Before You Add New Content
How often have you heard, "Hey, we should put that on our website!" Hmmm. Maybe yes, maybe no. It's best to think carefully about the potential new content before deciding your website is a good choice. Some questions to consider:
Is similar information already out there?
If someone else is already maintaining a page with this (or similar) information, there's no need to duplicate their work. It might make more sense to link to that web page, or ask the other web editor to add your information to their page.
How will the new content fit into the structure of your current web site?
Look at all the parts of your website and try to find a logical location for the new content (e.g., in your Student Resources content folder)? If you can't find a good fit, it might be time to re-evaluate the new content and confirm: Here's why this content is important; our audiences expect to find this content on our website.
Is it an event? Post it to your event calendar and recommend the event to other units who might be interested – you can broaden your potential audience.
Is it a video? A&S has a YouTube channel where units can post videos. Touch base with the Dean's Office about the best ways to (a) post the video to YouTube, (b) make sure the captions are edited and confirm to ADA standards, and (c) embed the video on a Cascade web page or widget.
Can you realistically support the new content, keeping it accurate and up to date?
Bad information is worse than no information. When there are several out-of-date pages on a site, people start to question the viability of the entire program. "Wow – they haven't updated their site in over two years. Is it still a thing? What else is wrong?"
If you and your supervisor cannot commit to the time it takes to keep the new content truthful and up to date, don't post it. How fast will the new content become inaccurate or dated?
For example, it can seem like a great idea to have a page showcasing faculty research. But if the most recent book or article on the page was published five years ago ... it looks like your faculty aren't publishing very much. Before committing to this type of content, ask: How will we get new information and stay current? Who will do the work (e.g., prepare accurate information, find and prepare images, revise the web page)? Think through the effort it will take to keep the content current. Is it worth it?
These same questions apply to social media accounts.
News stories are different. Each story is a snapshot of an exciting moment in time. And since the story carries a date, it never really gets "old." News listings are a little different. If the most recent news story in your list is more than a few months old - people will wonder why you haven't done anything lately.
How should the new content be presented?
Okay, you've decided the new content belongs on your website. But where, and how? Maybe you want a basic web page with a title, some text, and a medium-size image. Or is this really a news story? Or would it be better to set up a gallery of large-scale, beautiful images with captions? A grid of boxes with text and photos?
Understand the different page type options you have under the A&S asset factory. If there is a page on the W&M web site that you want to use as a model, but don't know how to create it, [[kalarrieu, contact Kathy]].
Map Out a Sensible Plan
Before you start loading content into Cascade, you should have a clear idea of what you're aiming for and how people will use the content. Part of your plan is prepping all the elements you'll be adding (e.g., text, images, captions, anything else). Crop and size images to the correct format so they're optimized for web display. Edit and caption the video. Make sure the amount of work involved isn't more than the value of posting the new information.
About PDFs
Most of the time, posting content as a pdf is not advised. Scoop the text from a .pdf so you can present it as a web page.
Here's when to post a pdf:
- If people will want to print the information, or if it's a long report: Post the pdf. Even then, consider a page summarizing the main points and provide the link there.
- Is this content a form? Consider using Qualtrics or DocuSign. Otherwise, turn it into a fillable pdf and post that.
