Web Development - Terms

Campus Hub - Refers to https://uwplatt.sharepoint.com/sites/intranet. The Campus Hub is a collection of sites where the University can share information with any Faculty, Staff, or Student who has a University credentials. The best way to think of the Campus Hub in comparison to SharePoint is the Campus Hub is a galaxy of sites in the greater Universe that is SharePoint.

CDN - Refers to https://cdn.uwplatt.edu. The CDN is a distribution point for various digital assets for Web Development. Several of these include Logos, wordmarks, pictures, Web Components, and other theming assets used across several systems. Primarily for Web Development and Marketing use. Allows for a central place to update an asset say a logo and any system referencing that asset will automatically be updated.

Dashboard - Refers to https://dashboard.uwplatt.edu. The Dashboard is a platform Web Development created to house small application that were located on the campus site and where new small applications are created. This is an if you have the rights to an application you can see it. Example of these are URL Shortener, ECM Forms (Perceptive Content Forms), Emergency Alerts and Profiles.

Data - When referring to data there are two types structured and unstructured. Structured data is comprised of clearly defined data types whose pattern makes them easily searchable. Examples of structured data can be tables, excel files, or SharePoint Lists. Unstructured data is "everything else" and typically text-heavy, but may contain data such as dates, numbers, and facts as well. Examples include Word file, PDF, Web page, audio, image, or video. The advantages of Structured data are that from a single management location Web can make the data look and act differently in multiple locations. Example could be a A to Z list on a web page, listed by category on another web page, searchable in the Portal, and a monthly report on broken links in that data set. Ref. https://www.datamation.com/big-data/structured-vs-unstructured-data.html

Drupal - The open source Content Management System that is used for the University's web sites.

ECM Forms - Electronic Content Management Forms are the forms that feed into Perceptive Content. These forms are housed in the Dashboard at https://dashboard.uwplatt.edu/ecm.

Events - Refers to https://www.uwplatt.edu/events. The Events site is where public events are posted.

Gitlab/Repo - refers to https://gitlab.oit.uwplatt.edu. This is the code repository, issue tracking and maintenance system for web development that connects all our systems. Available to Web Development and ITS only.

Laravel - The development framework used to build the Dashboard and the Portal API.

News - Refers to https://www.uwplatt.edu/news. The News site is where public news articles are posted to inform the community of the happenings in the university as well as showcasing our programs and students work to potential students.

Portal - Refers to https://portal.uwplatt.edu. The Portal is a doorway to somewhere else in University's Intranet. The Portal does not house any data. The Portal's search is the primary way to find things across the Universities Campus Hub, Knowledgebases, departments, and directory.

Portal API - Refers to https://portalapi.uwplatt.edu. The Portal API provides the data needed for the Portal to render to you. For example, when a search is performed in the Portal, the Portal makes a request to the Portal API. The Portal API the returns the search results to the Portal to display.

SharePoint - Refers to any URL that starts with https://uwplatt.sharepoint.com. SharePoint is a Platform for collaborating and communicating with teams and members of the university.

VueJS - The Frontend JavaScript framework used to create the Portal, several applications in the Dashboard and the Web Components.

Web API - Refers to https://webapi.uwplatt.edu. This is the API counterpart to the Dashboard. An API is an Application Programmable Interface. This allows Web Development to push data to various other systems on campus like WWW, Portal, or to Web Components.

Web Component - Refers to a small VueJS project that renders out data on a web page. This is how Web Development primarily renders out SharePoint List data to the public website. Several examples of Web Components are the Visit Calendar, Academic Calendar, Emma Email Newsletter archive, and the Course Leaf Courses on the program page.

WWW - Refers to https://www.uwplatt.edu. The WWW site is the University's public site that is managed and maintained by Marketing. The WWW is used to market the University's program offerings to potential students.

WWW2 or Firefly - refers to a publicly accessible web space to host videos, training, 3rd party sites and other web-based media located on https://www2.uwplatt.edu by permission only.

Need help?

If you have questions, please contact the ITS Help Desk at 608.342.1400 or helpdesk@uwplatt.edu. You may also visit the Help Desk on the first floor of the Karrmann Library.