Web Development & Posting

Static vs Dynamic Web Pages
  • Web Database Applications
    To accomodate the changing needs and requirements of our user community we will be offering database functionality to DOE Web sites. WMS will support, advise, and provide standards for Web database applications. WMS must be contacted prior to development of any Web database application and migrations to DOE servers from a non-DOE site.
  • Bulletin Boards and Chatrooms
    Since we cannot monitor live bulletin boards and chat rooms to assure safety of content, we will not accept any Web pages containing bulletin boards or chat rooms.
  • Technological Change
    Changes in technology are occurring at an incredible rate of speed. The principles set forth in this document are subject to change along with the technology. As the WWW and the Internet develop and expand, so will the information and procedures for the DOE's Web site development. Thus, it is recommended that you regularly review the Internet Acceptable Use and Safety Policy and this document for changes and updates. In a technological society, the ability to be useful to that society must be measured by its ability to stay current with its rate of change.

For the latest information on the School Web Portals please go to   http://schools.nyc.gov/webservices/schportals

Web Content Policy and Guidelines
This document outlines the DOE procedures for central offices to maintain content on the main DOE Web site.

General Policy, Procedures and Guidelines for  Non-CMS Web Site Development

 
All of the procedures stated in this document need to be carefully reviewed and followed prior to the development of any DOE related Web site. The Procedures and Guidelines have been established to help schools and offices produce the most educational and useful Web sites. Please adhere to these guidelines. Remember, any item that refers to the Internet Acceptable Use and Safety Policy is a mandate.
Do not store test or development files of any kind in the production server.
Web Page Category
Please refer to Internet Acceptable Use and Safety Policy for the Department's policy on the following web page categories:
 
Web Page Creation
You may use a variety of tools to create your Web pages, such as Dreamweaver, Claris Home Page, or FrontPage. Save your text files as HTML or HTM. Your first page (home page) should be named default.htm(l) or index.htm(l) . Be sure to test your files and links (preview in the most common browsers and on different platforms, PC/MAC) before publishing them. Finally, beware of common problems to avoid. For a partial list click on the following link: Top 10 Problem List

All main Department of Education web pages must have contact information listed at the bottom. See examples below. Please substitute your own email addresses for the ones below.

For example:
 Please send feedback on content to ********@schools.nyc.gov.
 Questions regarding this web site (technical contact) should be directed to ********@schools.nyc.gov.
 
Organization of Office/Division Web Pages
Every submission of material to be posted must include:

An indication that the office/school is a part of the Department of Education of the City of New York. This can be accomplished through the use of the DOE logo.

Provide a central telephone and fax number for your school/office. If possible, also include the E-mail address of a primary contact person for each home page.

Give general directions to schools or offices, and list public means of transportation. For example, state the subway or bus routes that are closest to you.

List the street address for your school/office. If there is a different mailing address, list that as well.

State the mission or primary purpose of your school/office. You may also wish to state your goals and objectives.

Include the name of the head of the school/office, as well as other key personnel.

For long text documents provide a printable version of the files, preferably in pdf form.

 
Dead Links
Dead links inevitably occur on WWW servers as pages are modified, moved, or deleted over time. The responsible party for each school/office will monitor and maintain the links. Corrections or removals of dead links should be made as soon as possible by the updating of web pages. Please notify the Office of Web Management Services if your URL changes so that we can make the necessary updates.

Whenever possible do not copy documents that appear on NYCENET or other DOE sites, i.e., DAA, etc. Instead, link to them to maintain a current document.


Reciprocal Links
All Websites must include a link back to the main DOE Website (schools.nyc.gov). School Websites must also include a link back to the main DOE Website.
 
Requesting Links on DOE Websites:
1. If an organization is working directly with an office and that Director or designated administrator notifies the Webmaster by email that they authorize a link, the location of the link and time frame of how long we are to link (some items are temporary), the DOE will link to them.
2. If an organization is not working directly with an office, the Webmaster needs to determine what office can best review the organization and Web site and make a determination as to whether the DOE will link to the organization's Web site.

Please note that file and link names should be all lowercase, with no spaces and should consist of alphanumeric characters only.

Images, Icons and Photographs
Use of icons and photographs is encouraged. In determining whether to include photographs, developers shall bear in mind that extensive use of photographs increases the download time for users. Authors must follow copyright rules and regulations where appropriate. However, be sure to save your images as GIF or JPEG files. For better organization, it is suggested to keep all images in one subfolder and make sure to link to them using the correct full path. For example, if an image is called "logo.gif" in the directory called "images", the path to it is: "/images/logo.gif". Graphics should not be set up with proprietary path names or file names.
 
DOE Logo
Use the The New York City Department of Education logo on your first Web page, also known as your home page. This will immediately identify your office or school as part of the DOE. The image must link to the Department's Web site using the following address: "http://schools.nyc.gov". Add HTML alt text to the image to indicate the link. Ex: "DOE Home Page".
If you need a copy of the DOE logo, follow these steps below.
  • Hold your mouse directly over the image.
  • Click your mouse, a pop-up window should appear.
  • At the top of the window select "File" from the drop down menu.
  • Then select "Save as..." and save the picture to your hard drive.
  • Note that this version of the logo is for web use only. 
  • To request a high resolution version of the logo, contact the Office of Communications & Media Relations.
Search
Be sure to use the title tag in code of the web page for identification. Some search engines use the title of documents when looking up pages therefore the title should be descriptive. For example, you can write:
<title>New York City Department of Education - name of school- home page</title>

You may want to register your site in different search engines such as Yahoo, Excite, Altavista and Lycos.

In the body of the homepage, in the html code, use text key words as much as possible. This will improve your appearance on search engines.

 
Hit Counters
Schools/offices are not to use commercial or private hit counters and statistics that are running on an outside server. Those who are interested in keeping track of data on their Web site, should contact the WMS and the Department will provide them with proper tracking features.
 
Safeguards
If any DOE employee becomes aware of a web page that contains questionable material, the employee is expected to notify the immediate responsible administrator or supervisor who will determine if any applicable policies, guidelines, rules, or regulations have been violated and inform the WMS contact people immediately.