A Cornucopia of Website Tips and Tasks

Don’t copy and paste from other programs. Pasting text directly from an email, Google doc, or especially from ChatGPT or another AI text generator can add invisible code in addition to the text. This interferes with template formatting or in some cases, literally shuts down the page display (ask us how we know 😇). Always “paste as text” in the CMS or use another text editor to strip out “bad” code. Find instructions and other useful editing tips (even if your pages aren’t in Blink): Common Revisions for Blink Content.
Edit PDFs/documents by dragging new versions over existing CMS files and republishing, instead of uploading new files each time they’re revised. You won’t need to update page links if you do this, and it also avoids multiple, outdated versions of the same document coming up when users search for it. See the steps for updating files in the CMS.
Crop images down to size instead of uploading giant images that make your pages load super slowwwwwly. Images should be no larger than 1440 pixels wide (for a homepage hero image). Staff portraits should not exceed 250 pixels high and all portraits should be cropped to the same size across your profile page. Use the Department website to reference other optimal image sizes.
Make sure to update references for the new academic year — links to WebReg, campus maps, calendar events, and textbooks. See our previous tip about searching for superseded references, add your events to the official campus events calendar, and include Triton One on pages about course materials.
Be aware of current UC San Diego design and style standards by joining the Marketing Council for monthly talks and current info, and bookmarking these sites for reference: