The West Georgian

Issue date: 10/17/07 Section: News

While most UWG web sites are outdated and difficult to navigate, plans for updates are slowly, but surely, on the way.

Most students at the University of West Georgia who haven't been living under a rock for the past decade are familiar with and have grown accustomed to using the Internet for a variety of tasks. But students attempting to access many departmental websites here at UWG have run into a puzzling problem: Many of the websites are outdated, difficult to navigate, non-functional, and even contain major errors of fact.

Students who are used to a dazzling array of Java and Flash powered applications on the websites they usually visit can find it difficult to access accurate information about their own professors, programs and facilities here at UWG.

There is a definite disconnect between the students who are used to working, playing, and learning through the Internet and those responsible for their college education.

Lucky for disgruntled students, a solution is already in the works.

Information Technology Services has bought a content management system- a program that gives anyone who knows how to type the power to set up a framework for what pages are going to look like, and than insert content. It's as easy as filling out a form.

This program, known as RedDot, is now officially implemented on the main UWG webpage, the ITS webpage, and also at the University Communications and Marketing website.

Blake Adams, project manager at UWG for any web-related peojects, says the RedDot implementation is the biggest thing on his plate right now.

"We're getting a lot of interest from the administration side, but not as much as we'd like from the departmental side," he said.

This is unfortunante, because one of the biggest beneficiaries from the implementation of this non-HTML "What You See Is What You Get", or WYSIWYG (pronounced whizzy-wig) system would be the very departments resisting the change.

Rather than being forced to wait for HTML programmers to put up new content every time a new event or piece of important information needs to be posted, any professor, department head, or secretary without an ounce of HTML training has the capability to post new information as fast as they can say "drag and drop."

"There is no mandate to enact this program, it is completely voluntary for each department," Adams said.

Continued...

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