There are a number of ways groups, labs, and individuals associated with the ECE department can set up a website. Below are the options ECE supports internally, plus some other options offered by the University. There are, of course, a multitude of additional options available elsewhere… albeit usually for a fee.

ECE-affiliated student groups are eligible to use ECE web hosting. We do not offer web space to individual students, nor for student class projects… UW is better equipped for that (see the “Alternatives” section, below).

Space on the ECE Apache Web Server

With this first option, we create a folder for you on the web server under the research section of the ECE website (for labs/groups) or the people section (for faculty/staff). This option only allows for pages utilizing HTML, Javascript, and CSS – no server-side scripting (so no PHP, no CMS installations and no SQL database access). For lab or group websites, permissions can be controlled by setting up a group — any number of people can be allowed to update the pages. This is what the majority of ECE labs currently use for their lab websites.

These websites can have a custom ECE web address, if desired (e.g. http://mylabsite.ece.uw.edu).

ECE WordPress Server

The other primary ECE option is to use our WordPress server. We have several labs and groups taking advantage of this.

A number of the most popular WordPress themes are already installed, and you are welcome to use any of them on your site. If there is a theme you want but we do not provide, let us know — if the theme doesn’t require special permissions, has a decent security track record, and is currently maintained, we are happy to accommodate you. Please be aware that not all WordPress themes meet this standard, though…

Because of security and maintenance issues, we have instituted a moratorium on installing additional plugins. Running a full-service WordPress server would require a dedicated full-time admin, and we simply don’t have the resources for that. This policy was adopted to serve what we see as the best interests of the average user, but we understand it may not work for everyone.

Additionally, all of your site management needs to be done through the WordPress admin panel. We do not allow access to the server’s underlying file system – no ssh, sftp, or ftp access is allowed.

We are happy to help with technical issues, but we do not have a WordPress designer on staff with ECE Computing. You can certainly ask us questions! But be aware that users will generally be expected to figure out how to get their WordPress site design set up on their own.

There are also currently space restrictions placed on ECE’s WordPress server. If you need to include/link very large files on your WordPress site, contact webmaster@ece.uw.edu to discuss ways to deal with that.

Websites hosted on ECE’s WordPress server have the option of a custom ECE web address (e.g. http://mylabsite.ece.uw.edu).

Alternatives

If the options listed above don’t appeal to you, UW offers several different options to individuals and groups – you can set up static html webpages, use a UW-managed WordPress server, or even install and run your own CMS such as Drupal or Joomla. And, with several of UW’s options, you can even self-provision your site… meaning you can be up and running right away! For more information, read UW’s “Web Publishing” page. Please note that ECE Computing does not offer support for websites hosted outside of ECE’s own server infrastructure.

If you want to use WordPress, but don’t want to live with the restrictions ECE or UW place on our self-hosted servers, there are many commercial WordPress hosts available who are happy to help!