How to Prepare Web Updates for Creative Services

So you’ve been assigned the task of updating your departmental or program website and aren’t sure what to do?  The simplest way to send us updates is in a Word document attachment to email.

  • To get started, open a blank Word document and the page that you want to change in your browser.
  • At the top of the Word document it is a good idea to copy and paste the URL of the page that needs updating.
  • Then select all of the existing text on the page and copy it below the URL on the Word document. See (PDF) for an example »
  • If you are using Office 2007 under the "Review" tab, turn on Track Changes. This is located under "Tools" in older versions of Word. Then simply make the edits necessary. As you can see in the graphic your changes, deletions and additions are now easily identifiable by us and can be implemented swiftly. See (PDF) for an example »
  • If you have changes to multiple pages you can simply indicate a new page by copying the URL below the text and continue the same process.
  • As a time saving tip - if ALL/MOST of the content is being replaced on a particular page you may send a new Word document of the updated content without using track changes. Just be sure to indicate that the content is a FULL replacement and provide the URL for the page you want replaced.
  • Do not 'recycle' documents with previous iterations of track changes. Each time you send an update, start with a fresh document.
  • All updates should be sent to creative@jmu.edu. This email is received by all the members of our team and ensures we are able to address your needs even more quickly. Typically web updates are the made the same day they are requested!
  • If you have new image files to add to your site, just send the .jpg files as an email attachment - we will take care of cropping and optimizing them for the web!
  • If you ever have questions about this process, feel free to give us a call and we can talk you through it.

View this process in an online tutorial