Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Happy Holidays from Web Services!

We hope everyone has a joyful month, and let's hope for a little snow while we are on holiday break!

Happy Holidays from Web Services!

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Homepage 2.0 Goes Live Today

Web Services has been working on solving a number of bugs found on the homepage and making some improvements to the page interface for better functionality on all devices. After all the device testing, we are rolling out Homepage 2.0 today.

Homepage 2.0 Bug and Change List

  • Bug fixes for iPhones, Androids, and Windows Phones.
  • Fixed hanging on scrolling up and down the page on mobile versions.
  • Fixed expanding/contracting menus on mobile navigation.
  • Improved mobile navigation.
  • Fixed background page appearing underneath mobile menus and search fields.
  • New and smoother header reveal on scroll up and disappear on scroll down to provide more real estate for page content.
  • Mobile navigation appears and disappears smoother.
  • Improved tabbing through items and navigation on the page.
  • Improved form field validation checking.
  • Improved load time.
Should you discover any problems or have compliments on the changes (we love hearing when we've done something right), please Submit Feedback on the Changes for the Homepage.

Technical Bug and Change List

Mobile-Specific Bugs

  • iOS8
    • scroll unresponsive
    • mobile main Menu jitter
    • quick double tap closes menus
  • Windows Phone
    • search clicks register to other elements
    • scrolling in mobile windows phone during search scrolls down to main page

Sticky Header

  • added 3 states to the mobile and desktop header
  • transitions between hide, show, and -200px off-screen
  • major  CSS changes supporting elements to allow position relative as a default position when resting at the top

Lazy Load Bugs

  • $("[data-original]”) looped to itemize each element after the dynamic elements are loaded
  • fixed footer images not loading properly

Form Inputs and Validity in Webkit

  • HTML5 enforced validity for HTML5 compatible browsers
  • JS added code to enforce validation in Webkit.  
  • Webkit requires special CSS in iOS to display properly

Collapsify (for expanding/contracting menus, etc.)

  • modularized plugin for collapsing elements
  • optional and default closed and open elements
  • list item as a link not working

Sliderific (for sliding images, news, etc.)

  • now accepts position and button size

Top Nav Hide/Show Delay

  • same as banner code
  • code is in stacked template

Dynamic Menus

  • basic ul li elements
  • datetimestamp to pull fresh data every time minimize cached elements
  • Collapsify after instance load

Unified Mobile and Desktop Search

  • made search a separate div for flow and accessibility
  • moved search default position farther off-screen in CSS as default position in mobile
  • float width bug
  • float over login hides search
  • search font sizes
    • mobile
    • desktop

All Animations are 3D CSS

  • to top
  • audience and main mobile menus
  • search
  • sticky header

Search

  • strange block appearing after search results elements removed
  • appears modal with a grey background on desktop
  • improved More button and flow functionality

CSS

  • only hide tags 
  • indent all code appropriate to width
  • removed deprecated code

Changes in Cascade Server

  • moved around elements in template and created new instances
  • added document.ready to Tarleton F.O.C.U.S. block in all stacked template modules
-Karole and Ernesto

Monday, November 17, 2014

Web Styling 101: Quick Tips

WantWeb Fashionista to become a web fashionista? Or, do you just want some styling tips to help engage your audience? Look no further, because I've got some tips for you!

Web Services intends to offer a "Styling for the Web" course soon, but in the meantime, please make use of the following tips that I extracted from Hampshire College in Amherst, MA:


  • Use short paragraphs. Large blocks of text can look like walls, and act as such to the user. Research has shown that short, concise paragraphs and bulleted lists work best for web use.
  • Your first paragraph is the most important one. As such, it should be brief, clear, and to the point in order to quickly engage the user. One sentence paragraphs are encouraged.
  • Write in an inverted pyramid style. Place the most important information at the top, extra info toward the bottom.
  • In most cases, it's best to use subheadings to clarify the subject of various sections on a page. Users want to skim and scan for information. Headings help this process exponentially.

