Web Redesign - Homepage & Top Level Pages

We have many good things to share with you about the web redesign. Much has been happening over the last few weeks, and it's all coming together.

First, we have a new test server that mirrors the software and platform of our production web server. This will help make the transition from development to production a smooth process. This means the link to the new page design has been moved to (http://etsuw2dev.etsu.edu/etsuhome) , so be sure to update your bookmarks. Please note that since this is only a test server, it cannot be viewed from off campus. Sorry!

Second, we have continued to work on the homepage. OIT wrote a new campus alert system, and we have incorporated that. When there is a major alert, like a school closing, you will see a red box just above the highlights section. Please note, any alerts you see on these test pages are NOT ACTUAL ALERTS, these are TEST ALERTS ONLY. The alerts will function just like they have in the past: each alert will be represented by a color coded box that sits in the top gold bar on the page.

Hovering over that box will give you the title of the alert, clicking that box will take you to a detailed explanation of the alert.

As promised, we have also implemented the slider for the homepage highlights area. This will allow university relations to put up videos and graphics highlighting great things on campus.

Finally, many of the second level pages are linked up and have information on them. These pages are a work in progress, so we are still updating links and some information. By design, these pages have links that are organized in easy to find categories. Each link also has a set of keywords to help you understand what information is at that link location.

The content of these pages is a result of countless hours that the web steering sub-committee spent working on headings and links for each second level page. Thanks again to everyone who devoted so much time to that. We hope you will like the ability to get to detailed information more quickly.

The major navigation that is visible on the homepage, is also available on each second level page. Therefore, if a user clicks into the "Faculty/Staff" page, then wants to reach student organizations he/she can click the "Campus Life" link directly, without having to go back to the homepage.

As always, thanks for your input and support as we move closer to launching the new site!
http://etsuw2dev.etsu.edu/etsuhome

Web Redesign - Homepage Work in Progress

The redesign project is moving along. We have been working on implementing the graphics you have seen with actual HTML/CSS code. There is much progress to show, so we have provided a link to a sneak preview of the new homepage.

We still have work to do....the links don't actually go anywhere yet, back-end systems (like alerts and people finder) are not hooked up yet, the highlights banner does not rotate and we have some tweaking to do with the spacing. But a lot has been accomplished. The page is operational in IE 7, 8, and the more recent versions of Firefox, Safari, Chrome and Opera. Our goal was to provide a clean (table free) layout, with minimal required client side scripting.

We are working on a system for easily refreshing content in the highlights and news/events section. This will include a way for the ETSU community to suggest news/events/highlights so that everyone on campus and in the community will know about the great things going on at ETSU.

We hope you enjoy the new look of the ETSU homepage. If you have problems viewing the page in your browser, please post a note with details so we can check it out. Please note, the page may be a little slow to load. This is expected, and won't be a factor when the page goes live.

We will be posting the 2nd level pages....so stay tuned!

Web Redesign - Graphic & 2nd Level Pages

With the homepage almost ready, it is time to work on the second level pages. The graphic below gives a screen shot of what the pages will look like. These are the pages you will go to when clicking a major link off the homepage, such as "Campus Life" or "Current Students". These pages will be pretty heavy with links. We want the information to be easy to find, and we also want the pages to be attractive.

The goal is to get the user from the homepage to the information needed, as quickly as possible. Therefore, some of the homepage sub-links will go directly to a department or unit site (for example under the category "Arts & Entertainment", the link "Arts @ ETSU" will go directly to the arts page at http://www.etsu.edu/cas/arts . Other, main homepage links, will take users to a second level page of additional categories and links. For example, clicking the heading "Arts & Entertainment" will take the user to a second level page of links.

We imagine each of these pages will evolve over time, but the basic layout works well with the homepage and blends into the CMS template used for department and college level pages. The major navigation that is visible on the homepage, is also available on each second level page. Therefore, if a user clicks into the "Faculty/Staff" page, then wants to reach student organizations he/she can click the "Campus Life" link directly, without having to go back to the homepage.

Web Redesign - Full Homepage Graphic

well, our talented graphic designers have been hard at work! based on the wireframe work and the resulting navigation schemes and labels, they have put together a graphic to help us visualize what the new homepage will look like. Here's a screenshot of the entire page. We are implementing this using HTML and CSS.



the target audience for the homepage is prospective and current students. therefore, they play a significant role in the homepage design. In addition to providing access to information, it will be important to use the homepage as a marketing tool, promoting ETSU activities and achievements and providing an idea of campus and academic life for prospective students.

In the survey responses, you said you wanted

• improved navigation. Fewer links, more understandable sections. Much better navigation at the second-tier level, so getting to basic sites is more obvious
• more variety in presentation - not so scripted, more links to what is going on on campus, weekly highlights boasting about students, student groups, faculty and staff at ETSU
• Make it easier to find department links. Have "Quick links" to important information
• New Pictures. change the pictures! More vibrant colors. more current style

You spoke, we are listening!! THANK YOU for your responses. we are making progress, let us know what you think.

Web Redesign - Search Features

The biggest request we have heard in the redesign process is "fix the search!" Some like people search as default, some like ETSU search as default, some don't like the overall format, and some just want something....anything...different! :) Well, good news! The new etsu homepage and top level pages will implement the search features in a new way.

By default, when the page loads, you will see the ETSU search box in the top right corner. Here is a screenshot of that:


If you want to do a people search, you will click the "People Finder" link in the top right, and a new search box will drop down....covering the ETSU search option, so there is no confusion. You can enter a name and perform a people search directly. Here is a screenshot:



We hope this will be a good solution to our current search dilemma!!

