Web project structure
FirstSpirit is divided into projects, which in turn contain multiple websites.
Web projects
A FirstSpirit web project can contain multiple websites. For example, a faculty with several departments. Each website, therefore, needs to find its place within a FirstSpirit project.
When a new website is requested, the responsible project administrator or coordinator will determine where exactly the website will be located within FirstSpirit.
All websites within a FirstSpirit project can be collaboratively edited and designed by the editors belonging to that project. Resources such as news and events, contacts, images, and downloads can also be shared across the entire project.
© LMU Referat VI.5
Roles and responsibilities
There are various areas of responsibility and associated roles within a FirstSpirit project. An overview of the key points of contact can be found under Support & Contact.
Technical / administrative
The project administrator handles the technical and administrative tasks within a web project. In doing so, this person works closely with the technical team of Division VI.5 Internet Services. As a rule, there is one person per web project who fulfills this role.
Tasks:
- User management throughout the entire web project.
- Approving requests for new websites.
- Assigning editing rights for websites.
- Making adjustments to the special pages "News" and "People."
- Uploading or deleting multiple images and documents in the MediaMaster.
- Answering technical questions regarding the use of FirstSpirit.
- Making adjustments in SiteArchitect and ServerManager, as needed.
Special case: Interdepartmental projects
In so-called "interdepartmental projects" that are not directly assigned to an organizational unit, the technical and administrative tasks are handled by Division VI.5 Internet Services.
Organization / content
The project coordinator is responsible for coordinating the implementation of websites for the entire web project. This role can be combined with that of project administration—but does not have to be.
Tasks:
- Primary point of contact for the faculty; routing inquiries within the institution.
- Coordinating the entire relaunch project within the faculty/institution with the relevant content providers (e.g., departments, program coordinators, etc.), as well as with internal faculty decision-makers.
- Coordinating content analysis, content strategy, and information architecture within the web project and the associated websites.
- Responsibility for content regarding accessibility, SEO optimization, and accurate translations.
- Compilation of requests and inquiries from editors and forwarding to Division VI.5 Internet Services.
The site coordinator is responsible only for coordinating and managing the content of their own website, not all websites within a given project—for example, only for a single department within a faculty. This role works in close coordination with the project administrator and/or project coordinator.
Tasks:
- Point of contact for a specific First Spirit website.
- Coordinates the website relaunch for a department or academic institution.
- Coordinates content analysis, content strategy, and information architecture for the website.
- Responsible for content, including accessibility, SEO optimization, and accurate translations.
After completing FirstSpirit training, editors are granted rights to work on a website. They create, edit, and publish content in collaboration with the site coordinator(s).
Tasks:
- Create and delete pages.
- Write, edit, and publish content on existing pages.
- Upload images and documents.
- Create contacts, news items, and events.
- Edit and create forms with the appropriate permissions.
Domain concept
What URL will your website have?
To begin, consult directly with the responsible project administrator / project coordinator to determine which FirstSpirit project your website will be part of. Only they can make the final decision regarding the specific URL structure for your website.
Email domains and functional email addresses are assigned in FirstSpirit independently of the domains or URLs of the websites.
No claims to email domains or functional email addresses with the same name may be derived from the websites in FirstSpirit. If you need a mail domain or a functional email address (e.g., as a contact email address for a conference), please contact your IT service group or the LRZ master user at your institution.
Rules
The root URL is determined by the FirstSpirit project in which the website is situated. This is established in consultation with the LMU hostmaster.
Example:
www.som.lmu.de
Websites within the project are assigned a corresponding URL according to the following rule:
https://[domain]/[directory name]/language
Naming conventions
- The URL must comply with the requirements set forth in the domain assignment guidelines.
- The URL must be unique within the FirstSpirit project: No two websites within a project may have the same URL.
- The URL must be the same in both the German and English versions, even if you plan to add the second language at a later date.
Example:
www.lmu.de/frauenbeauftragte/de/ and www.lmu.de/frauenbeauftragte/en - No umlauts, special characters, or spaces are allowed ("-" is allowed).
Relaunch from Fiona to FirstSpirit
The subdomain previously used in Fiona can usually be reused as a directory name.
