Departmental Homepage Requirements

In line with the restructuring procedure we'd like to ensure that each department organizes its homepage using a common methodology. This way our visitors will have an easier time finding their way through the homepages. We are looking for the following logical groupings on the departmental homepages. Note that they need not each be separate HTML pages, but should be grouped in some way:

Projects:

A list of all the projects a department is responsible for, links to these projects, the Team/Task Force it falls under, and the name/contact information of the project leader. (Perhaps sort by Team/Task Force?).

Teams/Task Forces:

A list of all the Teams and Task Forces within a department, the personnel within, and a description of what each Team and Task Force is responsible for. Personnel listings should clearly state the affiliation of each member (ST, SW or FY). If you want to use ranks/access levels, please use the Federation Rank, Star Wars Clearance Level or Lord of the Rings Runes. Team/Task Force Leaders and any Assistant Leaders should also be clearly marked. A link to the Team/Task Force homepage should also be provided. This page will replace what most departments currently call "roster, personnel, or staff". Note that eventually this page will be replaced with a dynamically generated report from a database on the OTF server.

Departmental Mission Statement:

A statement of what the department is responsible for, what it strives to accomplish. This should be stated on your main page. This might take some thought before it's ready to be posted. Remember to keep it as concise as possible.

Executive Staff:

Either on your main page or a category within your Teams/Task Forces section, please state the departmental Senior Manager and Assistant Managers.

Clear links from the main page should be provided to:

• A departmental application form;
• The OTF main page;
• Other OTF Colleague Departments

And of course, make sure a project ID# is on your homepage.

Although not mandatory, you might want to consider the following:

• A "What's New" section that contains the most recent accomplishments/announcements in the department. Engineering has this done very nicely; all the most recent updates are in the middle of their main page.
  
• A Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page. This might help answer some of the questions your visitors have about your department.
  
• A linkage to the OTF search engine. This will enable visitors to access the Gateway right off your page and find relevant OTF material. Look at the source of the OTF main page to find out how this is done.
  
• A Links area/page that contains links to relevant sites of interest.

The Engineering and Communications Homepages are very well organized. Please have a look at these two pages for ideas when updating yours. Remember that your departmental homepage will reflect not only your department, but OTF as well.

Technical Requirements:

Ensure:

• it has a professional look to it;
• it is compatible with both IE and Netscape;
• it is compatible with a monitor resolution of at least 640 x 480 (scrollbars are permitted in this resolution);
• if you're using dynamic HTML or other fancy technology ensure people with less advanced browsers are still able to run the website; it is easy to navigate through - i.e. concise menu bars, links back to main page.

If you have any further questions regarding developing your departmental homepage, please don't hesitate to contact Admiral Maxwell.

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