplish. Surely, you do not intend to be solely responsible for all the content on Union’s main site and auxiliary websites?
I am afraid I will remain skeptical until I see that the following issues have been addressed:
– Creation of design standards that will be implemented across Union’s website.
– Education of all Union staff (ITS, administrative staff and teachers) on the basic principals behind these standards (Yes, I mean all).
Furthermore, I am curious as to what language the new site is going to be designed in (my apologies if this has already been addressed). I am hoping desperately the intention here is not to use HTML, but instead to use a web scripting language that allows for dynamic content – for example, pHp. HTML is an inefficient method of creating a site in the modern era.
If a scripting language is implemented, then the location of a site’s content can be stored separately from the site’s foundations and style elements. This means, of course, that the sites information can be easily changed, removed entirely from the other elements of the website. It also helps ensure quality control, by allowing the compartmentalisation of different aspects of the site.
I would greatly appreciate a thoughtful response at your earliest convenience.
- wash aka B.A. Lelbach
To clarify quickly – I mean, to use pHp properly. It’s implementation in the current site makes me want to cry.
And again to clarify, I know you’ve mentioned that you’ll be unveiling the design standards, but, I place more stock in what I see than in what I’m told.
Last post, I swear,
Another item for that list of things I’d like to see: unified login system. As in, one login for the entire site, including WebWork, Blackboard, Umail, all that jazz. It will be a pain to do, it might be impossible depending on the avaliabilty of relevant source code, but man, it would be 1.) nice, 2.) more convienite, 3.) more secure (because having ONE login system means you’ve got
Got cut off before I could spell check/finish that post.
Ignore/delete it please. Actual post is:
Last post, I swear,
Another item for that list of things I’d like to see: unified login system. As in, one login for the entire site, including WebWork, Blackboard, Umail, all that jazz. It will be a pain to do, it might be impossible depending on the availability of relevant source code, but man, it would be 1.) nice, 2.) more convenient, 3.) more secure (because having ONE login system means you’ve got ONE system to harden and secure, whereas having X number of login systems means X number of systems that could possibly be exploited).
It’s totally worth investigating, and it may well be doable. I’m pretty sure that Blackboard isn’t something that this could be implemented for, but then again Blackboard is insanely insecure and famous for being exploited – we should just trash that system anyways. Same thing for Umail, too (which fails in matters as simple as the lack of a web-based search feature. Plus it’s Microsoft and we all know Microsoft can’t encrypt anything – see, Ophcrack as a general reference, see, Microsoft Exchange MIME Base64 exploit as a specific example).
[/rant]
Hey Wash.
What I can’t really cotton too is someone with so little to say.
(And sorry for the delayed response!).
I agree with you whole-heartedly regarding educating various members of the Union community. But my specific interest here at the Office of Marketing and Communications is with those digital vehicles directed at external audiences (specifically prospective students, alumni and media).
There are many websites at Union internally-directed (virtual server for example). While I think usability is something everyone should aspire to, those sites are beyond my jurisdiction. That said, I am always happy to share what we learned in this office about best digital practices as part of the Reboot. Further, those sections of union.edu used by various campus stakeholders for “internal” purposes (the Registrar’s Office for example) are being re-architected and re-templated as part of the overall Reboot.
Regarding your various technical questions and observations: The content management system (Hannon Hill’s Cascade Server) publishes in php and the templates are designed using CSS. This will continue to be the case with the redesign. mStoner, our Web design partner, has an experienced cracker-jack development team that as part of the Reboot will address various bugs and quirks.
I agree in one unified system. That’s a fairly tall order. It’s complex and very expensive and extraordinarily disruptive. Implementing this would fall under ITS, and I lack the knowledge both of the technology and logistics involved to address this issue.
Thanks for your thoughtful comments.
Ken George
Office of Marketing and Communications