1999-2000: Expanded content areas, views of a pretty campus

(As seen through Internet Archive's "Wayback Machine")

1995-1999: The heady days of Netscape-only web applets

What aspects of osu.edu will change, and what will remain the same?

You can help us answer that question by telling us what you want out of your university web site.

As of now, here’s where some familiar osu.edu features stand:

* Just like before, osu.edu will be a one-stop shop for the functional: webmail, the campus map, find people, and a directory of Ohio State’s web sites.

When people hear we’re redesigning osu.edu, their first question is often, “Why?”

The many answers to that question fall under an overarching theme: Web communication is changing quickly and we’re making sure Ohio State’s home page keeps pace.

User expectations have changed a lot since 1995, when we first launched osu.edu. (See how the home page has changed since then.)

For instance:

In planning for features and content for the new osu.edu web design New Media would like to suggest a standard XML format for including links and content from distinct areas of campus into our new site. We'll be looking for input on creating a single standard XML spec for sharing links on osu.edu.

Here is an overview of the basic idea.

From the homepage we maintain a page for "Current Students." Links on this page are currently loaded into our homegrown CMS. We're maintaining links for Student Affairs, Honors and Scholars, Student Financial Aid, etc...

Mission

Ohio State's main website serves as the entry point into the university's culture, resources, academics (teaching and research), outreach, diversity, achievements, and policies. Ohio State's website, osu.edu, provides the university a way to communicate both its overarching mission and celebrate the unique individuals who create and sustain its vision.

Vision

Welcome. Thanks for taking an interest in our efforts to improve the functionality, accessibility, usability and design of www.osu.edu. We'll be posting more soon, so check back.

Below is the text from our "About Ohio State's Homepage" document on www.osu.edu. This document and the current site design were launched May of 2005, nearly two years ago. By this time next year (2008) we should be putting the finishing touches on a newly designed site that makes use of many new advances in web technology.