Content-Area Discussion

[rcrisler1]

The following ideas for content area elements were discussed at our last design group meeting. Please comment, discuss, prioritize or add to the list.

Request Info Link

News Release/Headline Scroller*

Upcoming Events/Calendar

Promo Graphics/PSDs

Galleries of Work
Student, Faculty, Staff
Video Galleries
Portfolio
Thesis

"Give to" (donation) Links

Web Apps
GPA Calculator
Advisor Contact

Public photo galleries (where developers place libraries of photography and supporting text for display on their sites)

Lists
Dean's List
Course Descriptions
Online Bulletins

Registration Systems
(for events)

*News Releases

Online Newsletter

Online Tour (w/local entry points)

Contact Information
(Add to PF, list of contacts/custom for site, add working titles in LDAP)

*Feeds/Podcasts

Infrastructure
data warehouse
php/MySQL server
CMS

Credits


Administrative
Prevention and reporting of linkrot (xenu?)
Stats Reporting

Content Layouts
3 col
2 equal col
2 col; 2/3, 1/3
form examples

[JRW]

Bob,
I don't remember if there was any discussion about featuring an automated content or "freshness" date on every page? It would be nice to know when content is created or updated.

Jon

[rcrisler1]

Automated, standard part of the template?

[JRW]

Ideally, part of the template...I think it gives developers a better leg up on managing content and certainly users would see a date and have something to help judge whether information is current or not...are there differing opinions or technical reasons that we shouldn't?

[sinner]

I can see the benefit of having something that would show when content was last updated. There are a lot of sites that post new content frequently. I do, however, find that a freshness date is just another thing to have to remember. Unless it is something that can be automatically generated from page to page it's something that personally I'd rather not mess with. I prefer just the year at the bottom as it is now. Part of my reasoning for this is that content on the sites I work with may not change enough to make a freshness date worthwhile. A freshness date should be something optional and not a required part of the templates.

[sinner]

one thing to add to the Content Layouts is a simple one column layout. There are a number of pages I work with that are nothing but policies and such documentation.....just information and nothing pretty.

[dsockrider]

What does the Next Generation Web Development Committee say?

[rcrisler1]

I kind of like the idea implied by the copyright date, that all content is current as of today ... there are a lot of pretty static areas of the site that might not benefit by a "freshness date" that was too out-of-date. Out of date doesn't necessarily mean incorrect, or even that people haven't been paying attention, but that message might be what a user gets out of it anyway.

On a pro/con basis, I'd probably land where Melissa is, with just using a YYYY copyright date. I certainly don't recall anything mentioned in the NGWC white paper ... does anyone else have an opinion?

[MarkHiatt]

I hate these. I can think of few bigger wastes. If someone is going to disregard a page just because it was last modifed in 2002, and all I have to do to make it a wonderful page is update the date—and if that is the only modification I make to the page—and that somehow makes it a wonderful page again, then something is screwed up. I'd rather burn those calories looking for the mythical 3-equal-column CSS page or something like that.

[saltybeagle]

I agree with Mark (but not so strongly).

If last modified dates are important to the content of your page, then I think you should use them - but I would prefer that you indicate the specific content of the page that was updated.

If a last modified date is at the bottom of the page there's no way to know if the meeting location has changed, or if the global quicklinks on the page have changed (if you see my point).

SO, IMHO (as they say in Interweb speaks) use them if your content requires... and indicate what specifically was 'last modified.'

[sinner]

De we have a two equal column layout available?

Melissa[/b]

[MarkHiatt]

De we have a two equal column layout available?

I don't want to be too emphatic, Melissa—it's a good way to get oneself Volunteered for a project—but it's been discussed as something that needs to be in the package. I don't know that someone is working on it, but I remember discussion of it.

[rcrisler1]

The issue is, really, do we want to break the grid in the content area? The overall layout is composed of 4 220px columns separated by 20px gutters. Navigation occupies first column in the grid; there are three columns available for content. The 2-col (1/3, 2/3) content area layout doesn't conflict with the grid, and a 3-col content area layout doesn't either. Is there a benefit or a requirement for 2 equal-width columns in the content area?