Author Archives: stinchfieldch

Updating Hero/Banner Image with Tips

Wanted to share the following info with you regarding updating banner images within the College CMS websites.

  • The instructions for selecting and updating website banners can be found on the Banner Gallery page at go.cofc.edu/webbanners.
  • If the desired photograph is not provided within the galleries, a photograph may be submitted for approval by submitting to marketing@cofc.edu. Since the banner images are a reflection of the College, all requested images are reviewed to ensure the photo meets the resolution and size requirements, the subject matter is appropriate and all elements within the photograph are acceptable and would not cause legal harm to the College.
A few items to note:
  • Full-width banner images are only available for the first level page of a subdomain. If the option for selecting a banner image is not displayed within the CMS template, a work order ticket can be submitted through the COFC IT Helpdesk to apply the required template to the page.
  • On some devices, using a full-width banner may push the main content or the call to action on the page below the view area of the device. Is the banner image important enough to inconvenience the user in finding the information they are seeking? With an average of 50% of webpages being viewed on mobile devices, it is something to consider.
  • Photographs and non-fullwidth banners can be uploaded by you within the main content area of the webpage. This is a good alternative method for adding visual elements to the page, but also keeping the page size lower (thus quicker page load time) as opposed to using a full-width banner. Make sure to upload images that are the appropriate size. For example, if the size needed is 500px wide, do not upload an image that is 2500px wide. Using a larger than needed image size will unnecessarily increase the page size and the page load time for the webpage.
  • Banner images are typically not used on 2nd or 3rd level pages as once a user reaches those pages, they are looking for specific information, so the user experience is less about appealing to the eye, but more about providing that specific content.

Active Calendar: Change in Locations

We’ve recently discovered a small setback with regards to the event locations and after working with the developers, have chosen to set up the event locations a little differently.

The issue is when a sub location is selected from a main location, such as a certain room from a certain building, the actual building is not included with the LOCATION field. Therefore, when displaying an event within a feed, such as the COFC homepage or an individual departments feed, the actual building is not included.

To workaround this issue, we’ll be removing the individual sub locations for each building and adding the sub location to the main building name. For example, instead of using sub locations for Addlestone Library, there will be four entries for Addlestone Library as follows:

  • Addlestone Library: Center for Student Learning
  • Addlestone Library: Room 227
  • Addlestone Library: Rotunda
  • Addlestone Library: Special Collections

We will begin to make the transition as time permits, and will also ensure that the previously entered events will have the correct location.

Active Calendar System Update

The Campus Calendar will be unavailable for a system update to include feature enhancements starting at 11:00 pm, September 1, 2016. Active Calendar has not specified an exact time for the system to be back up, however, I suspect it should be available again on Friday am.

A few additional Active Calendar notes

Just a few additional items with regards to submitting events:

  • Make sure to select the down arrow to the left of the venue to reveal additional venues and rooms. When selecting a venue for the event, make sure to select the down arrow to the left of the venue to reveal rooms, etc. located within the main venue. A few users are “checking” the “Main Campus” (or other venue), and are not selecting any venues beneath “Main Campus.”
  • Missing venue? If a venue does not exist, within the list, let us know. We’ll be glad to add the missing venue and add the correct address with longitude and latitude.
  • Limit the number of characters for the Event Summary. The event summary is limited to 250 characters. Also, the event summary should be used as a hook to entice the user to click to learn more. The event description should be used to provide additional information.
  • Style guide formatting. Make sure that all content within the event follows the College of Charleston Style Guide, including, but not limited to, phone numbers, official department names, etc.
  • Make sure to complete the Contact Information fields and use a valid @cofc.edu email address only.

Creating an Event Series

If you have an event that last over several days or months there is the option to create an event series instead of entering each event as a separate event.

When creating the event, enter the time for the event on the first day, then select the “This event repeats” checkbox. After selecting, you’ll be given the option to select the frequency of the event, choose the dates for the events or the number of occurrences.

By using the series function and a change is required for the events, you can edit the one series event, instead of each individual event.

Adding a map to off campus events

We are changing a few settings with our newsletter to distribute upon the release of a new post, instead of a weekly digest. Since it is the beginning of the semester, we tend to have some vital information that needs to be shared more frequently. If this becomes too much of a nuisance, please let us know. We want this do be more of a helpful resource than a burden.

And on to the topic at hand …

We have entered most of the addresses for all locations on campus which will display a map within the event. However, you may want to provide a map to an off campus location to encourage users to attend the event.

The best way we have found to accomplish this is to:

  1. locate the location using Google Maps
  2. select share
  3. select the HTML view of the event editing window
  4. embed the provided code into the “Description” field within the event.

For a consistent user experience throughout the calendar, we’ll tweak the width in the embed code from 600px to 100% and change the height from 450px to 300px.

For a working example, see the Women’s basketball vs NC State event.

Categories for Campus Calendar Events

The list of previously available categories has been reviewed and shortened to include the most commonly use search terms, as well as common interests. The new categories are as follows:

  • Academic
  • Admissions
  • Alumni
  • Arts
  • Athletics
  • Campus Life
  • Committees/Boards
  • Conferences
  • Exhibits
  • Faculty/Staff
  • Film
  • Lectures and Symposia
  • Music
  • Outside Group Event
  • Sports
  • Student Activities
  • Student Affairs
  • Theatre
  • Welcome Week

New Campus Calendar

UnknownGreat news! The Division of Marketing and Communications is excited to implement a new campus calendar solution – Active Calendar. Although it has a similar name to our previous calendar system, the new Active Calendar is a much more visually appealing and intuitive solution.

A few of the new Active Calendar features include:

  • Online, mobile-friendly, public calendar
  • Offsite hosting
  • Intuitive interface for users, admins and managers
  • Increased organizational efficiency (i.e., an ability to sort by common tags)
  • Easier search capabilities
  • Multiple viewing options

What You Need to Know

  • The digital marketing team is doing a soft launch of the new calendar on August 11, 2016, with full implementation by August 15, 2016.
  • All existing events within the current Campus Calendar have been migrated to the new Active Calendar.
  • A MarComm team member will contact each school marketing liaison regarding the upgrade.
  • Any individual calendar event feeds for schools, departments, or program pages will need a new ID (it’s a simple process).

To Submit an Event for the Calendar:

  • visit the campus calendar – calendar.cofc.edu
  • select the “Sign In” link on the top right of the header
  • create an account

After creating and verifying your account via an email from the calendar system, you may then login and select the gold “Create an Event” button at the top of the screen.

Tagging the Events

When submitting your events, make sure that the event uses a common tag for your specific area as the feeds for your websites will be pulled from this specific tag. It is possible to use multiple tags in order for a user to conduct an effective search.

For example, if I am submitting an event for a musical presented by the Department of Theatre and Dance within the School of the Arts, I would add tags for “theatre and dance” and “school of the arts”. I may also add tags for “music”, “drama” or “play”. The additional tags will assist a user in finding the event if they were to search for related terms such as “drama”.

For non-academic offices or departments

If you are an administrative office or department, the nomenclature for the tag should use the official title of the office or department per the COFC Style Guide without “Office of” or “Department of”, etc.

For example, the tag for an event created by the “Center for International Education” would be “International Education.

If you are unable to determine the best uniform event tag for creating a specialized feed for your area,  you may contact the webmaster@cofc.edu for guidance.

NOTE:  It is possible that an event that was not entered for your specific area would appear within your feed due to other users entering the same tag as your specific tag. If this occurs, please contact the webmaster@cofc.edu  to determine the best viable solution.

Update of Academics Majors and Minors section

We will be updating the department chairs, phone number and other contact information contained within the Academics section for the COFC website in the next few weeks. We are finalizing a few details with the matching PDF’s and will post the latest information as soon as it becomes available.