We have just installed Akismet on the Wordpress umw.edu server. What does this mean? Well, we have been using a free spam-filtering tool called TypePad Anti-Spam. While it works, its functionality left a lot to be desired: false positives and tons of emails in your inbox. At the time we launched the new UMW.EDU site, Akismet, the premier spam-fighting tool for Wordpress, was becoming prohibitively expensive. Thanks to a revolt by higher education institutions (our own Jim Groom being among the most vocal), Akismet lowered its costs to something we can all manage. Full disclosure: The fee for the University is now only $550/year. So, you should be receiving far fewer spams in your in-box. What reaches your in-box should be largely REAL emails. But, you'll still want to check your site to make sure you're not missing anything. To do so, simply check your Comments on the left-hand side of your site. This will give you a list of comments that have come in. Those in yellow are likely … [Read more...]
UMW Home Page Modifications
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...]
UMW Community Update: Status of Web Site
Now that the fall semester is coming to a close, I wanted to keep everyone informed regarding some issues we've encountered since the launch of the new site, as well as planned changes and enhancements: Broken Links on Web Sites: After an initial push to fix broken links on critical sites, as well as working with some departments directly to get this done, we are still getting isolated reports about broken links. Please know that other than the absolute upper-levels of the Web site, these fixes need to be made by individual department web administrators. To that end, we are in the process of running a script/report of all broken links to distribute to web administrators. If you find a broken link, please report it to the department, or to the webmaster, and we will work with that department to get a fix for it. Remember when you are reporting a broken link, PLEASE GIVE THE URL OF THE PAGE WHERE YOU SAW THE LINK. We can't fix it if we don't know where it is! Broken Links in … [Read more...]
Making the UMW Web Site Easier to Use
Based on input we've received about difficulties in adjusting to the new site, we have made the following enhancements: Resources Page Icon Toolbar is Back! The toolbar of icons on the "Resources for Students, Faculty, and Staff" page is back. It is still in the Helpful Links, but enough people let us know they missed it in this location, so, it's now restored. You can see it at: http://umw.edu/resources Directory is Back! The People Search directory is also back in its old location. You can get to it from the icon toolbar bar in the Helpful Links OR in the icon toolbar now on the Resources page. See it at: http://umw.edu/directory Two New Icons on Toolbar In both icon toolbar locations, we have added icons on the right, linking you to the Directory and to Forms and Documents in the Document Repository. The Document Repository is a new feature where you can search for all UMW forms in a single place without having to go to department sites to find them. This should … [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...]
