Website Style Guide Overview This document should be used to guide employees in creating and maintaining the school and district websites and pages therein. Abiding by this guide will ensure that all sites and pages across all schools have a uniform style to maintain continuity and promote branding. General Rules Font The body of text on any web page (with a few exceptions) should be the default font, Tahoma, 10pt. If headers are used, they may be increased to 12pt and bolded. The primary exception to this rule is the middle portlet of the home page of the website, where creative use of fonts, images, and design is encouraged. Paragraph Style If typing more than one paragraph, use block-style formatting rather than indenting each paragraph. Also, if the text is so long that the page must be scrolled down to view, consider breaking it up by creating sub-pages for different sub-topics. This is more user-friendly and more manageable to read. External Sites An external site is defined as a website with a domain name other than one ending in guhsdaz.org. Creating an external website that contains information on a class or activity and posting a link on the school or district website is prohibited. Links to colleges and universities, educational resources, or other sources are allowed. Please refer to the district acceptable use policy (Appendix A). Incomplete Pages In the interest of having polished, professional websites, please do not post Under Construction on web pages that are still in progress. If a page has sub-pages running down the left hand side, there should be a short description on that page of what the sub-pages include this page should not be left blank. Pages that are not yet ready to be published should be hidden. At minimum, post a summary of the topic of the page and contact information of someone who could answer any questions. Sub-pages Sub-pages within a page (the links down the left hand side) should either be organized chronologically (with the most recent on top) or alphabetically. News articles or editions of newsletters are two things that would be good to organize chronologically. Most anything else can be organized alphabetically. Uploaded Documents All documents uploaded to the websites (Word files, PowerPoint presentations, Excel spreadsheets, Publisher files, etc.) should be converted to a web-optimized PDF before uploading. Posting only PDF documents ensures that the viewer has or can freely access software to view. It also inhibits anyone from altering the document.
Documents Created in Word Do not copy and paste from Microsoft Word onto a page. It will retain the formatting codes from Word that sometimes can alter your intended web formatting. Text can either be copied into Notepad to remove formatting before copying or retyped into the website editor. Uploaded Images Images that are uploaded to the website should first be compressed to a size that can be quickly loaded upon the opening of the web page. Also, when changing the size of the image once on the web page, constrain the height and width so the image doesn t stretch. For a more detailed explanation of how to insert a picture, view the tutorial in Appendix B. Home Page What s New Articles Create all news articles as News Content pages, so that they will be displayed in the What s New box on the home page. Otherwise, they will only appear under news. Adding a summary or date to be displayed in the What s New home page box is optional, but must be consistent throughout the school s website. The title of the page should be the same both when creating the page and where you can edit it. Additionally, new articles should be added to the What s New section at least biweekly. And, to show a history of frequent updating, no articles should be hidden or deleted. To view a tutorial that explains how to create a What s New news article, view the tutorial in Appendix C. Calendar For an activity or anything that has a list of dates, the dates should be uploaded to a website calendar, which can be created as a sub-page if it doesn t already exist. This practice should be used in favor of a list shown on the page or a link to an external document because people can subscribe to receive notifications of changes to the calendars and can import to smartphone calendar. If desired, an Excel spreadsheet of the dates can be created and then uploaded using the sample given under the import button on any calendar. To learn how to import events via excel, view the tutorial in Appendix D. Document Containers Document containers are best used when there are many documents that need to be posted and organized. The more documents, the more helpful it is to create folders and sub-folders within the document container to improve the accessibility of the documents. If the intent is to only upload a few documents, a better strategy would be to upload as externally linked documents. Depending on the purpose and layout of your page, a document can either be created as a sub-page or a hyperlink within your page.
