Is responsible for the design and upkeep of the CSU website. This website is most often the first impression of CSU, and our future is an increasing digital world. A website
is one of the most effective and quickest ways of communicating with the entire University
& CSU community. Web Services recognizes the World Wide Web as one of the most valuable
and vital resources of any large organization.
Content Managers
Websupport will only implement updates to this website coming from the approved staff
shown below.
CSU employees may request access to edit the website for their department. One editor
& publisher may be appointed for each department. This liaison will be responsible
for content updates of department website. Form must be signed by your manager.
An editor can make edits to pages. A publisher can edit and also publish pages to
go live.
Go to this website to see examples of common approved items we use throughout the csu.edu website. this
can help you design your information.
Submitting Updates to Websupport
Only websupport can post images, pdfs and documents to the website as this requires
specialized training to assure that the items are technically compliance. Attach them
in an email to websupport@csu.edu with clear direction & the web address of the exact page where to add the attachment
or text.
Any type edits, including making tables and links can be done by those who have website
editor access.
No worries if you are having difficulty with any updates, we can do that for you if
you email us.
Navigational clickstream to where this page should go
Copy spellchecked & reviewed for grammar
Instructions that are not copy updates, in red all caps for example: (ANIMATED SLIDESHOW HERE)
For group collaboration, create & share a google doc with your team to write the content.
Once your team approves the copy, forward a link to web support with instructions.
Docs
We prefer to convert your .docx files to actual html web pages viewable in the web
browser, when possible. Cellphones often cannot open MS Office files and you want
to keep your audience in the csu.edu website interface as long as possible. This also
reduces the number of clicks to get to the information. If you absolutely want a link
to download a .doc please let us know what words you want to be clickable to download
the file. Read below on pdfs to find out how to name your file.
Images
Please submit the best quality images you have in terms of lighting and resolution.
Name the file clearly and concisely to what this is about, use underscores for spaces.
Bad Filenaming
Good Filenaming
IMG-104589,jpg
Chicago_State_University.jpg
Jane Doe (002)DSCF assistant faculty staff.png
Doe_Jane.png
Logo board Illinoiseducaotn Higher.svg
IBHE.svg
We will by default retouch and color balance images to improve quality before posting.
We will crop images if we see better cropping. We by default put images at the top
left at a size that fits across the width of the cellphone. We wrap text around the
right side if possible so on a computer there is not dead wasted space.
Links
Provide to Websupport
URL and location on the page the link resides on.
The URL the link will go to when clicked.
The exact verbiage for the link as we do prefer not to show a lengthy web address.
eg: "The Black Media Conference is hosted by CSU every year in April bringing many industry professionals together."
To keep the navigation consistent and predictable, we ask links going outside CSU
to be only added to main body page which is shown in gray. The right hand-navigation
is reserved for links to csu.edu pages, and belong with the topic in the blue bar
with home icon above.
Links that go outside csu.edu, we ask you change the default setting of current window
to open in a new window.
PDFs
Properly Name Your PDFs and Links to Match
First, clearly and concisely name the link that people will click to download your
pdf. The name should describe in up to 3 words or less the purpose/content of the
file, so the person downloading knows what to expect before downloading. Name the
file exactly the same as the linked text, so people can easily find the pdf on their
computer after they download. We will name your link exactly as the file submitted
The first word should best and most uniquely describes the document.
Remove unnecessary words like CSU as people are looking for the purpose of the document.
Extra words will make searches for information more difficult.
Remove dates whenever possible. Dates quickly make the file look old and outdated
unless you update for example a newsletter or calendar every month on first day of
the month.
Consistent Sentence or Title Case Capitalization
Use underscores rather than spaces, because the web substitutes code of "%20" for
spaces that looks sloppy, and some browsers may break the link.
Videos
Provide Video Information
File named clearly & concisely (we will use this name for the headline in youtube).
Name of playlist to add or new playlist to create.
Video in .mp4 format.
Timecodes of where to crop video if needed and any edits you may need.
Poster image (this is the preview people will see) by providing:
image attached in an email,
timecode (start and end times) on the video to extract one from, and
a few words to use if we are to create the video for you.
Important Information
Contact Us
Emailing websupport@csu.edu is best as we are often in meetings or on urgent updates.
Douglas Hall (DH) Room: 122
9am to 5pm, Monday - Friday
Consistency
When submitting content, please use the following consistent formats for (spaces,
periods, colons) used throughout the website. This saves us time allowing us to post
your content sooner.
Item
Bad Example
Correct Example
Time Ranges
9:00 am to 5p.m.
9am to 5pm
or 8:30am to 5:10pm
Phone Numbers
000 000 - 0000
(000) 000-0000
Good Web Writing Practices
Good Web Writing Practices
Clear —Ensure your writing is exceptionally clear to others. Always put yourself in the position of
the reader.
Concise— Web visitors are looking for quick & fast answers. Concise copy is more impactful and directly
to the point. Trim whatever content is not needed and your reader will have an easier
time locating that golden needle in a haystack.
Consistent —The eye scans visually for colors, boldness, spacing. Always check your usage of UPPERCASE, Sentence Case,
periods, bold to be consistent.
Headlines & Subheads - Put extra effort into choosing the correct verbiage for these. They act as directional
signage on a highway getting visitors to their intended destination. The first word
should most often be what separates and is unique over other headlines. "Masters
Program Benchmarks" is better than " The Benchmarks of the Masters Program at CSU"
Repetition— Avoid using the same word repeatedly at the start of each item in a series. Better
to move that word into a headline and use a bulleted or numbered list. Proof your
copy to not have the same sentence or another form of the same thought in your copy.
Abbreviate repetitive words, and only show the unabbreviated version once at the beginning
of your story.
Scrolling— Remove excessive words and elements that cause scrolling. You want a breadcrumb
trail on every page, so that you get a visual of what the next item of interest is
without having to scroll. Even abbreviating "and" to "&" can make make a headline
in a column take up on less line of type.
Visual— Use tables, bulleted lists, images, logos, slideshows & videos. "An image is worth
1000 words."
Meet with Us
Google meetings are a great way to discuss updates and improvements to your website.
These often work better than in person, as we can share our screens. Please invite:
Email websupport@csu.edu with the folder prefixes you wish deleted. We can delete a link in that folder path
you see up in the web adress.
Spelling & Grammar
The free Grammarly chrome extension significantly improves your spelling & grammar. This works on any text being edited
in webpage text input fields including gmail & google docs. Grammarly works OUCampus
classic version (click on edit button), but not in the new mode (shift-click on edit
button). Grammarly often flags adding "the" for web writing you can avoid adding an
extra word if is good without.
VPN Access
Is no longer needed to update website, since the update of the update to Omni CMS.
You will need VPN Access for information that is not public, such as cougar connect or campus phone directory
Is responsible for the design and upkeep of the CSU website.
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