Technology is one of higher education’s most important tools. The advent of the Internet led to the ability to share information on a scale that had previously been impossible. University faculty and staff are able to distribute information quicker and more reliably than ever before to current and prospective students, community members, alumni and more. Every once in a while, however, digital technology becomes outdated and requires updates. Such is the case for the Bluffton University website, as a new and updated website is expected to launch Nov. 28, according to web content manager Sara Kisseberth.
Sara Kisseberth, web content manager. Photo by Nathan Heinze
“Anything that has ‘bluffton.edu’ [is getting updated],” said Kisseberth.
As a hub for the university at large, it is important that the Bluffton website be kept up-to-date for both staff and students to use easily, Kisseberth said. As a general rule, she said the website is supposed to be updated every three years, though the website’s current form has been used for longer than that.
“It was overdue for an upgrade,” said Kisseberth. “We’ve been working on this for over a year. We like to keep it so that it coordinates with the admissions materials that are going out.”
Kisseberth said the site has been updated several times since she became web content manager. For this update, she was assisted by Wendy Helmig, Dawn Kreider, Amber Smith, Julia Szabo and Art Shelly as well as students Grace Zachrich, Cara Echols and Alissa Hauke.
“This is probably at least the sixth website that I’ve redesigned, that I’ve been a part of,” said Kisseberth. “We work with a content management system, it’s called OmniUpdate, and this is the second site that we’ve had with Omni. It makes it easy for non-technical people to be able to update pages and what have you.”
As to what will be different about the new site, Kisseberth said “everything.”
A preview of what the new website will look like. Photo by Nathan Heinze
“There’s going to be a much different look, there’s a lot more scrolling,” said Kisseberth. “More modern-looking, a lot more photography.”
Kisseberth said the top level pages will be longer and the the interior pages will use either tabs or an accordion style setup, both of which are meant to help users find information more quickly. While Kisseberth said no major issues have arisen with the current site, it doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be worked on and improved.
“Every website needs constant ‘intervention,’” said Kisseberth. “There is constant maintenance. It’s not like a print piece that once it’s to the printer, one can move on to the next project. It’s ongoing, never-ending.”
