BEST PRACTICES MAKE PERFECT, PART II

BEST PRACTICES MAKE PERFECT, PART II THINGS YOU SHOULD ALWAYS DO WHEN WORKING IN T4 TXWES.EDU/WEB

HOUSEKEEPING Next Web Rockstar Meeting is at noon on Friday, Dec. 4 Changes to the Digital Marketing staff

WARNING: TAYLOR SWIFT REFERENCES AHEAD

BEST PRACTICES, PART I REVIEW Approve your content within 24 hours Know which kind of content types to use Promote your events through news, too Edit your photos before you upload them to T4 Follow University style guidelines

BEST PRACTICE NO. 1: START WITH THE RIGHT BROWSER

SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS Always use Google Chrome. ALWAYS. You know what they say about Internet Explorer?

IT'S ONLY GOOD FOR DOWNLOADING GOOGLE CHROME

WHY CHROME? It will give you a better T4 experience. When T4 was created, it was developed in a way that works best with Chrome. Some features actually will not work (like inserting media) if you're using IE or Firefox.

BEST PRACTICE NO. 2: KNOW YOUR NEWS & EVENTS BASICS

KNOW YOUR NEWS & EVENTS BASICS When you take the time to post news & events, you only want to have to do it once. Remembering these things will keep your stories from getting sent back to you, which will get them on the site (and into the Flame) a whole lot faster.

THE FIRST STEP IS KEY...

CREATE A NEW SECTION

ALWAYS START FROM SCRATCH Do not overwrite news stories when you have something new to add. This has the same effect as deleting older stories, and it isn t good for the site.

TAKING CARE OF THE DETAILS When you set your canonical link, select your specific story section, not your department s news section. Write a headline that would make you want to read the story. Main story images have a set dimension: 450x300. Do not use a photo that is not this size for your main image. DO NOT GET YOUR IMAGES FROM THE INTERNET.

BEST PRACTICE N0. 3: WEAN YOURSELF OFF OF DIRECT EDIT

BUT I LIKE DIRECT EDIT! You might like direct edit, but it causes problems with your content. If you've ever had an issue with your content getting published when you KNOW you approved it, there's a good chance direct edit is the source of the issue. It also has limited editing functionality, which isn't good for you.

WHAT DO I DO INSTEAD? Bookmark the T4 address in Chrome and keep it in your favorites cms.txwes.edu/terminalfour Edit and approve your content from the site structure.

WHY IS THIS BETTER? Editing your content from inside T4 gives you access to the entire page, not just what's in the center channel. Approving your content from inside T4 eliminates the approval queue errors we see when people approve their content with direct edit.

OTHER HELPFUL TIPS... Don't use the back button. Only click "Update" or "Add" once.

BEST PRACTICE NO. 4: BE AWARE OF YOUR NAVIGATION

BEFORE YOU ADD A PAGE... Take a look at your department's website. If you have a sub nav (a.k.a. a white box with links), you'll need to proceed with caution. If you're adding a third level of pages, you might need to add a sub nav to keep the user aware of where they are.

DON'T BE INTIMIDATED If you have a sub nav, just hide your new page from the navigation, then add a link to the page you created to your sub nav. If you need help with this, contact Digital Marketing. If you need to add a sub nav, contact Digital Marketing. We'll add the content type to your page and make sure you know how to update it.

WHY DOES THIS MATTER? If you aren't aware of your navigation structure, you can inadvertently remove access to certain pages within your site. This is a bad user experience. It can also make you frustrated when you realize your audience can't see the things you want them to see.

BEST PRACTICE NO. 5: BE PROACTIVE

ALWAYS HAVE A PLAN Your website carries a lot of power, so make sure you're taking steps to keep it up to date, engaging and informative. If you know you've got something to promote or information that's going to change, don't wait until the last minute to get it posted. You can start planning how you're going to use your website as soon as you know there's something to promote.

COVER ALL YOUR BASES For events you want to promote, make sure you're getting news stories about them in the Flame as soon as possible. Talk to Ann Davis about when they can start running, and how many times the message can be delivered. Put reminders in your Outlook calendar so you don't forget when something needs to be added to T4.

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX Just because something hasn't been done on your website before doesn't mean you can't start doing it. Think about what you know your students need, and how you can serve them better. If you need help, you can always reach out to Digital Marketing.

NEW FEATURE: AUTHOR PAGES

BETTER LOOK, LESS WORK Because we have a new content type for the author pages, you don't have to do ANY formatting to get your page to look great. All the pages will have a similar look and feel, but you can add features to customize yours.

WHAT ABOUT MY FACULTY PAGE? You'll just copy your content into the new content type. You can still add links to your external pages, as well as Facebook and Twitter. You can also add cross expanders to display your research and publications.

SO HOW DO I DO THIS?

QUESTIONS?

ROCKSTAR WINNERS!

FOR OCTOBER... Shana Hellinger (340 points)

FOR OCTOBER... Shana Hellinger (340 points) Christi Tallent (695 points)

FOR OCTOBER... Shana Hellinger (340 points) Christi Tallent (695 points) Sharon Carano (1245 points)

TOP 5 THINGS ELAINE ALWAYS WANTS YOU TO REMEMBER

ELAINE'S TOP 5 1. You CANNOT break the website. You're Out of the Woods.

ELAINE'S TOP 5 1. You CANNOT break the website. You're Out of the Woods. 2. If you're feeling frustrated with T4, Shake it Off.

ELAINE'S TOP 5 1. You CANNOT break the website. You're Out of the Woods. 2. If you're feeling frustrated with T4, Shake it Off. 3. Stick to the University's brand standards, or you'll have Bad Blood with our designers. 4. If you find yourself in Trouble, just call the Digital Marketing team.