Maintaining high-quality content ensures our website effectively represents the institution and meets the needs of its audiences. Follow these steps to review and enhance page content:

Perform a Close Review

  • Read the entire page carefully, ensuring it supports the college’s goals and meets audience needs.
  • Verify that the tone and messaging align with the college’s branding and editorial guidelines

Checklist:

  • Is the content accurate and error-free? 
  • Does it reflect the goals of the page and resonate with the intended audience? 
  • Is it written in clear, plain language suitable for an 8th-grade reading level?

Key Areas to Evaluate

  • Accuracy: Double-check all facts, such as names, dates, data points, and titles. Avoid outdated or irrelevant information. 
  • Readability: Ensure content is clear and concise. Break up dense text using headings, bullet points, and short paragraphs. 
  • Accessibility: Ensure compliance with accessibility guidelines, including the use of headings, alt text for images, and descriptive links.

Copying and Pasting Content

  • Avoid directly copying and pasting content from Word, PDFs, or other rich-text editors into the WYSIWYG editor. These sources often carry over hidden HTML and CSS code that can disrupt formatting. 
  • To clean content before pasting: 
    • Use the Paste and Match Style option (usually available under the right-click menu or shortcut keys like Cmd+Shift+V on Mac or Ctrl+Shift+V on Windows). 
    • Alternatively, paste the content into a plain text editor (e.g., Notepad or TextEdit in plain text mode) to strip unnecessary formatting before pasting it into WordPress.

Copyright and Plagiarism

  • Ensure all text, images, and media comply with copyright laws. Avoid plagiarizing material or using copyrighted content without permission. 
  • When citing or quoting external sources, provide proper attribution and include links to reputable, stable sources. 
Resource: 

Support and Collaboration

  • Use tools like DubBot to catch spelling mistakes, broken links, and accessibility issues. 
  • For complex or unresolved issues, submit a support request. 
  • Refer back to best practices through training videos and resources provided during content stewardship onboarding.

Tip from Training:

  • Make use of shared resources like the Cornell Photo Library and the editorial style guide to ensure quality and consistency in all content.

Additional Tips:

  • Chunk Information: Break text into digestible sections with descriptive headings to improve scannability. 
  • Write for Your Audience: Tailor content to meet the needs of specific user groups, focusing on their questions and concerns. 
  • Prioritize Updates: Identify outdated content for removal or revision during regular reviews.