NOTE: This policy goes into effect 1/1/2026.

Rationale/Purpose of the Policy 

Maintaining a web presence that is accurate, relevant, and useful to our audience is important to the mission and brand of UW–Madison Extension. Our audience relies on our website content to access our services, attend events, and make research-informed decisions in our areas of expertise. Our website content is maintained in a distributed fashion, and clear policy is necessary to support the many Extension employees who maintain website content.

Definitions

• Site Owner: The Site Owner is a person who holds ultimate accountability for a site. All sites are required to have a Site Owner by policy. This role is responsible for ensuring the site remains compliant with policy and aligned with organizational goals. A Site Owner is typically someone in a leadership position (such as a Program Manager, Institute Director, Area Extension Director, or Operations Unit Director), providing a clear transition in the event of staffing changes. 
• Site Manager: The Site Manager is the primary lead for a site. This role guides, coordinates, and maintains the site’s content and structure. The site manager is typically the first point of contact for questions, requests, or issues related to the site’s day-to-day operation. If not explicitly assigned as someone else, the Site Owner also serves as the Site Manager. 
• Redirect: A mechanism to forward one URL to another URL when a site is no longer accessible

Scope

This policy applies to all websites currently in the Extension WordPress instance and any future website that is administered by an employee of UW–Madison Extension. (This policy does not apply to social media. See Related Policies for information on social media requirements.)

Policy Details

Site Eligibility

• Extension county offices receive a web presence.
• Extension Programs defined by the divisional org chart may receive a website. Temporary initiatives within programs may have pages within a website.
• Integrated specialists can work with their school or college on websites as relevant.
• Extension Operations offices may receive a website if public (i.e., non-Extension) engagement can be proven.
• Professional associations of Wisconsin Extension employees may receive a website.
• Events and multi-state or multi-agency collaborations and grants may have a website if Extension is the administrative home of the collaboration or the PI of the grant.

All other website requests are evaluated by Extension programmatic or operational leadership.

All new websites, regardless of hosting location, must meet the eligibility requirements above and be approved by the relevant Institute, the Office of Communications and Stakeholder Engagement, and the Office of Digital Solutions.

Custom Domains

It is important to recognize the Extension brand for all of our core programming. Therefore, all sites hosted on our WordPress environment will use the extension.wisc.edu URL.

Content Review

Site owners and site managers have a responsibility to review and approve content on a periodic basis. Site owners must undergo periodic reviews of their sites, prompted by WordPress, to ensure that site content is accurate, relevant, and useful:

• Accurate: All information is correct and reviewed within the required timelines.
• Relevant: Content ties to plans of work and priorities or current divisional initiatives.
• Useful: Calls to action, links, and references are valid and working for users to follow.

Content Standards

Content published to Extension websites must adhere to the following standards:

• Extension websites will not host content on behalf of other organizations (e.g., Master Gardener Associations, HCE groups, coalitions, partnerships, councils, etc). Listings, referrals, and contact information to help the public find and connect with external organizations is permitted.
• Extension websites will not host content on behalf of individual 4-H clubs. Listings, referrals, and contact information to help the public find and connect with a 4-H club is permitted. However, Extension websites may host content on behalf of countywide 4-H chartered organizations (e.g., 4-H Leaders Association, 4-H Livestock Committee). This can include meeting minutes, agendas, and other information.
• Extension county websites will host content specific to that county or area. County websites will not host content that is statewide in nature or is posted on an existing programmatic or operational site. County websites can link to statewide information for local audiences to engage with and may utilize central tools that surface statewide content on local sites.
• All website content must comply with relevant Extension and UW–Madison policies (see Related Policies section below).
• Websites should not function as file storage. Uploaded files must meet the same accurate, relevant, and useful metrics as website text. Uploaded files are relevant if they are being actively used by the website. Files that are not actively being used by the website will be automatically purged periodically.

The Office of Communications and Stakeholder Engagement is responsible for addressing non-compliant content in conjunction with the Office of Digital Solutions. Posts, pages, and articles that have not been reviewed within the recommended time-frame will automatically display a disclaimer to inform the public that the content may no longer be accurate. Additionally, sites with egregious noncompliance can face actions such as owner access restrictions or deactivation for continued, consistent policy violations.

Site Owners

All websites must have a site owner identified who acts as that site’s ultimate decision-maker. This role sets the direction of the site, resolves conflicts, and is accountable for the maintenance of the site per this policy. Without a defined owner, sites will be deactivated after a term of six months. The Office of Communications and Stakeholder Engagement will maintain a list of site owners and work with the Office of Digital Solutions on remediation for non-compliant sites.

Branding

All sites must communicate a connection to Extension. All websites hosted in the Extension WordPress environment will use Extension’s standard WordPress theme, which adheres to UW brand standards. Custom styles can be requested and evaluated for division-wide use and must still adhere to divisional branding standards. The Office of Digital Solutions will work with the Office of Communications and Stakeholder Engagement on branding compliance.

Accessibility

All content must be digitally accessible, in compliance with UW-519. Site owners and site managers are responsible for maintaining digital accessibility.

Redirects

Redirects for retired websites will be maintained for a defined period of time and then deleted. The duration of all website redirects is at the sole discretion of the Office of Digital Solutions. (See Website Redirect Retention Procedures.)

Backups

The Office of Digital Solutions maintains backups of program source code in accordance with UW–Madison Records Retention Schedules. Site owners and site managers are responsible for record retention for their own content.

Related UW–Madison Policies

• UW-519 Digital Accessibility
• UW-200 Advertising
• UW-204 External Sponsorship of University Programs and Events
• UW-205 Use of Institutional Names, Logos, Symbols, and Other Trademarks
• UW-206 Institutional and Public Position Statements
• Extension Logo Usage Policy

Related UW–Madison Documents, Web Pages, or Other Resources

• Extension Brand Guidelines

External References

• USDA Equal Opportunity Public Notification Policy

Policy Administration

Approval Authority

Dean, Division of Extension

Policy Manager

Matthew Call - Director, Office of Communications and Stakeholder Engagement

Policy Contact(s)

Matthew Call - matthew.call@wisc.edu

Revised Dates

Reviewed Dates