The A-Z Website List is the official registry of UCSF websites. The registry is managed by IT Web Services via ServiceNow, and requires the participation of each UCSF website owner to regularly update and verify their information.
Benefits of the A-Z list
Benefits of keeping your website information updated on the A-Z Website list:
- Enhanced visibility: Your website becomes easily findable through the main UCSF.edu website, which links visitors directly to the A-Z Website List.
- Search prioritization: Websites included on the A-Z Website List are prioritized in searches across UCSF websites.
- Improved SEO: Keeping your website updated enhances search engine optimization (SEO), making it easier for users to find your site through Google and other search engines.
All websites hosted by IT Web Services are added to the A-Z list, unless marked private during the request process.
Supported domains
Web Services supports websites within the ucsf.edu domain and includes them in our A-Z Website list. Additionally, we support websites on the following subdomains:
However, Web Services does not support or include sites with the following domain suffixes:
- .ai
- .com
- .gov
- .net
Add a new site
- Go to the UCSF Website Management page
- Select "Manage UCSF Websites" (green box, left-hand side)
- Check the box next to "Check this box if you are registering a new website..."
- Complete the form
- Click the "Submit" button
Update an existing site record
- Go to the UCSF Website Management page
- Click “Browse My Websites” (blue box, right-hand side) to view existing sites listed under your name, and select the site that you want to update.
- Be sure to include a description of your site in the “Additional Information” field, which helps in keyword searches.
- For IT Web Services-hosted websites, choose "external."
- If the hosting company email and phone are blank, details at this internal Teams file.
- Click the "Submit" button
Video tutorial
Transcript (txt)
Details provided in this captioned video recording of how to manage website records via the Manage UCSF Websites form. If you have a public site, this also updates the A-Z List.
Two examples include:
- How to set a site's status to retired
- How to update a site's business owner or technical contact
FAQs
What if my site does not appear in the A-Z List?
- Any site marked as private in our records will not appear in the A-Z List. Even if your site is private, please ensure your other data is accurate, as outlined in step #2 above.
- Any public site that is not listed in our records will also not appear in the A-Z List of websites.
What if my site wasn’t found in the “Manage UCSF Websites” search?
If you believe the site is in the inventory but it didn’t appear in the search results:
- Allow the search results a few seconds to populate after entering your query
- This helps avoid creating duplicate entries
Can the Business Owner and Technical Contact be the same person?
- The Business Owner is the sponsor of the work represented on the website. Typically, this is the department’s director/manager or a faculty leader.
- The Technical Contact is responsible for the day-to-day updates to the website.
- Best practice recommends that these are two different people, but they may be the same person if the Business Owner actively updates the website.
What if I want the site retired?
To retire your site:
- Change the status from “operational” to “retired"
- Define a “retirement date” in the system
My site is marked as 3rd-party hosting with Acquia, but I thought it was hosted by UCSF, and I don’t have the Acquia contact info. What do I do?
- If your website is a UCSF Drupal Site Builder or Starter Kit site, update the “Hosted by” field to internal.
Do I have to fill in the Billing Information fields for Cost Center and Speed Type?
These are not required fields. Billing information only applies to the hosting recharge for custom-built websites, which are hosted on Pantheon.
Tips for Managing Your Website Information
Optimize your site title: Consider how people will search for your site. For example, if you are the Department of Anatomy, you may want to change your site title to Anatomy, Department of so it appears under “A” instead of “D” in the list.
Keep titles short and specific: Ensure your site title is concise and accurately reflects the content or purpose of your website.
Assign clear ownership:
- Business Owner: This is the sponsor of the work represented on the website, typically the department’s director, manager, or faculty leader.
- Technical Contact: This is the primary contact for day-to-day website issues.
- We will generally contact the Technical Contact first for any issues, and escalate to the Business Owner if the issue persists.
Data updates: Eventually, there will be an automated feed between the ServiceNow website inventory and the new A-Z list. For now, we are performing monthly data pulls to keep the list updated.