Photo Galleries Just like document containers, photo galleries should be used only when there are enough photos that would need to be organized. A group of six or less pictures from a single event can easily be uploaded directly onto the page or in a table on the page. More images than that would usually merit creating a photo gallery. Banner/Main Menu The main menu displays the major areas of the website. Your main menu should contain the following subpages: Home News Calendar Academics Athletics Activities Administration Infinite Campus Contact Us These headings should be consistent throughout all school websites. Teacher Pages Contents All teacher pages should contain the following at minimum: a picture, subjects taught, and a contact me form. External Sites Again, as stated in the General Rules section of this style guide, no external pages are to be created and linked to school or district websites. Online Classroom There are a few options to use the website to aid in instruction. Documents can be uploaded to the teacher page for use by students and parents. However, these documents will be visible for anyone that visits the teacher page. A syllabus would be a good example of a document to post. There is also an option of setting up an online classroom through the website that only students can access. Teachers are able to upload documents, facilitate online discussion, administer quizzes and tests, and have students upload their work. If interested, please contact the Teacher Technology Trainer assigned to your school. Sport/Activity Pages External Sites Again, as stated in the General Rules section of this style guide, no external pages are to be created and linked to school or district websites. Using the Calendar It is imperative that you keep your website updated with the latest schedule of games or events so parents and supporters can stay updated. Rather than simply listing the dates, times, locations, and opponents of the games in a table or an external document, please utilize the calendar feature on the website and import to a calendar
for your sport or activity. Again, this best practice allows people to subscribe to the calendar or import events to their smartphones. Help Resources Information and Technology Department Each school s Computer Coordinator or assigned Teacher Technology Trainer can help with the development of the website and assigning permissions to pages. SharpSchool Resources SharpSchool, the company that hosts our websites, has some great resources. Visit www.customernet.sharpschool.com to view online tutorials, videos, and manuals developed by SharpSchool. The SharpSchool website also has a chat feature, where you can chat online with their support department. You can also reach support at 888.742.7702. GUHSD Resources The district has developed tutorials that can be accessed through the District Server (T:) >> Curriculum Server >> SharpSchool_Website folder. Many of these tutorials have also been posted on the district s website, www.guhsdaz.org. Go to Departments >> Operational Services >> Technology >> Employee Resources (will be prompted to log in) >> Instructional Technology Emails containing website tips are regularly sent out from the Community Relations department. They are sent to all Computer Coordinators, I.T. Teacher Trainers, school website editors, principals, and anyone that would like to subscribe. To request these website tip emails, please call 623.435.6022. For any questions about this style guide, contact Community Relations at 623.435.6022.
Glendale Union High School District Teacher, Staff & Administration Computer/Network Responsibilities & Acceptable Use The Glendale Union High School District computer and network communication systems are to assist in the collaboration and exchange of information among schools, school offices, parents, students and teachers. The goal is to promote educational excellence in the use of the network system and the Internet. The use of student, teacher, staff or administrative assigned accounts must be in support of education and research within the educational goals of the school Responsibilities for Teachers, Staff or Administration. 1) Report any misuse of the network to the IT Coordinator. All rules of conduct described in the Student Handbook apply when students are on the network or when using the district computers or software. The student handbook should be used as a guide for referring students to the Assistant Principal for Discipline and Attendance. 2) If you assist in setting up a web based email or chat account for a student, you must notify a parent/guardian that this has occurred. This may be done in a beginning of the year class information packet. If students are using the account for class purposes it is your responsibility to monitor appropriate use. 3) If you teach students how to create web pages and/or how to post web pages on the Internet, you must notify the parent that this has occurred. This may be done in a beginning of the year class information packet. If students are using the webpage for class purposes it is your responsibility to monitor appropriate use. 4) Before posting any pictures of students, student generated work or student names, parent permission must be given in writing. Do not use student last names, addresses or phone numbers. 5) A student s use of the network and Internet requires the acceptance of the Student Contract; you should review the contract with students (it is contained within the student handbook). The IT Coordinator will decide appropriate use of the network. If a student has used the network inappropriately, a teacher, administrator or the IT Coordinator may close an account or limit access (and or software) within an account at any time. Acceptable Use of Computer/Network systems by Teachers, Staff or Administration 1) Prohibited and unacceptable uses include, but are not limited to: a. Transmission of any material in violation of any federal or state laws and/or district policies. Some examples are copyrighted material, threatening or obscene material or material protected by trade secret. b. Commercial activities by for-profit institutions c. Use of product advertisement or political lobbying d. Any use which shall serve to disrupt the use of the network by other users e. Any use of another user s account f. Allowing another user to use your account or passwords g. Attaching any device to the network without approval of the IT Coordinator h. Installation of non district supported software is prohibited 2) Security. If you identify a security problem, notify the IT Coordinator at once. 3) You are expected to abide by the generally accepted rules of network etiquette and any school or district policies. Use of the network should be limited to educational uses.
