Answers

Not only will the content, user navigation, and technology be new; the appearance of the website will also be completely redesigned. The new design will be accompanied by a reworking of the university’s overall corporate design (CD) and will take into account mobile views as well as the classical desktop view.

WordPress will be the content management system (CMS) of the new website, i.e., the technical platform for the creation of web pages. WordPress already offers many functions. In addition, several plugins have already been developed at the university, such as the integration of videos from the university’s video portal. Other possible special functions include calendars of events and specific logics for degree program data, personal data, and research data.

With WordPress, the University of Freiburg has chosen a very widely used system that many university members are already familiar with and that is generally considered easy to use. For support in the migration phase, we plan to build up a pool of trained assistants to support you in migrating your content to the new system.

The new web pages will be offered in German and English, as previously. The addition of other languages will be possible.

The website relaunch will encompass all facilities and levels of the university – from the faculties, institutes, and professorships to the university administration, central services, and all central web pages, student groups, and projects.

The new website will use WordPress as a content management system (CMS). Unlike in the past, there will no longer be web servers to administer separately for individual web pages but rather so-called multisites. They provide an interface that behaves as if it were its own installation. The technical administration (updates, maintenance, etc.) can be performed centrally by the IT Services Department, which will also operate the technical system behind the web pages.

At the moment, we are collecting and structuring the feedback on the needs of different user groups. This will provide us with a basis for arranging, prioritizing, estimating the time and energy involved, and studying the implications. Then we will have to design, develop, and test the site and conduct any necessary approval or procurement procedures. The important thing for us is to only make projections regarding the timeframe that you can rely upon and that give you a reliable basis for your planning. We will of course be able to gradually refine the schedule and name concrete details for individual interim steps and the switch itself. We will do this by means of the timeline shown on this page and through general project communication. As to the current state of the project, we ensure you that the website relaunch has very high priority for the Rectorate and within the university as a whole. Accordingly, it will be performed in a way that is consistent with this high priority and as quickly as possible.