New VWC website: out with the old, in with the new

On the morning of Feb. 18, I was introduced to a VWC home website with a face-lift.

While I had nothing against the older website, the new website features a much cleaner, more professional look, as opposed to the older site. Instead of having text bubbles featuring sub-links that would appear when I scrolled over a link with my mouse, the main links now stand alone, requiring me to click them in order to see the contents. Each main feature of the site is divided into a separate column, which includes News and Events, Featured at VWC, and Explore VWC.

The only real issue I have with the change in the site is the ability to find the links I’ve been able to locate easily since starting at VWC. The Webmail, Marsis and Blackboard links have been moved to the top of the page, which were formerly accessed from the bottom portion of the site. Since discovering the new location, I’ve realized the usefulness of the move and consider their new placement to be convenient.

According to an e-mail that was sent to students by Vice President of College Advancement Jack Sims, the Home Page, About Us, and Academics and Admissions portions of the site have been totally redesigned, while Student Life is next in line.

Another difference in the site regards the News and Events portion. News releases are featured on the front page, with event sub-links on the bottom of the column. These links include Campus E-news, Campus Events and a direct link to The Marlin Chronicle, which is maintained by yours truly.

Overall I think the format of the site is useful. It outlines the main elements of the site nicely, and for the most part, it’s user friendly and seems to be compatible with most web formats.

While the site in itself proves to be a positive change for VWC, I think it was remodeled as a way to catch up with VWC’s new logo, which was created last year, and features red in its color theme.

As the web editor for The Marlin Chronicle, I can only imagine the hard work involved to create this new site, and I give massive amounts of admiration toward the people who arranged it, which include Assistant Director of College Communications Julia Green and Webmaster Scott Clevenger.

While the e-mail from Sims claims the redesign is going to take several months to complete, it’s definitely one step in the right direction.