Web Development

The Office of Communications is home to a small group of web developers. The web team is responsible for developing and maintaining the college’s overall web presence and their expertise is a resource for the entire Williams community. If you have questions, comments, or needs related to Williams websites, please be in touch at [email protected].

Website Consultation and Development

The web team has expertise on topics including content strategy, design, information architecture, and site usage statistics (analytics). We are happy to talk with you about the Williams content management system (CMS), department and office sites, personal sites hosted by the college, or other web-related topics.

Our work is focused on:

  • Helping departments and offices make the most out of the college’s current website template.
  • Developing new sites in WordPress as appropriate.
  • Helping departments and offices transition from older templates into the new template.
  • Providing WordPress training.
  • Setting up Google Analytics reports to help site managers understand how visitors use their site.
  • Building new tools that help Williams sites display content — including multimedia — and manage data more efficiently.

Website Hosting

The web team maintains the college’s web publishing infrastructure in conjunction with OIT’s networks and systems group. In addition to powering the college homepage and department and office sites, this web publishing platform is available to all faculty, staff and students who wish to have a website.

For academic departments and administrative offices

  • We can help you move your site into the new college design.
  • We are available to collaborate on content organization and management strategies.
  • We’ll help you convert a static HTML website into one hosted on the WordPress CMS.
  • We offer training for the people who manage the website.

For students and student groups, individual faculty and staff

  • Current students and employees may create their own WordPress site hosted by the College. To get started, log in with your Williams ID at sites.williams.edu.
  • Campus organizations interesting in creating a website should fill out this site request form.
  • We offer limited support to owners of these sites. The best place to start if you have questions is our WordPress documentation.

Technical Services Outside the Communications Office

Website development and maintenance is, of course, just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to technological needs of the Williams community. Below are some other technical resources available.

  • Desktop computers, email, wifi, technical infrastructure: contact the Office of Informational Technology.
  • Course management software: see the Glow system managed by OIT
  • Mailing lists and listservs: OIT manages a listserver available to the college community.
  • Newsletter delivery and management: Read our advice on communicating with the Williams community.
  • Image storage and management: our WordPress sites have many tools for managing images, but if you have a lot of images and need powerful organizational tools, you may want to consider sites like Flickr or SmugMug.
  • Non-Williams websites: if you would like a website not hosted by the college, we recommend WordPress.com because we love WordPress. But, again, there are many free or inexpensive options out there.