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Disadvantages of SiteBuilder

Consider the following issues to see if SiteBuilder is suitable for your needs.

Heavily-customised designs

SiteBuilder websites have a specific design based on the University's common website template. There is scope to customise your design. However, it's not possible to discard it and implement an entirely different design.

If you want complete control over all aspects of your site's appearance, SiteBuilder may not be for you. University Marketing, part of the Engagement Group specify the criteria for custom web designs – for example, on joint projects with funding or contractual obligations which necessitate co-branding with a third party.

Maintenance outside a browser

We made SiteBuilder so you can create and maintain websites entirely via a web browser, as this is the simplest method for people to learn. If you prefer working with command lines, scripts or other tools, you may find maintaining SiteBuilder sites to be less efficient.

Non-Warwick URLs

SiteBuilder website URLs always start with https://warwick.ac.uk If you require a different URL, you should be aware of this restriction. Note, though, you can use:

  • Warwick Forward to point an external domain name to a SiteBuilder website.
  • Go.Warwick to create a short, memorable link such as https://warwick.ac.uk/myproject which redirects to your SiteBuilder website.

Server-side scripts

SiteBuilder pages can't contain server-side scripts using Perl, PHP or ASP. If you intend to write such scripts to enhance your pages, consider whether SiteBuilder's default functionality suffices. Note that client-side scripting (JavaScript, for example) is permitted.

Warwick-specific elements

SiteBuilder websites always contain references to the University of Warwick. For example, the Sign in pop-up and Accessibility link. Search results also display in a way which identifies the search as being owned by Warwick.

Since such elements are essential components of SiteBuilder which you can't remove – and all sites have the University's digital corporate identity – it's not possible to have a website in SiteBuilder that appears unconnected with the University of Warwick.

Support

Email webteam at warwick dot ac dot uk
How to report a problem