Website & Digital Support
- If you are considering building a new website, the first step is to contact Communications.
- If you will be emailing a link to a wide audience, such as in an e-newsletter, contact Communications and we’ll check the webpage for you.
Website Policies & Frequently Asked Questions
Communications and LITS work collaboratively to build and support websites for the College.
If you need a website for a department, program, or initiative, submit a request through the Communications Request Form.
If you need a website for a lab or other academic purpose, email askus@hamilton.edu.
Not sure? Fill out the Communications Request Form.
Hamilton students are amazing, and we all want to provide opportunities for them to learn. But the practicality of student involvement depends on the project. Before hiring, please contact the Office of Communications for guidance.
Any website or mobile app used and promoted by the College must follow best industry practices and meet stringent standards for accessibility and security. Apps and sites are reviewed by LITS and Communications, generally via the procurement process. These reviews require significant staff resources. Also, apps and websites must be updated indefinitely to stay functional, secure, and accessible. After the student graduates and can no longer perform updates, such maintenance falls to staff as extra work on top of maintaining the College’s primary platforms. For these reasons, it usually isn’t practical for the College to support independently built apps and websites.
We strongly discourage the use of non-Hamilton platforms for several reasons:
- We cannot guarantee the accessibility, security, or data privacy of a website whose company doesn’t have a contract with the College.
- We cannot work with you on non-contracted external sites, and therefore can’t provide design services or help you make your site usable, navigable, search-engine-friendly, or generally effective as a communications vehicle.
- We can’t maintain your site over time. Websites need frequent updating to keep the content fresh, the search results relevant, and the design current. A dated, forgotten website doesn’t serve anyone well.
- Moving a website from an external service to an Hamilton platform (which eventually will happen if the site is to be maintained) is time-consuming. Please let us help you build your site on an Hamilton platform to begin with. Contact the Communications team for a consultation via our Request Form.
In general, we use the main College website for pages that should be easily found and that should look strongly connected to the College. We have lots of display components that make it easy to build visually dynamic pages. The main College website is the best choice for most kinds of content.
But the College also maintains WordPress and other digital platforms, managed by LITS, for course support and faculty projects. WordPress might be a better choice if you:
- will be posting frequent blog entries
- are running a multi-college program or something else that is broader than Hamilton
- need a site that will function primarily as an academic workspace for you and your students
- need functionality beyond what the main College website offers
To explore possibilities, email disc@hamilton.edu.
A webpage on the Hamilton site is comprised of a set of modules, or content blocks, that can be arranged on the page using a drag-and-drop tool. A content block can contain text, images, videos either individually or in combinations.
In order to maintain consistency throughout the site, each module has a predefined style.
Modules can be:
- locked and included on all pages in a section (navigation, for example)
- inherited to included in subsections
- shared for use throughout the site
- set to display at specific dates
We customize webpages by using a variety of display components and adding original photos, graphics and videos.
Some of our components display data automatically. For example, the digest module allows the editor to select the news by topic.
Plus, our components display optimally across all screen sizes, from small phones to large desktop computers, and are updated as needed in order to stay accessible.
We’re happy to help — contact us via the Communications Request Form.
Generally, no. Images are protected by copyright law by default. Always check the copyright and attribution details for the individual image you wish to use. Never assume that an image is not copyrighted or that your specific use qualifies as “fair use.” If an image isn’t identified as being in the public domain or otherwise free to use, then you should assume that the image is NOT OK to use.
Copyrighted images should never be posted on the Hamilton College website without written permission from the image owner, even in a hidden or password-protected folder.
We’re Here to Help
Esena Jackson
Senior Director, Web and Digital Communications
Katie Rook
Web Communications Manager
