Web Services
Services and Tools We Offer
The following list of tools, products, or services are offered by Web Services:
Services
- Web Design and Creation for Departments
- Website Template
- Events Calendars
- Bulletin Boards (cForum)
- Web Express
- Multimedia Content Coordination
Available Tools
- Assistance with e-commerce
- Website traffic statistics
- General email form
- Google Search
- University Resources and Policies
- Web Writing Guidelines
- Footer and copyright guidelines and code
Services
Web Design and Creation for Departments - Web Services provides professional standards-compliant development, support, consultation, and hosting of sites and applications that serve broad needs for the University community. More information is available at the Web Design and Creation service page.
Website Template - Web Services offers an official University website template for departments, offices, labs, and other groups that are directly linked to the University. More information is available at the Official University Website Template service page.
Events Calendars - Web Services is replacing the events calendar at http://events.uchicago.edu with a standards-based calendar product. For more information about the events calendar, see the Events Calendar service page.
Bulletin Boards (cForum) - Web Services runs a bulletin board service at http://cforum.uchicago.edu. If you are interested in using a bulletin board for your department or group, please email Web Services (forumrequest@lists.uchicago.edu) and let us know what department you are in and the purpose of your forum. For more information about cForum, visit the cForum service page.
Web Express - Web Services offers Web Express, a browser-based editing tool, to University departments needing an easy way to maintain their websites.
Since most department sites have a unique look and feel, Web Express uses custom-defined templates that make it easy to maintain a consistent design. Approved editors can easily make text updates, add images and links, and create new pages without advanced design or coding skills, thanks to a user-friendly interface offering formatting tools similar to Microsoft Word.
Also, Web Express has a "check out/check in" system, which prevents overwriting or simultaneous editing of a page, and an optional workflow feature for departments wishing to have multiple permission levels for editors.
Finally, the Web Express scheduled publishing feature allows editors to edit a web page and have it automatically published at a specified date and time.
To learn more about pricing for Web Express or to see a list of Frequently Asked Questions, visit the Web Express service page. You can also contact Web Services to schedule a demonstration.
Available Tools
Assistance with e-commerce - If you would like to sell intangible goods (e.g., conference registrations), Web Services can help get you connected with the e-commerce gateway after you receive guidance on University policies from the Bursar. If you are interested, please contact the University Bursar's e-commerce manager, Laura Cuzzillo at cuzz@uchicago.edu.
Website traffic statistics - If your site is hosted on webspace.uchicago.edu, the main University server, the free traffic statistics service at http://webtraffic.uchicago.edu will help you analyze the traffic your website generates, the most visited pages, and more.
General email form - If you would like to set up a form to gather basic information and e-mail it to a specified address, genemail is the tool to use. See directions on how to add a free genemail form to your site.
Google Search - The University of Chicago uses a Google Search Appliance as the main search tool for public web-based content, which can be used to search either your site or the entire uchicago.edu domain. See directions on how to insert a localized search into your website.
University Resources and Policies - In addition to the tools we provide, several university-wide resources are available to help you keep your website up-to-date and meeting University standards.
Web Writing Guidelines - Web Services provides Web Writing Guidelines for consistency and guidance on the University of Chicago websites. If you would like additional assistance in writing content for your website or making it easier to read, please contact Web Services or Publications & Creative Services.
Footer and copyright guidelines and code - The copyright date in the footer should always be the current year. If your site is hosted on webspace, you can automatically populate the current year from the web server by completing the following steps:
1. Ensure that your site has SSI turned on (if not, ask webadmin (webadmin@lists.uchicago.edu) to enable it)
2. If your footer include file is a .shtml file, skip to step 4
3. If your footer include file is an .html file, you will also have to ask webadmin to configure the site to parse includes in .html files
4. In your footer file (e.g. footer.shtml), insert the following code where you want the copyright year to appear:
©<!--#config timefmt="%Y"--> <!--#echo var="DATE_LOCAL" -->
5. Upload your footer file to the server. That's it!
Last updated: 9/2/09