Responsibilities
The application process for creating a website on the UAF web server requires that one person in the department be identified as the contact for the site. If you are this person, you are the department's web coordinator and are responsible for:
- The content of the department's site(s)
All pages must be maintained and kept current. - Adherence to UAF web policies
UAF web policies include these guidelines, UA regents' policies and regulations, as well as federal laws governing copyright, accessibility and students' privacy. - Access to the departmental web account
The web coordinator is the "keeper of the password." A single password is shared by the department and may be given to one person or to several staff members who contribute to the development of your site. Your department is free to set its own policy regarding access to the account although entrusting the password to a large number of individuals is strongly discouraged since your department is solely responsible for the content of pages in its account and for the activities of those people who have been granted access to your web account. - Dissemination of information about the server and/or web account to all who have been granted access to the account
The web coordinator is required to be a member of ZWEB-L, a one-way e-mail list from the web server administrator or Marketing and Communications web developer to all UAF web coordinators with accounts on the UAF web server <www.uaf.edu>. Information sent via this list may reflect technical, security or policy issues and is generally infrequent. Web coordinators are automatically subscribed to ZWEB-L when a department web account is created on the UAF web server.
The coordinator may also serve as the web author or oversee a web author for the site. The web author is responsible for making your website look professional and ensuring that it meets the needs of your targeted audience, as well as those audiences you didn't originally anticipate.
If the web coordinator leaves your department, make sure someone else in the department has assumed that role, accepted the responsibility for maintaining the site and knows the user ID and password to access your site on the UAF web server.
Notify the Marketing and Communications web developer or the UAF server administrator when the contact person for your department site changes.
Getting started
Before you begin creating a new site or redesigning an old one, please read these guidelines to make sure you understand all of the requirements, recommendations and resources available to you. This is the first and most important stage of building a UAF website. By understanding and following these guidelines, you will save much time and effort retrofitting your site later.
Then take a look around the web. Visit other universities' sites to become familiar with the way information is presented and organized online. Also, look around UAF's websites. If you are planning to redesign an existing site, the UAF Website Design Packet (PDF 188K) can help you evaluate your existing site to develop a game plan for a successful redesign project. This packet can also help with creating a new site.
It is important to make sure your information is accurate, well organized and attractively presented. Be sure to proofread your text for spelling and grammar errors. Better yet, have someone else do it for you.
Don't reinvent a web page that already exists. Browse existing web pages to see if a resource you want to list is already out there; if it is, link to it rather than duplicate it at your site. It's better to link to existing information rather than end up with two or more different sets of data which need to be updated. For example, there is no need to create a page on your site that lists course information for your department since the most current UAF catalog is already online.
Approval
When your official UAF departmental website is ready to be linked from the main UAF site, send the URL to fyweb@uaf.edu. Make sure you include your name, department and phone number. Assuming all is well with your pages (correct logo and web banner usage, adherence to these guidelines and no major technical problems), a Marketing and Communications web developer will contact you about placing a link to your site from the official UAF website.
Maintenance
With your commitment to having an official website comes the responsibility of managing the site and keeping it current. If a department page is not being maintained, the web coordinator for the site will be alerted to the impending link removal from the official UAF main pages.
Marketing and Communications reserves the right to remove links to any official department site from the official UAF pages if the department site is not maintained.
Reminders for keeping your site current:
- Whenever printed materials are updated, change the corresponding information on your website.
- Check all links periodically to make sure they still work.
Online tool to check your links (free):- W3C Link Checker
Enter the address (URL) of a document that you would like to check
- W3C Link Checker
- Always change the date of the last update on the footer whenever a change is made. Better yet, set up your pages to do it automatically!