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Design Upgrade Migration Options

The Migration Option Form is Now Closed

 

Thank you to all the site editors who participated in this important process of selecting a migration option. The form is now closed and your choice can no longer be edited. For those who chose not to submit a form, your site's page contents will automatically migrate to the new designs using Option 1.

 

Please do not email WebHelp or any other Institutional Marketing team member about changing your migration option. We will not respond to these requests.

 

 

Design Migration Resources

 

 

Website Migration Options for the Design Upgrade

 As part of UW’s website design upgrade, site editors were able to choose between two migration options to transition their pages into the new system. Each option offers a different level of flexibility and effort, allowing you to choose what works best for your site and team.

 

Option 1

Migrating Existing Pages to Closest Match

This option is best for site editors who prefer a faster, lower-effort transition.

 

How It Works

  • A script will crawl existing pages and place content into the closest matching new design.
  • Site editors will review their migrated pages in a test environment and make minor adjustments as needed.
  • Some design elements (like accordions, photo sliders, etc.) will be reformatted to align with the new designs.
  • The overall structure of your pages will remain, but not everything will translate perfectly, meaning some adjustments may be necessary.

Page Review Process: Site editors will have a minimum of eight (8) weeks to review their migrated pages in a sandbox site environment before the site goes live.

 

Best For

  • Site editors who don’t have time/resources to rebuild their entire site's pages.
  • Pages with simple layouts, primarily text and images.
  • Units that want to move quickly with minimal manual work.

What Stays the Same

  • Folder structure remains intact.
  • Order of content stays similar, but the appearance will change.
  • Pages will retain the ability to be edited, though adding new components/snippets to a migrated page will be extremely limited.


What’s Different?

  • Not all migrated pages will look perfect, and minor edits may be needed.
  • Broken images, links, and formatting issues will be reduced compared to the last CMS conversion.
  • Page Review Process: Site editors will have eight weeks to review their migrated pages before the site goes live.

Editing Experience for Migrated Pages

  • Edits will be possible, but new snippets and components cannot be added.
  • Site editors can still rebuild pages later if needed.

 

 

Option 1 Migration Checklist

✔ Prepare your site by attending Live Learning Session 3

✔ Review your migrated pages once they are in the test (sandbox) environment.

✔ Check for formatting inconsistencies (images, links, embedded content, etc.)

✔ Make necessary edits to ensure clarity and consistency.

✔ Attend Open Lab sessions if you need help adjusting migrated content.

✔ Finalize and approve your pages before go-live.

 

Option 2

Rebuilding Pages with New Templates

This option is best for site editors who want to take full advantage of rebuilding their pages using the new templates immediately after the migration.

 

How It Works

  • Instead of migrating existing content as-is, your site will be placed into fully structured, pre-built templates.
  • These templates will contain placeholder text and images, allowing you to rewrite and reorganize your content from scratch.
  • You’ll be able to select available templates that best match your needs, ensuring a fresh, well-structured site.
  • Your current website will remain live and unchanged while you rebuild in the test environment.

Page Rebuild Process: Site editors will have a minimum of eight (8) weeks to rebuild their pages in a sandbox site environment before the site goes live.

 

Best For

  • Units that want a fresh start and full control over how their content is structured.
  • Smaller sites (30 pages or less).
  • Site editors who have time to invest in a complete refresh of their content.

What's Provided?

  • Folder structure and page names will still transfer over, but pages will be in pre-populated templates for editors fill in.
  • Institutional Marketing will assign and build the main index page.
  • Snippets and components will be pre-populated, removing the guesswork from building pages.

Time Commitment

  • Content planning is essential. Site editors are encouraged to spend 2 hours per page preparing content.
  • After migration, content population will take ~30-45 minutes per page.

Preparing Content Using Milanote

  • Advanced content preparation using Milanote is key. This includes planning page content using the available regions in the templates, selecting photos from Canto, copy (wording on the page) and YouTube video links.

 

 

Option 2 Rebuild Checklist

✔ Identify the best template for each page (inventory will be provided).

✔ Prepare content in advance with Milanote—attend Live Learning Session 2.

✔ Gather high-quality images using Canto for your new templates.

✔ Begin building pages in the test (sandbox) environment.

✔ Get feedback from your department before finalizing.

✔ Ensure all links and formatting are correct before go-live.

Migration of JPGs, PDFs and Other Binary Files

How your site's binary files (PDFs, Word documents, images, etc.) transition into the new design depends on the migration option you choose. These approaches helps reduce unnecessary storage and ensures that only relevant, actively used files are included in the new site​.

 

Option 1

Automated Migration

  • Any binary files actively linked with working URLs/dependency tags on your pages will be migrated to the same location in the sandbox site.
  • Files that are not linked on a migrated page will not be transferred.
  • If you need a file that wasn’t brought over, you will still have access to retrieve it from the live site for a period of time.

Option 2

Rebuild in New Templates

  • Because content is not being automatically migrated, there will be no automatic file transfers either.
  • Instead, text-based files (PDFs, Word Docs, Excel, etc.) will be zipped and imported into the sandbox site for easy access.
  • Images (JPEGs, PNGs, etc.) will NOT be migrated since new templates will include fresh design elements.
  • If you need any images from your current site, you can retrieve them from the live site during the review period.

 

Contact Us

UW Institutional Marketing

1000 E. University Ave | Dept. 3226


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