Web Redesign - Navigation

We mentioned the navigation schemes on the ETSU homepage in a previous post. Because there is so much information that needs to be organized on the homepage of a university as large as ETSU, we opted to use multiple organization schemes:

- Exact (this will be the A-Z index)
- Audience Specific (links targeted to specific groups of people like "current students", "faculty/staff")
- Task Specific (these will be in the form of dropdown "quicklinks" for things like D2L and Goldmail)
- Topical (major categories of interest, such as "Academics" and "Campus Life")

these navigation systems are grouped together in different sections of the page to provide easy access to the information users need. User data was collected and analyzed to come up with labels for these links that would be easy to understand and send users in the appropriate direction for information.

Here is a snapshot of the audience specific navigation which sits in the top third of the page:

Here is a snapshot of the categorical or topical navigation which sits in the middle of the page:

Here is a snapshot of the task specific information. This will be in the form of a quicklinks dropdown that is easily accessible from the top navigation bar:

Web Redesign - Approved!!

Well, it has been some time since the last post. We apologize for the delay, but the silence does not mean work has ceased. On the contrary, we have great news. The new ETSU website project has been approved by the university web steering and ITCG committees! We have a new graphic design and many pages of new content and links. This content was based off of feedback from YOU, the user and we appreciate your help. We realize that change is always difficult, but we hope you will work with us in transitioning to the new pages and that you will like the new organization.

The center piece for the new homepage will be a dynamic rotating graphic/video area where important ETSU news, events and accomplishments can be highlighted. Here is what this piece will look like:




There will be 4-7 items that rotate automatically when the home page is loaded. Each item will be clickable, for more information and some items may contain video content. You will be able to jump directly to an item by clicking one of the numbers, and you can pause the rotation or go back and forth between items.

There will also be a second graphical section to hold additional announcements and items of interest:



To make it easy for users to have items considered for display on the homepage, this section will be setup to automatically pull approved events from PlanIt ETSU.

As the unit responsible for all public information related to ETSU, the office of university relations will be governing the content for these sections on the homepage.

The web team is busy working to get the approved pages coded into html/css and scripting. We will post more detailed information in the coming weeks, so please stay tuned!

Web Redesign - Tell Us Your Important Links

We need your help! Please take a moment to provide links that you use on the ETSU web. We are looking for:
- links that you use every day
- links that are important, but only used a few times a year.

We know a few of the important "high profile" links, like
Goldlink
Goldmail
D2L
PlanIt ETSU
Webmail

But please provide links (other than those listed above) that are important to you.
Click here to participate.

Web Redesign - Second Level Pages

While we are finishing up labels and links for the audience based navigation, we have compiled a sketch of the layout for the second level pages. Again, this is a wireframe, to focus on layout and not be distracted by colors or graphics. (click the image to view full size)


We appreciate your help and patience in this design process. Let us know what you think by posting here.

Web Redesign - Organization & Sketch

The organization of information in web sites is a major factor in determining success. We spent a large chunk of time researching and determining which organizational schemes should be used on the homepage, and what labels should be applied for each of those schemes. The result of all this becomes the primary navigation or sets of links on the site.

Because there is so much information that needs to be organized on the homepage of a university as large as ETSU, we opted to use multiple organization schemes:
- Exact (this will be the A-Z index)
- Audience Specific (links targeted to specific groups of people like "current students", "faculty/staff")
- Task Specific (these will be in the form of dropdown "quicklinks" for things like D2L and Goldmail)
- Topical (major categories of interest, such as "Academics" and "Campus Life")

these navigation systems are grouped together in different sections of the page to provide easy access to the information users need. we worked hard to come up with labels for these links that would be easy to understand and send users in the appropriate direction for information. We also planned for a block with a large rotating graphic to highlight activities and achievements at ETSU. There will be segments for news and 3 smaller blocks for highlighted events that are pulled from "PlanIt ETSU". The people/etsu search functionality will remain, with added links for social media. all this information is organized into what's called a wireframe, so that navigation and layout issues can be resolved without being distracted by design issues like colors and graphics. take a look at the sketch of the homepage layout so far (click the image to view full size):

each audience based tab will be clickable (prospective students, etc), and each main category tab will be clickable (About ETSU, Admissions, etc). We'll be posting more details about the second level pages and links for each of these pages soon.

Web Redesign

We are VERY excited about working on some brand new designs for the ETSU web. There will be a new homepage design and a new look for top level pages. When we say "top level" pages, we are talking about pages that open when you click a major link directly off the home page. The Academic Technology web team is working with a committee composed of representatives from faculty, staff and students to generate designs that will give consistency to our web presence, provide adequate space to highlight the many wonderful activities and achievements at ETSU, and organize links and resources in a way that will make it easy for users to navigate and find what they are looking for. The homepage will focus on the needs of current and prospective students.

The new designs will look much different from the current version. But the user testing we have done suggests that it is a pleasing design, and easy to navigate.

This process has been going on for some time now...you may recall the survey and card sort links that were on the homepage last Spring. We want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who participated in those activities. The information has been invaluable to this process. Also, huge THANKS to the committee for all their hard work and support. Many hours have already been logged in determining mission statements, target audience, user profiles, organization schemes, etc.

Be sure to check this blog from time to time for updates on the ETSU website redesign process. We will be posting screen shots and previews of the designs here. If you have comments or suggestions, please post them here.