This page was compiled based on questions we've been asked by members of the Lafayette community, as well as ones we think people will ask, about the Web Platform Redesign Project. If you have questions, please send them to its@lafayette.edu.

Q: Will I be able to use my Network ID to administer my website?
A: Yes, regardless of whether you use WordPress or conventional web publishing technologies to manage your site, you'll use your Network ID wherever authentication is required.

Q: Will my site's address change?
A: Not immediately, but the "ww2" subdomain will be retired eventually (see the project timeline). After ww2 is retired, the address will change. See the next next question for more information.

Q: What will the new naming convention be for Lafayette websites?
A: It depends on your site's affiliation.

• All academic and administrative sites will use the subdomain naming convention department.lafayette.edu (e.g., biology.lafayette.edu, careers.lafayette.edu).
• All student organization and personal sites will use the subdomain naming convention sites.lafayette.edu/organization (e.g., sites.lafayette.edu/stugovt).

See the timeline for specifics about when the naming switchover will occur.

Q: Will student organization or personal web sites be able to have their own subdomain addresses, similar to academic and administrative sites?
A: No. These are reserved for administrative and academic departments/offices.

Q: I publish my web site with Dreamweaver. Do I need to do anything?
A: Possibly. If your site is using simple HTML then you may only need to change references to ww2 when that naming convention is retired. If you're using more advanced options, like PHP and MySQL, read on.

Q: I use custom PHP and Perl scripts on my site. I also use MySQL. Do I need to do anything?
A: Possibly. We are upgrading from PHP 4.x and MySQL 4.x to PHP 5.x and MySQL 5.x. Perl will likely see an incremental upgrade and library updates. In all three cases, but particularly with object-oriented PHP4 programs, its possible that things could break, in which case you will need to update your scripts and databases to work in the new environment.

Q: I use the official Lafayette headers and footers. Do I need to do anything?
A: Hopefully no. The Lafayette headers and footers use PHP, but Public Information will make sure they work in the new environment. If there are problems, they'll work with departments to update code (or roll out a system-wide fix).

Q: What do I need to do to take advantage of the new web publishing options?
A: It depends on what you want to do. To use the new content management system (and its audio, video, blogging, podcasting and photo gallery capabilities) you will need to move your site's content into WordPress MU.

Q: What is WordPress MU?
A: WordPress MU is an open source, lightweight content management system that provides an easy-to-use interface for managing web content. It allows you to quickly add new content to your website and makes it easy to add audio, video, maps, and other online resources. Website owners can log in to WordPress using their Lafayette Network ID, and can create custom workflows by assigning other users roles within a site (e.g. author, editor, contributor). The software supports a variety of uses, including simple web page publishing, blogging, podcasting, and photo gallery creation.

Q: Do I need to use WordPress?
A: No, you can continue publishing web content in the conventional way (Dreamweaver, hand-coded HTML, FTP, etc.) if you like. The only long-term change for you is that eventually your site's address will change from its ww2 address to its new subdomain address. (e.g. department.lafayette.edu or sites.lafayette.edu/organization).

Q: I have a blog that I'd like to move to WordPress MU. Can I import it?
A: Yes. WordPress MU supports importing blogs from other WordPress installs, Blogger, LiveJournal, RSS, and other services.

Q: Will Soapbox be going away?
A: We don't know yet. Soapbox is useful as an ad hoc blogging platform, allowing people to post blog entries, photos, audio, and video without the overhead of maintaining their own dedicated blog or website. It may still have a role to play in the new environment, but we're not sure. Let us known what you think by emailing its@lafayette.edu.