A guide to using Extension’s blended technology platforms.
With a multitude of choices in Extension, UW-Madison, UW System, Extension employees, new and old, are often confused about where to put content online. This guide serves as an overview of supported platforms and their recommended uses.
Websites (Public)
Extension hosts a robust WordPress environment with integrated Extension branding. Our current web strategy consists of 3 major components.
Extension home - Institutional information such as our mission, highlighted programs, news, events, staff directory, and Institute landing pages that act as a portal to our educational Topic Hubs.
Topic Hubs - Generally organized by Extension Programs, Topic Hubs consolidate the programs and information of educators throughout the state into a topically focused hub of everything related to that topic.
County websites - Our local connection is what differentiates Extension from other UW outreach programs. Extension County websites provide information about local programming and staff.
For more information about public-focused websites, please contact the Extension office of Communications & Stakeholder Engagement.
Websites (Internal)
Extension leverages two primary platforms for internal, employee-focused websites.
Office 365 SharePoint/Teams (Extension Intranet)
Extension has built a robust intranet in SharePoint for internal websites, business workflows documents, newsletters, team collaboration (MS Teams), team calendars, and more, with a robust search that customizes results based on your individual affiliations.
For information on getting a SharePoint website, contact Kevin Graeme in the Office of Digital Solutions.
Extension Handbook (KnowledgeBase)
Built on UW-Madison’s KnowledgeBase platform, the Extension Handbook is a one-stop shop for Extension Employee Policies and Procedures.
YouTube/Video content
Extension maintains a centralized YouTube channel for hosting educational videos. Extension also has a separate channel for internal, employee-focused videos. For information see:
Extension has central social media presences for both Facebook and Twitter. If you have an Extension program that you would like to have highlighted on these, contact the Extension office of Communications & Stakeholder Engagement.
Additionally, various Extension programs and counties run audience-targeted social media which are handled on an individual basis.
Online Courses
As part of UW-Madison, Extension utilizes Canvas as the Learning Management System for online courses. Canvas can be used for both public education as well as internal employee training.
UW-Madison provides multiple platforms for both cloud-based documents and local network file storage. To try and help simplify when to use which, we provide the following guidance:
Google Drive
Public learner/partner collaboration and sharing.
Quick personal/small-workgroup files
MS 365 SharePoint/Teams
Institutional knowledge and official documents.
Desktop-integrated file storage for Institutes and teams
Full integration with Windows and MS Office
Generally limited to Extension employees and UW partners
MS 365 OneDrive
Personal document storage
Full integration with Windows and MS Office
Box
Legacy cloud platform at UW-Madison
Best limited to collaborating with other UW-Madison offices that have standardized on it.
Special options for HIPAA-compliant storage (requires additional setup).
Extension only provides Box support as required to set up Secure Box.
Many other options exist on campus for file storage and management for specialized needs such as sensitive research data. Contact Extension's Office of Digital Solutions (ODS) for guidance.
Online Meetings and Webinars
Zoom
Primary tool for video conferencing used in Extension.
