Guidelines/Checklist for Web Page Authors
Design elements
Keep the layout simple. Avoid clutter or flashing images.
Content
Spell check and proofread everything. It is helpful to have someone else read the content as he/she will notice errors you miss.
Write content that is clear and concise. Web users want to quickly find the information they need and move on.
Edit text to conform to the web site style. Below are some common items to note:
- Write degrees without periods: John Doe, PhD, MA, Assistant Professor
- References to time: a.m. (and p.m.) should be lower case with periods rather than am, AM, or A.M.
- Phone number format: (909) 558-1000, extension 12345 rather than 909-558-1000, xt. 12345
- Unless it is a proper noun, leave it lower case. For example, Dental Hygienists and Dentists should be written dental hygienists and dentists.
- Spell out acronyms unless they are well known by all audiences.
- Use complete names of organizations, departments, centers, and buildings. For example, write Wong Kerlee International Conference Center rather than Wong Kerlee Conference Center.
- Omit apostrophes if plural and not possessive, for example, FAQs instead of FAQ's and 50s instead of 50's.
- Use one space between sentences instead of two.
File naming/structure
Use all lowercase letters to name files. For example, use faculty.php instead of Faculty.php or FACULTY.PHP. Naming files all lowercase helps maintain consistency throughout the web site and lessens the number of broken links.
Avoid symbols in file names. Dashes are acceptable; try to avoid underscores. Practically all other symbols should be avoided. Following are examples of symbols you should not use: slashes, apostrophes, quotes, asterisks, and number signs. Use no spaces.
Name files descriptively so the name represents the content.
HTML
Include alt attributes (alternate text that serves as content when images are not displayed) in image tags for all images. For information about writing appropriate alt tags, see http://www.htmlhelp.com/feature/alt-table.html.
Complete the "Title" field. This is the title of the page that displays at the top of the browser window. The title is quite important to search engines. Most search engines use it as the linked text in search results. The CMS limits the number of characters as search engines only accept varying, limited numbers of characters. The title tag should have one to two keywords / phrases and should be representative of the page on which it appears.
Complete the "Content Description" field. This paragraph is often displayed in search engine results (but is not visible on the web page) under the page title link. In this field, provide a description of the page's content that includes the most important keyword phrases. The description should be written in human readable form (sentences and phrases). Include the entity name such as Loma Linda University or Loma Linda University Medical Center.
See content management system (CMS) tutorials:
CMS guide: How to edit files
CMS guide: How to create new files
CMS guide: How to move files from the current web site into the CMS