The migration from Polopoly to EdWeb has moved into the last phase of our five-phase process. 172 websites are now live in EdWeb and with phase 5 already in progress, this figure will rise steadily in the coming months.

Migration brings content improvements

Due to the sheer volume of sites we need to migrate and the speed we’ve had to go at, it might appear that there’s been no time to reflect on  and review the actual content of the website. It’s easy to forget that the website actually has a purpose. In a website workshop about three years ago I heard someone describe the mission of the University website as being to attract the highest calibre students and staff from all over the world. That’s a pretty big objective.

It’s all in the preparation

An essential part of the migration process has been the review of Polopoly sites in preparation for their migration to EdWeb. This work is undertaken by site owners with guidance and support from migration liaison contacts within the project team.

During the migration process the content and structure of sites is reviewed and refined, with site owners strongly encouraged to appraise their website content to ensure only up to date and relevant content is retained.

We’ve supported the process with:

• One-to-one support via Website Support clinics and migration liaison staff
• Use of tools such as Google Analytics and the UWP Content Freshness Tool, which highlights the length of time since a page has been edited
• Provision of site audit reports for all sites and technical audits where required.

Redundant sites and pages have:

• been moved to an archive area and left in Polopoly
• been rationalised or amalgamated into other sites
• ceased to exist as separate sub-sites and become parts of parent sites
• been migrated for future use but left unpublished in EdWeb.

We couldn’t do it without you

The preparation work carried out by site owners and lead publishers has been an essential part of the whole process. So once again thanks very much to everyone who has worked with us to make yet another migration phase a resounding success.

Responsive design

And please can we not forget how far we have come with this new design. If you’ve not viewed the new website on a mobile device such as a tablet or phone please do this now! If you don’t have one then make sure you borrow one from a colleague. Go to the University Website Programme website and have a look at how cleverly this design re-flows to the smaller screen.

University Website Programme