GETTING STARTED
There are over 375 sites on the PR and Marketing website network.
Discovery and Information-Gathering
Before beginning a new website or updating an existing one, you must consider your unit's goals and objectives for the website. What is the message of your website? Why should people visit it? What type of content do you plan to provide? Will this website serve as a document manager, a support desk or an academic program explorer? Who is this content for? Is this faculty-focused or student-focused?
It's also critical to identify your communication plans. How do you plan to deliver your content to visitors? This includes your site structure, tone and language used to convey your messages.
Our streamlined process places less of a focus on development and more of a focus on content and strategy. Using our templates and pre-installed elements, you already have the building blocks necessary for an attractive website. Content becomes the integral component of your website.
A Collaborative Process
It's important to remember that this entire process — whether you are building a new website or updating an existing one — is collaborative. Our team strives to work closely with your unit or department to launch a successful website effectively and efficiently.
While many components of this process are dictated by you, we regularly review your development and offer our insight on the characteristics of a successful website. If at any point during this process you need assistance, we will arrange an in-person support session at our office.
Note: Websites must go through a messaging and style review to ensure consistency with university standards and messaging. You should plan time to provide your work in progress to Public Relations and Marketing Communications for review at each step. This includes design, copy and content.
The process of requesting a new URL differs depending on whether your team plans to redesign an existing website or launch a new website.
I have an existing website I want to redesign.
This new URL would be {your current site}.beta.gsu.edu. This enables your team to operate its website unaffected while being able to safely plan, build and review your new website on the beta URL.
I want to launch a new website.
Depending on the nature of your proposed website, we may accept your request or modify it by making your proposed website a subdomain of an existing website. For example, instead of launching phg.gsu.edu, we would launch phg.lewis.gsu.edu.
To request a URL, ensure it does not already exist by visiting it in your browser. Then, email [email protected] with the desired URL and an in-depth description of your proposed website's purpose. This process typically takes between three and five business days.
Discovery is the most important step in our launch process. Before moving forward in this process, meet with your team to discuss your plans and goals for the website. We suggest considering these key concepts:
- Audience - Who is the targeted audience? Is it student-focused or faculty-focused? This dictates the type of language you use, content you include and resources you provide.
- Tone - Consider the tone of voice your content will convey and the type of language you include. A research center might offer highly technical language, whereas an admissions program would be more accessible and inviting.
- Goals - What purpose does this website serve? Determine your unit's goals in launching or updating your website. How will your content contribute to these goals?
This step doesn't have to be completed alone. If you'd like to discuss your content strategy and website goals, our team will arrange an in-person support session.
Once your request is accepted, you will be invited to join Slickplan, a website planning suite. Using Slickplan, create a comprehensive sitemap for your website. This sitemap should include every page you plan to create.
While building your sitemap, limit the number of top-level navigation items to no more than six. Examine similar websites at other universities or at Georgia State to draft an easily navigable sitemap.
Once you have completed your sitemap and reviewed it with our team, you will be given access to your new website. Following the layout of your sitemap, create an empty page or template page for every item in your Slickplan. This creates a skeleton of your website you can add content to later. This also allows you to visualize what your website will look and feel like before moving on.
Now that your website has been physically mapped out, create your menu navigations. This includes your primary navigation for the website, potential sidebars you might need and sub-menus. Our team will walk you through this process so you can understand the menu-building process.
Explore GSU websites for layouts that fit your needs. Look back at your content strategy and goals to determine the best templates for your website. Is your website a support center? If so, you might want to install our knowledge-base template. Does your website include a directory? Consider installing our faculty profile elements.
Update the Slickplan with links to pages that have a layout you feel might work. You can identify different sections from several pages to be combined as well. Our team can review your plan and assist you in identifying layouts and potentially create custom templates if necessary.
In the next step, you may begin adding content to them.
If you're updating an existing website, it's time to transfer your content. If not, now is the time to draft and finalize content for every page on your new website. During this process, our team will regularly review your content and may offer revisions or suggestions on language and strategy. Once your content has been finalized, place it within the templates you've already installed. Your website is almost finished.
Note: When transferring content from one source to your WordPress site, make sure that rogue styles and code do not get moved into your new page. These added styles could break your page or alter it from the Georgia State Web Best Practices. The safest way to do this is to copy and paste your content into a Rich Text Editor like Apple Notes or BBEdit, then copy and paste it into your WordPress page. This will remove any styles that override Georgia State CSS.
If you have posts and/or Faculty/Staff Profiles that need to be migrated, please include this in your content planning and let us know. The Digital Strategy team will assist with this migration process. Note: Don't use the WordPress Export/Import routines. They will not move all associated images requiring manual reload of each image for migrated content.
Any PDFs, MS Word files, or MS Excel files need to be uploaded to Download Manager and not to the Media Folders. Download Manager allows for much easier file replacement and organization, with the option to display full lists of certain categories on a web page.
Note: Ensure all links on your site are "soft links," not "hard links." For example, instead of hyperlinking "http://commkit.gsu.edu/resources/" you would link "/resources/". This ensures that after the beta URL has been removed and the website has been launched, your links will still work.
Your pages are set up, your menus are working and your content is placed. Now is the opportunity to test the website. Visit every page individually on your website (using multiple browsers) to ensure everything is functional. Click every link and every button, read every paragraph and visit every menu item.
You must also conduct an accessibility and performance review for your website. For information about these tests, visit:
After this step has been completed we can continue.
Once you have tested your website, your next step is to submit your site to the Digital Team for review.
Initial Readiness Review. We will use this time to conduct our own preliminary review of your website and communicate necessary changes. This usually lasts about a week but may take longer if you have a number of changes to be made.
Writing Style Review: If your new website is a large, outward-facing website for the entire university, each website page will be printed and delivered to the VP for Public Relations and Marketing Communications, Don Hale, for editing and revisions. This process can take more than one week, so plan accordingly.
Design Review and Photo Selection: If your new website is a large, outward-facing website for the entire university, your site may also require a design review and photo selection for key pages by the PR/MARCOMM design team. This process can take more than one week, so plan accordingly.
Final Readiness Review. We will use this time to conduct a final review of your website focused on readiness for going live. This usually lasts about a week.
Our team will transition your development site to a live site. While we will be available for support, it is up to your team to conduct a final review of the website. We will search the entire site to ensure no hyperlinks still point to https://sitename.beta. Once all major concerns have been addressed, your site is ready to be shared.
Followup: You will have two weeks after launch to notify us of any major changes that might need to be made. During this two-week period, we can address these issues. After the two-week period has expired, you should refer to our Uservoice ticketing system for any further requests.
A post launch training and handoff session will be scheduled within three weeks of launch of your new site. The purpose of this meeting is to train individuals in your organization who will be responsible for on-gong website maintenance and content. Anyone who will have responsibility to maintain content on the site should participate in this session. Once this session is completed, your team will take over responsibility for responding to requests for changes. Our team will be available to assist via the gsu.uservoice.com ticket system and Open Lab should you need assistance with requests.