Academic Web Blog

Advancing the web for university departments, institutes, and projects

Webvanta Acquired by Xfive image

Webvanta Acquired by Xfive

I am delighted to announce that Webvanta has new owners, who have a deep commitment to serving all of Webvanta’s customers. We have been through extensive explorations with potential partners, and the company that now owns Webvanta, Xfive.co Pty Ltd., could not be a better match.

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Basic HTML Literacy for Authors and Editors image

Basic HTML Literacy for Authors and Editors

HTML is the lingua franca of the web. Virtually all content on the web uses HTML. Yet people who write and edit content for web typically seek to avoid having to deal with HTML by using WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editors. While WYSIWYG editors can be convenient, and are often a reasonable way to edit content, they are also the source of much grief.

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What Does a Website Cost? image

What Does a Website Cost?

If you are planning to have a new website designed and built, you're probably wondering what it will cost. The truth is that a website could cost virtually nothing, or it could cost $500,000. It is a little like asking "what will it cost to build a house?"

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Cracking the Academic Department Website Challenge image

Cracking the Academic Department Website Challenge

University academic departments have some unique challenges when it comes to their websites. They typically have few, if any, marketing resources, and all too often their websites are built by volunteers from within the department. We applaud the volunteers for their energy and enthusiasm, but unfortunately they generally lack the skills to create an outstanding website.

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10 Tips for Creating Easy-to-Update Websites image

10 Tips for Creating Easy-to-Update Websites

Websites are most effective if they are kept up-to-date. While this fact may seem almost too obvious to state, the harsh reality is that most sites aren't updated nearly as often as they should be. If you are having a new website built for you, make sure you are going to be able to add and edit content yourself, without needing any technical knowledge.

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Virgin America: A Striking Example of Mobile First image

Virgin America: A Striking Example of Mobile First

Rather than starting with a desktop site and slimming it down to create a mobile version, the mobile-first approach begins with a mobile design, and then adds to that for the desktop version. Virgin America has been testing a new site that takes this approach to its limit.

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