  • Don't waste space "welcoming" people to the page. There is no need, and most users ignore any welcome text as filler. Get to the meat - that is what they came for.
    Cut, cut, cut!
  • Just when you think you are done, look again. Cut, cut, and cut your text until it is the most essential message.
  • Name your page clearly. The page title and the navigation title should match as closely as possible. They should also clearly articulate the subject of the page. Do not use "Welcome to Marketing & Communications!" Instead, say "Department of Marketing & Communications."
  • Do not tell users to "use the links on the left." Put the information or links you are referring to right there instead, or just let them find the navigation on their own - if it is clearly visible on the page they will find it.
THIS IS CONSIDERED YELLING ON THE WEB. DO NOT YELL AT YOUR USERS ON TH EWEB. UNLESS YOU CAN BUY THEM ALL CUPCAKES TO MAKE UP FOR IT.
  • Use bold and italics sparingly. Bold should be used for headings and then sparingly for any other emphasis. Too much bold makes text harder, not easier, to read and differentiate.
  • Italics should also be used sparingly. Italics on the web are also hard to read. Try to avoid making long paragraphs italic - you are making the text harder to read, not giving it emphasis. Exceptions are book titles and other grammar stylings.
  • Do not underline text. On the web underline = link. Giving a sentence an underline for emphasis is misleading. And again, you don't really need it.
  • Use all caps very sparingly. Research shows all caps are harder to read than mixed case.
  • Don't try to emphasize too much. If you use bolded headings, short paragraphs, and bulleted lists, you should not need to rely on italics, all caps, or underlining for emphasis. These styles can make the page look messy and compete for the user's attention.
  • Avoid exclamation points. We know Tarleton is awesome! We love it! But exclamation points on websites make can make it look unprofessional! Let the content speak for itself.
Headers and other images
  • Use a header image that is relevant to the subject matter.
  • Avoid pictures of buildings without people. You may know that a picture of the exterior of the Welcome Center fits well for a page, but to most people, and especially to those who are not familiar with our campus, it is meaningless. Remember your users do not have your insider knowledge. Give them pictures of people interacting instead of abstract building pics whenever possible.
  • Let the Web Services office help you put images neatly into your content area. Break up your text with relevant images.

  • Make sure you have accurate copyright permissions to use any picture. Just because it is on the internet does not mean it is free to use. When in doubt, please contact Daphne Hunt at djhunt@tarleton.edu.
Miscellaneous
  • Link, link, and link to relevant information. If you mention a program, link to it. If you include an email address, make it an email link. If you mention a faculty member, link to their bio page. Don't make people go and search for something that you mention if it already has a page somewhere.
  • Make your links contextual. Avoid "Click here." Use part of the actual referencing sentence as the link. Research shows that users like them to be 4-8 words in length.
Do not use:
For commencement information for graduating students click here.

Do use:
Commencement information for graduating students is now available.
  • Avoid jump (anchor) links except on long pages such as FAQs. Research shows that today's web users don't mind scrolling if the content is useful and easy to scan. Anchor points just make pages longer, and are used too often on pages that are already a reasonable length. If you are not sure, please contact Daphne Hunt at djhunt@tarleton.edu so we can discuss it. If you do want to use anchor links, then there are best practices that should be followed.
  • Keep your content up to date. Out-of-date content reflects poorly on the user's overall opinion of the website and the university. It also degrades the trust of the user to later find information on the website. If you put up info that needs to be updated later, mark it on your calendar so you don't forget.
 -Daphne

Tips were extracted from Hampshire College's website.

Friday, October 31, 2014

Highlights from the HighEdWeb 2014 Conference - Daphne's Perspective

Oh, Oregon...do I miss thee. Your gigantic trees, your rolling hills and towering mountains, your soft never-ending rain. Oh - and the 700+ congregation of higher ed web professionals!

