Web Services

Engineering Communications provides web support for the Texas A&M University College of Engineering and the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) main sites.

In addition to the main TEES site, all official Board of Regents-approved TEES research centers and Vice Chancellor and Dean-approved TEES-led initiatives may use the services provided by Engineering Communications (unless otherwise maintained by a cooperative partner like the Texas A&M Division of Research or The Texas A&M University System). View a complete listing of BOR centers.

It is not a requirement to use the services provided by Engineering Communications if a BOR center or TEES-led initiative has custom requirements for a site that extend beyond the capabilities of in-house services. However, Engineering Communications can be a starting point for determining the best solution based upon the specific needs. We can also recommend a paid-for vendor that is approved by the university to build a site with advanced custom functionality.

All other faculty, department or university research, center or project initiatives are encouraged to utilize the Engineering IT website template or the university’s small web platform solution (once that solution is finalized and implemented across campus). Contact Engineering IT for WordPress template website creation and support at [email protected].

Faculty research websites are offered and supported through Engineering IT. Engineering Communications does not provide support for faculty research websites, including page updates.

• Contact Engineering IT for WordPress template website support: [email protected]

College of Engineering and Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station web requests are routed through ticketing at [email protected].

All other Engineering Communications sites have designated primary content editors that should be the initial point of contact for most web updates. Engineering Communications does not inherit site management and maintenance for sites without a designated content editor. Content editors should be well versed in writing for the web, web accessibility and SEO, and agree to specific responsibilities and expectations in this role.

All engr.tamu.edu sites are managed by Engineering IT and questions should be directed to [email protected].

In the event that a TEES center or initiative site does not have a designated full-time point of contact for their site, web content edit responsibility does not fall to Engineering Communications. Students cannot be designated as web points of contact. If no dedicated staff member has been identified to edit and maintain the site within 12 months, then the site will be backed up and deleted from the Internet and the domain name allowed to expire.

In an effort to safely manage user access across our many sites and ensure we follow university security requirements by utilizing dual-factor and SSO authentication, Engineering Communications will adhere to a defined WordPress permissions and access plan.

For all sites in the purview of Engineering Communications, we will help design and develop a site in accordance with our standardized site management. This means that sites will have uniform themes, plugins and layouts to maintain a consistent brand online as well as allow for centralized management. Custom coding and design is not supported. Upon completion, these sites are handed over to designated site owners for maintenance and content updates. Engineering Communications does not inherit site maintenance when there is staff turnover.

Engineering Communications also does not inherit maintenance and management for websites that have been built externally.

Standard support includes:

• Migration of site into new WordPress environment
• Maintenance of unforeseen technical issues
• Core, PHP, Javascript, plugin, theme updates
• Providing resources to staff on new systems or technologies 

Support that is not included:

• Redesigning the website with features not supported by the new WordPress environment
• Developing new website features
• Refactoring of code
• Custom coding or software development
• Content creation and updates to site
• SEO and digital marketing strategies
• Support and integration of non-WordPress resources
• Legal and compliance reviews
• Email service changes or management
• Domain management and vanity domain creation

Website analytics tracking code is only added to BOR-approved centers and TEES-led initiatives. To obtain Google Analytics for a webpage or website that is managed by Engineering Communications, primary content editors should email [email protected] and specify the following information:

• What is your website URL?
• Who needs to be added as an analytics user and what is their role?

Designated primary content editors will be added to Siteimprove, the university’s enterprise web monitoring tool to proactively control web quality, usability and accessibility. These primary content editors will receive reports and are responsible for addressing issues identified in these reports.