The University's external website is undergoing a refresh to update certain design elements, functionality and content, as part of a project ending on 31 July 2020.
This space will keep you up to date with what we're doing, why and what those changes mean for you.
[Coffee break]
At the start of the year we planned the website refresh project according to a number of key deliverables we needed to achieve by the end of July 2020.
However, this plan could not possibly have factored in the global pandemic which has changed all our daily lives, as spring turned into summer.
We've taken a few minutes out for a virtual coffee break to reflect back over the last few months and share a few thoughts on how we have worked on a project of this scale during the pandemic.
Over the last few weeks, we have been taking the
time to evaluate a very busy and productive phase one, which has included iterating on a number of existing features after further user testing.
As part of this process, we have upgraded Ruby on Rails, the system which runs our website, to maximise our platform for moving into phase two of the project. We have also fine-tuned a number of CMS features and fixed some bugs.
Within the back end itself, CMS users will notice an increased performance in article select boxes. This should improve the speed of loading feature panels such as montages. When selecting an article to link to, it will work just as before, simply type the first 3 letters of the article you want to link to into the search box.
Other updates include:
Further developments continue to take place to improve user and CMS functionality as we move our thinking towards the phase two project deliverables.
We have talked about our agile approach to website development and this continues to be at the heart of the project as we move into phase two. We will build upon and refine what we have delivered in phase one, as well as planning and delivering new elements.
The key to a successful agile methodology is working towards a MVP – a Minimum Viable Product. An MVP allows you to test your beliefs in the most affordable way. As a process, it requires both flexibility and discipline. It will help reduce risks and make the team more adaptable to change in a digitally sustainable way.
Following an agile methodology and working in an iterative way towards MVPs is a successful model to help with our digital sustainability. Thinking sustainably is an important ethos of our website refresh project. We can produce and development a platform desirable for our audiences and contribute to making Plymouth a green university through our iterative approach.
But it's not just about what our external users see. Much thought goes into the tools behind the scenes to make sure we're not inadvertently creating onerous tasks to update these new features. This allows us to release useful products in an efficient manner, saving time, costs, energy and lowering our digital footprint as we maintain content long term.
Homepages used to be viewed as a concise reflection of an entire website and the main entrance way into other pages. It was the front door to the shop, guiding us to the appropriate aisles, so we could buy what we wanted.
Today, entering through this front door is no longer needed. The way our minds and search engines work, means we can often bypass the front door and be taken straight to the item on the shelf we want to learn more about.
So now a homepage may or may not be the first page a user visits, but it is certainly always a take-off point to other pages. It needs to be easy to understand and navigate, allowing your different audiences to quickly find the information they are searching for.
The most important page on your website is the one page most relevant to the user’s current requirements. A homepage should not bombard a user with information. It needs to take the user where they want to go in a matter of seconds.
Dropdown megamenus, like the one we have recently introduced to our website, include links to the main top-level sections of a website – the essence of what the organisation is – in a clear, structured way.
Over the last few months redesigning our homepage, through a range of discussions and analysis, we knew we wanted it to:
It's still important to remember though, that every page is responsible for creating a first impression and communicating the goals of our website.
Blog post
Discover what makes a good homepage and how to efficiently help users get to where they need to go.
360 media can now be shown in Text and Image and Case Study feature panels in the CMS.
This is a great way to include relevant virtual tour imagery on courses and other relevant pages. Our location, teaching facilities, labs, studios and workshops and accommodation options can be shown on the pages where audiences are already seeking helpful information.
Users across devices will have the option to observe the image or choose to activate 360 scrolling by selecting 'Load 360 view' or custom text.
You can now create and add an image gallery to your staff page, giving you the opportunity to show examples of your teaching and research to visitors to your profile.
Have a project to share? A new book published? Is your latest collection of work available to share? If so, you can feature this in four different types of image galleries.
You can add images to different formats of gallery, from standard to grid and photo strip. Standard galleries allow links to YouTube videos which can be played on the page, too.