Morgan and I had the opportunity to attend this year's HighEdWeb conference in Portland, Oregon which was just last week. This is one of the best conferences in the country for those in our profession. Savvy speakers, seven different tracks, networking and collaboration sessions/events, workshops, and a WHOLE lot of enthusiasm.

HighEdWeb session with standing-room only
Popular session at #heweb14 (#mpd3) with Morgan and Daphne sitting on the floor! Courtesy +Lougan Bishop
Morgan and I split up for many of the sessions and I attended quite a few management and professional development ones in addition to some in marketing, accessibility/usability, and development/architecture. I have to say, some of the most interesting sessions were in the management/professional development track.

The best of conference winner is Dave Cameron's HUMAN at work presentation about how to deal with "all the things" at work, including tasks, people, stress, and information overload.

Give yourself the gift of fewer decisions. Free up the cognitive space to encourage creativity & productivity. - Danielle Stapleon
His five goals for being a productive human being are so simple yet brilliant.
  1. Be honest - with yourself and others, subjectively and objectively. Pay attention to your internalized priorities, be real with yourself when interpreting your own performance levels, and don't live in denial. But also measure and capture data, develop reports and analyze your progress - facts speak volumes. Admit to your mistakes with others and give the feedback you would want to hear yourself.

  2. Be unafraid - mistakes are just a part of life. Have confidence, and don't be intimidated by those rock stars! Let go of those irrational fears like change and gossip. And don't be overwhelmed by complexity - take it one step at a time.

  3. Be mindful and focused. Tools to help your workday are AWESOME but don't let them rule your life. We can easily get overwhelmed by email, tasks, calendars and meetings. Use email just for communicating to groups, documenting info, and sending files - don't let it be the boss of you. Turn your email push notifications off and commit to checking your email just twice a day. Review your outstanding tasks daily and prioritize, place them in a project management system like Asana (that is what Web Services uses!) Use your calendar to schedule work tasks and breaks, and consider things like "no-meeting Mondays." Speaking of meetings, don't sit on your phone during them and be sure to take notes and report/share with your team.

  4. Be active - walk and get up periodically. Build a work-out routine. Staying active helps your focus and energy throughout the day. Start your day with a "focus" activity such as a card game, puzzle, or drawing to get your brain going. Keep your workspace clean and organized and consider a more ergonomic desk set-up such as a standing desk. Listen to music with headphones while you are trying to concentrate.

  5. Be nice to your fellow humans! Be a proud member of your team. Support your co-workers, be social, take ownership of your role, and give them a heads-up when you can. Show up to work with a positive attitude - if you are having a bad day, just put on a smile and bear it. Treat others the way you want to be treated.
 Love the idea of No-Meeting Mondas & Fix-It Fridays. I need to be better w/developing dedicated work blocks in my schedule. -Nicole Lentine
    So in summary we have:
    Honest, Unafraid, Mindful, Active, Nice
    Graphic extracted from Dave Cameron's slide deck.

    Isn't that a nifty acronym?

    To view the whole slide deck, check out Dave Cameron's Tumblr. To view related tweets, look up #heweb14 and #mpd9 on Twitter.

    -Daphne

    Tuesday, October 14, 2014

    "Meet the Staff" Series - Daphne Hunt, Director

    Web Services would like to share with the community a bit about our team such as what we do, "a day in the life", and other interesting things about the make-up of our team members. Each Web Services member contributes something very important (and very different) to the overall team. To start off with, here is a little bit about myself! -Daphne

    Full name: Daphne Jo Hunt
    Daphne Hunt
    Title: Director of Web Services
    Length of time in Web Services at Tarleton: 8 years
    Top three areas of expertise: Web strategy, web team/project management, graphic design
    Topic Interests: Same as expertise, with additional interests in video production, photography, and web analytics
    Favorite thing about my job: Working with such a talented group of staff members each and every day!
    Favorite hobby: Making crafts! I have a craft room at home and have recently made hair bows, a fall wreath, and a "fairy garden" for my bird bath.

