100 days and counting

As Santa does his rounds on December 24th and the countdown to Christmas ends for another year, a new countdown begins…. Phase 1 'go live' of the new UoN web site is just 100 days away.

Sponsored by the Vice-Chancellor and in the hands of a small M&PR team, under the leadership of Barbara Iwinska, the completely restructured and redesigned web site has a delivery deadline of December 2013.

"It's been a huge year for us but we have achieved some very significant project milestones. We are at a really exciting stage with the new web site literally taking shape before our eyes," Barbara told In the Loop.

Barbara's team has been working closely with web publishers from across the University, who are now busy reviewing web content and loading it into the new CMS.

"There are some 40,000 pages on the current site, many of which are clearly out of date, duplications and/or redundant. We are aiming to halve the number of pages," Barbara said.

"We are committing to making sure that the new content is fresh, relevant and really gives our key audiences the information and services they are looking for."

Throughout 2012, Barbara's team and external provider, Squiz, have delivered:

  • a replacement WCMS - Squiz Matrix
  • a revised and approved site structure for Levels 1 -3 that centres on the needs of our different audience groups
  • new designs for the Homepage and the key landing Pages
  • mobile responsive designs
  • a new search solution
  • training in Squiz Matrix for more than 100 web publishers
  • a program of regular face-to-face and written communication for web publishers
  • regular updates to the VC and the Executive Committee

With 100 days until 'go live, there is much to be done. Publishers in the Research areas are working hard on their content, in order to meet the first publishing deadline of the end of January 2013.  User testing of the new web site is also scheduled for January.

"The project team will be back in 2013, with more hands on deck, to help reach the all-important Phase 1 'go live' in April and then charge full steam ahead to the finish line," Barbara said.

What do you need to do?

Updated staff profiles will go live in Phase 1, so all staff need to make sure their details are current in HR Online and RPM (researchers only).

Stay informed

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