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Why Use the Template?

Consistency in communications is important to SMU’s reputation and to the web site visitor’s experience. Although SMU is administratively decentralized, site visitors do not think of it that way. To them, the university is one entity speaking in one voice and we create confusion for them when we do not do so. This has given rise to a template for the SMU web site that brings consistent navigation philosophy and university branding.

Remember that the most important product you provide on your site is information.

That is why we encourage use of the SMU template. The template provides important information and crucial sitewide links that can be important to all audiences. Plus, with some of the important but more general links taken care of by the template structure, you have more freedom to convey your own information and key links to your site visitors without getting bogged down in details such as providing a link to the home page, providing links to the legal statements, showing the University logo, etc.

The SMU template also is very easy to use in any Web page editor, including FrontPage and Dreamweaver. There is some initial set-up involved, in which you will develop a map of your site and work with the Webmaster's Office to determine navigation issues. After that, you simply plug your text and photos in to the content area.

The template automatically generates the content for the "breadcrumb area" -- the trail of pages showing visitors the path through the site to their current page. This assures that your visitors always stay oriented within your site, and minimizes their chances of getting lost and leaving your site.

The template also uses Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to take care of issues such as font size, spacing, and color, leaving you free to concentrate on the information on your pages.

For all these reasons, SMU strongly encourages use of the University template. To discuss a new site or converting an existing site to the template, please contact Ben Alexander in Public Affairs.