The Rutgers.edu Homepage
The Rutgers.edu homepage is designed to be a dynamic space that welcomes visitors to the site—and to the university. It should entice and compel viewers to explore further and make it easy for them to follow their interests or find the information they seek.
The Rutgers.edu homepage has a lot going on. It serves as a place to tell the Rutgers story, welcoming in the general public; posts headline news; caters to specific audiences; and provides quick access to popular internal pages. Here’s how maintenance happens:
Regional Campus and Quickfinder
The vital links are located at the very top of the homepage and all Rutgers sites on the Drupal platform. The links to the UWide site, the three campus sites and drop down quickfinder and search box constitute a high-level section. Changes to this section are rare. If a change needs to be made, contact the lab. Check the quickfinder periodically to make sure the links remain valid.
Main Navigation
The homepage and main site have a horizontal navigation of nine sections with dropdowns to subpages. If a page is to be added to the site, it should be created, internally reviewed and approved, and published before the content editor or lab place it in the navigation in Drupal.
Homepage banner image
The most visible section of the homepage and one that changes frequently is the set of four large photos, or banners, that rotate into view. The art director selects the banner image for each story in consultation with the project manager and the director of creative services. The project manager supplies the title and text for the banner. In Drupal, these banners are called “Home Features”
Creative Services >Web Documentation>Drupal Creating Home Features
Keeping this section active, engaging, and fresh takes a lot of time and attention. Learn how to do it [link to banner section]
Audience Area
Most of the bulleted links in the audience area of the homepage stay up on the page. Prospective students is the most visible section.
Requests for changes to the audience sections usually come from a high-level executive. Changes are usually first made in the core-training sand box site to check placement and once approved, can be carefully made by the content editor, the art director or the lab.
The image for the prospective student section is selected by the art director each week to balance images in the banner section and loaded by the lab. Students for the page are often selected among CIS student workers and a photo session, arranged by xxxx, takes place in the early fall.
N.B. The mention of the number of alumni in that section is updated in mid Oct.
Quick Links
Situated on the lower left, quick links change periodically. Again the line up reflects high-level requests to highlight certain events and initiatives. The content manager requests these changes and the lab implements them.
The number of quick links can vary from about five to about seven. Links Office of the President, Rutgers Alumni, Campus Safety and Giving to Rutgers always stay up.
The other slots shift. Rutgers Day, Rutgers Against Hunger, Rutgers Magazine, and Commencement come on and off the list through the year. As of Nov 2011, Presidential Search and Rutgers and Medical Education are running without a foreseeable end date.
The order of the links can be shuffled. Office of the President should be the top or bottom listing.
News and Events
The managing editor of Rutgers Today selects and updates the News and Events listings, found at lower right, at least twice a week and more often in the event of breaking news.
It’s always a good idea to read the headlines and check links. If there’s a minor typo or mangled link URL, the content editor can go in and fix in Drupal. Afterwards, send a note to the managing editor. If you notice something else that warrants immediate attention, call Rutgers Today.
If we are promoting an event in the banner area we try not to have it also posted in the news and events section. If that happens, the content editor and Rutgers Today editor should discuss and come up with a solution on scheduling.
Emergency Notice
In case of emergency, an alert message appears, overlaying the usual homepage.
Alerts have escalating levels of prominence. Minor alerts, such as weather announcements or site maintenance messages, appear as a yellowish band beneath the banner area. More urgent messages take up more screen real-estate and a dire emergency would supersede a normal homepage.
The assistant direct creative services web writes and posts these messages in consultation with CIS and media relations. Traffic to the site often spikes when inclement weather is predicted so these messages aim to be timely and informative.