By Lynn E. Paulson
If you think of the homepage of the Alaska Pacific University web-site as the face of our social media presence, it’s abundantly clear that piling on more makeup and jewelry in an effort to tart her up cannot possibly disguise the simple truth of the matter: The Old Girl has been looong overdue for a bit of “work.” Even isolated cosmetic changes would be half measures fooling no one. The fact is that nothing short of The Whole Ivana will do here. The entire site is now being updated and overhauled, a big, big project that is taking place in a series of stages (much of it behind the scenes) at the end of which you will see a sleek, fresh and user-friendly homepage where users/visitors can land and from which they can easily and sensibly navigate the entire revitalized system.
The New Look is being evaluated right now with a December 1st target date for rollout and the goal of launching the site live at the start of the New Year. These first changes will involve an update to existing content in a way that allows for new content types to be integrated into the site gradually over the next few months, for best practices to be established, and needed trouble-shooting to take place . This will be a somewhat chaotic process and there will be many challenges throughout. Patience is advised.
In the meantime, you can see some changes to the current web-site in the form of a better use of the tools that are available. Regular updates to the APU Blog will appear also on the right hand side of the current homepage under “APU Spotlight.” Above “Spotlight” you will now see featured videos. On the bottom, left hand side of the homepage, you will now find icons for Instagram and for You Tube (yes, APU has a You Tube channel!). Watch a video short about APU Early Honors Student and 2014 State Men’s Tennis Doubles champion, Nick Benko. Check out “APU Cribs.”
The team in IT is working double-time and working hard right now to bring us a web-site we can be proud of, so take a moment to give them the atta-boyz they will need and deserve, bring them cookies, for heaven’s sake, and by all means support their efforts by keeping your stories coming my way, and bringing me your photos and videos so we have good things to showcase on the site while it’s being updated. And remember – be sure and fill out those release forms!!!
