Web page guidelines: Editorial Considerations

Numerous books and guides have already been written about web page style and information quality. Nevertheless, these guidelines are not going to help *you* determine which style or format is best for your purposes. It's up to you to decide. However, keep in mind that if you have web page space on a university server, you are bound by the policies of the university as well as any others specified by the server administrators.

• Make the best use of your home page. Your home page is the most valuable portion of your web collection. Do not waste home page space on introductory paragraphs of information that users will read only one time and subsequently ignore. History and introductory text are important and should be a part of every home page, but shrink it to a link labelled "Introduction" or "About."
  
  
• Proofread your pages. Be sure to check for spelling and grammatical errors, missing words, and other general editorial errors. For many of us, there's nothing more embarrassing than a glaring typo in the header of your newly-posted web page.
  
  
• Review your pages. As in the more traditional world of paper publishing, your web pages should follow any established procedures for proper review and approval before you post them. Many departments have policies in place about their organizational communications; check with the appropriate person or group within your organization to see who might be in this role.
  
  
• Preview your pages. Before you put your pages up for the world to see, take a look at them locally in your browser as well as browsers on other platforms. This way you can make sure your pages look as you expect them to and troubleshoot any problems that might arise before you go "live."
  
  
• Keep pages up-to-date. Web publishing is not a one-time task. In many ways, you will find updating web pages quicker and more convenient than updating paper publications. However, web pages still require ongoing review and maintenance. Make it a part of someone's regular work routine to check pages regularly. Quantify this ongoing resource requirement for the management in your organization so they'll understand this, too.
  
  
• Announce your pages. If possible, tell your intended audience that your pages are now available on the web. If you want your material included in the list of Cornell's Web sites then you must register the address with the CUinfo staff. If your page is an official university resource (not a personal home page), send e-mail to cu-web-l announcing its availability (be sure to include its address in the e-mail message).

The editorial guidelines above have been adapted with permission from University of Texas - Austin TeamWeb's outstanding collections of web publishing guidelines.