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I. Introduction
Many people who regularly visit the Earlham
College Web site may ask, "Why are you changing the site?" It
is important that these regular visitors bear in mind that there
are as many or more people asking, "What took you so long?" We
will attempt to assist both groups' understanding.
The Web has become an important resource
for any academic institution; whether the goal is to increase
enrollment, raise additional funds from alumni, or increase administrative
efficiency, the Web can be the best tool available if properly
utilized.
II. Browser Support
The Earlham College "Home Page," while
compatible with both Netscape and Internet Explorer versions
4 and higher, is best viewed in Internet Explorer 5 or higher
on either Macintosh or Microsoft Windows operating systems.
The page currently in place uses advanced
technologies to display the desired effects. The Web Team tests
all technologies using ECS (Earlham Computing Services) standards
prior to implementing them on the site. For more information
regarding ECS standards, please see the Software
Support section of the HelpDesk
Service Level Agreement on the Policies section
of the ECS Web site at:
http://www.earlham.edu/ecs/.
A. Fully Supported Web
Browsers
Version 6.0 or higher (5 or higher for Macintosh users)
Version 7 or higher
B. Disabled Persons and Special
Needs
Those whose browsers cannot or do not support the technologies used on the
Home Page should see an alternate text menu when viewing the page. If this
fails, please use the site
index and contact the Web Team. A text-only alternate Web site is in planning
for the future.
1. Please direct questions to webeditor@earlham.edu.
III. How To Use The Site
Below you will find a brief description of the Home Page,
including how to use each of the "new features." Section B will
cover the areas of the new template used for "sub pages."
A. The Home Page
The new page design was chosen for ease of
maintenance, navigational features similar to other sites, ability
to display most of the previous content without as much scrolling,
and because of its clean, open appearance.
Navigation is of key concern when building
Web pages, due to the fact that a visitor who gets lost in your
site is often a visitor who leaves your site. The future may
hold additional navigational elements, but our focus is presently
on the left-hand menu.
The Menu featured on the Home Page is a mouse-over
menu. What this means is that when you move the pointer over
one of the headings (About Earlham; Academics, Libraries and
Online Services; Student Life at Earlham; Working at Earlham
College; What's New; Admissions; and Alumni, Parents, & Friends),
you will see a secondary menu display that contains links associated
with the heading you have selected.
Please Note:
1. We have made every attempt to transpose
all the links from the previous Home Page to the new page.
2. The headings in the menu are NOT links, as one can differentiate by moving
the pointer to the sub-menu where the arrow will become a hand/index finger.
The index-finger pointer indicates a link in all supported browsers and operating
systems.
As on the previous incarnation of the Home Page, the Google search
remains. To use this function, simply select whether you wish to
search Earlham's
site or the entire Web, enter your search text and press "Search" (or
press the return key on your keyboard).
Earlham News Player
The News Player is a JavaScript scroller that functions much like a standard
VCR or DVD player.
Press the "Play" button to start the scroller moving. Press the "Pause" button
to stop scrolling, allowing you to read a particular story of interest or to
click on a link. (Links may also be clicked as the scroller moves.) Press "Rewind" to
scroll backwards if you have scrolled too far. Finally, press "Start
Over" to start again from the beginning.
In trying
to accommodate the wants and needs of regular visitors to the site,
we have put this feature in to keep some of the originality of the previous
Home Page as well as allow space to provide the news stories and announcements
they've grown to expect. The News Player is where you will find important
information including: weather and security issues; sporting events; musical
and theatrical performances; student, faculty, and alumni profiles; and other
Earlham happenings.
The Site Index is simply an alphabetical listing of all non-personal Web pages
associated with the Earlham College Web site. It lists links to departments,
offices, units, programs, documents, and items of special interest. It does
not list names of individual persons employed by the college. Most names and
e-mail links can be found on our pages of Teaching Faculty and Administrative
Faculty.
The bottom of the Home Page lists the College address, the phone numbers for
Admissions and the switchboard, and the e-mail address to contact the Web Team.
The webeditor@earlham.edu e-mail
link at the bottom of the page, as well as the Web
Services site, is directed to a central e-mail queue allowing all members
of the Web Team to access these messages. This provides the most efficient
communication to the team and allows for the quickest response to your questions
and comments.
This link directs the visitor to the College's Web posted copyright
information.
B. Sub Pages
Templates are a standardized format that may be applied to any page, in the
form of a file. You may apply a template to a page, or create a new page from
a template. While it is likely that the Web Team will make multiple templates
available in the future, only one standardized template is planned to be available
in the coming months. This template has been designed to have a look and feel
similar to that of the new Home Page. For more on using the Earlham template,
see the Resources section of the Web Team site at: http://www.earlham.edu/webteam/content/resources/
Because of the difficulty in using menus like that of the Home Page without
having a system that is designed to provide them, the template uses a simpler
form of navigation. The template uses a left-aligned menu, but uses manual,
vertical submenus rather than a horizontal dynamic one like the Home Page.
These submenus, if implemented consistently, are just as easy to understand
and follow as more sophisticated menus, if not as attractive to the eye.
Again, looking forward, it is our hope to maintain even greater consistency
between pages, but our present goal is to provide better access, in a timely
manner, to the existing content for both our visitors and our content providers.
The template, as well as detailed instructions on using the template, can be
found on the Web Team site in the Resources section at: http://www.earlham.edu/webteam/content/resources/
Financial Aid — http://www.earlham.edu/~sfs
Web Team — http://www.earlham.edu/webteam/
Admissions — http://www.earlham.edu/~adm/
Faculty Handbook — http://www.earlham.edu/handbook/faculty/
ECS Policies — http://www.earlham.edu/ecs/html/policies/
Computing Services — http://www.earlham.edu/ecs/
Faculty Meeting — http://www.earlham.edu/content/facultymeeting/
Japanese Languages — http://www.earlham.edu/~japn
IV. The Web Team
http://www.earlham.edu/webteam/
http://www.earlham.edu/webteam/content/contactinfo.html
http://www.earlham.edu/webteam/content/resources/
V. Questions
Please direct all questions, comments, or
complaints to:
webeditor@earlham.edu
VI. Printable Version
of This Document
Click
here for a printable version of this document
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