Website publishing options
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DoIT provides several website publishing options at UW–Madison. Use this guide to compare their features and benefits.
What are your website publishing needs?
Google Sites is the only campus option that hosts sites for personal use. It’s ideal for resumes, portfolios, class projects, or other smaller sites.
Google Sites are added to your UW Google Drive, just like other Drive files. You can create a site for free using default or custom themes, customize CSS, and review your site’s Google Analytics.
Student organizations should use the WIN platform to register new orgs and create webpages. Your org can publish content about your group’s purpose, contact information, gallery images, and upcoming events. You can also upload important documents, like forms or bylaws.
Visit the Student Organization Resources and Policy Guide site for more information.
The UW KnowledgeBase (KB) is a great choice for building an online library of help documentation.
KnowledgeBase sites can contain both internal and external content. You can customize your homepage and site CSS, organize large collections of documents by topics and audiences, and share content with other KB sites on campus.
Then use the WiscWeb WordPress service.
- The WiscWeb team manages WordPress and plugin updates, reducing the amount of work and technical experience needed to securely maintain a site
- Sites using the UW Theme provide users with a consistent visual and interactive experience
- The UW Theme is regularly tested and kept up to date with the current version of WordPress, web accessibility standards, and UW Brand
- Any issues found with the UW Theme are addressed as quickly as possible and typically added to the next release of the UW Theme
If you require more control DoIT Web hosting maybe a fit. It is a paid service providing community hosting where you can install WordPress with custom plugins and themes, but also provides hosting for Java/Tomcat, Node.js, ASP.NET, Ruby, PHP, MySQL, static web sites and more.
Customers are responsible for the content, development, testing, troubleshooting, maintaining updates and complying with the university’s minimum web standards. Web Hosting is responsible for maintaining a stable and secure platform for delivering applications and web server access.
It is recommended that custom WordPress websites use the UW Theme (our official university WordPress theme) as used in Wiscweb.
If you require full control of your hosting and server please see dedicated hosting options:
If you’re unsure which service is the best fit for your needs, don’t hesitate to contact us. Our experts will be happy to discuss your project and help you find the right solution.
Help me choose
Recommended approach
Build a secure, accessible website with WiscWeb, the official website tool for UW–Madison.
WiscWeb WordPress service
WiscWeb is UW—Madison’s free, self-service tool for building and managing university WordPress sites. All sites using WiscWeb meet the minimum web standards and campus accessibility policies to create a more inclusive, secure and user friendly digital campus.
Sites using WiscWeb are built with the UW Theme and hosted in the cloud for fast performance and high availability. The WiscWeb team releases new features and theme updates regularly and all sites receive these updates at no cost.
Recommended by Office of Strategic Communication
While customization is an option, the Office of Strategic Communication recommends using the UW Theme (our official university WordPress theme) on WiscWeb for most university websites because:
- The UW Theme is kept up to date with UW Brand and web accessibility standards and policies.
- Regular testing is done to ensure that the UW Theme is up to date with the current version of WordPress.
- Any issues found with the UW Theme are addressed as quickly as possible and typically added to the next release of the UW Theme.