Webteam & Presenting

Setup
Before your first meeting, you’ll need to create a new project page at bu.edu/webteam/projects/{CLIENTNAME}.
We often use the college or department abbreviation[i.e.: SED for bu.edu/webteam/projects/SED] is the abbreviation for School of Education).
Sometimes this isn’t possible, or you may find that a client folder is already in use by another project. In those cases, use the full client name and put your assets in a folder that describes the project inside the client folder[i.e.: http://www.bu.edu/webteam/projects/provost/orgchart/].
Uploading Your Files
- Server:
webdev.bu.edu
- Remote Path:
/web/w/e/webteam/projects/CLIENTNAME/
Download These Files
Example
Presenting
It can be intimidating, but remember that you’re on a friendly and understanding team.
- Maintain energy, poise, and clear communication when discussing visual design and its connection to the functional value from wireframes.
- Always prepare notes or bullet points in advance.
- Translate design concepts into everyday experiences for clients who may not be familiar with code or design.
For instance, if a client questions the limited number of promo boxes, you can:
- Refer to strategy insights, emphasizing how focused choices drive better engagement.
- Align the question to Netflix’s problem of overwhelming users with too many options — leading to indecision.
With your experience and knowledge of the project, empathy for the client and their needs, and the value of it’s strategy: you’re already prepared for any questions. Relax, you got this!
Be personable, and you’ll be impressionable!
Common Client Questions or Requests
Slideshows In The Banner Space
Our recommendation as the university’s Marketing department is a resounding “no”. From content strategy, to design & usability, and development. Slideshows will not be supported in BU Banners (2.0).
There is lots and lots of research saying slideshows are not a good use of space and are ignored.
Here are two:
Stronger, more relevant banner content should be used instead.
Note: clients using the older “Content Banner” plugin that was replaced by BU Banners can still drop a slideshow shortcode into the HTML option. We still do not recommend this, but we can’t stop it.
Social Media Feeds
So a client is asking for a social media feed. Because of the volatile nature of social media API’s we do not build custom social media live feeds / integrate directly with the API’s.
Why don’t we?
So, if we don’t use API’s, then what? Well, there’s a few directions we can go:
#1: Automatic Feeds
We recommend this option when clients say that they have a flurry of activity, and they want to show the liveliness of their social media.
We recommend one of two paths:
#1A: Simple, Default
Many social media platforms provide “widgets” that you can embed in your site. For example, Twitter calls theirs “Embedded Timelines.” These are officially-endorsed widgets that give you up-to-date automatic feeds in your website. While much more safe, the downside is that they’re not very customizable. Note: the embeds/widgets/timelines vary by social media service.
#1B: Complex, Vendor Service
We recommend a platform called TagBoard. This paid service allows clients to log into their multiple social media accounts in a single dashboard. From there, they can generate full “social walls” of up-to-date automatic social posts. TagBoard features blacklisting/whitelisting words, hashtags, and users– amongst many other helpful features. Clients sign up and pay for TagBoard, then usually provide us the embed code to put on their site.
#2: Curated (manual) Feeds
We recommend this option when clients want to display the best and brightest of their social media posts, also potentially mixed in with links to prominent faculty profiles, news posts, events, etc. This requires more development and design time to impliment, but is definitely the safest of all of the options.
** Needs links to BU examples. (Questrom)
Can Clients Add Their Own Taxonomies Using the BU Taxonomies Plugin?
By default: Using it requires reserving careful planning and agreement on taxonomy terms ahead of the Implementation phase for a few reasons:
Potential Issues:
- Overuse by client can clutter sites, and reserved terms (i.e.: a year) can break functionality. (Reference WordPress’ Reserved Taxonomy Terms.)
- BE developers recommend managing taxonomies within themes (not a plugin) for better control and adaptability.
- Deactivated taxonomies remain in the database, but won’t display without the associated companion theme or plugin.
Outside of the aforementioned: only enable for a client when it’s necessary to avoid unpredictable results.