USU updates website to incorporate new features
The USU homepage got a facelift this weekend which Ben Renard-Wiart, the USU Webmaster, said is part of a cycle. Aside from changes in the look and feel of the homepage, Renard-Wiart said there is more information targeted toward prospective students.
“We wanted to give more info about USU and the great school it is,” he said.
One of the more obvious changes is the wider page layout. Renard-Wiart said this is because computer screens are getting wider and the website needed to evolve along with technology.
A website is usually updated every three to five years, Renard-Wiart explained, and the last time the USU website was updated was in 2006, four years ago. USU Spokesman John DeVilbiss said the update was a matter of timing.
“I think of the website as a home,” he said. “Like any home, it needs updating.”
Renard-Wiart said the homepage is a marketing tool when it comes to prospective students. Most of the change, he said, will be geared toward the future students, though those changes aren’t as noticeable right away.
“We want it to help prospective students discover what Utah State is about and how cool we are,” he said.
Around 15 pages will be added to the website, including pages about living on campus, the history of USU and things to do in Logan. There will also be a more comprehensive calender which will compile the different academic and extra-curricular calenders around campus.
One of the new features being developed is a career finder application. Renard-Wiart said the new feature, which is fairly unique to USU, will hopefully be available within the next two months. Students will be able to use the career finder to learn about career options, what they can do with their degree and what different careers are like.
Renard-Wiart said, “it’s a huge huge tool we’re bringing to the website. Very few universities have done that.”
Many specific areas on campus are also updating their pages, including several departments and colleges, Admissions and ASUSU. Renard-Wiart said the new ASUSU page will be much better than what they had before.
“It’s so much better than what they had,” he said. “There’s a huge improvement here.”
The new website also ties in popular social networking and content sharing sites, such as Blogger, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. As students become more and more competent with computers and the Internet, DeVilbiss said, the website needs to evolve with them.
“We have students who are very savvy when maneuvering around the website,” he said.
Renard-Wiart said one way to make the website more user friendly will be the different chains used on the website. By reorganizing content and revamping the look, students are able to find the information they need in less time than before.
Annalisa Purser, a public relations specialist who has also been working on the website, said content for the updates has been coming in for about 10 months, while work on the templates and design started about a year and a half ago. Purser said her favorite parts of the new homepage are the banners, which are much bigger, and the incorporation of multimedia throughout the website.
“We’ve been doing a lot of videos and this gives them another venue to be shown,” she said.
She said one benefit of the new format is the ability to talk about all the different facets of the website in one place.
“It’s written in a way that we’re trying to make USU better for its audience,” she said.
Renard-Wiart said they aren’t changing the whole website overnight, but he looks forward to seeing it all come together in the future. Devilbiss said he was pleased with the new look.
“Like anything else,” he said, “if you put more time and effort into it, you get more out.”
– k.vandyke@aggiemail.usu.edu