    A "Day in the Life":
    1. Check homepage for any out-of-date information and make sure important information gets posted. (Tarleton's homepage is my "baby" that I must keep nurtured.)
    2. Check and respond to emails throughout the day (which as you know can take a while here at Tarleton!)
    3. As the day rolls along, check in with all the members of my team to see how they are doing. Since we are all in the same office area, it doesn't take too long to figure out what's going on!
    4. Go to meetings. We love to collaborate and share information with other departments, so I do spend a lot of my time in meetings. Anywhere from 2-4 hours a day on average. I meet with Marketing & Communications, Information Technology Services, and many other teams on campus. I get to meet a lot of people in my position!
    5. Monitor my team's projects & tasks on Asana. We enter all of our projects and tasks to this system in order to keep track of and prioritize all of our outstanding projects and tasks. At any given time, my team can have over 100 pending tasks in the queue as a whole! We each get several tasks done each day so we are constantly making headway.
    6. Develop strategies for improving our web presence and for improving how we communicate changes to campus. Making policies and guidelines for the web is one thing, but communicating those things to campus is just as important. I also give guidance to my staff about how to communicate to our colleagues, because I believe strongly in transparency, respectfulness, timeliness, and reinforcement.
    7. Give feedback and advice on projects and tasks. I help to ensure we are still moving in the right direction and at an appropriate speed to get things done.
    8. Team meetings: We usually have an official team meeting one or two times a week to discuss major projects and other topics that have come up during the week. We also have several "unofficial" team meetings during the week as needed - if nothing else, to just be able to share a joke and keep everyone in high spirits on a stressful day!
    9. Design graphics such as homepage highlights and advertising banners. I love graphic design so I section off a sliver of my day to work on these types of tasks.

    Thursday, September 25, 2014

    Southern Hospitality and Hannon Hill

    Last week, I went to Atlanta for the annual Cascade Server Users Conference hosted by Hannon Hill.  In true southern form, we received the best in hospitality, and in true Cascade Server User form, everyone contributed in some way to the learning of all the other conference attendees.

    In fact, the XSLT guru Jason Aller (to whom I bow down to with great respect, since I program in the XSLT language to make Cascade work), from University of California, Davis - School of Law, gave Tarleton State University kudos for our content management procedures in his presentation "In Pursuit of the Grand Unified Template." Consistency is important to provide a professional marketing and communications tool. If there are deviations from the branding, the style and tone, they look like mistakes and have the potential to push away our constituents.
    Jason Aller and Karole Schroeder after his presentation "In Pursuit of the Grand Unified Template"
    Jason Aller and Karole Schroeder after his presentation "In Pursuit of the Grand Unified Template"

    During another presentation by Fran Zablocki, Strategist for mStoner, called "Information Architecture and User Experience: The Journey, The Destination, The Return Trip," I could only imagine Morgan, our Web Content Specialist, smiling wide-eyed as she consumed exciting new information at some points and nodding her head in agreement on others concerning many of the strategies used to make content work on a web page if she had been with me.

    Sometimes it feels good to hear that others are thinking about things the same way we are because while we may be working on the technical aspects, very rarely do people outside our occupations truly understand the trials we go through to improve web design to increase usability for all our constituents. Conferences like these both teach us and build us up as a community. I appreciate what Hannon Hill does to constantly bring us all together working towards the benefit of all.

    -Karole

    Friday, September 12, 2014

    Student Employee of the Semester for Summer 2014!

    We awarded the Student Employee of the Semester for Summer 2014 last night, and the award went to Maria Guillen!

    Left to Right: Daphne Hunt, Maria Guillen, Morgan Hammond

    Maria is a very hard-working student, taking much initiative to get work done for the College of Business Administration (COBA) on her own. She is skilled at organizing information on the web and collecting student testimonials for COBA's website. Maria works with faculty in order to get information needed for the college's websites. She will be graduating with her B.S. in Computer Information Systems in December, therefore moving on to new horizons. We are going to miss her!

