K-Staters interested in updating or creating a website in the current K-State style might consider attending an upcoming three-hour workshop, Using K-State’s Web Templates, 1-4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6, in Fairchild 202. This hands-on workshop will allow those using the webpage templates for the first time to get answers and advice while working on their website. This workshop will cover: Continue reading “Workshop Nov. 6 on using K-State web templates”
Tag: web design
HR website gets major upgrade, new features
The Division of Human Resources has completed reconstruction of its website, and the updated site went live Sept. 22. The redesign project, which began in spring 2006, included participation from across campus in addition to the HR Web Page team. Plus, 19 department personnel specialists participated in the usability testing. New features of the site include: Continue reading “HR website gets major upgrade, new features”
InfoTech Tuesday overhaul
In an effort to enhance all aspects of InfoTech Tuesday, the iTAC Communications and Training group worked over the summer to bring a new vision to the IT newsletter. The new format, mimicking a blog layout, is a departure from a once-a-week static newsletter webpage towards an always on, always changing dynamic news environment.
In the new website, each article has its own page and its own discussion section where anyone can post comments or vote. Articles are both categorized and tagged and easily printed, e-mailed, and shared to social news and bookmarking sites. The new feature-rich format is tailored for interaction with polls, a tag cloud, lists of most voted for and most viewed articles, and multiple ways to view and share the news the way you want it. Not sure about the new look? Don’t worry, it’s still called InfoTech Tuesday and we’ll still be sending out a weekly e-mail newsletter lineup!
Before you leave, be sure to:
- vote for an article
- subscribe to the RSS feed
- subscribe to the events and deadlines calendar
- answer the poll question
- sign up for the weekly e-mail newsletter (all faculty are automatically subscribed)
Old .org sites targeted by sleazy advertisers
Research and Extension recently had to scramble to change some of its web links and print materials because some .org web addresses were bought for re-use by unscrupulous advertisers. These advertisers wait for a “nice” site to become available and then pounce on it to market things not consistent with the goals of the original site.
For instance, many land-grant universities and other agriculture-related groups use information from Iowa State’s Midwest Plan Service (www.mwps.org), which produces publications on how to build barns, etc. When that entity stopped paying for its older, slightly longer .org address, someone bought the domain and used it advertise bikinis and such. K-State and other universities have had to change all their web and print materials to remove references to the old site.
A similar issue occurred earlier this year with a family-related .org address. Fortunately, web addresses with .edu domains are safe from this type of re-use.
What you can do
- Web authors who have links to .org web addresses should check those links regularly.
- Authors of a .org site should realize that if they ever stop paying for their domain, it can be bought and turned into something they wouldn’t want associated with their organization’s name.
K-State search enhancements: Tabs, format, faster results
K-State’s new search debuts this Thursday, Aug. 21, and racks up improvements three ways — by using Google, providing quicker visual access to search results, and updating the format of the People Directory results.
The webpage-search results are powered by a Google Search Appliance (GSA) purchased in cooperation with K-State Libraries and K-State Research and Extension. The GSA produces more relevant search results and enables the popular “Did you mean” feature that catches and offers to automatically correct potential spelling errors.
“Three tabs” format
The most obvious change is that results will be presented on a page with three tabs, just like many other popular search sites. The new tabs mean less scrolling and quicker access to specific search results.
The new search still searches three information sources:
* K-State webpages
* K-State people
* K-State departments, units, and organizations
Search results for People Directory
The format of People Directory search results has been improved by observing how people use that data. First, people scan the list of possible matches by name, and second, they scan for identifying information — such as class/major for students, and title/department for faculty and staff.
In the new format, names are larger and more prominent, and identifying information stands out and is more clearly associated with the name.
A “Cuil” way to search the Internet
Searching for a newer way to find information on the Web? Check out Cuil (pronounced “cool”), an Irish word for knowledge. Cuil is a new search engine that indexes the entire Internet in the search process and bases findings on content and relevance. The process is a more analytical way to search the Web rather than basing results on popularity visits. Cuil claims to search “more pages on the Web than anyone else — three times as many as Google and 10 times as many as Microsoft”.
Take some time to explore the site, check out the features, and note it is very much a work-in-progress.
Try it out at www.cuil.com. Read more about Cuil on its Welcome to Cuil page.
