Category Archives: Snippets

Updates to the news and call to action snippets

We would like to thank you for all your wonderful feedback after our previous announcement.

We have recently updated several of our snippets to take into account requested functionality from web publishers and to update the design language to be more consistent with some of our newer snippets. These include:

  • Call to action: gallery items can now be linked to specific webpages
  • Call to action: buttons now use the new chevron found on the new buttons
  • Fullpage news summary: has been updated with a slightly lighter design.
  • News scroller summary: now also has a lighter design and is consistent with the new profiles scroller summary snippet

All changes are now live and you should see them automatically applied to your website. In addition to these automatic changes, we have also included the news scroller snippet in secondary and highlight colour versions to the snippet pack.

Again, if you have any feedback at all please contact us on websupport@kent.ac.uk

Best wishes,

Web Support

Launch of new profiles and panels snippet

We are pleased to announce the launch of 2 new snippets that will form as part of the snippet pack for all Chronos web publishers.

Profiles

After a successful focus group we have finished the design and development of a brand new profiles snippet to replace the previous “staff profiles” snippet. It’s been improved in every way:

  • Improved design reducing the block colours and putting a stronger emphasis on the profile
  • Automatically pull in staff information from the online directory just with their username reducing maintenance overheads (manual version also available)
  • More powerful category system allowing staff to be in multiple categories simplifying internal structure and profile management
  • Additional fields available: office location, office opening times, social media, second job title

Examples: full page summary, mini summary, profile | KB article

Panels

After overwhelming feedback over the years from all web publishers, we have replaced the callouts (and its disruptive habits in Dreamweaver) with something we’re calling panels. They work just like callouts but instead allow you to just drag and drop the panel you want into a 2 column, 3 column or equal width snippet and voila. You have your panel without the need to specify the width or float.

  • Provides a more accurate design view in Dreamweaver making it easier to use
  • No parameter table making it easier to use and less chance of unexpected scrollbars
  • Consistent spacing inside and outside of the panel
  • Available in 4 colours (primary, secondary, highlight and default grey)

ExampleKB Article

To update to the latest snippet pack please see the instruction below:

If you encounter any issues at all or have any feedback, please contact us at websupport@kent.ac.uk. We are always happy to hear all feedback!

Launch of new KAR snippet

Dear web publishers,

In collaboration with the KAR Admin Group, IS are pleased to announce the launch of a significantly updated KAR snippet for all Chronos web publishers. The new snippet should already be part of your snippet and comes with a host of new features:

  • Changing the order of pubications is more reliable and easier to edit
  • There are 4 referencing styles to choose from (Harvard, APA, IEEE, Chicago)
  • Ability to filter publications by the type of publication.

Please visit the KB article for more information.

If you have any feedback, please send it through to karadmin@kent.ac.uk from them to collate and present to the Web Development Team for future development work

Best wishes,
Web Support

Launch of new snippets and updated snippet pack

We are pleased to announce the launch of a completely overhauled snippet pack for Chronos which will bring many new features and snippets to web publishers. We have taken on your feedback after organising several focus groups as well as one-to-one sessions during website development projects; the outcome of which led us to:

  1. A cleaner and clearer snippet pack
  2. Launch of new snippets (buttons, twitter, tables, KAR – more information below)

1. A cleaner and clearer snippet pack

Along with adding new snippets, we also carry out regular reviews of our ever-growing pack as a whole. As a result, we have found the naming convention of certain snippets to be rather misleading for publishers. Moreover, the previous version of the pack also suffered from excessive number of subcategories within certain snippets, leading to duplication of functionality and ultimately, confusion.

For instance, we had 3 different Thumbnail snippets; Thumbnail, Index-main and Index-left. As well as a complete style refresh, now there are only two Thumbnail snippets; one with and one without background. Such improvements are abundant in the new pack and we hope it will provide a more enjoyable publishing experience.

