Training for Webmasters of Websites Transitioned to New Look
If your website has been converted to the refreshed look, be sure to register for Drupal II Training to learn how to edit your website's new homepage via the new editing interface. This training session provides an overview of the new interface and the redesign elements with dedicated time to hands-on practical application of content updates you may need to make now or down the road.
View like mock-ups of homepage elements
Event Archiving
UCM and IT web teams consistently work to improve the university's website performance and Google rankings. One tactic in this performance enhancement plan requires boosting relevant content and minimizing less critical content. As a result, events that have passed will be available to web admins, but unpublished and unavailable to web visitors. This enables web editors to refer to and/or update that information for annual or related events. Events more than two years old will be deleted. A few sites have a list of past events for marketing purposes so an exception is possible. If you require an exception, contact Lin Danes, ldanes@kent.edu.
Content Updates, Particularly for Annual Occurrences
Many departments have critical annual website updates, such as introducing a new catalog for a new academic year or annual health care plan reviews. In such instances, many websites link to these pages so it is important to protect the:
- Node ID
- Search rankings and improvements
As a result, please follow the best practice of updating the current page rather than creating a new page. This update vs. creation of a competing page will help produce more accurate search results and prevent links and bookmarks from breaking. You can weave your date information into your subheads or body copy instead of renaming the page. Best practice is to keep your url generic, i.e., /annual-benefits rather than /annual-benefits-2019-2020. Your page will then benefit in search rankings from all searches in prior years, which will cause it to be listed higher on the search results page.
Does your content need approved by a colleague or supervisor? If so:
- Create a new basic page that remains unpublished so that will not be available to the public or be detected by a search.
- To view, the approver will need to login to Drupal at www.kent.edu/user.
- If approved or approved with revisions, copy the content from the demo page into your existing page.
- Thereafter, delete the demo page.
Introduction Copy, Meta Data & Search Engine Results
UCM web team is taking advantage of homepage refresh builds to also enhance meta data content, which is used by search engines. The Introduction text is being added to the Meta Tag Description field and to the Twitter Card Description field. The text displayed in these fields may appear in search engine results, so be sure to update these fields when updates are made to your site's homepage introduction. Screenshots of the field and placement locations of that content are illustrated below.
The Introduction and Body text are being moved to a Blank WYSIWYG and will no longer be used after your site is converted. The Summary field text will remain in tact to support relevant teasers.
Search Engine Results
Location to enter copy:
Copy location in search results:
Twitter Search Results
Location to enter copy:
Copy location in search results:
Style Updates
Directory Profiles
The layout for department directory profiles has been refreshed. The photo is smaller and frequently used contact information has been positioned at the top of the page.
Select a UCM employee to view the new format
Headings
Heading styles have been updated with an eye to improved aesthetics and more consistent fonts. Because the new headings are sized and styled according to web best practices, the option to style a heading is no longer available. To comply with federal web accessibility laws, Select Heading 2 for main sections and then H3, H4, H5 as the hierarchy of the page content changes. Heading 1 is used for the page title; do not select it in the page’s text.
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Questions?
If you have questions about any information in this content, please contact ldanes@kent.edu and the inquiry will be routed appropriately for follow up.