Websites and Web Hosting
This page describes the website and web hosting options available from LS IT, along with information about additional options from other service providers.
LS Department and Program Websites
LS IT is responsible for providing infrastructure for all LS department and program websites.
Department and program websites are are on different content management systems:
- Most departmental websites: see https://lsit.ucdavis.edu/learning/edit-sitefarm-department-website for information on editing websites
- Arts Departments: contact artsupdates@ucdavis.edu to make content changes.
- Letters and Science Dean's Office: Contact Letters and Science Marketing and Communications at lettersandscience@ucdavis.edu
Course Websites and Course Materials
LS IT does not currently support hosting of course websites or course material.
We strongly recommend that all course materials be hosted through Canvas, the official campus course management system. Canvas is certified to meet federal accessibility guidelines, it has 24x7x365 support, and UC Davis students expect to find course materials on Canvas.
You can find more information about Canvas at:
You can find a variety of Canvans support resources at:
UC Davis SiteFarm for Lab, Project and Event Websites
SiteFarm is available to:
- UC Davis administrative units, colleges, schools and academic departments whose Web content is owned by the Regents of the University of California.
- Organized Research Units (ORU) and other campus-wide research units and facilities, as identified by the Office of Research, are included.
- Faculty labs may use SiteFarm provided the sites adhere to all applicable campus policies and guidelines, including branding and domain name requirements (a ucdavis.edu domain).
- Websites for recognized campus organizations (PPM 270-05 - PDF) may use SiteFarm provided the sites adhere to all applicable campus policies and guidelines.
- Websites for student sites may not be maintained in SiteFarm unless affiliated and sponsored by an administrative or academic department.
- Personal websites (PPM 310-70 - PDF) may not be maintained in SiteFarm.
- Your content must fall within the IS-3 information security policy definitions for levels P1 and P2 content. Read our blog about Information Security Practices on SiteFarm for more details.
- Sites whose content contain personal content not related to UC Davis business or personal intellectual property may not be maintained in SiteFarm
Click here to request a SiteFarm site
Event and Conference Websites
For event and conference sites, you have several options:
- With department chair/program director approval, LS IT can create a section on a department or program website for a conference or other event. This section can include text, images, files, etc. We can include a registration and/or abstract or proposal submission mechanism that presents a form to visitors and emails the information from the form to the event organizers.
- Create a site in SiteFarm (see above)
- If you need to accept payments or recharge for registration for a conference or other event, LS IT cannot currently provide that service. We recommend that you contract with Campus Events and Visitor Services (CEVS) for this service. CEVS provides a range of event website services, including paid (or campus recharge) registrations and abstract submissions. You can find information on CEVS event services here: https://cevs.ucdavis.edu/Public/?SRVC=EVENT
Personal, Lab and Project Websites
Most Letters and Science department and program websites include functionality to create individual profiles including biosketch information, photos, CVs, publications lists, etc. These profiles are available to faculty, lecturers, graduate students, and staff.
LS IT currently does not offer design or custom web programming services other than for department and program websites.
There are a number of free and low-cost options available for creating and hosting custom websites:
- SiteFarm (see above for Lab and Project Websites)
- UC Davis offers faculty website hosting in the WordPress content management system. You can find more information here: https://faculty.ucdavis.edu
- IET Web Development offers a variety of website and web application design and hosting options. You can find information on ATS services here: https://servicehub.ucdavis.edu/servicehub?id=it_catalog_content&sys_id=bebda9151bd798103f4286ae6e4bcb52
- ASUCD Creative Media Services offers website design and hosting services. You can find information on their services here: https://creativemedia.ucdavis.edu/
- Google Sites: https://sites.google.com/
- GitHub Pages: https://pages.github.com/
- UCDavis Academia pages https://ucdavis.academia.edu
If you use an external web host, LS IT may be able to provide redirection services to point yoursite.ucdavis.edu to the external host. These requests are subject to campus policy regarding external hosting. Please submit a ticket to request this service.
Custom Web Application Development
LS IT web application development efforts are primarily focused on creating business applications for our departments and programs, so we do not currently offer custom application development services. If you have a business application need, please submit a ticket.
For other web application development needs, we recommend contacting IET Academic Technology Services (ATS) at: