Links, embedded content, and single source of truth

Links and embedded content help insure that information on the unh.edu websites is accurate, reliable, informative and easy to find.

Purpose and audience

Links and embedded content are used to direct people to or provide content from the most accurate and informative sources rather than duplicating content, which can introduce errors and confusion. The UNH community and the general public are the audience for UNH websites.

Related Information

Single Sources of Truth

UNH has established certain websites as the single source of truth for university-wide information. When something is a single source of truth, its information cannot be copied onto any other web page. Websites must link to or embed information from those sources.

Information from these sites can be embedded on any UNH website, filtered to display only relevant information:

For help embedding information from these sources on your site, please contact Web and Mobile Development (WMD).

While not all website content is available for embedding, each school/college/ department/service/organization website is generally considered the single source of truth for that information. If you want to provide information about a topic, link to these sites rather than copying the information. Some examples:

Always look to see if information is already provided somewhere else on the website by the “owner” of that information and link to it rather than copying it, if it makes sense.

Internal links

Internal links make information from other webpages easily accessible to the reader without having to copy the information onto multiple pages. These types of links:

  • Improve accuracy, since the information only exists and is updated in one place
  • Aid in the usability of the site and improves search engine optimization (SEO) by having information on only one page that can be found through search
  • Help SEO for the page with the link, as the hyperlinked words themselves are read by search engines to help them understand what's considered important on the page.

Guidelines for building links:

  • When linking to information on the same website (for example, the same college or service site), the link should open in the same window. If the link points to a different unh.edu website, it should open in a new window.
  • Links should use descriptive words, not phrases like "click here" or “visit this website.”
  • Links should not consist of the URL itself.

External links

Links to and from reliable external sources improve SEO by increasing the authority of the site. Sometimes it's appropriate to link to a different website, such as a government agency or resource for pertinent information:

  • Only link to reliable, authoritative informational or educational websites that you are confident will remain active
  • Do not link to personal websites
  • Do not link to business websites unless there is an established relationship, as a link may be perceived as an endorsement
  • Links to external websites should open in a new window
  • External links and .pdfs are not allowed in any masthead navigation

Embedding external content  

External content can be embedded in a UNH website only if the creator of the material is UNH or from an organization with a recognized relationship, such as:

  • UNH videos stored in MediaSpace or YouTube
  • UNH Twitter feeds
  • UNH Facebook channels
  • UNH Tableau data
  • Affiliated research organizations

Google maps may also be embedded on a unh.edu website.

Use the embed code provided by the external tools. I-frames are discouraged because they are not natively responsive and so are difficult to read on mobile devices.

Support

For questions regarding links, embedded content and single sources of truth, please contact WMD.

Training

Anyone working on a Drupal website is welcome to attend the open walk-in training and help sessions that Academic Technology offers. For a schedule of the training sessions and walk-in times, see the Academic Technology training calendar.

Responsibility for Content

UNH.edu websites are maintained by members of the University community acting as official representatives of the University of New Hampshire. Editors are responsible for creating links and embedded content as described in this standard. In addition, editors should review links on their websites at least twice a year to ensure that all links and embedded content are still active and available. Finally, editors are responsible for complying with all relevant laws and university policies.

Violations

UNH AT reserves the right to remove any linked content that it considers to violate this standard any other UNH policies.
If inappropriate content is submitted, UNH AT will contact the site owner to discuss the issue. Unacceptable entries also may cause unh.edu access to be suspended.

Reports regarding inappropriate content may be sent to UNH AT.