Governing independent publishing across a 300-site university network

Challenge

Independent sites within university standards

The University of St Andrews uses WordPress multisite to support websites for research groups and university organisations. The service gives these groups a public publishing route when their work does not belong on the university’s main corporate website. It is intended for public information, with other university systems used when teaching material or internal documents need restricted access.

Research groups need control over their own communications without specialist programming knowledge. The university needs that independence to sit within common expectations for site purpose, ownership, security and content quality. Applicants identify an owner, a deputy, the intended audience and the site’s expected lifespan, giving the central team a consistent basis for reviewing requests. Site owners must be current staff or students, although external collaborators can contribute to work involving more than one institution. The policy also defines when inactive, event and project sites should be archived, including how research outputs can remain publicly available when funders require it.

Solution

From site request to long-term stewardship

Through WordPress, contributors can create, configure and administer their sites to publish research results, collaborate with peers and reach audiences beyond the university. More than 200 research groups and university organisations created sites using the service. The university’s WordPress network contains more than 300 websites. Its current directory shows that the network includes research centres, laboratories, conferences, projects and student organisations.

One listed example, the ARA Group, uses its site to present battery research, link current projects and publications, and publish dated group news. Themes and plugins are managed through common testing and maintenance processes, while site owners remain responsible for their content and users. Basic WordPress training and central support are available when contributors need help adding or editing content.

Sites that must remain public after a project ends can be converted to static pages and kept available under a redirect. A shared platform therefore lets contributors manage their own publishing while the university establishes common standards for creation, maintenance and long-term stewardship.

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