At Indiana University, we create websites based on three building blocks:
We also follow editorial guidelines and a visual style for the web—colors, typography, and other best practices—to carry the IU voice and brand across all university sites.
On this site, you’ll find code snippets to help you build and style any website, whether you’re working in the official IU framework or starting from scratch.
We build our website pages using a variety of content types called chunks. Each chunk is built to scale and adjusts based on the screen width of the viewing device. One chunk is usually all that will fit on the smaller screen of a mobile device, which makes it a great base unit for design and content creation.
Groups of content chunks make up sections, and sections make up the page.
Pages can be as simple or complex as they need to be. A page that is an overview of a school or program might be formatted with an assortment of content chunks and sections, while a page that is meant to be more basic and functional might have one or two content chunks in a single section.
When giving readers straightforward information, less is more.
Use multiple sections and chunk types when you want to tell a complex story.
You can use our style and code snippets to improve any website in any content management system. Or you can request a copy of the Web Framework, a self-service tool that lets developers build a site in the WCMS.
If you would like to learn more about how we can help you build your website in the Web Framework, contact Eleanor Berman at IU Communications.