Appendix B How to Add a Picture to a Webpage Any pictures added to a GUHSD website must be in good taste and may not be taken from another website. Keep in mind that file size is important. The larger the picture file, the longer it will take to upload to the server AND the longer it will take to appear on the webpage. See the tutorials on Editing Pictures using Photoshop or Editing Pictures using FotoFlexer.com for additional information. 1. Open a browser window and go to your school webpage. 2. Log in to the webpage. 3. Navigate to the page you with to add or change a picture. 4. From the Page Properties tab at the top, select Check out & Edit Page. 5. To add a picture to the webpage, click on the icon on the toolbar. This will open the Image Properties window. 6. Click on Browse Server to locate the picture on your computer. 7. The FCKeditor window will open. Click on Browse at the bottom of the screen. 8. The Choose File window will open allowing you to navigate to the location of the picture on your computer. Select the picture and then click Open. The path to the picture will be listed in the Upload field. Click on Upload.
9. The picture will then be listed in the FCKeditor window. Click on the picture name from the list. 10. The picture will appear in the Preview window. At this time, you may adjust the size of the picture by changing the Width or Height fields. The image. icon will unlock the portioned adjustment of the The icon will reset the image to the original size. When finished with the image editor, click OK. 11. When edits on the page content are complete, click either Save (to save but not make the page live) or Publish (to both save the page and make it live in one click).
How to Add a News Story (will also appear on the What s New box on the Home page) 1. Open a browser window and go to your school webpage. 2. Log in to the website. 3. Go to the What s New page. 4. From the Page Properties tab, click Add New Page and then News Content Page. 5. In the Title field, type the title of the news story. This will be the name of the link on the left side of the page. 6. Click the Create Page button. 7. Click the Advanced tab at the top of the page the select Switch to Design Mode. 8. Click on the red Edit button on the right side of the page. 9. Enter the information about the news story in the appropriate fields. Title This is the actual title of the article that will appear on the What s New section on the Home page. Featured Image This is the image that appears on the News page next to the summary of the story. Image Title This appears in place of the image if it cannot
load on a page. Summary This is the teaser of the story that will appear in the What s New box on the Home page. Published Date If you would like the story to appear on the website at a later date, you may select a date from the calendar box or type it here. Body This is the true text of the news story. Click Save to save the story but not make it live on the web or Publish to save the story and make it live. 10. The story will appear on the Home page under What s New and on the News page.
How to Import Events into the Calendar 1. Open a browser window and go to your school webpage. 2. Log in to the website. 3. Navigate to the Calendar page. 4. Click on the icon from the toolbar above the calendar. 5. Click on View Sample File to download the template for entering event information into Microsoft Excel. You will have the option to Open or Save the file. To immediately begin working on the file, click Open. If you wish to work on the file at a later time, click Save, name the file and identify where you wish it to be saved. 6. The Excel spreadsheet must be formatted with the following field headings: Event This is the actual title of the event that will appear on the calendar. Location This is the place the event will take place. Start Date Must be entered in month/date/4 digit year. Start Time Must be entered in 24 hour time. (If a start/end time is not given, the software will add times based upon the upload time. Always give a time; when in doubt, start at 8:00am and end at 2:35pm,) End Date Must be entered in month/date/4 digit year.
End Time Must be entered in 24 hour time (example: 3pm is entered as 15:00). (If a start/end time is not given, the software will add times based upon the upload time. Always give a time; when in doubt, start at 8:00am and end at 2:35pm,) Category Default options are Academic, Administrative, Athletic, General, Partial Day, Required, School Closed and Testing. Any new category may be added by including it in this list. Description This is the actual details of the event. 7. When finished entering information into the Excel spreadsheet, click Save As. The file will be saved as a CSV (Comma delimited) file. 8. Return to the Calendar page. Click on the Upload icon from the toolbar above the calendar. 9. On the Calendar page on the website, click Browse to choose the CSV file you just created. 10. Select the file from File Upload window. Click Open. 11. Click Import Events.
12. The calendar events will be uploaded into the website calendar. To check to see if the upload was successful, look at the Import Results information that now appears below Import Events. If there were any errors in the upload, it would display them here. 13. To return to the Calendar, click on the View tab.