Launch

Launch is the process of making your website or web pages available to your end users. Usually, launch refers to moving a site from our staging environment to live. However, it can also cover things like changing the status of a privately published page that is only available to site admins on a live site to Published so that everyone can view it.

Starting Launch

Generally, you should submit a ticket with at least a week’s notice for a site launch, if possible, and request a link check at the same time. This helps IS&T schedule the launch and go through some mandatory checks beforehand. Before a site can launch, the following has to happen:

  • A link check has to be run, and all broken links must be resolved.
  • The site has to comply with all University policies, including branding, our Website Policy, and the Minimum Web Accessibility Standards. This isn’t usually something you have to worry about if your project was built by Interactive Design. If you’re bringing your own code or design, extra time may be needed to bring your assets into compliance.
  • All content must be in place—no coming soon or blank pages are allowed.
  • Content should be proofread and locked. Only link check changes and bug fixes are allowed once launch begins.

During Launch

  • Launch happens during a window of time. Although we can request a specific time, and launch often completes quickly, please allow for a two to three hour window in case we run into complications with launching the site.
  • Generally, there is not any downtime associated with launch. However, you should not edit your website during the launch process.
  • Your old site will be archived by IS&T as part of the launch process. If you need access to an old version of your site, please submit a request.

Reporting Bugs after Launch

Congratulations! Your new website is launched. We will let you know when you’re in the clear to edit your site again shortly after the process is complete. By the time we reach launch, things generally run very smoothly. However, it’s not unusual to encounter small bugs just after launch. We will work to resolve these as quickly as possible. Simply contact your account executive to make them aware of any issues you’re seeing. Please include the following:

  • The URL where you are seeing the exact problem
  • The link generated when you visit https://www.whatsmybrowser.org/ on the computer or device you’re seeing the issue on
  • A description of what you expected to happen
  • A screenshot (if possible) and description of what is happening instead that you didn’t expect

It’s very important that you include this exact information in order for the team to begin investigating your concerns as soon as possible.

Common Things to Be Aware of After Launch

  • Be sure that you’ve redirected any pages that you’ve moved in the website to significantly different places.
  • Take a few minutes to double-check any marketing links you may have had in place. Be sure they still work as expected.
  • Google will need a few days to reindex your website. During this time, search results in BU Search or on google.com may display pages in your old site. Unfortunately, this is a process that is entirely dependent on Google and cannot be sped up by us. Typically, this takes anywhere from one day to a week.