Are you ready for the new unh.edu?

By Lori Wright, Media Relations

Www.unh.edu will have a new look and feel Monday, May 3, with the launch of a new university Web site that has been in development for nearly six months following years of planning.

UNH’s Web site is being redesigned under the direction of Editorial and Creative Services with the support and assistance of the Web Advisory Group, Web Solutions in CIS, and Research Computing. The Web Advisory Group has been meeting weekly since last year, and the prototype of the site has been widely tested, with some 500 online surveys completed earlier this year.

The new design and architecture reflect the work of the Web Advisory Group consisting of 25 members from around campus and the input of the university community.

According to Michael Jones, director of Editorial and Creative Services, university Web sites typically have a lifespan of two to three years; UNH has not refreshed its Web presentation in the better part of a decade.

“Today, the Web is probably our best broad-based communications tool and needs to reflect the day-to-day work of a prominent research university. UNH’s Web presence has really grown unchecked for many years (this is true of most universities) and the time was right to bring together all of the great Web efforts around campus,” Jones says.

“We needed a central effort to highlight and promote the best we have to offer on the Web while also supporting improvement in areas that were lagging behind in their Web communication. The new design and organization do these things and place us at the forefront of university Web communications,” hey says.

In addition, University Communications and Marketing, which is made up of Editorial and Creative Services, Media Relations, and Presidential Events and Programs, have been working to strengthen the university’s overall communications, marketing and branding effort.

“The Web is the best avenue for establishing, strengthening, and promoting our brand—Discovery,” explains Jennifer Murray, vice president for University Communications and Marketing. “With the new unh.edu, we will offer all campus entities the ability to present themselves in a clear, consistent way.”

Murray adds that the new site represents the university well – visitors get a sense of what UNH is really about: the breadth of research and scholarship, the quality of students and faculty, the sense of place and UNH’s impact on the broader community.

“We have completely overhauled the structure of the Web site and organized information into major audience and informational categories,” according to Jones. “The information architecture makes navigation much more streamlined and allows a visitor to get to some 70-plus topics with one click. Unique Find it Fast menus and an enhanced Google search engine also help with navigation.”

Two of the most helpful and dynamic aspects of the new site are the Web Resource Page and Toolkit, which include the templates and resources to support Web development by any office or department.

The templates allow a user to rebuild a site using the same style and presentation of the overall site. These templates also ensure consistency of presentation and make the development process easier.