Web: Creating Your Own Web Page

Owned by Marc Miller
Last updated: Nov 14, 2023
3 min read

New Webpages

Most departments can create webpages for Faculty, Researchers, Staff and Students that hang off the departmental website.

Definitions

Websites - a set of related web pages located under a single domain name, typically produced by a single person or organization. example: this Knowledge Base

Webpage - A web page is a hypertext document provided by a website and displayed to a user in a web browser. example: this Knowledge Base Article on creating your own webpage.

Procedure

To create such a webpage (on a Websites using local login):

  1. Contact your Departmental Webmaster
  2. The Departmental Webmaster can then add roles to local accounts. Most accounts will have "limited role", meaning you can only edit specific pages granted to you by your Departmental Webmaster
  3. The Departmental Webmaster can then create a page for you or for your event/group/research area/tech report
  4. The Departmental Webmaster can then change ownership of the page to the individual  or group that will be editing it
  5. Edit your new web page to your liking

New Websites

Occasionally groups need more control or space than can be provided by a simple web page and need a full website. See: Where can I get a Lab/Research Website?

All new websites are Drupal based and hosted via UCSB's Pantheon Cloud Web Services

Unfortunately most HTML and Wordpress sites do not meet the minimum UC required security or accessibility guidelines as of April 2019. While older websites in those formats do exist and are still hosted, UCSB is actively converting them to Drupal websites and migrating them to UCSB's Pantheon Cloud Web Services. 

Please note the difference between webpage and website. Drupal does allow the importation of HTML code for individual webpages. Thus you can get the security and accessibility of Drupal, while largely maintaining your old structure. A new webpage can be created by a departmental webmaster in under a day, full websites generally require coordination with several people and can take weeks. 

Old HTML and Wordpress Websites hosted out of CoE accounts

We understand that once papers are published, it is not possible to change website links. It is possible however to redirect links. See: Web: How to redirect a webpage via your CoE account. Websites and redirects created in this manner will only last as long as the CoE account they were created in. If your CoE account is expired or deleted due to you no longer being part of the UCSB Community or because Alumni Forwarding has been enabled, the website will cease to function. ECI is not responsible for maintaining, updating, or making sure links on personal websites connect. HTML websites WILL BREAK during major security updates and website change. All personal websites are tied to a single person, if you are interested in a website for multiple people or a group please see: Where can I get a Lab/Research Website?

If your website does not meet UC required security or accessibility guidelines it can be taken down at any time. Owners of old websites that are not compliant should contact the CoE webmaster (webhelp AT engineering.ucsb.edu) and schedule a time to work out the particulars and needs for a replacement Drupal website. Please be aware that due to the backlog of sites being converted, you should contact them at least three months before a new website is needed.

Websites hosted by third party vendors

ECI is not responsible for maintaining, updating, or making sure links on third party websites connect. If you are hosting your website via a third party, it is your responsibility to make sure your website meets UC required security or accessibility guidelines. According to the UC office of the President, requests for website changes are up 181% since 2017.  It is highly recommended that website owners audit themselves once a year to make sure they are in compliance with all legal requirements. A little work in the present, can prevent a lot of hassle in the future

It is possible for websites to be created and hosted out of Google, Github, Canvas

As Google Connect, Github, Canvas are campus level services, for support please go to https://www.connect.ucsb.edu/help or https://www.canvas.ucsb.edu/support

Canvas replaces Gauchospace and all old Gauchospace websites that have been archived will be taken down by ITS on December 1st, 2023