2. Launch of new snippets

We’ve been working very hard on providing modern functionality and design principles within the Chronos brand. It all started late last year with the release of the Social media snippet and a minor update to the Accordion. Whilst a larger project is underway to design and develop an updated brand (expected early 2016), we felt that continuing to update Chronos was essential so we’ve brought you some minor and major updates:

  • Buttons: A whole new set of buttons to replace the Chronobuttons. This is a major overhaul of the buttons with the aim to bring simplicity and a modern look and feel to your website. The number on offer is reduced while versatility is increased. It is easier than ever to choose the right button for the right job. (Knowledge base article)
  • Tables: It now provides publishers the option to use any 3 of their site colours as the header and also increases spacing around the text for a lighter and more modern look and feel.  Updating any tables you have with this new snippet will breathe some life into your departmental web presence and instantly make it feel current (Knowledge base article).
  • Twitter: A minor update based on feedback introduces an optional fixed height which will be particularly useful for home pages. Stylistic enhancements also mean better integration of the website’s colour scheme. (Knowledge base article)
  • KAR: A minor update based on feedback from web publishers to include additional referencing styles. (Knowledge base article)

Don’t forget to update your snippet pack to take advantage of all of these new features:

If you encounter any issues at all or have any feedback, please contact us at websupport@kent.ac.uk. We are always happy to hear all feedback.

Launch of interactive map for ParrotNet research group

We have been working in collaboration with the ParrotNet team from DICE (Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology) to design and develop an interactive map which highlights sightings of invasive parrots across Europe.

The team are hoping to understand why parakeets are such successful invaders and how they can predict their agricultural, ecological, economic and societal impacts.

Allowing users to filter through thousands of entries (and hundreds of thousands of sightings), the map will assist researchers in how parakeets may be affecting specific areas of interest. Jim Groombridge and Simon Tollington plan to continue adding data in the next few years from numerous different sources, increasing the number of sightings, species and countries affected and assisting future research across the ParrotNet network.

For more information on ParrotNet and to view the interactive map, please see some of the links below:

Launch of new social media snippet on Chronos

Dear web publishers,

We are pleased to announce the launch of a new social media snippet for your departmental web pages. It’s a modest update aesthetically as it refines the existing design to better sit within Chronos but the major area of improvement is how you interact with the snippet. It includes a new drag and drop model in Dreamweaver so adding multiple services for publishers is simpler and we are able to add new social media networks to the snippet pack upon request with more more ease, effectively extending your reach with less limitations.

For more information on how the snippet works and the initial set of compatible social media networks please visit our knowledge base article.

To make use of the snippet please update to the latest snippet pack and if you have any questions contact websupport@kent.ac.uk

Kind regards,
Web Support

Release of new Courses snippet for web publishers

Dear web publishers,

Information Services in conjunction with EMS, have recently released some new snippets for academic schools to display their course information in a consistent way, whilst reducing maintenance and unnecessary duplicate information. Here’s an example of what the set of snippets looks like.

Benefits

  • They enable school websites’ course information to be consistent with the central course pages;
  • Ease of updating: when course information changes in the online prospectus (Programmes Plant), it will be updated wherever the snippet appears on the Kent website (ie, on school pages and central course pages).

 

Why use them?

The University recommends that schools should start using the snippets at the earliest opportunity. It will help us to comply with one of the major themes of the Higher Education Review (HER) in early 2015:

The provision of information with an ‘expectation that information for intended audiences about the learning opportunities on offer is fit for purpose, accessible and trustworthy’.  The use of snippets, which draws from an agreed information source (the Programmes Plant), will facilitate compliance with HEFCE expectations.

How to get them?

In the new Dreamweaver snippet pack, you will find:

  • Course Summary snippet: pulls a list of your school’s courses into your website (from the central online prospectus, programmes plant).
  • Course Content snippet: pulls your school’s course pages into your website (from the central online prospectus, programmes plant).

To access the new snippets now, download the latest snippet pack on our sample site. Instructions on how to install it on your machine are part of our how do I setup and use Dreamweaver article. If your snippet pack automatically updates, you should see it within the next week. If you are unsure please contact websupport@kent.ac.uk

How to use the snippets

If you would like any help or advice, please contact websupport@kent.ac.uk or ext 4851 and we would be happy to help.

Kindest regards,
Information Services

Not just another way to feature content.

An example of the Image Content snippetThe new Image Content snippet is a simple way to highlight important content from an article or page with a large amount of content which could otherwise be hard for a user to capture.

The snippet allows for this information to be displayed in either a linked list, plain list or short and precise paragraph with an associated title and image. It has been designed and implemented to work with all grids/layouts supported by Chronos.

For more information on implementing the Image Content snippet, please check our Knowledgebase article for instructions and the Chronos Sample site for an example.