Any images you add to your staff profile will be stored in your own personal media library, content from which can only be used on your profile.
We have introduced a new streamlined navigation menu as part of the wider development work for the homepage of the website. This is a replacement to the previous website navigation bar for desktop and mobile devices. Our new design includes a drop-down menu which shows users important parts of the website in one click.
And this is just the start of a content review process...
Moving forwards, there will be further auditing of content and a refresh of other sections of the website.
We will continue to review analytics and engage in conversations with relevant stakeholders during future phases.
Blog post
Find out more about the megamenu.
During the life of the project, course page templates will be reviewed to ensure key facts that sell the course are prominent and users can follow easy calls to action (CTA) to apply. Related information important to applicants will also be made more visible, for example accommodation and location information.
In this first phase, a major update was to amend key CTAs, including applying via UCAS, signing up to a Virtual Open Day/Plymouth On Demand (POD) and prominent information to help prospective students to find what they need during the coronavirus pandemic.
Blog post
Find out more about our updated course page design and new features in development.
A major deliverable is to develop features and modifications for a new homepage design.
Every webpage on our site is built by adding different content modules to a standard page template in our CMS – we call these feature panels.
Following a smart approach based on clever iterations of current content modules, we have improved existing feature panels to refresh appearance and functionality, in a timely and cost-effective manner.
A staging site and the power of our current CMS ensures we can development, test and deploy updated feature panel elements in the least disruptive way to our end users and stakeholders.
A number of existing feature panels have the option for CMS super users to select a different design for homepage inclusion.
Other updates include:
Blog post
Find out more about our updated homepage design and our modular way of developing new features for the website.
Staff profiles (formerly Personal Professional Pages or PPPs) can now be edited in the website Content Management System (CMS), with new editing tools replacing older systems.
These pages are available for every member of staff to keep biography, teaching, research and publications information up to date for their audiences.
A strong staff profile helps visitors associate a name with a face (and a title) and will increase engagement in your area of expertise by allowing the personality behind your teaching or research to shine through.
Rather than simply functioning as a contact page, a staff profile should be seen as an engaging landing page to showcase your expertise.
As a website userI want to see clear CTAs on pagesso that I can quickly take action
Watch: A vlog demonstrating the evolution of CTAs on our website
We have updated the visual style of call to action (CTAs) across articles, school and course pages.
This will help users perform valuable actions such as registering for open days, applying via UCAS and collaborating with our researchers.
CTAs are important because they signpost or encourage the user to take the next step. They should be direct and use active language. [Content Design London Readability Guidelines]
A huge content creation and curation exercise has taken place, with staff making Zoom recordings of their open day talks, workshops and demonstrations.
These recordings have been presented in an 'on demand' playlist, allowing prospective students to find out more whenever they like about their subjects of interest without needing to sign up and wait for a specific open day date. Enquiry data is then captured through sign-ups for live Q&As and further talks.
Thank you to those who have pulled out all the stops to create this new content.
This form is critical as a means of capturing enquiry data and starting to build conversations with prospective students who would normally be able to attend an open day on campus.
A large piece of analysis, testing and integration work has been undertaken to allow a new form builder to be used, not just for this enquiry form, but for all web forms. This gives us the ability to create and amend forms without technical development for each one, becoming much more responsive to audience needs and creating simple, quick ways for website users to get in touch with us.
The forms can link automatically to Salesforce, our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system for tracking applicant enquiries, sending communications and monitoring student recruitment numbers.
Work to compile a directory of expertise has been ongoing for some time, with the Media and Communications Team holding a list of media-trained staff available to talk to the media on certain topics.
This work has, until now, been presented as a 'manual' collection of web pages, without the ability to search or reuse content across different parts of the website where it could be useful to users.
The purpose of the directory remains to encourage members of the media to contact the Media and Communications team so that requests for interviews can be logged and coordinated.
If you have any questions to ask or suggestions to share, please do get in touch with us at digitalmarketing@plymouth.ac.uk