Introduction to SERC and Cutting Edge Web Authoring

The SERC "Look and Feel"

You may have noticed that all the pages within the SERC system have a similar aesthetic and flow. This is intentional and helps create cohesion among the various components of the website. We encourage all web authors to follow this look and feel when creating their own pages. A handy advantage to this is that it simplifies the design and creation of your own web materials because you can follow the format of other pages. There are many examples of Cutting Edge workshop web pages to use as guidance. So when you are deciding on how to organize your pages or what the content should include, turn to other workshop sites for examples.

Cutting Edge Site Structure

Each Cutting Edge website is broken into two parts, the topical site and the workshop site. Each is its own module with the workshop site being a sub-module of the topics site. Before you begin making pages, it's important to understand the structure of the two sites so that you put the pages in the correct place.

The workshop site houses pages that are only needed for the workshop (application, participant list, program), while the topical site holds everything else. Materials created for or at the workshop that will be of general interest should go into the topical site.

A hypothetical example:

Sedimentary Geology (topical site)
Classroom Activities
Internet Resources
Visualizations
Goals for Teaching
Submit Activities
Workshop 08

Overview
Logistics
Participant List
Program
Application Form
Registration Form

The page "Goals for Teaching" was created by workshop participants but it goes in the topical module because it is useful for everyone and is not only applicable to the workshop.