bcshelp@uci.edu Help Desk: 949-824-3555

Web Development

Overview

Biological Sciences Computing Support (BCS) for web development is primarily responsible for the creation, hosting and maintenance of the School of Biological Science web site and its various administrative and academic units (Graduate and Undergraduate Programs). Beyond this primary mission, our unit supports the research and teaching mission of the School by providing various web services to faculty, post-docs, graduate students and staff.

Services range from hosting and assistance with developing faculty web pages and lab sites and multi-disciplinary or multi-departmental websites. Support for special site design/redesign projects is available on a case-by-case basis. Most services are provided free except for those special projects that require programming or extensive design assistance; in those projects, we will work with the client to develop a project specification and cost estimate.

Hosting Services


Basic services for most web sites we support include:
Server set-up and configuration
Network and/or ftp account set ups so that you can publish content to the site.
Domain name requests to create a website address/link for the site.
Secure server requests (add secure server digital certificates where security or privacy over the web are special concerns.)

Website Options


BCS offers various options for website design and development. The most popular paths are as follows:

  • Transfer of existing site: Typically this is a simple matter of moving an existing site from one server to another and configuring the web address to the new location.

  • Build own site: Site-holder designs his or her own site from scratch. In this case, we will perform the site setup described above and provide network/ftp access for self-publishing.

  • Consultant: Some research units and departments have elected to hire external web consultants to design their web sites. If you choose this option but plan to eventually have the site hosted on the Bio domain, please involve the webmaster in the early stages of the design process. We reserve the right to review and approve both the preliminary and final site design and any technology elements prior to hosting.

  • BCS design service
    BCS can provide web site design services for priority projects. Project time frame will depend on the size and complexity of the site and current project load and available personnel. After project completion, the site holder must wait 24 months before requesting any further design or programming enhancements. Modifications before 24 months have elapsed requires project review and approval by the Bio Sci Faculty Computing Committee; if approved, the project will be recharged at the prevailing campus rate for web design/programming and undertaken on a first-come, first-served basis.

Site holder Responsibilities

  • Maintenance: Site holder (or designate) should be proficient in web authoring tools or take classes in such technologies (See Tutorials and Classes) in order to maintain the site’s content and keep links up to date.

  • Appropriate Content: All content should support the research, teaching mission or community relations missions of the School. Examples of inappropriate content include:
    • Personal identifiers: social security numbers, driver’s license, state id, or financial information, PIN numbers or medical records. (If your site will collect such information for research purposes, please contact the webmaster.)
    • Advertising of any sort or cross-linking to commercial sites
    • Copyrighted material, unlicensed or non-public domain software, documents, music, graphics or multi-media programs (without written permission by owner)
    • Ftp, telnet or web servers, file sharing applications, scripting engines, executable software. (If your site requires one or these components, contact the webmaster.)

  • Security: Remove or patch any software identified by BCS network staff as a security problem. Alert webmaster about changes in personnel who have access to the site.
  • Specialized software or applications: If the site contains legacy applications, databases or software, it is the site holder’s responsibility for maintenance and update of these website components. Examples would be situations as follows:
    • legacy applications created by the client or by an external consultant or former staff member
    • databases
    • server or client-side scripting (includes javascript, dhtml, CGI)
    • multimedia applications: flash, shockwave, java applets, etc.
  • Must follow UCI policies on:

Training: Tutorials & Classes
The campus offers various free and low-cost opportunities for learning about web site design and authoring tools and graphic design. The following are some of the most popular:

Web Page Design Tools
Here is the list of page editing/graphics tools currently supported by BCS. There are other good tools available, however, we have standardized on these packages.

Web Page Editors

  • Macromedia Dreamweaver
  • Netscape Compser
  • Macromedia HomeSite or Coldfusion

Graphics

  • Macormeida Fireworks
  • Adobe Photoshop

How to Get a Website Account
Fill out the following form and allow one day for a response to your request.

*Role: Faculty, Post-doc, Graduate Student, Staff:

*Purpose of the Site:

*Short description of the type of content you will post to the page:

*Preferred web address:

*Duration of the site:

*Frequency of page updates:

*Estimated amount of disk space:

*Types of content (text, html, word, multi-media):

*Special programs or software:

*Site Access (self, other?):

*Security Restrictions:

About Preferences:
* OS (Mac/win/unix)
* Browser used: Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla, other?

*Time Frame:

*Preferred web page authoring tool:

*Proficient in ftp: