We are conducting our annual inventory to identify inactive websites on UCI Sites. This process helps us maintain an efficient and up-to-date platform for our community.
What You Need to Know
Inactive websites are those that have not been updated in more than 2 years.
Per our Terms of Use, sites inactive for over 2 years may be archived.
Contacting Site Owners of Inactive Sites
If a site has not been updated in the past 2 years, we will be contacting the site owners to see if they still want to keep the website active. If you regularly update your website, no other action is needed. Your site will be considered “active”.
We will be archiving any remaining inactive sites on or after March 15, 2026. Don’t worry, archived sites can be reactivated at any time upon request.
How to Keep Your Site Active
Log in to your site regularly and update your content. This can be either by editing existing content and publishing the changes, or creating new content.
Questions
Why do you archive sites?
We want to make sure that the sites we host are still needed. Sites are easy to create, so sometimes people create sites and either never use them or haven’t used them in years. People also leave UCI either because they graduate, find a new job, or retire. We have been running this service since 2009. Over that time, many of the original sites have been abandoned. By archiving the inactive sites, we can help make sure the information on the websites stays up to date and relevant. We are thrilled if you want to keep using the service. We will happily keep any site active by request or simply update the content on a regular basis, and it will always stay active.
What if I’m no longer at UCI?
Your access to editing the site is provided by your UCInetID. While you are a current student or an active employee, you should have access to your site. However, after that time, you will no longer be able to log in to make changes. We can export your site’s content upon request. Learn more about UCInetID Deactivation Policies.
Help! I missed the email and my site has been archived.
No need to worry. We can easily unarchive your site and return it to its previous state. Contact us! We’re here to help.
We’re here to help! If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
UCI Sites (sites.uci.edu) provides a hosting platform that is designed to support accessibility standards. However, content creators are responsible for ensuring that the content they publish meets accessibility requirements.
Making Your Site Accessible
While our platform provides the foundation for accessible websites, there are important steps you need to take to ensure your content is compliant:
Key Areas to Address:
Images: Add descriptive alt text to all images
Headings: Use proper heading structure (H1, H2, H3, etc.)
Links: Write clear, descriptive link text
Color Contrast: Ensure sufficient contrast between text and background
Documents: Make PDFs and other documents accessible
Videos: Include captions and transcripts
Forms: Properly label all form fields
Recommended Themes
UCI Sites uses CampusPress Flex by default, which is designed with accessibility in mind and meets WCAG standards. The default WordPress themes such as Twenty Twenty-Five, Twenty Twenty-Four, and other recent Twenty-series themes are also built to be accessible and compliant with ADA requirements.
Divi Theme
If you’re using Divi, we recommend enabling the Divi Accessibility Plugin, which was specifically created to enhance Divi’s accessibility features. While Divi can be made accessible with the proper plugin and configuration, CampusPress Flex and the default WordPress themes provide accessible foundations out of the box, which may simplify your compliance efforts.
Student Affairs IT has organized training sessions to help UC Irvine staff better understand accessibility and prepare for this deadline. The following are websites that guide you through the basics. You can also sign up for a Zoom Workshop, linked from each site. The workshops are engaging and informative. We highly recommend taking them both.
CampusPress has introduced a new Media Privacy feature that can automatically secure uploaded media files—such as images and documents—the moment they’re added to your site. Once enabled, uploaded files are protected from public access and search engine indexing unless specifically shared, making it easy to manage private content without extra plugins or manual settings.
What Are the Benefits?
This feature is ideal for Private or limited-access sites, since it ties directly to each site’s Site Visibility settings. Files respect the same access rules as the rest of the site, making it easier for administrators to manage permissions consistently. It’s especially helpful for schools, departments, or project teams that share internal materials not intended for the public.
Media is delivered through a Content Delivery Network (CDN) for fast performance, and each secure link automatically expires after one hour, at which point the system re-checks permissions before allowing access again. After the hour expires, users trying to access the file directly from the CDN link will see a “404 forbidden” error if they are not authenticated. Because protected files are also set to noindex, search engines and most AI crawlers cannot index or scrape their contents — adding an extra layer of privacy and control.
If your site is NOT meant for public access, it is recommended to enable the Media Privacy option. See the instructions below.
How to Enable Media Privacy
Log in to your site as an administrator.
In your Dashboard, go to Settings > Media
Scroll down to Protection and check the box next to “Secure files upon upload”
Click Save Changes
Please Note: This will only affect the files you upload AFTER making this change. Files you uploaded before the change will not be protected.
Files will now be placed in a /files/protected/ location. These files are still served through the CDN, but with links that automatically expire every hour, requiring the browser to revalidate access. If you turn this feature off, any files uploaded when it was enabled will remain protected.
