Over the past year, a number of people have been working to provide the English Department of The Ohio State University with a website worthy of our world-class academics and professionals; a website that offers helpful and easy-to-use information to our students and other visitors.   

And now ... here it is.

  Read on to learn about the features  ...  moving from left to right (as if you were “reading” the layout of the homepage):

Navigation bar:    

About Us … Undergraduates … Graduates … Alumni & Friends … Courses ...  People ... All of these sections consist of a “portal” page, followed by content pages. Notice that at the top of each content page text box, there is a grey strip that shows the progression of pages (Home>Undergraduates>Advising>English Majors); the sidebar shows other possible menu items available. It’s very difficult to get lost in this website!

The “rotor box”

The objective is to add a box for every Program and area of the English Department. The boxes will slowly cycle as long as a visitor is on the homepage – or you can use the grey arrows to move it along manually. Click on the box to read more about the subject area or Program.

Quick Links box

Direct links to our major programs: Creative Writing, Digital Media Studies, Literature and Critical Studies, and Writing, Rhetoric, and Literacy.

Resources for Faculty and Staff

A section for Faculty and Staff that will be new and very improved, covering everything we can think of relating to teaching, claiming expenses, life in Denney Hall, etc, etc. It will be organized to make important information easy to find.

News Features

Courses

More precisely, Featured Courses – clicking on the grey bar takes you to the Course “portal page” (the same page linked to the Courses link on the top navigation bar). Clicking on the name of each course in the box (or the link in the final line) will take you to a page of featured courses – a valuable tool for instructors and students alike.

Events

Clicking on the grey bar will take you to the list of current events. Clicking on the hyperlinked title of each event will take you to a full description. Notice the calendar box – this allows you to search by date – past, as well as current and future events!

Publications

Eventually, all faculty publications will appear in this database – the featured title will change each time you visit the homepage.

And finally … the footer box –

... this appears at the bottom of every page, and it’s another way to reorient the lost visitor. The contents of the four columns are under consideration, to highlight pages that students and faculty are most likely to be looking for – and are hardest to find.

Widgets are for Giving to the English Department, Facebook and an rss feed. Widgets are planned for Media Manager, Carmen and a couple of other important links.