It’s not secret that I really dislike the KU Template, or the design the powers-that-be at KU have imposed upon all KU departments to promote uniformity across the campus’s web presence. The problems I have with it are (a) from an identity standpoint, one size really does not fit all; (b) it’s not enforced in any remotely uniform fashion (uh, the design joke that is the KU Athletics website, anyone? We win a freaking national championship in basketball and the Orange Bowl and we’re still stuck with what CSTV gives us?); and (c) the XHTML/CSS coding is terrible. I’m not saying it was an easy task, but it is not good CSS, not good semantic design, and it uses an outdated technology to bring it all together (server-side includes? Seriously?).
Unfortunately, we’re stuck with the design–and rather than sit and complain about it I figured I’d go to work implementing a version of the KU Template I could use with tools I routinely deploy–so, less with the SSI and more with the WordPress. Loosely based on work done by a few colleagues of mine (namely Jason and David), I give you a WordPress-powered site with a theme based on the KU Template:
I’m still tweaking it, but it’s getting more solid by the day. I have this in my group’s secure Subversion server, but if you’re at KU and would like a copy let me know.
My band has been in a perpetual Sgt. Pepper’s phase since day one, which was well over ten years ago. Too bad we never had Sir George Martin at the helm. Anyway, we finally got around to making a website and posting a few MP3s. Not ones with lyrics, though, because the lead singer is terrible and his words are even worse. Bitchin’ rhythm section, though.
A year or two ago, rather famously around these parts, KU paid an out-of-town design firm close to $90,000 to design a new “signature.” (The fact that this overpriced work is quite reminiscent of another school’s logo is still cause for conversation.)
This was just one part of KU’s visual identity push. New letterhead. New business cards. And for gosh sakes, your departmental website better look like everything else on campus! To accomplish that last bit, the KU Web Strategy Team (yes, that’s a real working group) developed a convoluted, server side includes-based template system and strongly suggested a speedy adoption of said templates by all departments.
I refuse to apply these templates to my work at Stratepedia–those are web applications, not sites, and a row of buttons pointing to KU-specific stuff will just confuse the 98% of my audience that’s not affiliated with the university. But I bit and switched over one of my sites to the template, mostly so it would match with the rest of the CRL’s site.
Anyway, here is what I came up with for the Content Literacy Continuum website. It wasn’t too bad to migrate over because it doesn’t have a whole lot of content, but I was able to take the KU templates, move them to my server, and get everything working within a couple of hours. The big point I like to make with these shots is that the stock photos are of kids who’ve accomplished something from all that help CLC gives them–they’re not toiling away in the classroom or huddled around a computer screen like so many other stock photo kids on education-oriented websites are. Maybe I’m the only one who appreciates that.
I’m just going to share the one shot because it’s not like I did a lot of design work here–please don’t blame me for the boring font selection.
I wish I could say I don’t post here often enough because I’m way too busy at work. I mean, I am busy, but that’s not a good excuse. On the other hand, at least I have something to show for my last couple of months. First up is the Stratepedia Learning Labs.
The Stratepedia Learning Labs site is a combination of self-paced online instructional modules (tutorials) and community of practice-type group workareas. The site runs on top of the Moodle open source learning management system.
The front page got a major overhaul from its previous look, driven by a default Moodle template. I went with bright, cheery colors and–in what’s becoming a trademark for the Stratepedia suite of web apps–a symbol of the great state of Kansas. The big, button-like links right from the get-go help people get started or reoriented after the redesign.
Content-wise, the site is a work-in-progress. Tweaking language, what’s behind links, and policies continues as I find what people like and don’t like.
I’m trying to promote the idea of peer support on this site. I’ve created a peer support area, heavy in threaded discussions. People have joined, but nobody’s chatting. Yet. We’re presenting this at the summer conference, and hopefully by then we’ll have some compelling activities using the support area.