Get instant help with your UCI website questions, 24/7
We’re excited to announce the launch of Zotline, our new support chatbot built with ZotGPT Creator. Zotline is an intelligent chatbot designed specifically to support the UCI Sites community. Whether you’re building your first website, updating your existing website, or managing multiple sites, Zotline is here to help you navigate the platform with ease.
What is Zotline?
Zotline is an AI-powered support assistant that provides instant answers to your UCI Sites questions. Built with deep knowledge of the platform’s features, best practices, and common challenges, it’s like having a dedicated support specialist available whenever you need help.
Key Features
24/7 Availability: Get help anytime, whether you’re working late on a project or need quick assistance during off-hours
Instant Responses: No more waiting for email replies or support tickets – get answers immediately
UCI Sites Expertise: Trained specifically on UCI Sites functionality, policies, and best practices by UCI Sites administrators
Step-by-Step Guidance: Receive detailed instructions for complex tasks, from basic page creation to advanced customization
Multilingual Support: Available to help users in multiple languages.
Getting Started
Using Zotline is easy:
Find the Chatbot Icon: Look for the chat icon in the bottom right of the screen.
Ask Your Question: Type your question in natural language – no need for technical jargon
Get Instant Help: Receive detailed, actionable answers tailored to your specific needs
Follow Up: Ask clarifying questions or request additional information as needed
Example Questions You Can Ask
“How do I add a new page to my website?”
“How do I add a new user?”
“What’s the best way to embed a video?”
“How can I make my site more accessible?”
“I’m getting an error when trying to upload images. What should I do?”
Privacy and Security
Zotline is designed with privacy in mind. Your conversations are used solely to provide support and improve the service. You do not need to log in to use the service. No personal information is gathered or stored.
Feedback Welcome
As we continue to improve Zotline, your feedback is invaluable. Let us know about your experience, suggest new features, or report any issues. We will continue to fine tune our responses. Zotline will continue to improve as new features are added to ZotGPT Creator.
Thank you to the OIT AI Team
Special thanks to the OIT AI Team for making this possible! We’re grateful to UCI’s Office of Information Technology AI team for developing ZotGPT Creator, the powerful foundation that makes Zotline possible. Their innovative work in creating an AI assistant specifically designed for the UCI community has enabled us to provide this specialized support experience for UCI Sites users. The OIT AI team’s dedication to leveraging cutting-edge technology to enhance campus services continues to transform how we support our faculty, staff, and students. Zotline wouldn’t exist without their expertise, vision, and commitment to making AI accessible and useful across UCI.
Ready to try Zotline? Start a conversation today and experience the future of UCI Sites support!
(Look for the “Need Help? ” Widget in the bottom right corner of the site.)
For complex technical issues or account-specific problems, our human support team is still here to help. Contact us.
Our commitment is to keep the UCI Sites WordPress hosting network secure and up to date. We will deprecate two legacy plugins: Image Widget and MCE Table Widget. Both of these plugins are designed to work with the Classic Editor. This change will have no effect on users who are already using the Block Editor.
Why Are the Plugins Being Deprecated?
The Image Widget and MCE Table Button plugins are no longer being actively maintained by their developers. To ensure the ongoing security and reliability of UCI Sites, we are planning to remove them from our network in the near future.
Possibly Affected: Sites using the Classic Editor may be using these plugins and should be aware of the upcoming changes.
What Changes Should You Expect?
Image Widget
If you used the Image Widget plugin to add images to your site’s sidebar, those images will no longer appear once the plugin is removed.
Solution: The Block Editor includes an Image Block, which you can use to add images to your sidebar or page content.
MCE Table Button
The Tiny MCE Table Button adds a table creation button to the Classic Editor toolbar. When this plugin is removed, the button will disappear.
Important: Existing tables will continue to display on your site as usual. You simply won’t have that button to create new ones in the Classic Editor.
Solution: The Block Editor provides a built-in Table Block for easy table creation and editing.
Switching to the Block Editor
We recommend all administrators switch their sites to use the Block Editor for an improved editing experience and access to modern features like Image and Table Blocks.
How to switch from Classic Editor to Block Editor:
Log in to your site’s WordPress dashboard as an administrator.
Navigate to Settings > Writing in the left menu.
Locate the option for Default editor for all users.
Select Block Editor.
Save your changes.
Once this change is made, all new content will use the Block Editor by default, with access to its robust set of blocks—including those for images and tables.
We do not have a set date for when the Image Widget and MCE Table Button plugins will be removed. However, we encourage administrators to make the transition to the Block Editor now to prepare for these changes and take advantage of its enhanced features.
If you need assistance transitioning your site or have additional questions about these changes, please contact us.