    We also had the opportunity to take a group photo of all the Web Services employees last night. I'm so proud of this team and all of their accomplishments and talents. Every single person is valued and appreciated in this office and I am so looking forward to working with this team this year!

    Left to right: Josh Roelofs, Maria Guillen, Danielle Dunigan, Katie Taylor, Silvia Fuentes, Karole Schroeder, Tori Jones, Morgan Hammond, Daphne Hunt, Jennifer Kiggins, Ernesto (Ernie) Martinez
    -Daphne :)

    Tarleton Mobile App

    Web Services, Information Technology Services (ITS), and the Digital Media Advisory Committee have been working for several months to prepare and implement a new mobile app for Tarleton.

    The app is created by Ellucian, the company which also brings us MyGateway (Luminis), Ducktrax (Student Self-Service), and Banner. Becky Gray, CIO and Executive Director of Information Technology Services at Tarleton, saw a demo of the app at a conference during spring of 2013. Because Tarleton did not have a primary app for the institution AND there was a need to provide a mobile-friendly way to access student services, Becky investigated Ellucian's app further and made the decision to purchase.

    The Digital Media Advisory Committee began discussing the app's look and feel as well as content to be placed in the app during the spring of 2014. One of the deciding factors about content was whether or not it is "mobile-friendly".  Currently, there is no "free" mobile-friendly interface for Blackboard, so the decision was made to not link to Blackboard from the app. However, since TexanSync already had a mobile-friendly interface, we decided to include a link to that website.

    We also included links to student email, Tarleton's news and events, social media, emergency contacts, campus maps and directory, athletics, and several more items. And of course, students are able to access their grades and schedules from the app as well!

    -Daphne Hunt

    From a Student's Perspective
    Tori Jones, Assistant Intern in Web Services:


    From my perspective this app has really made my life a little bit easier. My favorite part of the app is when you click on courses - it shows you what courses you have, what time they are at and even has them all laid out in a schedule. You are also able to access your grades in classes from past semesters, which I found was really convenient because sometimes I like to look back and see what my grades are looking like as a whole, and being able to see that I had a B in that class, or an A in another class really helps things stay organized.

    Another thing that the app comes in handy for on a student's perspective is the link to TexanSync. Being a student worker for Web Services, as well as a Residential Leader, I use TexanSync quite a bit. Having that direct access from the app to TexanSync allows me to have access to important things that I need to know and event times with a touch of a button, literally.

    As a Residential Leader, there comes times that call for emergency contacts needing to be reached. With the new app, not only are the University Police Department's number available at the click of a button, but the Erath County Sheriff's Office, and Stephenville Police Department numbers are programmed in as well.

    This app was something special for Tarleton that was long awaited, with all the new technologies coming into play, it was just a countdown to when we would finally get this app. It's got a really good look to it, and not only that it's extremely easy to use - from having links to student email, TexanSync, Emergency Contacts, and everything in-between, it's definitely a must have!

    Monday, August 4, 2014

    New Workshop: Making Updates in Cascade Server

    Cascade Server
    Web Services invites you to attend our August Workshop:
    "Using Cascade Server to Make Timely Web Updates,"
    led by Morgan Hammond, Web Content Specialist for the Office of Web Services.

    The workshop will be @ 3:45P on August 15, immediately following the Cascade Training.  It will be held in the Library Training Center, which is accessible from the new Library Commons area on the main floor of the Dick Smith Library. 

    This workshop will allow you to spend an hour making your web updates alongside other web maintainers and Web Services Employees. You can ask questions and get one-on-one help with those hard to make edits. This is a great way to get out of your office and away from distractions to make those much needed updates!

    Should I attend this workshop?

