Do you want to create a Notre Dame Website on nd.edu?

But you don’t have a lot of money and you need something fast.  Well, you are in luck.

I’m pleased as punch to intro the Conductor Content Management System for building websites at the University of Notre Dame.

So what do you get?

Easy to use Interface – if you can use Microsoft Word, you can use a Conductor website.

No Software to Install – Conductor is on the web so you can log in for any computer, anywhere through the Internet.

NetID Username/Password – You don’t have to have a different username and password then the one you use at the university. You can also have multiple editors who can edit the website as well.

No Coding – unless you want to.  We allow access to the source if you want to drop in your own HTML but you don’t have to if you don’t want to.

Choose from Multiple Designs – We’ve been building websites for a while and these designs are elegant, simple and effective.

Fast Turnaround – In only three days after we get your information, you can be putting in your content. After all your content is loaded, it doesn’t take long to launch.

Inexpensive – This is probably the best news. A basic site is only $300 and there are NO HOSTING FEES! Also, you can add some very useful modules like News, Events, Forms, and Comments for a small fee.

So who can use Conductor?

Conductor was built for faculty, staff and students here at ND. If you are a department, center, institute, official student club, office, faculty or staff member, you are eligible. Students must be associated with an official club and must have faculty sponsorship.

So how do I get an official ND website?

Go to http://conductor.nd.edu and click on the large graphic. Or you can contact us here at the Agency and we’ll be happy to help you through it.

What’s the process of getting a Conductor Website?

1. You fill out the website request form.
2. A project manager will contact you to gather all the necessary information.
3. The website will be set up in a staging area within three days so you can start entering your content.
4. We’ll set up a FREE hour of Conductor training to teach you the basics.
5. After the content is all uploaded and the site is functioning the way you want, you will contact the Project Manager and let them know the site is ready to launch.
6. We push the site live.

What are the additional features I can get with the Conductor website?

News – Schedule news releases and automatically import press releases from News & Information

News Comments – Allow visitors to comment and you have the ability to approve or manage comments prior to posting

News/Blog Training – With comments, you might want some training on how to manage this social interaction. This training can help tremendously.

Events – Create multiple calendars and users to subscribe via RSS feed

Contact Form – Contacts you via email and automatically saves the message in a database

Header Logo – Do you want your logo in the header bar? We can do that.

As if you can’t tell, I’m very excited about the opening up of Conductor to let you build your own websites for the university.

I hope this will be a tool that you can easily use to set up the website you want.

If you are looking for a free website building tool, then try our blogging platform, http://blogs.nd.edu.