Stanford University’s Web sites will be undergoing major changes in months to come, focusing mainly on design changes and content overhaul. The finalized version of the project is set to launch around mid-June 2008.

Project 8180 is the codename for a effort aiming to redesign the Stanford University homepage and Web sites for the Offices of Undergraduate Admission, Financial Aid, and Visitor Information. Scott Stocker, the director of web communications at Stanford, said “8180” refers to the total acreage of the Stanford campus and reflects the project’s mission to include all aspects of University life.

Proposed changes can be viewed at http://project8180.stanford.edu. Stocker stressed that the team wants students and faculty members to provide feedback by leaving comments on the Web site.

“By early April we hope to have full color mockups that we hope students will look at,” said Stocker.

The project is co-sponsored by the Office of University Communications and the Office of Undergraduate Admission and Financial Aid. The project began last November, and Stocker explained that it aims to create a more consistent aesthetic online that will unite all aspects of the university. In the new Web site, for example, the Admissions Web site for the first time will have the same format as other Stanford web pages.

Content categories on the SU Homepage will be altered, with the navigation bar going from eight categories to five. “About Stanford,” “Admission,” “Academics,” “Research” will stay; “Life on Campus” will be added; and the current categories “Medical Center,” “Administration,” “Arts & Events,” and “Athletics” will be removed. Stocker said the change will help users locate information on specific departments and programs more efficiently.

The Web site is planned to emphasize the newer initiatives of the University, such as the Stanford Challenge, as well as including more features about research on campus and student life.

The homepage also will have a special section at the bottom called “On the Stanford Web,” where selected Web sites from across the university will be highlighted.

The latest changes to the site will also reflect Stanford’s importance in the world of technology. Though specific plans are still being ironed out, Stocker said the redesign will showcase Stanford’s involvement to the development of the Internet and the web — especially since many Stanford affiliates are connected to companies such as Yahoo, Google, and Hewlett-Packard.

Since its inception, the Stanford Web site has undergone two major design modifications. The first redesign in winter of 1998 changed the sky-blue background and included a news feature. More features were added in 2002, when the familiar graphics bar was added to the top of the page, along with more prominent placement for Stanford events on the right side of the page.