CSC 2013 Institute Website re-design www.csc.mrc.ac.uk Design brief The MRC Clinical Sciences Centre is inviting proposals from web developers and designers to launch a brand new Institute website early in 2014. This will involve redesign of the front end and redevelopment of the content management system. The successful designer/developer(s) will be requested to assist with search engine optimisation. Key design requirements for the new website are as follows: • • • •
Dynamic image-led homepage with simplified menu Responsive design with appropriate social media links Sensitivity to MRC brand and CSC links to Imperial The website front end and CMS should work across all browsers
Key architectural requirements include: • • • •
New navigation system to accommodate multi-layered content Flexibility in database construction to accommodate future changes in content New content management system with intranet feature Template for external websites (to utilise Wordpress or other similar platform)
Key content requirements include: • Better access to Research Group pages • Better archiving system e.g. for news articles • Revision of content apportioning for external and internal audiences e.g. science content vs. health and safety information The current site architecture is depicted below: HOME
RESEARCH GROUPS EPIGENETICS INTEGRATIVE BIOLOGY GENES & METABOLISM FACILITIES
NEWS & EVENTS
STUDENTS
JOBS & OPPORTUNITIES
PUBLIC SCIENCE
OVERVIEW
INFORMATION
NEWS
WHY STUDY HERE
PhD STUDENTSHIPS
100 YRS OF THE MRC
ADMINISTRATION
HEALTH & SAFETY
SEMINARS
PROGRAMME INFO
SUMMER STUDENTSHIPS
SCIENCE-ARTS PROJECTS
ABOUT THE CSC
COMPUTING SERVICE DESK
CURRENT STUDENTS
CURRENT VACANCIES
SCIENCE FOR SCHOOLS
HOW TO FIND US SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD
Traffic The website currently receives around 15,000 visits per month, mostly to the Research Group pages, studentship opportunities, and latest news. More than 70% of visitors are referred to the website via Google, but significant numbers visit the website via Imperial, Findaphd.com and the MRC website. Half of visitors are new, and half are returning with around 1 in 5 from the CSC network. Mobile use is increasing (tablet, smartphone, etc).
Hosting and technical info The website will be hosted on a CSC server. The current website is runs extremely slowly owing to issues with the database and the way the design interfaces with server-side technology. Server-side infrastructure and software are due to be updated. The software platform is based on vmware technology with ESXi as the underlying operating system platform. The current web server is based on Windows technology with the end of life of this product in July 2015. Generally the services used to host a website are older versions for example version IIS version is 6 (2005), MySQL5 (no longer supported), ASP v2 (Nov 2005), PERL 5.10 (pre 2010) and PHP5.2.6 (released Nov 2006). Timelines Call for proposals – Early August Interviews – Early September Design, development and testing will take place throughout the autumn for launch in early 2014. Team Dr Mark Ungless (Academic Advisor), Brona McVittie (Head, PEMG) and the new PEMG web-manager will work closely with the successful designer/developer(s) to agree technical and design specifications, to sign off development/design stages and ensure delivery Websites we like http://www.imba.oeaw.ac.at/ http://www.mit.edu/ http://undergrad.biola.edu/ http://www.whri.qmul.ac.uk/ http://www.tufts.edu/ http://www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/