Creating a Website
When creating a website, there are a number of phases to consider as you approach the project. From creating an account through to launching the site and ongoing maintenance once it's live.
Getting Started
Before proceeding, we recommend categorising your website to better understand the available support options:
Please be aware that website approval is dependent on the following criteria:
- The website must be approved by the Head of School/Unit.
- The website must demonstrate that the content is relevant to UCD and significant to a wide audience.
- Personal websites are not permitted. For personal profiles please use(opens in a new window)https://people.ucd.ie/.
- You must demonstrate that an existing website could not appropriately host the content.
- You must have the resources available to develop and maintain the content to a high standard.
- Websites must adhere to the Acceptable Use Policy.
Creating a Website
When creating a website, there are a number of phases to consider as you approach the project. From creating an account through to launching the site and ongoing maintenance once it's live.
Managing an UCD website requires adhering to some prerequisites. Here are fundamental elements to our standard of practice:
Phase 1: Planning
Before requesting a website you should draw up a website structure plan, categorising information into the relevant sections and subsections.
Gather the content that will make up the text of your new site. If you are moving the content from an old site now is a good opportunity to review your content to keep it up to date. When writing new content be sure to check our information on Writing for the Web on our Resources page.
It is important to attend our Terminalfour End User CMS Training before advancing to the development phase if you are a new Terminalfour user.
You will also need to gather together a library of images to draw from during the planning phase. Our Resources page is a great place to start when looking for suitable images.
Phase 2: Request
To request a new website you will need to fill out the Web Account Registration Form on the IT Services site to request a website hosting account on the ucd.ie server:
(opens in a new window)Web Account Registration Form
The UCD web server is hosted on a resilient cloud based environment, for more details see our Hosting Information.
Phase 3: Consultation
Once you have requested your new site we will contact you to begin planning your website. This will involve discussing the audience that your site is intended for and how we will meet those needs within our website framework. We will discuss (opens in a new window)website IA (Information Architecture) and how to proceed with the Planning and Development phases.
Phase 4: Development
During the Development phase you will be adding the content and media that you have gathered during the Planning phase to the site. Be sure to leave yourself plenty of time to add the content to the site.
There are a number of 'Copy & Drop' pages available to use from the Design Library. These are a library of pre-built templates for adding pages such as Webinars, Conferences and News Pages to your site. For information on 'Copy & Drop' options available for your website see the Copy & Drop Process page.
If you need further support during this process send us your query via www.ucd.ie/ithelp and a member of the web team will provide assistance.
Phase 5: Review
During the Review phase we will evaluate the website to ensure there are no glaring issues with the content such as broken images or pages. We will make sure that the website contains the relevant cookie consent and analytics script.
Please allow time for the review phase of the process to ensure a smooth site launch. Once we have completed the review we can schedule a date for the web site to go live. We usually require a week's notice to schedule the work.
Phase 6: Launch
When the content in your web site is ready and approved, please log in into the www.ucd.ie/ithelp and fill out the (opens in a new window)Request to launch a website to inform the web team.
The website launch is completed entirely by the web team. We will archive the old site (where necessary) and replace it with the new one. This process takes about 30 minutes on the CMS, with only a very short outage of around 5 minutes for a user on the live public-facing website.
Phase 7: Hit Your Target
After your site launches you will need to maintain its performance to better meet your objectives and hit your targets.
Join the (opens in a new window)Web Community to keep informed on web related updates and helpful tips direct from the Web Development team.
The Design Library is constantly evolving and growing with new options so be sure to check back regularly for updates to keep your site fresh.