Requesting a Site

Service Overview

All of the websites on our CALS WordPress multisite platform are hosted in the cloud on DoIT/WiscWeb infrastructure. The underlying infrastructure, including servers, databases, caching systems, etc. is managed in coordination with the help of the DoIT WiscWeb team. We take care of the security and hosting infrastructure so you don’t have to.

Service Eligibility

CALS provides no-cost WordPress web hosting service to all active faculty and staff with a primary affiliation to the college. This includes CALS administration, departments, research groups, grant-funded projects, and other related groups within the college.

The CALS Web Service is not intended for student websites, student organization sites, personal websites, or emeriti faculty/staff sites.

Maintenance and Updates

The CALS Web Services team monitors and implements WordPress plugin and theme upgrades, security patches and bug fixes so you don’t have to. We also coordinate with the DoIT WiscWeb team to install and test WordPress Core updates as those are released.

Additional Web Services

The CALS WordPress Web Service solution is ideal for most websites, though there are sometimes instances where additional technical flexibility is needed. To serve these customers, we can consult with you to determine if the CALS Web Service is the right solution, or we can refer you to find the appropriate CALS IT or UW-Madison DoIT solution for your website or web application needs.

Requesting A Site

New website requests on the CALS Web Service will need to go through an approval process by the Office of External Relations. Review the information in this section to understand what to expect during request process. Also please read our planning your website document, and review our website management guidelines to ensure you have an understanding of the commitment and purpose of your site. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions. Once you have made the decision to request your site and understand the content you would like to include, please start the process by completing our website request form.

Website Request & Approval Process

1. Request Your Site
   Complete our website request form to give us the details needed to set up your site.
2. Await Approval
   Website request will go through an approval process by the Office of External Relations based on the information provided in the web form. We may reach out for additional information as needed.
3. Build Your Site
   Upon approval. Our team will setup a starter website using our CALSv4 Gutenberg Block Theme. The site is setup at a temporary staging domain for your team to begin working building out the layout, navigation and content of your site. Our CALS Web Services team is available for initial training, consultation and questions, but it is the responsibility of site owners and content managers to build and maintain the website.
4. Contact Us When You’re Ready to Go Live (2-3 weeks notice)
   When you are ready for your website to go live, we will begin working on requesting your permanent domain. It is usually best to contact us 2-3 weeks before you want your site to go live to allow for the domain request and approval process. Our team will take care of the final steps in setup and configuration of taking your website live with your permanent domain name and will let you know when the site is live. With advance notice, we can also schedule a go-live date.

Domain Name Request & Approval Process

Our web services team will facilitate the technical setup and configuration of the domain in coordination with the DoIT domain management team. The entire request, approval and setup process for a permanent domain can take up to 7-10 days, but often it is sooner.

If you like some assistance in thinking through an effective domain name from a communications standpoint, please reach out to our team and we can help you think through some of strategic communications and branding implications of a good domain name, as well as technical considerations. You do not need to fully decide on a permanent domain name until your website is ready to go live.

An important note about top-level domain requests (yourdomain.wisc.edu)

Our team has full approval of all *.cals.wisc.edu, and similar subdomains within the college namespace (i.e., *.soilenvsci.wisc.edu, *.pasdept.wisc.edu, *.andysci.wisc.edu, *.nutrisci.wisc.edu, etc.). However, top-level domain requests within the wisc.edu namespace (i.e. yourdomain.wisc.edu) must be approved by DoIT and University Strategic Communications as they are the official owner for that top-level domain space. Therefore, it is not guaranteed that a top-level domain request will be approved by campus.