    Yes:

    1. If you regularly write and make updates to a Tarleton site, you will learn about the latest updates to Cascade Server, the effective use of Cascade tools and get solutions to common problems you have struggled with over and over while making updates to your site.
    2. If you have been tasked as a Web Maintainer and already attended training this workshop is an easy way get a jump start on those edits, or build your confidence.

    No:

    1. If you have not already attended training, this workshop will leave you with more questions than answers.
    2. If you want a course in HTML writing, Web Services does not provide training or courses in HTML.
    3. If you want to redesign or change the layout of your pages, please contact Web Services to schedule a consultation.

    Take Aways

    While our one hour training sessions are a great start, we realize that most learn from doing. You will be able to build your confidence, get advice from the experts, and be able to make updates faster after attending this one hour workshop.

    Cascade Training

    If you are interested in attending a training session, you can see a list of scheduled training sessions on our website. To RSVP to a scheduled training, send an email to mhammond@tarleton.edu. Please be sure to have your immediate supervisor request your access to Cascade and fill out the Cascade Server User Agreement prior to your training.

    Monday, July 28, 2014

    #MondayFunday: Cappuccino Lays

    In order to make our Monday morning a little more bearable, I brought in the new Cappuccino Lays chips to do an office taste-test.


    The only person who really liked the chips was the same person that does not like potato chips OR coffee. Go figure!

    -Daphne

    Thursday, July 17, 2014

    Other universities in the media

    (Photo from nicolasconnault)
    Web Services' staff is tasked with evaluating Tarleton's web pages and vendor-contracted web pages/technology for accessibility, copyright, and security issues. This is a tedious yet necessary responsibility that the university is required by law to perform. As we have learned more about these federal requirements, we have over time made our evaluations more stringent.

    We have observed the ramifications of what happens when a university ignores its obligation to abide Section 508/TAC 206, U.S. Copyright Law, and TAC 202. We do not want similar actions taken against Tarleton, which is why we adamantly check our websites, software, and other technology for compliance.

    Doing these evaluations does take some time. Sometimes I would rather be working on web graphics or designing web layouts. However, if we do not take the time to evaluate, a reprimand (or worse) is just inevitable.

    The following are examples of universities who have been reprimanded/sued/reported for not complying with accessibility requirements. I think you will be surprised!
    Here is an example of a situation where the owner of non-popular blog was sued for copyright infringement on one image. And no, universities can not claim "fair use" on images posted on it's public website - they must follow the same rules.
    Due diligence is the key here. And even though these are requirements by law, shouldn't we at least feel morally obligated to provide equal rights to services and prevent theft? I think so!

    -Daphne

      Monday, June 23, 2014

      Searching for a search

      Inception

      In the beginning...there was responsive design for the website. It was good, but there had to be a better way to search on the website. So the search began for a better search. It had to be light so phones could access it, and it had to be easy to use so users wouldn't have to waste too much time keying in their search request.

      The Search

      Like many other colleges and universities, Tarleton utilized Google's Custom Search Engine to search our website. As we saw from other universities using the Google search, results would always appear on a generic results page, however we needed more control over the results because of issues our users had from this search engine:
      • Results would rank our departmental pages inaccurately
      • Results for the existing online phone directory couldn't be combined with the Google results
      We needed more information and less information all at the same time. We wanted our search to provide better results for what users requested as well as more options to fine-tune their request results.

      We found that Facebook's search function was different. It was full-featured, and at the same time unobtrusive and minimalist. We liked the idea of providing categories (i.e., search the web, search the phone directory, search the website directory) for fine-tuning search results, and we could add more categories as needed (i.e., search the press releases). Web Services staff all agreed that the Facebook search style was the direction we needed to go due to its flexibility.

      Creation

      Caution: Technical jargon ahead. 

