{"id":1078,"date":"2024-04-04T18:04:24","date_gmt":"2024-04-04T17:04:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/communications\/?p=1078"},"modified":"2025-10-30T13:54:30","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T13:54:30","slug":"fresh-new-look-for-it-services-web-pages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/communications\/2024\/04\/04\/fresh-new-look-for-it-services-web-pages\/","title":{"rendered":"Fresh new look for IT Services\u2019 web pages"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In this major revamp, we’re making IT Services’ web pages easier to use. As well as being some of our most popular sets of internal pages, they\u2019re also super complex. We\u2019ve gone back to the drawing board to investigate what users really <\/em>want.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is my first time posting on this blog so I\u2019ll start by introducing myself. I\u2019m Harriet \ud83d\udc4b. I\u2019m part of the Content Design Team in Communications. As a web content developer, it\u2019s my job to design and transform online content. I started at the University last year specifically to work on rebuilding the IT Services web pages. I\u2019m leading this highly collaborative project, working alongside the IT Services team and others to plan and deliver an improved experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s it all about?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Every single member of York uses IT services. From email to wifi, there are hundreds of tools and systems enabling us to work, study and research. For every one of those, there\u2019s usually at least a web page or two. And as you might expect from a technical service, there\u2019s also a lot of guidance, such as how to access a system or how to troubleshoot issues with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across the IT Services section alone, we\u2019re talking over 600 pages<\/strong> of content. But that\u2019s not all. We discovered more IT content across three other sections of the University website. Plus, beyond our Web CMS, we found IT-related content over eight other web platforms such as Salesforce, Google Sites and LibGuides. Before anything else, we needed to scrutinise what categories of content should be published where and why. This helps us be consistent about what we publish and where, and decide what should stay and what should go. After that, it was time to map the rebuild for the CMS side of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IT Services section of the website is home to some of our most viewed internal-facing pages, receiving over 1 million views a year. Despite its popularity, years of growth were taking a toll. The bloated content was hard to navigate and maintain, and the older \u2018Classic\u2019 templates looked tired. To help staff and students find the services and support they need, we had to change that. Cue the content strategy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Content strategy toolkit <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Planning<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here in the Content Design Team, we love to plan. It can feel a little daunting but a good plan is vital for mapping out changes, juggling priorities and keeping track of what\u2019s important. Here are some of the tools and techniques which helped us get from planning content to publishing it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n