Frequently Asked Questions
The Florida Tech Web site has evolved gradually over the course of more than a decade. What began as a small and limited project for just a small number of people on campus has grown and matured into a far grander and more expansive piece of the culture of Florida Tech. Our Web site is now very much a cornerstone of university operations, receiving tens of thousands of visitors each day from every corner of the world. Our web now holds well over 10,000 pages of content and is no longer the young, simple project it was when we first began.
Recognizing the many ways that we must adapt in order to meet the changing needs of the campus, we have implemented a new set of standards for web development and implementation on our web servers. The new standards have been put into place and major changes to the server administration, software compatibility, and development methodology are now being implemented. The end result is a web site that is streamline and efficient, well managed, easy to use, and adequately maintained. We appreciate your cooperation during this transitional phase and know that our combined efforts will benefit everyone involved.
For over a decade, the Floride Tech web has been allowed to grow and blossom freely without many restraints and controls. There has never been a universal standard, and the users have been free to use the development tools, methods, and components of choice. This has led to the permeation of a very large and unruly collection of directories, which impedes the download time and functionality of our web. After the most recent analysis, it has been decided that the campus needs to adopt a unified standard as a means of maintaining the servers and allowing for the continued growth and development of the Florida Tech web site without the problems of the past. With the new standards in place, we will have a full set of administrative tools and content management capabilities which allow for maintenance of the server, while allowing users an efficient and simple way to edit and maintain their sites. The issue of maintaining a consistent look and feel for the college web will also be managed effectively, as every official site on the production server will refer to a single, global template and style sheet that can be changed and updated only at the administrative level. When new versions of the template are designed, the changes can be automatically filtered down through all levels of the site on the server side, without forcing the individual web developers to struggle to maintain the most current look and feel.
The chosen standard is Contribute Version 3 for all users except those with exceptional requirements. For these other users who require web programming or database capabilities, Dreamweaver MX 2004 can be used along with Contribute.
Macromedia Contribute provides the fastest, easiest, and safest way for individual users to edit and maintain web pages within a large server system. It provides an intuitive interface, is easy to configure globally, and allows our users to perform all the major functions with a minimal amount of training. Contribute integrates seamlessly with our site templates designed in Dreamweaver, and allows for content control, publishing permission adjustment, and a rollback feature which allows users to revert to saved versions of pages. It provides this functionality without the need for duplicate pages or multiple copies of the site's content. Problems with overused server space, inefficient directory structure, and broken links will also be minimized through the content management and reporting capabilities. In short, we will have a better server structure, more accessible pages, shorter load times, more consistent look and feel, the ability to correct errors, and less waste of server space.
Contribute is the standard for most users, and required for maintaining official Florida Tech web pages. The software allows you to:
- Build new blank pages
- Build new pages from a template or copy of existing page
- Insert or remove images
- Insert or remove text and other content
- Add, remove, or alter hyperlinks
Dreamweaver is only necessary if you MUST have access to functionality beyond what Contribute offers such as:
- PHP
- XML
- Javascript
- Database connectivity
- Library Items and Objects
- Complex Forms and Interactivity
It is highly recommended that all functions that might necessitate the use of Dreamweaver for advanced scripting and form handling be allocated to the Web Services team. The overwhelming majority of users on campus will get the functionality that they need by using Contribute.
1 - Install Contribute 3 software on your PC or MAC
2 - Register the software at the official Macromedia site
3 - Contact the campus webmaster via email at www@fit.edu to request your connection key. In your request, please include: your full name, email, telephone, the name of the site region you will need access to including the full web address.
4 - Allow 48 hours for connection key generation. You will be notified via email when your permissions have been established and you will be provided with a connection key to configure your Contribute software connection.
Your connection key will allow you to automatically configure your Contribute program for site editing. This key will be provided with detailed instructions via email by the campus webmaster when you request it.
The Contribute software is quite simple and intuitive to install and use. You may install the software on your own and then request your connection key. The process is quick and easy, and most users have no trouble. If you have any concerns or need assistance, you may contact Academic Computing and Web Services and we will provide assistance getting the software properly set up.
We understand that everyone likes to do things in their own unique way and that certain habits and preferences have been formed over time. While we do empathize, it is necessary and unavoidable that we achieve a unified web and adopt a standard that provides the greatest good for the University as a whole. We are not insensitive to the preferences of the individuals involved, but looking towards the greater good, and we appreciate your patience and cooperation. The truth is simply that much of the web development that has taken place outside of any standard methodology reflects bad development practices and inefficient use of our server resources. The new standards have been adopted to optimize our web while providing unification of development and ease of maintainance.
We realize that FrontPage was widely used for some time, but there have arisen some serious technical issues on our site with the software, and it has been decided that in order to overcome these technical problems, we must discontinue supporting FrontPage on the Florida Tech web. We will require FrontPage users to migrate to Contribute, and while it might seem to be an inconvenience, we are providing full support and training for the new software to help ease the transition. The Contribute software is easier to use and requires little to no training for most average users.
For general web related issues, site development & planning, please contact the campus Webmaster at: sainsley@fit.edu .
For questions regarding University standards and graphical identity, please contact the Office of University Publications.