      We had some feeds we could implement immediately our search, so in order to make them better for phones and just easier to use, I rewrote them to spit out JSON, which is an easier feed to manipulate (items being requested were just plain raw datum) and style for our use (no need to work around Google's styles to make the content appear seamlessly as part of the Tarleton website user interface). I also made use of AJAX, so the page would not need to be refreshed or open a new page which saves mobile phones from wasting data. In a world where a phone is taxed on how much data it uses, every kilobyte counts.

      As of this post we have:
      • People and Departments
      • Website Directory (formerly the A-Z Directory)
      • Google
      • News
      People and Departments is our updated phone and email directory. We wanted the results to be more accessible from a mobile phone, since smart phones can make calls off numbers displayed on web browsers. Also our desk phones connected to our desktop computers (and Cisco Jabber) can make use of the calling feature just by clicking the telephone icon.

      Website Directory (A-Z Directory) was pretty straight forward. Cascade Server (our Content Management System) publishes an XML file that one of my search scripts parses for absolute matches or keyword alternatives. Karole cooked it up to be easy to modify with keywords that should be connected to each website or webpage for quicker, more accurate search results.

      Google was a little tricky. The API Google provides for integrating Google search results on another website generally only allows for a limited number of results. To retrieve a longer list of results, you have to submit a request for the next set of results. That doesn't fly with what we were trying to accomplish in our seamless integration. In the background, when the user selects the 'More' button, a script runs loops to collect 100 searches. If Google runs out of results (which it won't), it stops the loop. In either case, it returns a JSON file with the results. The Google search results are the same results you see if you search directly on the Google Search website.

      News pulls its data from our press releases maintained by Media Relations. It just searches for anything with the search criteria and spits it back. We already had an implementation based on JSON and AJAX that use for the news stories on the front page, so it was very easy to just request news stories with a search term.

      Potential Future Projects


      We have thrown around the idea of adding degree program searching, locations on campus, and specific keyword translations based on analytics (e.g., finding a department whose name has changed).

      Feedback

      If you would like to provide feedback to us about the new search, such as ways to improve, just submit your feedback to our online form

      Keep calm and search on.

      -Ernie

      Tuesday, May 27, 2014

      Hiring students for making web page updates

      It is very common for departments to hire students to make web page updates for their areas – and we support that! We recommend that if you are hiring a student worker/technician/intern for this purpose that you consult Web Services before making the hire.
      • We can help you determine how much workforce you need to work on your website(s) – do you need one or two students, or do we have office resources we can provide to you as well?
      • We can offer advice on what qualities to look for in a student for this type of position. They should be technologically proficient and have good grammar skills, among other things.
      • We will be required to train the student to use Cascade Server (our content management system) for updating your pages before they receive access to the system, and your student may need ongoing training as well.

      If you can involve us at the beginning of the process, we will do what we can to advise you along the way. Thanks so much!

      -Daphne

      Wednesday, May 21, 2014

      Sharing Your Story

      I had the privilege of sitting in on the taping of our most recent Faculty Unscripted video with Dr. Joanna Shaw.  While I found the technical nature of videography to be interesting, Dr. Shaw's stories of family ties to Tarleton, her passion for students, and classroom interactions, really captured my attention.  Maybe it was the dark room or her kind voice, either way I was taken.  I found her stories to be authentic and full of detail.

      "Share Your Story" graphic with Dr. Joanna Shaw during filming

      Dr. Shaw has a real passion for her students and it shows.  Students are her favorite part of the job "because I meet students I would have never ran across at any other path in my life". She strives to make a connection with students by asking questions like, "What is best thing that's happened to you since we last met", prompting students to share their own stories.

      As I reflect on Dr. Shaw's video, I am reminded of an article I read in Entrepreneur Magazine called "Why Leaders Are Great Storytellers".  This article, while lengthy, talks about the fact that stories do not need to be complex to be effective, nor do you have to have some great power to tell a story.  It is all about helping others connect.  If someone can see the impact and the emotion in your story, they are more likely to connect.  As Dr. Shaw says, "these are the things that make us as humans unique".  So I would encourage you all to share your stories, and share what makes you unique.  Better yet, share your story and connection to our University because you are what makes Tarleton unique!

