New web functions & updates

New web functions & updates

Photos

As you probably know, our site is quite slow. Part of the problem is that we have a bunch of very large photos on the site that take a long time to download. If you upload a large image to your site, then resize it once it is on your page, the user will still have to download the entire large image.

So please resize your photo to the desired size before you upload it. You should also save the photo at a lower quality. You can do this in Photoshop or Preview, but if you don't have those programs, give Pixlr, an online photo editing tool, a try. Photos should never be larger than 200 KB, and ideally more like 30 KB or smaller. Take a look at the Photos & PDF files tutorial for additional help on uploading media.

 

Links

Linking to other sites within wagner.edu is really helpful for users. It makes our site hang together better and facilitates navigation.

Also, when you create a new page or post, the URL for that page will default to the page title. So by default, the URL for this post is http://wagner.edu/communications/communications-news/new-web-functions-updates. That's pretty long. Before you publish or update your page, you can edit the last part of the URL by clicking "edit" after the permalink, under the page title.

DO link key words to the related page. For example, "To schedule a tour of campus, visit the Admissions Office."

DO use relative links. When you're linking within wagner.edu, include everything after http://wagner.edu, so for example, just write /admissions/visit for the URL.

DO shorten the URL to a new page as needed. Use hyphens - between words instead of underscores _ (eg, wagner.edu/education/undergrad-programs).


DON'T write out the entire link in the paragraph text. ("To schedule a tour of campus, visit wagner.edu/admissions/tour.")

DON'T use "click here" for the hyperlink ("To schedule a tour of campus, click here.") This is not accessible for visually-impaired users, and it doesn't tell the user where the link will go.

DON'T include dates or time-specific words in the URL to your pages. (eg, wagner.edu/about/visit2013)

To link to an email address, the URL should be mailto:youremail@wagner.edu

 

SEO

"Search Engine Optimization" is a fancy way of saying "helping Google find your stuff." When a search engine receives a query, it looks through top-level keywords and phrases attached to your website, and uses that to serve up pages to the user. We have a new plugin that will help you customize those keywords.

When you edit a page, scroll down below the content editor to "Infinite SEO." Only site administrators have access to this. You may have to click the bar to allow the options to open. You can specify the "Title Tag," write a description, and add keywords. Those are the most important settings. Use words and key phrases that you think people will use to search for your site content. Paying attention to the SEO of your top-level pages is most important; you don't have to adjust these settings on all pages.

 

Appointment Scheduler

See a demo and watch a video about this plugin first.