Checklist

Locaction: Site Store

Enter the name of the institution to be displayed below the TU logo and in the browser tab – selection via site store website top level www.xx.tu-darmstadt.de > Metadata > Website > Institution, either from data sources (Contacts > Institutions) or manually.

Metadaten – Eingaben

Locaction: Site Store

Select an appearance colour for the website – selection via site store top level www.xx.tu-darmstadt.de > Metadata > Website > Theme.

Metadaten – Eingaben
Farbpalette des TU Designs

Locaction: Media

Is the resolution of the images you use on your website sufficient? If not, please replace the relevant images.
Medium mit neuer Version austauschen
Follow the instructions for size: Medien in FirstSpirit hochladen

Have you added thecopyright information (name of the photographer, image rights) to each of the images used on your website?
Enter the information via image (Media) > Metadata > Copyright Information. You may need to set or update the metadata first..
Metadaten – Überblick und Verwendung
Metadaten – Eingaben

Locaction: Media

If you use a sublogo on your website, please check whether the sublogo uploaded for this purpose in the media section fulfils the required resolution and aspect ratio. If not, please adapt the sublogo to the corresponding requirements.

Sublogo

Locaction: Page Store / Site Store

Should your website only be offered in one language (German or English) or in two languages (German and English)?

Monolingual website: Please ensure that the content on pages (Page Store) is in the appropriate language tab (i.e. German content in the German language tab and not in the English language tab) and that the top language tab for the language you are not using is deactivated on the respective content page. You do not need to pay attention to individual paragraphs.
Hints: englischsprachigen Webauftritt

Bilingual website: Please ensure that both language tabs (German and English) are activated on each content page for translated pages. Please also ensure that the menu names in site store are translated.
Hints: Webauftritt übersetzen

Locaction: Page Store

Please fill in the imprint via the already existing content page Imprint.
Absatzvorlage: Impressum

Note: This is already linked in the site store and with the link in the footer of the website. You do not need to make any further settings here.

Locaction: Site Store

If you operate your own social media channels and want to display them in the footer of your website, you can enter them in the site store website top level www.xx.tu-darmstadt.de > Metadata > Website > Footer.

Metadaten – Eingaben

As the reference names of the menu levels (folders) have a direct effect on the URL (address) of a website, it is important that these are chosen appropriately when they are created, i.e. please use clear terms and avoid reference names with index numbers (e.g. studium_5). Instead of index numbers, we recommend using abbreviations, for example of the research group/institute (e.g. studium_naw).
Note: These index numbers can also be created automatically by so-called incrementing. If a name has already been assigned when it is created, FirstSpirit automatically increments it in order to still realise the desired name.

Reference names of menu folders can be changed before going online or being released; later changes are problematic and should therefore be avoided.

Neue Menüebene anlegen
Referenznamen
Referenznamen ändern (also notes on subsequent adjustments)

Use clear, concise and short names to name menus: The user should directly understand what content can be found on the page. Please also avoid long menu names that extend over several lines in the menu layout. If necessary, you always have the option of making the page heading longer than the menu name.

Hints on names: Neue Menüebene anlegen

The number of main menu items displayed is limited to four – if there are more than four main menu items in your website, all others are hidden (depending on the menu sequence).

Navigation auf den Webseiten

A compact menu navigation encourages good usability. Critically check whether the menu and the pages linked to it are really necessary for the website – can two or more menus/pages possibly be merged into one menu?

Please also note that it is not necessary to create an ‘Overview’ menu level, as this is automatically created for the start page of a level as soon as there is one or more menu levels in parallel.

Best practice examples

Avoid a separate submenu for each page (e.g. for research projects or courses). It may make more sense to place the individual pages only as a page reference in the higher-level menu and to list and link them via an overview page (content navigation) in the menu.

Avoid creating a separate submenu with a separate (detail) page for each employee. A central contact list page, via which the detail pages of the individual persons can be accessed directly, is often the better option. It is also advisable to use automatically generated detail pages that are provided via the person's contact data record (see D. Contact details ).

The design concept intends to locate the homepage (start page) as a page reference directly in the www level (i.e. at www.xx.tu-darmstadt.de) within the Site Store of your website.
There are several automatic functions that allow you to navigate to the homepage:

• Desktop version: Link below the Athena logo with your organisation name and when scrolling the page via the home symbol at the top right.
• In the mobile version, click directly on the home icon in the hamburger menu.
• Also via the breadcrumb trail on distributing and standard pages.

The design therefore does not require the homepage of the website to be created in a menu level.

However, if it is your explicit wish to make the homepage accessible via the menu, we recommend placing this as the homepage (‘Overview’) directly in the first menu level (e.g. ‘Research group XY’).

Check whether the overview page (start page within a main or sub-menu structure) has added value for the user (see C. Page layout ). If this is not the case, it is better to skip the overview page.

Avoid linking a single page multiple times in the menu. A page only ever has one menu location, but can be linked as often as required within the website (keyword ‘content navigation’).

Also avoid menus that link to external pages and thus take the user from your website to another website.
A link to an external page always belongs on a website – as a link or as a teaser – but not in a menu item!

In terms of today's mobile surfing behaviour (increased scrolling on mobile devices), check whether the content of the individual page is really necessary. Can the page possibly be integrated into another page in a useful way, can several short pages perhaps be merged into one page? Paragraph functions such as accordion (collapsed paragraph) and paragraph elements such as paragraph groups can be used to condense content on a single web page.

