CMS and Towering Toward the Blue

CMS and Towering Toward the Blue

Towering Toward the Blue

Inspired by KU’s Alma Mater, Towering Toward the Blue, the university's new comprehensive brand, represents the connection between the boundless Kansas horizon and KU’s boundless creativity. Soaring vistas inspire soaring ambition. Vast skies inspire us to make vast improvements to people’s everyday lives.

Learn more about the new brand at the Brand Center.

CMS visual brand updates

KU Marketing and KU IT have been working to bring KU web pages in line with the new Towering Toward the Blue brand. This is an important step in making our online presence reflect the work we are doing to change the way people think and talk about KU. 

Styling updates will affect the fonts, colors, buttons, and graphic elements on Sunflower CMS sites. These changes will not alter content, functionality, or navigation on KU web pages. 

If you are not in charge of a Sunflower CMS site, you will not be affected by this update. (For example, KUMC sites will not be part of this update.) However, we expect all site admins to be working to align your sites with the new visual branding. Reach out to KU Marketing (marketing@ku.edu) with any visual branding questions. 

If you are unsure if your KU website will undergo changes, please reach out to KU IT (itcsc@ku.edu).

In preparation for this change, here is what you need to know:

  • These updates will NOT require you to do anything. Your site’s styling will be automatically updated when the changes are made live on Sept. 15.
  • Although you are not required to do anything to make these branding changes live on your site, we ask that you preview your site in the new styling prior to it going live. This will allow you to check for any issues that might arise when the new brand styling goes live in September.
  • The preview period opened Aug. 18. As a site admin, we recommend you access your site in the preview environment to ensure that all elements of your site are working properly.
  • For those who have custom CSS styling on your sites, there is a chance that this custom coding will not work with the new styling. If you know that you have custom CSS styling on your site, please reach out to KU IT (itcsc@ku.edu) today for assistance. 

Additionally, this is an ideal time to update the content on your site. This includes both the copy and visual elements. Here are some tips for making the most of this time:

  • Review the CMS Guide on web writing and the Brand Guide on writing about KU.
  • Closely review the written content on your sites and identify places you can update the copy to match KU’s new brand voice.
  • Review the images on your site and identify what can be refreshed with new brand images.

Launch timeline

Preview
On Monday, Aug. 18, a four-week preview period begins that will allow you to see what your site will look like with the new visual branding. We ask that site admins use the preview environment to ensure all elements of your site will work properly when the new brand styling goes live in September.  

Launch
On Monday, Sept. 15, the styling changes will automatically go live on all Sunflower CMS sites. 

Accessing the preview module

Steps to access the brand preview module:

  1. Use the CAS login to access your Drupal site as you normally would.
  2. The preview module will be automatically turned on. See the Preview banner at the top of your pages to learn more.
  3. Click the "Pause Preview" button to see what is currently live on your site.
  4. Click the "Resume Preview" button to return to the Towering Toward the Blue visual brand update preview. 

What to do in the preview module:

  • Review your KU web pages for any issues with the new visual brand updates. If you see functionality issues, please use this form to report the problem.
  • All content updates can be made to pages as usual. Use the "Pause Preview" and "Resume Preview" buttons to toggle between current and new branding views.
  • Custom CSS styling on your sites will likely not work with the new visual brand updates. Please contact KU IT for more information on how to update custom CSS.
  • If you are not seeing the brand updates, try refreshing your browser before contacting KU IT. 

Contact us

Contact KU IT: 
To report an issue with your site in the brand preview or ask questions regarding custom code and functionality, use this form. 

Contact KU Marketing:
Reach out to KU Marketing with any questions you have about site content at marketing@ku.edu.