This is a summary of points to consider as you author a site in CMS, and to review during the go-live process.

Note: If your site is to be located at www.ndsu.edu/yoursite, the address to enter in your browser address bar for all previews mentioned below will be workspaces.ndsu.edu/yoursite. You must update the yoursite URL segment appropriately.

Critical priority

• Publish site pages/content
• Confirm content was published
  • Click the Workspaces module
  • Visually confirm no draft versions are listed for contents you think should be available to visitors
  • If present, publish any remaining drafts you want site visitors to see

Essential priority

• Verify the home page at workspaces.ndsu.edu/yoursite has content. This page must not be blank!
• Verify the home page shortcut exists and takes visitors to the home page when clicked. This is a large, dark green link at the top of the left navigation menu. It will not be a link when viewing the home page
• Verify footer contents contain site information, per University Relations guidelines - how to update footer contents
• Verify the contact page exists and has been updated with relevant content. Confirm by visiting workspaces.ndsu.edu/yoursite/contact/
• Verify the search page exists and the NDSU Search plugin has not been removed. Confirm by visiting workspaces.ndsu.edu/yoursite/search/
• Verify spelling and grammar errors have been removed
• Verify there are no links to the organization's old Web site--these will no longer work after go-live. Click all links in the site to confirm the old site does not appear

Recommended priority

• Verify headings have been used only as page/document headings, not for "making text green" or arbitrarily changing text size of the page -- see accessibility of headings
• Verify content has been organized to fit the needs of visitors and uses their vocabulary, not the needs and vocabulary of the organization/site authors
• Verify that no blank pages exist in the site (these are pages without any content). Blank pages confuse visitors
• Verify the home page does not contain only "Welcome to our site ... " Instead, it contains important, relevant content that you will keep up-to-date
• View pages with different Web browser widths. It is possible that pasted-in text was designed with line-breaks that "look right" in your default browser size, but if the window is re-sized larger/smaller, the text no longer flows as expected. Images might also take on a different character in larger/smaller browser windows
• View pages with different text sizes (use the text size buttons )
• Shorten page titles, removing unnecessary text, and/or provide "Speaking URL segments" to keep URLs short -- how to shorten URLs

Above and beyond

If you want to go above and beyond, consider using other on-line resources to improve the site, for example

• Overall impression
• Usability
• Readability
• US Government best practices