What’s New With the NDSU Website

Launched June 24, 2025, the NDSU website was rebuilt to create a more cohesive, modern and user-friendly experience for all audiences. The project was guided by feedback from CMS users, students and stakeholders. Surveys and workshops helped identify pain points, prioritize features, shape templates and organize content structures.

Here’s an overview of what’s changed and how it impacts you as a campus partner.

Key Changes

Navigation redesigned for today’s users

  • On desktop, the horizontal menu has been replaced with a “hamburger” menu. While it adds one click, it creates a consistent experience across desktop and mobile. With 60% of our traffic coming from mobile last year, this change puts usability across devices first.
  • We also simplified the footer by reducing the number of links. A footer’s purpose is to provide quick access to essential information — not to serve as a second navigation bar. Industry best practices recommend keeping footers lean so users learn to navigate through menus, rather than relying on the footer as a catch-all. For convenience, previous footer links remain available through Quick Links in the footer or the Faculty & Staff and Current Students options in the utility menu.

Web Principals introduced

Web Principals now serve as the primary contacts for web content management within larger organizational units (such as colleges and divisions). They:

  • Facilitate alignment with university communication guidelines
  • Support web authors in their areas and ensure consistency
  • Escalate technical or strategic issues to the Web Team when needed
  • Act as liaisons between their units, IT and Marketing and Communications to coordinate governance and guidelines compliance

This structured model replaces the previous open-access approach. All sites now require departmental sponsorship and oversight by a Web Principal, keeping our web presence cohesive, brand-aligned and audience-focused.

Internal content lives in the Knowledge Base

Internal processes, forms and resources have been (or are in the process of being) moved from the public website into the NDSU Knowledge Base (KB). This keeps the main site focused on external audiences while ensuring internal content is accessible to those who need it. Groups in the KB include Academic Affairs, Finance and Administration, Information Technology and Research and Creative Activity.

The website search will return results from the Knowledge Base unless the content is password-protected. If you’re looking for internal content, your best option is to search directly in the Knowledge Base.

People profiles replace outdated templates

Individual profile pages now live in the new People system. This replaces old TYPO3 and PubWeb templates, which are being decommissioned (final shutdown Sept. 1, 2025). Profiles are unified, branded, templated and easier to manage across the site. Here is an example of a profile.

Expanded content areas

Pages like Bison Life, Services for Student Success, About and Fargo and the Community have been developed as central, go-to resources for our audiences. Rather than recreating this information on individual pages, you can simply link directly to them, ensuring your visitors always have the most accurate, up-to-date content. These pages will be actively maintained and refreshed, so you can focus on your unique content while relying on these shared resources to stay current.

Program pages focused on recruitment

All academic program pages have been redeveloped with a clear marketing focus to attract prospective students. These program marketing pages will be updated regularly, with Marketing and Communications working alongside departments to add key points as needed.

When guiding prospective students, department websites should link to program marketing pages on ndsu.edu/programs. These pages serve as the first introduction to each program, providing concise, engaging information that sparks interest without overwhelming students.

Department websites remain the best place for deeper details that matter to current or admitted students such as faculty and staff profiles, facilities, scholarships, handbooks and student opportunities. Curriculum content should not be duplicated on department websites; instead, link directly to the program marketing page or the catalog, depending on the audience’s needs.

Streamlined content and enhanced authoring

The new NDSU website not only provides a powerful, intuitive authoring platform but also a leaner, more organized site. Editors can create content easily using drag-and-drop tools, real-time previews and hundreds of on-brand, accessible layout variations. Smart defaults ensure pages remain consistent with NDSU’s brand and accessibility standards while flexible components give editors freedom to tell their stories.

We reduced the site from 35,000+ pages to under 11,000, removing duplication and outdated content. This makes it easier for users to find accurate, up-to-date information while allowing editors to focus on meaningful content. The platform also delivers fast performance, improved SEO and enhanced accessibility.

Updated brand and voice

The new site reflects NDSU’s updated branding and voice guidelines, ensuring a consistent, cohesive presence across all areas. Brand guidelines are available to help you showcase NDSU’s identity consistently across all media and communications.

Why This Matters

This rebuild isn’t just about a new look — it’s about creating one unified, user-friendly platform that reflects NDSU’s mission and strengthens recruitment and retention. With ongoing collaboration between the Web Team, campus partners, and our vendor, we’ll continue building features that meet the needs of our audiences.

Resources

Have a question, found a technical issue or want to share feedback?

Use our Website and Accessibility Feedback Form to connect with us. If you’d like a response, please include your contact information.

Contact the NDSU Web Team

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