Editorial & Graphic Standards
The following editorial and graphic standards have been developed to ensure a consistent experience for users who visit the NIU website. Departments that wish to use the Web Presence templates are expected to review these guidelines and adhere to them as they develop their websites on the templates.
General
- Do not co-opt elements of the template (i.e., the NIU wordmark); the template must be used in its entirety
- Review your pages periodically to make sure the links work and the information is current
- Always link to the official online document (Do not re-create information on your site that exists elsewhere on the NIU website)
- Consider creating an A-Z Index specific to your site; this provides an easy alternate way for users to access information on your site
Content
- Begin the body of the page with a Page Name in “Heading 2” Initial Caps
- Begin Right Column items with "Heading 3" in Initial Caps
- Assign heading levels (H2, H3, H4, H5) to text to delineate sections of a page (instead of bold paragraph tags)
- Do not assign font faces, colors, sizes or alignment to text. The look of the text on a page is controlled by the global style sheet employed on every template page.
- Bold phrases or words that are hyperlinks within a sentence
Coding
- The page title should read as follows: Page Name – NIU – Department Name
- Use meta tags to code keywords and a description for each of your pages
- Use divs (not tables) to affect the layout of the content area on each page (see Web Team DIVs guide -PDF)
Graphics
- Use the long, bowed image format on your homepage and landing pages. If you need assistance creating the bowed effect on an image, please contact the webteam. We can provide you with the Photoshop file or format the image for you.
- When creating a composite image (text imposed on a photo), use either Arial or Copperplate Gothic Bold as the font on smaller feature graphics and use only Copperplate Gothic Bold as the font on the long, bowed graphics. Please contact the Web Team if you need either of those fonts.
Naming Conventions
- Header naming conventions are as follows:
- Colleges & Divisions: college or division name
- Departments: college name in small text on the top line, department name in larger text on the bottom line
- Faculty & Staff: department name in small text on the top line and the faculty/staff member's name
Use spelling and naming conventions that are consistent with the NIU site
- The page title should read as follows: Page Name – NIU – Department Name
- website – one word, lowercase (see usage note on dictionary.com)
- A-Z, not A to Z
Navigation
Left Navigation
- Use consistent naming conventions and locations for left navigation links
- About Us - first item on the left navigation; appropriate sub-navigation links include mission and organizational charts
- A to Z Index- create an A-Z Index specific to your site and name it "YourDepartmentName A-Z Index;" this link should be third from the bottom on the left navigation
- Contact Us - Provide a mailing address, office location, phone and fax numbers, and e-mail address for your department; this link should occupy the second link from the bottom of the left navigation; do not put this in the tan area under your navigation
- Home - Provide users with a way back to your homepage; this link should be the last link on the left navigation
- Do not link directly to PDF or Word files from the left navigation; links to those types of files should be included in the body of the page or can be highlighted in a right column.
- Departments may wish to link back to their college or division in the left navigation. Such a link should occur between the "Contact Us" link and the "Home" link for the department.
- Do not open new windows from the left navigation. If you need to send users to a site in another window, create a landing page for the site and add the external link there.
- Put the logo for your department or an accrediting organization under the left navigation in the tan area.
Audience Navigation
- The area below the main header is for links to Audience landing pages
- Suggested audience categories: students, prospective students, parents, faculty & staff, alumni & friends, community, partners
Breadcrumbs
- Use the standard template that includes breadcrumbs on any page that is not accessible from the (expanded) left navigation.
Use of the Templates for Faculty & Staff Webpages
Faculty and staff can request the web presence templates for their individual webpages. Use of the templates for this purpose should follow the same navigation conventions as are employed on college/department pages (i.e., audience links on the top; task and topic links on the left). The header will be comprised of the department name in small text on the top line and the faculty/staff member's name in larger text on the bottom line.
Alternatively, departments may decide that faculty/staff can use their department's template for individual faculty/staff webpages. In this instance, the header remains the same (college name in small text on the top line; department name in larger text on the bottom line). Faculty/staff can utilize the tan-right-column template to employ a sub-navigation on these pages.