Example:
www.softmatter.physik.lmu.de -> www.physik.lmu.de/softmatter/de
www.en.softmatter.physik.lmu.de -> www.physik.lmu.de/softmatter/en
During the transition phase, redirects from the old URL to the new one can be set up. In addition, short URLs can be used to create custom URLs that link to the corresponding pages within the project.
Special case: Interdepartmental websites
Websites that cannot be clearly assigned to one of the major institutional units are instead assigned to an interdepartmental FirstSpirit project. These projects accommodate institutions or initiatives that are organized across faculties.
Whether a website should be included—and, if so, in which project—is made on a case-by-case basis in consultation with the LMU hostmaster.
Characteristics
- The URL is located directly under lmu.de, for example, lmu.de/meinzentrum.
- The same URL rules and conventions apply as in regular projects (see above), with the exception that the chosen website name must be unique not only within the FirstSpirit project (e.g., www.som.lmu.de), but also across the entire “web ecosystem” of all websites whose URLs are located directly under lmu.de. Coordination with the LMU hostmaster is therefore particularly important.
- Data (e.g., contacts, events, news, media) cannot be shared with other organizational units:
An interdisciplinary project—for example, one involving both mathematics and literary studies—cannot access the datasets from either mathematics or literary studies.
However, data can be shared within the broader interdisciplinary project (e.g., among multiple centers). - For interdepartmental websites, there is no defined project administration; instead, site coordinators manage their own websites. Individual customizations to the website or the project (e.g., a custom editing rights, global page adjustments) are therefore not possible, and the website receives support in this regard from Division VI.5 Internet Services.
Languages
The internationalization of LMU is supported by a 1:1 language switch between German and English content. All websites in FirstSpirit can be created in both German and English.
A master language is specified for each FirstSpirit project—either German or English.
- The master language is the one that is primarily displayed when the website is accessed.
- In the Blueprint Bundle, the master language is automatically enabled for all pages you create. The second language is disabled by default and must be manually enabled by editors for each page.
On the go-live date, it will be determined which language versions will be enabled or disabled for the entire website. Note: This can be changed again later. If a second language has been enabled for a website, users can switch languages using a button in the horizontal navigation bar and a button in the hamburger menu. You can learn more about this under Page structure.
FAQ
- Organizations that primarily communicate in German and translate only a few websites and pieces of content into English select German as their master language.
- Organizational units that primarily communicate in English select English as their master language.
The master language is agreed upon with the project administration as part of the initial consultation during the project’s planning phase.
Yes.
When submitting your go-live request, please specify the language(s) you want to go live with. Languages not listed here will be deactivated by us for the entire website and can be reactivated later if needed.
You can find instructions on how to do this on WCMS Wiki.
Yes. However, there are a few things to keep in mind during implementation.
In general, both languages are available in all FirstSpirit projects. However, the master language is displayed by default and is automatically enabled on all pages in the WCMS.
Example:
Almost all departments in the Faculty XY communicate in English. The majority of pages will ultimately be in English, with only a few individual pages in German. Therefore, the faculty has decided that its FirstSpirit project should use English as the master language.
Since English is the master language, the English version is automatically activated and the German version deactivated for all pages created in the WCMS.
However, the Department of Didactics within the faculty communicates exclusively in German. This is possible despite the master language being English:
- For all of the department’s pages, the editorial team must manually deactivate the English version (master language) and activate the German version.
Yes. However, you will need to configure the pages and content accordingly in the WCMS.
You can find more information on this on WCMS-Wiki.
Blueprint Bundle (BPB)
The so-called "Blueprint Bundle" is the preconfigured template that every website within a FirstSpirit project receives for editorial work. It contains all the necessary technical components and templates to help you get started quickly with designing your website.
© LMU Referat VI.5
Prod-link
During the setup phase, your website is not yet visible to the public.
However, using the so-called "prod-Link" (or: preview link), you can already see what the website will look like when live. This allows you to track progress or share the link with your supervisors and colleagues.
You'll also need the prod-link for the final quality assurance process—for example, to review content, structure, and design before publication.
The prod-link is automatically generated and sent to you via email as soon as the Blueprint Bundle is set up for your website. If you no longer have the prod-link on hand, you can request it again from Department VI.5 Internet Services.
The preview via prod-link is not accessible to the general public; it can only be accessed from the Munich Research Network. If necessary, activate the EduVPN client to access the preview.