      Are you willing to make a connection?
      Do you have a story to tell?

      We are always looking for story tellers and would love to hear yours!

      -Morgan

      Thursday, May 15, 2014

      We're making new web page designs!

      Web Services is currently working on developing new template designs for all of Tarleton's subpages, including departments, organizations, and faculty pages.

      The responsive re-design project (a.k.a. Project Squishy) is well underway, and as you probably know we have implemented a responsive design on Tarleton's homepage. Responsive means that the elements of a webpage shift and reorganize depending on the size of your screen, making an optimal viewing experience for all devices, including desktop, tablet, and mobile.

      We are currently testing some web page template designs to get user feedback. If you want to help us test them, just visit our survey and answer the questions. It will only take 4-5 minutes to complete at the most, and you will be providing valuable feedback about the project. We will close the survey at 5pm on May 23rd.




      We thank you so much for your help! 

      -Daphne

      Wednesday, May 7, 2014

      Tarleton's Online Calendar

      FACT: Tarleton's students frequently visit the university's online calendar, however, what they are looking for is typically not there. (Web Services focus group studies, August 2013)

      We know that students are looking for event information on our online calendar, however the calendar is not being populated as much as it could be. It's easy to do and you don't even need to login. If you aren't familiar with the current system, check out the following:

      Web Services recently implemented a new online calendar system at calendar.tarleton.edu. The new system has lots of beneficial features:
      • A wide range of event categories
      • More social media sharing, category subscribe feature, and a "save to personal calendar" option
      • Featured event slideshow at the top of the main calendar page
      • Easy way to add photos to your events
      • Can add to "feature on Tarleton homepage" category (pending Web Services approval)
      • Easily auto-feed calendar categories to your department/organization webpage
      • "Submit Events" button that does not require a login for easy adding! 

      To get to the "Submit Events" link, just visit calendar.tarleton.edu and find the link on the right-side under the slideshow. It will take you to an easy online form that just takes a minute to fill out. Once your event is submitted a Web Services employee will review and post your event within one business day (typically within an hour or two of you submitting on a workday.)

      Screenshot of calendar system showing the Submit Events link
      Above: "Submit Events" link on the calendar page


      We highly recommend that you utilize the online calendar as an additional way to publicize your events. With the calendar being visible on Tarleton's homepage as well as on prominent subpages, you can't go wrong! Let us know if you have any questions!

      -Daphne

      Thursday, May 1, 2014

      Celebrating our students, and an announcement!

      Today we had our end-of-semester party and the awarding of the "Student Employee of the Semester." We celebrated by having a fajita party and just hanging out together. I think we all had a nice, relaxing lunch before the #tsufinalsfrenzy begins this evening!

      The winner of the award for the spring semester is Jennifer Kiggins. Jennifer has been an excellent intern for us in so many ways. She is professional, considerate, and creative, always tackling her work with dedication and a smile.  Jennifer is a natural leader and is an encouragement to her co-workers through her example. Jennifer will be continuing her internship with us this fall and we look forward to seeing much more of her work within the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences.

      Morgan, Jennifer, and Daphne

      We have so many valuable student interns/technicians and I honestly don't know how this office would function without them. We appreciate each and every one of them.
      Top: Karole, Mariah, Dylon, Josh, Ernie.
      Bottom: Mariah, Jennifer, Tori, Daphne, Morgan
      We are looking forward to spending the summer working on the new responsive website roll-out and focusing on the college/department websites. We are finishing up the subpage template designs this month and they should be ready for use in June.

      Lastly, I would like to announce that we are creating campus community courses for web accessibility, creating accessible emails, how to market your department, and advanced Cascade Server. We should be able to begin offering some of these courses during the next couple of months!

      -Daphne and Morgan