Getting started with the new web templates

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Getting started with the new web templates

• Creative Services web team

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This session

• Introductions
• Overview and aims of this session
• Support using the new templates
• Whats on the web branding site
• Questions, answers and discussion

www2.brookes.ac.uk/webproject
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Aims of this session

• Brief update on the web project and where its
  going next
• Get started using the templates and guidelines
• Let you know how to get help and training
• Questions, answers and discussion

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Progress with the web project

• The recent past
• New website live since 22 January 2007
• Templates and documentation now released
• What next
• Implement the new templates by semester 2,
  January 2008
• Staff and students (intranet) pages and further
  Zope roll out

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Implementing the templates

• What we expect from you
• Implement the new templates and guidelines by
  semester 2, January 2008
• How we will help you
• Templates and documentation
• Advice (email webdev_at_brookes.ac.uk)
• Training
• Drop-in sessions on each campus (?)
• What we cant do
• Build your sites for you
• Everything at once!

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Implementing the templates

• How you can help
• Support each other
• Huge amount of expertise around the University
• Share ideas
• Donate time to drop-in sessions and future
  getting started sessions
• Tell us whats missing / not working with the
  templates and documentation
• Keep sites up-to-date (benefits everyone)
• Make sure all relevant staff members are on
  webwriters
• Let us know who your main site co-ordinators and
  editors are

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Web branding site

• www.brookes.ac.uk/staff/marketing/web

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Writing for the web style guide

• What is it?
• Quick-reference guide
• Includes details on writing, editing and
  formatting text
• Includes details on styling contact information
  and related links
• Why use it?
• A website is effectively an official publication
  of Oxford Brookes
• Content needs to be both professional and
  consistent across sites

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Writing for the web style guide

• How to use it?
• Download from www.brookes.ac.uk/staff/marketing/we
  b/reference
• Use with the Brookes style guide and plain
  English guides on the marketing intranet site
  www2.brookes.ac.uk/marketing
• Refer to it for any content questions
• For example
• Can you tell what should change on the following
  web page?

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School content guide

• Overall aims
• Ensure consistency of content between core site
  and schools sites
• Avoid duplication
• Based on
• Web review findings
• Consultation with academic schools
• Good practice
• Experiences with building the core site
• Recommendations
• Top-level headings (content categories) to
  include in the left-hand menu
• Ideas for content within each category

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School content guide

• Also includes
• How the core site links into schools sites
• Parts of the core site you may want to link back
  to
• An example school site illustrating the document
• Future developments
• This is version 1, we expect revisions over time
• Relying in your feedback to get it right
• Room for negotiation
• What about directorates?

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Design guidelines

• Compulsory elements
• Header
• Global navigation
• Left-hand navigation
• Footer
• Main content
• Up to you but there are default styles

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Design guidelines

• Page layouts
• Section homepage
• Sub-section page
• Main page
• 2 column
• 3 column

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Design guidelines

• Images provided
• School names
• Photoshop templates provided
• Section homepage image
• maximum / minimum sizes
• guides
• text layer
• Sub-section page image
• Banner ad image

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Using Dreamweaver / HTML Templates

• Download from www.brookes.ac.uk/staff/marketing/we
  b/templates/
• Dreamweaver templates
• You need Dreamweaver version 8 or higher
• Contact your IT Administrator for info
• For users with a basic understanding of using
  Dreamweaver with HTML and CSS
• Flat HTML templates
• For more advanced users who want to create pages
  without Dreamweaver

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Using Dreamweaver / HTML Templates

• Different layouts
• Section homepage
• Sub-section page
• Three column page
• Two column page
• HTML templates
• Download separately or all four in zipped file
• Dreamweaver templates
• Four layouts for each of the 7 corporate colours
• Download full suite

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Using Dreamweaver / HTML Templates

• Instructions on implementing www.brookes.ac.uk/sta
  ff/marketing/web/reference/
• Details of the different types of layouts
• How you can add your own styling with Cascading
  Style Sheets
• Required changes
• Optional changes

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Our questions for you

• We need volunteers to collaborate with us on
  usability testing of school sites. To address
• Whether Learning and teaching OR Course
  information is more effective
• Whether Staff or Our Staff is more effective
• Any other usability issues
• When do you plan to begin revising your sites?
• Would you find a workshop on Information
  Architecture (revising the structure of your
  site) useful?
• Would you find a workshop on usability testing
  useful?

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Questions, answers and discussion
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Getting started with the new web templates

• Creative Services web team