Absatzgruppe

Check whether you are using the appropriate page type for the content function of the page in your website. In the design, there are three page templates available for creating websites: Startseite , Verteilerseite and Standardseite . Please use the type Startseite only once on your website.

Each website has the following header elements (see explanations of the individual page types), which must be filled in correctly.
Please note that, depending on the page type selected, some of the elements are mandatory fields and must therefore be filled in before release is possible.

• Header picture
  If possible, you should use a visually suitable and appealing header picture for each page. Please avoid using an identical image for all pages of your website. If you do not wish to use a picture, a grey area will be displayed instead (only available for standard pages).
• Page heading
  The page heading is the main heading of a page. It is an important element for both users and search engines and must therefore be filled in. The heading used should only appear once on a page. If you use the page type Startseite with one or more images (slider), please ensure that the page headings are entered on the images.
• Lead text
  The lead text is placed at the top of a page and stands out visually from the rest of the text on the page. Here, the content of a page is summarised briefly and concisely or a short address or introduction is given. The lead text makes it easier for users to categorise the page and should therefore be included. Optionally, an additional headline and a link can be placed at the end of the lead text. Please ensure that the headline of the lead text and the page heading are not identical.
• Teaser box
  The usage of the teaser box is optional – with this element, individual information can be emphasised prominently in the header area of a page. This can be selected events or general information (optionally specifying a time window). A link to a subpage can be set optionally. It is advisable to keep the teaser box up to date and regularly update it with new information.
• Meta information
  The page title must be filled in in the meta information. The other items are optional and can be used for SEO.
  Recommendation: The content of the page title field should be the same as the content of the page heading.

In general, check whether the information presented on the website is well structured, accessible and visually appealing for users or the intended target group – never lose sight of the fact that the content and design of a website should reflect the needs of the users and not the organisational structure of an institution. Depending on the page type, the following points should be taken into account:

1. Startseite
   Does the homepage fulfil the requirements for a successful homepage, are the available paragraph elements used appropriately?
   • Page visually appealing (header picture/slider and other image elements).
   • In addition to initial information (institution profile), the distribution function and navigation to important pages of the website are also guaranteed via teasers.
   • Dynamic, up-to-date content (news, events, teaser box) is offered so that readers regularly visit the homepage.
2. Verteilerseite
   Does the distribution/overview page fulfil the requirements for successful distribution pages, are the available paragraph elements used appropriately?
   • Distribution function and navigation to important pages via teasers, taking into account the relevant target group(s) to be addressed via the page, is guaranteed.
3. Standardseite
   Standard pages can be used for different purposes (contact list, news list, directions, information on a project, online form, etc.; a mixture is also possible here). Check whether the standard page fulfils the intended purpose and whether the available paragraph elements have been used appropriately.
   Have the marginal column and the service area also been used appropriately?

Further information on the elements (or paragraph templates) that can be used can be found in their explanations in our Hilfe .

Check that the links you have set, both within the website and to external sites, are working. Please observe the following conventions when setting links:

• Avoid written-out hyperlinks (addresses) and links to ‘here’, but for reasons of usability and search engine optimisation, always write out what you are linking to.
  Example: Not www.chemie.tu-darmstadt.de, but ‘Chemistry department’
• Please fill in the comment field for links to ensure accessibility.

Links im Texteditor anlegen

Use the functions of the text editor and layout options to present content in a structured way and with links.

• Headline hierarchy
  In most cases, the size of the paragraph headline can be adjusted in the layout options.
• Paragraph formatting
  This gives you further options, e.g. to use headings within a paragraph.
• Text formatting
  In addition to simple formatting such as bold or italics, you can also select formatting that automatically provides the selected text sections with a link. Use e.g:
  • E-Mail-Adresse
  • Telefonnummer
  • FAX-Nummer
• Links
  Various options for embedding links.

Texteditor verwenden

Check whether the contact details of your institution's employees have been entered correctly in the data sources section of the respective data records. Especially if you use automated employee lists, it is important that the corresponding institution and desired groups/subgroups are entered for individual persons.

If you use manually created detail pages, it is important that you link the data record with the corresponding page reference from the site structure in the respective data record under the tab Links > Personal Details Page.

If you use automatically generated detail pages, which the Webteam recommends, you can enter the additional content that should be displayed on the details page of the respective person in the tab Additional Information of a contact data record.

The necessary template page for automatically generated details pages is set up by the Webteam.

Kontakt erstellen (Entries such as Links explained in detail)
Kontaktliste
Kontakt-Detailseite (automatisch generiert)

Location: Site Structure

A contact button can be displayed on the right above the marginal column. Click on it to open a modal with the stored contact details.

Contacts are assigned to this button via the site structure under Metadata > Kontakt.

Note: Please pay particular attention to the inheritance of metadata in this context.

Metadaten – Überblick und Verwendung
Metadaten – Eingaben

Kontakt-Detailseite (automatisch generiert)

Please take the following restrictions into account, especially when specifying the teaser text:

• Links are not displayed as such in the teaser, but as normal text.
• The content displayed in a list is greatly reduced so that long teasers are not displayed completely.
  • In this case, we recommend activating the option ‘Display teaser on details page (as lead text)?’

News-Detailseite (automatisch generiert)

Please note that a previously created news details page will only be generated if either the option mentioned under E.1. has been activated or if there is content in the ‘Text’ field or the ‘Further Sections’.

The news details page must be set up once by the Webteam.