UN Web Guidelines?| Build your website

Temporary UN building under construction at the UN Headquarters in New York, 2008. UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras

Phase 3 - Build Your Website

The purpose of this step is to build your website by integrating all its components into a finished product.

Activities

Populating the CMS platform or html pages with content;
Programming, coding;
Creating files (CSS, SHTML, ASP, XML, RSS, PDF, etc.);
Adapting websites for different devices (smartphones, tablets, printers, etc.)
Uploading data, installing application database;
Proofreading the content (in all languages);
Testing functionality of database(s) and programming;
Testing and verifying database reporting features;
Testing the site reader support features for accessibilty;
Making archives/backup of all site components including: HTML code, programming code and any other site materials;
Requesting tailored access log statistical reports to the relevant responsible authority;
Mapping (redirection, flexible redirection, short address – alias, reverse proxy).

Quality assurance

Validate html;
Check functionality of links;
Test accessibility;
Test compatibility across platforms (computer, smartphone, tablet, etc.)
Test cross-browser compatibility (Firefox, Chrome, Safari, IE)
Test usability;
Test performance;
Test integration;
Test security of website;
Stress test for multi-user applications.

Outputs

Finished html pages (static sites)
Database tables and programming (Queries, procedures, etc.);
Finished navigation link structure;
Programming is in place and linked to pages, ready for beta testing;
Database components are in place and linked to site pages;
All graphic design, illustration, and photos are in place.

Testing your site

Before launching your site, you should test it thoroughly and make sure that all applicable guidelines have been taken into account.

See the 'Prelaunch checklist' PDF

Content related issues

Site includes the common UN branding bar, search function and footer on all pages;
Content is accurate;
Language versions of the site have a similar structure;
Navigation is user-friendly;
Complex sites have site maps;
Links have been checked;
Links to non-UN websites are accompanied by a disclaimer;
Links to language versions and credit footer are in place.

Technical issues

The layout is flexible and works for all screen resolutions;
The site looks good in different browsers;
Text is scalable;
Content is accessible when JavaScript is disabled;
Multimedia download time is acceptable;
Closed-captioning is available for videos;
are attended to and all files are validated;
Pages have proper metadata and page titles;
Google Analytics tracking code is included in all pages;
Contact forms are working properly;
Dynamic content is functioning;

NOTE: It is highly recommended that you contact a user focus group to get feedback from from your target audience(s) about the design, style and usability before launching.

Launch

The purpose of this phase is to make your site available on the production server and available to all, the public at large and/or your intended target audience.

Transfer site to production server;
Conduct a final checking of the site on the production server;
Start implementing promotion strategy (make sure your site can be found in search engines);
Execute cross-promotion with external entities;
Coordinate external events integration with site;
Train colleagues who will be updating the site, if any.

Maintenance

Once a website has been launched, ongoing maintenance and enhancements will continue. Keep the following in mind for website maintenance:

Update the site on a timely basis

Ensure that the content is current;
Ensure that the sitemap reflects all changes made to the structure of the site;
Check UN sources daily to add relevant documents, if appropriate;
Make sure that all updates are communicated and translated in a timely manner, so that the site is updated in all six official languages.

Test new features

If you introduce new features, test them on the development server before you post them on www.un.org.

Remove superseded and obsolete files

Superseded and obsolete files must immediately be removed from the server and, if desired, archived offline. Note that search engines will access and provide access to superseded items that remain on the production server. When necessary, use redirects to new files.

Check for broken links

Links should be monitored on a continuous basis, either manually or using a link verification tool. Broken links must be fixed or removed.

Clean files and code

Remove unnecessary files from the server.
Links to UN documents should point to the if the document is available in ODS. Do not duplicate the file in PDF on the UN server;
The code should be free of unnecessary tags and comments, as part of standard operating procedures;
Do not use the server as a backup.

Respond to visitors’ comments

Respond to visitor comments and questions promptly; if the question is not related to your site in particular or is not a substantive question related to your field, please pass on the question to the Public Inquiry Unit.

Tracking and statistics

Why are statistics important?

Statistics provide valuable information about your website:

who are your visitors?
which are the most popular pages?
how visitors find your content? etc.

Careful analysis of website statistics is essential to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of your site and inform decisions on future developments.

Google Analytics

In May 2009, was introduced as the new statistical tool on un.org. It provides a wealth of information about visitors, content and traffic sources on un.org.

Adding Google Analytics to your website

Websites hosted on un.org:

Add the following lines of code at the top and bottom of the <head> and <body> closing tags:






Websites hosted on other servers

Add the following line of code after the opening <body> tag - legacy way of inserting the tracking code:

 <script type="text/javascript">

    var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." :
    "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + 
    "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));

    </script>

    <script type="text/javascript">

    try{

    var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-4803886-1");

    pageTracker._trackPageview();

    } catch(err) {}

    </script>

For the newer Google Analtyics, add the following code at the top of the <body> tag::

 <script type="text/javascript">

    var _gaq = _gaq || [];

    _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-4803886-1']);

    _gaq.push(['_setDomainName', 'un.org']);

    _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);

    (function() {

    var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;

    ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';

    var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);

    })();

    </script>

Website managers should to ensure that tracking is properly configured for their host/domain.

Monitoring your statistics

To access Google Analytics, you will need to reate a Gmail account and to request access to the account.

Account

A basic account will give you access to all web statistics on un.org. The following data can be extracted, specific to your website:

Number of page views and most visited pages;
Number of visits;
Geographical origin of your visitors.

Profiles

Large sites can request the creation of a profile, which will provide more data, including:

Traffic sources;
Landing/exit pages;
Visitor loyalty.

NOTE: A limited number of profiles is available therefore profiles for events websites cannot be created.

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