New Website for South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences Based on FirstSpirit CMS

Excellent usability reduces publication times and simplifies editing processes

The South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences (Fachhochschule Südwestfalen) has relaunched its website based on the content management system FirstSpirit from e-Spirit AG. In the course of the comprehensive relaunch project, the e-Spirit partner communicode fundamentally revised the information design, layout and technical architecture of the website. The site at www.fh-swf.de is now online, featuring a completely new look.

Content management: FirstSpirit to maintain the marketing site

The South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences provided the corporate design as orientation for the new website. Based on this foundation, communicode accompanied the entire creative development process – from the wire frame to the layout. The website now appears in a friendly and modernized design. A netbook version of the site has also been developed, which is optimized for the display height of mobile devices. Page elements not relevant to the respective information are hidden.

The FirstSpirit content management system forms the technology platform of the new website. All content is stored, administered and maintained in the CMS. The entire editing process is handled by employees and students at the South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences. FirstSpirit is especially well suited for this purpose since the system is extremely easy to operate, which means it can also be used by editors with no programming knowledge, reducing publication times to a minimum.

Clear navigation structure for ultimate usability

The South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences is a network of four locations. With the former website, these four sites shared a homepage that served as a signpost: users could select the desired location; subsequently, all information for that location would be displayed. The new website makes the affiliation of the universities more apparent. An innovative navigation structure was created for this purpose. Information that applies to all locations is presented together. Where additional location-specific information is required, this is available on individual tabs. Assigning information to the locations in the CMS is straightforward using drag & drop.

A hierarchical website navigation structure continues to provide orientation for users. But the new website also offers another option: all lower-level navigation points are available directly via shortcut pop-ups. This allows users to navigate right to the desired menu item, rather than clicking through from page to page.

Additional features to minimize maintenance effort

Many additional features simplify the editing process for employees at the South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences. For example, they benefit from a personnel database linked to FirstSpirit. This makes it much easier to maintain personnel-related information. Several search engine integrations were also implemented and can be managed through the CMS. The new website of the South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences therefore provides an ideal technology platform for the fast and simple processing of all content by the employees, with excellent usability for visitors to the website.

“Our challenge was to offer a navigation structure that would meet the needs of the target groups across the four university locations. Another requirement was to efficiently integrate information that is managed on a decentralized basis. communicode have implemented an outstanding solution with FirstSpirit,” says Christian Erbe, Project Manager at the South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences.