We have made modifications to the navigation on the UMW Home page. These changes have been based on analysis of traffic on the site, feedback regarding desired visibility for much-visited sites, and the creation of the new Research and Diversity sites, both critical to the mission and image of the institution. These modifications were proposed by the Web Communications office and approved by the University-wide Web Advisory Committee. Changes include: 1) "Current Students" and "Faculty and Staff" are now combined in a single link labelled "Students/Faculty/Staff." Although they had both been going to the most visited page on the site (http://www.umw.edu/resources), we had been contemplating separating these out into two sites. Judging by site behavior and feedback, this appeared to be unnecessary, and perhaps would generate confusion. So, we reverted to a single link, as it was on the old site. 2) News and Events are no longer on the main navigation. These pages are are … [Read more...]
The New UMW Web Site: Adjusting to the Change
The new site is very different in many ways. For those of us who use it every day, it's been disorienting. Improvements and refinements are on the way as we receive feedback and complete some features that there were no time for prior to migration. Here are some tips to help with navigating the new site based on feedback we've received so far: Where is the A to Z Index? The A to Z index was used by a lot of people working on campus. Unfortunately, the size of the index had grown so large that it was no longer manageable manually, and we were constantly fielding requests for changes, additions, adjustments. In short, we could not scale it well now that the site has grown so large. In lieu of the A to Z index, our most visited, requested, and helpful links are in a section called -- you guessed it -- "Helpful LInks." You will find this link on the upper-right hand side of every page in the site. Where is the Directory? The … [Read more...]
