September 2020
Project life after phase one
Evaluating a very busy and productive phase one
Over the last few weeks, we have been taking the time to evaluate a very busy and productive phase one, which has included iterating on a number of existing features after further user testing.
![Development sketch showing hero image text placement iterations](https://d3bpgcke55gfwt.cloudfront.net/rails/active_storage/representations/proxy/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBM2ZBQVE9PSIsImV4cCI6bnVsbCwicHVyIjoiYmxvYl9pZCJ9fQ==--73793855d48b7938e79d83fac855a9b6a6083d08/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaDdDRG9MWm05eWJXRjBTU0lJYW5CbkJqb0dSVlE2RkhKbGMybDZaVjkwYjE5c2FXMXBkRnNIYVFKWUFta0NMQUU2Q25OaGRtVnlld2s2RTNOMVluTmhiWEJzWlY5dGIyUmxTU0lIYjI0R093WlVPZ3B6ZEhKcGNGUTZEbWx1ZEdWeWJHRmpaVlE2REhGMVlXeHBkSGxwVUE9PSIsImV4cCI6bnVsbCwicHVyIjoidmFyaWF0aW9uIn19--42754237235ba1e6f9325deaf83c5a2657141cd3/Hero.jpg)
As part of this process, we have upgraded Ruby on Rails, the system which runs our website, to maximise our platform for moving into phase two of the project. We have also fine-tuned a number of CMS features and fixed some bugs.
Within the back end itself, CMS users will notice an increased performance in article select boxes. This should improve the speed of loading feature panels such as montages. When selecting an article to link to, it will work just as before, simply type the first 3 letters of the article you want to link to into the search box.
Other updates include:
- when applying a colour theme with a dark colour contrast and highlight, text always now appears in white
- improvements to the text colour contrast of grey highlight boxes in the megamenu
- improvements to the ‘more related news’ functionality of news lists
Further developments continue to take place to improve user and CMS functionality as we move our thinking towards the phase two project deliverables.
The University's external website is undergoing a refresh to update certain design elements, functionality and content, as part of a project ending on 31 July 2020.
Keep up to date with everything that's happening – from the latest new content design features, to the next developments on the horizon
![Post-it notes used for Agile planning.](https://d3bpgcke55gfwt.cloudfront.net/rails/active_storage/representations/proxy/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBeitmQVE9PSIsImV4cCI6bnVsbCwicHVyIjoiYmxvYl9pZCJ9fQ==--3460d2aa3f87e84ae1f34ca33082834b3d597d12/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaDdDRG9MWm05eWJXRjBTU0lJYW5CbkJqb0dSVlE2RkhKbGMybDZaVjkwYjE5c2FXMXBkRnNIYVFKWUFta0NMQUU2Q25OaGRtVnlld2s2RTNOMVluTmhiWEJzWlY5dGIyUmxTU0lIYjI0R093WlVPZ3B6ZEhKcGNGUTZEbWx1ZEdWeWJHRmpaVlE2REhGMVlXeHBkSGxwVUE9PSIsImV4cCI6bnVsbCwicHVyIjoidmFyaWF0aW9uIn19--42754237235ba1e6f9325deaf83c5a2657141cd3/GettyImages-1055535668v2-4-3.jpg)