New Web Site Offers Colorful Design and Dynamic Features 

September 25, 2008 - Photo galleries, video, RSS news feeds, and student and alumni profiles. These are just some of the features integrated into the new Phillips Academy Web site—a site designed to better communicate Andover’s unique characteristics to prospective students while also strengthening bonds with alumni, parents, and current students. After more than a year of planning and development, the site launch represents an important milestone in our constantly evolving digital communication strategy.

At the most obvious level, our new site differs from the old site in its visual design. Dramatic use of color and photography give the site a dynamic energy and warmth that reflects Andover’s exciting, challenging, and supportive environment. The graphic elements used in the design honor our rich and storied history, while the overall layout reflects Andover’s modern teaching philosophies and its role as a leader in education.

In addition to the graphic design improvements, the site is built upon an entirely new technical foundation and navigational structure with lots of new features and content. The new technical foundation is critical to supporting new functionality—from database-driven directories and news feeds to an extensive media gallery and a soon-to-be-added virtual tour. That structure also will support future enhancements such as blogs, portals, and more.

Navigationally, the site encourages visitors to explore Andover through whatever lens they choose—as an athlete, a scientist, a gifted artist, or an inquisitive parent. Our hope is that visitors will find intuitive pathways to whatever information they need.

Prospective students will find the Admission & Financial Aid section of the site to be especially helpful, as it includes links to student journals, admission videos, and a Campus Walk that will very shortly be updated into a state-of-the-art virtual tour. Several new sections—The Arts, Museums, and Summer Session & Outreach—are all worth visiting, as they raise the visibility of certain distinguishing features of Andover. And be sure to enjoy the fun and informative PA factoids contained in the “Did You Know?” modules that are scattered on pages throughout the site.

Student Life, another new addition to our site, contains lots of great information for prospective students and parents about what it’s like to live and learn at Andover. Parents—both current and prospective—will also want to visit the Parents page to find information and links organized specifically for them.

The revamped Calendar and Newsroom are two resources that will be valuable for anyone that visits the site. The Calendar allows you to search for activities by event type, while the Newsroom offers an RSS feature that allows you to send news feeds to your email or RSS reader or even to post news items to Facebook.

Speaking of Facebook, the redesigned Alumni section includes a new My BlueLink Page that offers a number of personalized tools, including the ability to integrate your BlueLink account with your Facebook account. Additional enhancements to the alumni section are already in the works. Stay tuned.

The launch of this new site represents just the beginning of our online adventure.
Over the days, weeks and months to come, we will be busy enhancing the site and fixing the bugs that inevitably accompany such a massive project. In the meantime, we invite you to browse.

If you encounter any problems with the site or have suggestions for improvements, please email the Phillips Academy technology help desk at helpdesk@andover.edu. If you’d simply like to share your thoughts about the site, please email webmaster@andover.edu.