The AAWA and College Webmaster Workgroup have combined to form a single team. Going forward, all content (including Meeting Minutes) will be posted at the AAWA wiki.
The wiki is completely open for editing so please feel free to add/remove/modify content as necessary. Everyone is encouraged to create an account prior to editing, but anonymous modifications are currently permitted.
Joe Butts, Jahcqui Guardiola, Nick Hage, Jason Lehman, Bryant Tonkin, Sachae Soso
The College Webmaster Workgroup has recently been formed and will comprise the lead webmaster from each College at USF. The workgroup’s goals and format will be similar to AAWA. All those in attendance supported the joining together of both groups.
AAWA webmasters are invited to attend the College Webmaster Workgroup meeting on Wednesday, April 2 at 10am in BEH 235.
Links will be posted shortly.
Results: links could be added to the Class Schedule Search which will allow students to much more easily obtain prerequisite information from Search-A-Bull. This will likely require coordination between 3 areas (Registrar, IT, UG Studies) as multiple units manage each portion of the process.
Joe Butts, Jahcqui Guardiola, Sachae Soso, Bryant Tonkin
USF recently purchased a Google Search Appliance (GSA) which will replace the current SharePoint-powered solution. Please review the guidelines and suggestions created by University Relations, which is overseeing the GSA administration/configuration.
A number of other items to consider when focusing on Search Engine Optimization (SEO):
meta keyword tags are virtually obsoleteWith respect to your specific department, contact the University Webmaster to configure/access:
USF has likely entered one of the greatest periods of tech-related change in the University’s history, largely due to budget reduction activities and changes in organizational structure. In the coming months we should expect to see:
UWebD began as a mailing list for University Webmasters to collaborate and discuss relevant topics. The members have since split between the original mailing list and a social network; good content can be found on both:
Although it does not give a perfect estimate, the Web Page Analyzer does a reasonable job of pulling down all content (HTML, CSS, JS, images, IFRAMEs) and calculating an approximate download time for a single web page.
Jahcqui Guardiola, Jason Lehman
With classes starting soon, an informal meeting over coffee was conducted in the Marshall Center.
Joe Butts, Jahcqui Guardiola, Nick Hage, Jason Lehman
Below are a few indispensable tools for web developers; most are plug-ins for FireFox - where all web development should be vetted against first - then test in other browsers such as IE, Opera, etc.
CSS Reset methods allow a developer to "remove and neutralize the inconsistent default styling of HTML elements, creating a level playing field across" all browsers (taken from the intro at YUI Reset CSS). Two reliable options exist:
Jason Lehman
The 404 or "Page Not Found" error is a standard HTTP message indicating that the requested page (or other resource) cannot be found. 404s can cause trouble for users as well as search engine spiders. Thoughtpad has a handy flowchart on how 404 and other HTTP responses are generated.
Jacqui Cash, Jahcqui Guardiola, Sachae Soso
Because webpages are consumed in a much different manner than printed material it’s important to know how users interact with your website. One of the chief differences between printed and web-based material is that web pages are scanned, not read. For more information, please refer to the article titled “F-Shaped Pattern For Reading Web Content” by Dr. Jakob Nielsen.
Joe Butts, Jason Lehman, Sasha Sochae
The new USF website will be launched on Friday, September 14, 2007 at 9am. Below are a list of recommended pre- and post-launch actions:
If you have any comments or additional recommendations, please leave them in the Comments section below.
Joe Butts, Jacqui Cash, Jason Lehman, Sean Vincent
Joe Butts, Jacqui Cash, Jason Lehman, Sean Vincent, Rebecca Buffington
