Web Publishing Standards:

This page is frequently updated. Please review it regularly.

• Administrative - Roles, responsibilities, etc.
• Editorial - Use of grammar, titles, capitalization, etc.
• Graphic - Colors, images and logos, etc.
• Technical - Naming conventions, forms, links, etc.

 

Administrative Standards

All MCG departments and institutional units are encouraged to provide a web presence that can be maintained within their resource pool. In the event that an employee serving as a Unit Web Publisher becomes unavailable for that duty, the unit must reassign the responsibility within 30 days, and make arrangements to ensure their Web content is properly maintained until the role is filled.

Editorial Standards

The MCG Editorial Style Guide is the official source for correct usage in all institutional copy. In addition to the standards listed there, the following list covers proper usage of many Web-specific terms:

click here - Do not use "click here" to indicate that there is a link. Instead, include the link in the copy.

Correct example: Always use the latest version of the MCG logo in your publications.

e-mail - Hyphenate, lowercase.

HIPAA - is correct HIPPA is not.

home page - Two words, lower case unless beginning a sentence.

Internet - Initial cap.

intranet - Lower case unless it begins a sentence.

login/logon - Use "login" rather than "logon." One word, lower case.

logout/login - Use "logout" rather than "logoff." One word, lower case.

online - One word in all cases.

underlining - Do not underline text on Web pages. Use bold text for emphasis (<strong> not <b>).

Web - Use upper case W when referring to the World Wide Web. Use upper case W for all references to the Web.

Web page - Two words. Upper case W, all other letters lower case.

Web site - Two words. Upper case W, all other letters lower case.

Graphic Standards [back to top]

All communication efforts (including Web pages) should adhere to MCG Graphic Standards. The following standards are more specific to web publishing.

Layout conventions are covered in the technical standards.

MCG logo - Make sure to use the correct version of the logo:

• The logo should be no smaller than 100 x 100 pixels.
• Usage on Web pages is subject to Office of Strategic Communications Graphic Standards.

Color - The correct shade of "MCG blue" is:

#003366

Images are often subject to specific legal restraints. It is the publisher's responsibility to verify compliance with legal and MCG policy requirements including, but not limited to HIPAA and copyright restrictions.

Image Standards:
• Non-technical photographs should be composed in a candid/journalistic style whenever possible. In other words, try to capture people going about their business.
• Avoid the use of "mug shots" for anything other than a directory style list of people.
• Avoid the use of "class photo" style pictures on section home pages.
• Do not use clipart
• Animation should be used very conservatively
  • Animated clipart should never be used
  • Animation should be subtle. Use one short cycle or long pauses between multiple short cycles.

Technical Standards [back to top]

The technical standards listed here are intended to make the process of contributing to the site easy and efficient for novice and expert publishers alike. Our support resources are very limited, and deviation from these standards could make it very difficult or expensive for you to receive assistance with problems that may arise.

Naming Conventions - Because our Web site is on a case-sensitive operating system, our naming conventions are epsecially important.

Index.html and index.html do not refer to the same file. If you have a link to index.html, and the file is really named Index.html, your link is broken.

When creating new files (pages, PDF's, etc.) and folders, you must use ALL lowercase:

• Correct: filename.html
• Incorrect: FileName.html, fileName.html, etc.

Do not include spaces, or special characters in your names, and include only one dot (period) in the name of your file (no dots in folder names).

• Correct: formlist.html, form-list.html, form_list.html
• Incorrect: form list.html, form.list.html, folder.name

Unless you have multiple versions of the same document available at the same time, do not include version information in the name of the file:

• Correct: requirements.pdf
• Incorrect: requirements-fall-2007.pdf, 011507requirements.pdf, requirements_version_4.pdf, 10.08.07.pdf

Layout Standards - We anticipate a comprehensive redesign of all campus publications including Web pages by the first quarter of 2008. For this reason, it is important that existing content be converted into CSS-based templates as quickly as possible. This will allow for site-wide "look and feel" changes to be accomplished with the modification of just a few files.

• Whenever possible, use the provided templates as a basis for page composition.
• Do not embed CSS rules at the page level. If it is necessary to add CSS rules to these templates, please do so in the included local.css file located in the css folder nearest the page on which you are working, or add another stylesheet to the nearest CSS folder, and include the new sheet on local.css.
• Do not use tabular or image-dependent layouts.

Online Forms - All self-contained forms should be placed in the MCG Forms Repository. All interactive forms (post information into a database or send email) should be placed on the OACS server. Contact for assistance.

Updates - Content should be reviewed AT LEAST QUARTERLY to ensure that it meets the following criteria:

• current and accurate - Update or replace outdated information.
  • Do not keep multiple versions of the same file on the server.
    • Delete outdated versions.
    • Maintain the same filename to prevent broken links.
• serves a purpose - Remove content that is dated and/or no longer relevant.
• appropriately placed - The outside world should have little interest in our internal business processes. Please place information targeted for external audiences on the mcg.edu site, and use MyMCG for internal communication and file distribution.
  
• "orphaned" files - Files that have no links pointing to them should be removed. When you delete pages, check to see if you have left unlinked files behind too.