Some of Stanford's main Web sites will have a fresh look beginning this summer. Launching in June will be a redesigned homepage for the University, as well as new Web sites for the offices of Undergraduate Admission, Financial Aid and Visitor Information. The effort is co-sponsored by the Office of University Communications and the Office of Undergraduate Admission and Financial Aid. Both offices have been working together since last November to produce the new, cohesive Web identity for Stanford.
Progress on the redesign can be tracked on a blog devoted to the effort. The project blog features design mockups and invites visitors to comment and leave feedback. In the coming weeks, community members will also be invited to participate in focus groups and feedback sessions on the new designs.
As part of the effort, new Web resources based on the designs will also be made available to the wider campus. These will include style guidelines, best practices, code samples, templates, and skins for popular content solutions such as WordPress and Drupal.
These resources will be of particular interest to departments and offices that are already using templates currently available at http://webguide.stanford.edu, but they will be available to anyone on campus who would like their Web site to reflect the new university designs.
June's launch will mark the third major redesign of the homepage. The first was in 1998, followed by an update in 2002. Since then, modifications have been made, but the overarching design has remained the same.
