Registration for Central IT Services

8. Accounts and web sites for sub-departments and major research groups

A separate account can be provided as for "Long-term Projects" above. We will attempt to provide a name which reflects the project name, but we are restricted to account names between 3 and 8 letters or digits, starting with a letter.

8.1. Web address (URL)

  • The basic URL http://users.ox.ac.uk/~thisproj/ is available without special formality.
  • Your department/college IT officer can arrange a directory in the main web site, e.g. http://www.thisdept.ox.ac.uk/thisproj/ which can have a link to the basic URL or automatically transfer accesses to it.
  • Groups or project teams can have a top-level URL http://www.thisgroup.ox.ac.uk/ if they meet certain criteria and the Head of the parent department approves the allocation of an independent URL. Web sites can be supported via an Oxford Single Sign-On account, on a departmental server or using the NSMS service. For an official University department which has not yet been allocated a domain name, please simply email registration.manager@oucs.ox.ac.uk in the first instance.
    • Note that top-level domains are offered only for groups such as special activity centres within departments, or teams working on major projects with substantial specific funding, but not for more abstract items such as conferences or virtual tours. There must be a need for the group to have a web presence visible outside the University network.
    • Follow the steps below for a group wanting to split from its parent department.
      1. Make sure the Head of Department is briefed about the group.
      2. The administrative head of the group (not the IT Officer) should contact registration.manager@oucs.ox.ac.uk, identifying himself/herself and giving the title of the group and the requested domain name. Note that the University's house style for URLs is to include the initial "www" component.
      3. Details of the project itself need not be given to OUCS as we are not qualified to assess academic projects.
      4. The OUCS Registration Manager will then ask the head of the parent department to confirm that specific relevant criteria are met. The criteria are set down by Central Administration.
    • Technical details can be sorted out with the IT specialist once the basic approval has been obtained. Note that if a top-level URL is given for a web site based on an Oxford single sign-on account, then the basic URL will cease to work.
    • If the group is not exclusive to one department, OUCS will identify, in consultation with the requester, a suitable person in a Department, Faculty or Division to give the "Head of Department" authorisation. The circumstances can vary a great deal so it is not practical to publish hard-and-fast rules.
  • If a non-academic URL, such as www.oxproject.org.uk etc., is required for an academic project, OUCS can help with this and should preferably be contacted before the domain name is purchased (but see the notes under Email domain below). Please check the eligibility criteria and contact information at http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/network/dns/hosting/index.xml.ID=eligibility (the contact point for URLs outside ox.ac.uk is domain.registration@oucs.ox.ac.uk ).
  • A web site can be supported by a non-www address, such as http://jcr.thiscollege.ox.ac.uk/. The local IT Officer can register a server with this sort of address in the normal way.

8.2. Web site (server)

  • A web site using an Oxford single sign-on account will support basic requirements but the functionality is essentially restricted to SafePerl and server-side includes. This is to ensure the security of the public server. If the web site is a collaborative effort, the limit on the number of people allowed to log in to it is the owner plus a maximum of three other users.
  • See http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/nsms/services/webhosting.xml for a chargeable OUCS service including advanced web server features such as PHP.
  • If a high-profile web site is required or if the collaboration of a large number of contributors is involved, it is possible to use your own server. This does not need to involve a large financial outlay and a modern desktop with standard specification should be powerful enough to support a reasonably active simple web site. Your IT Officer should be able to give you some idea of what would be involved and how much help he/she could provide.

8.3. Email domain

  • The Oxford system for email domains (the domain is the part after the @ sign in an email address) is linked to the PRAC departmental structure . If you are setting up a completely new department, the 'new unit form' linked from that page allows you to apply for a new email domain.
  • For email domains which are not under ox.ac.uk , the only email facility we offer is routing of the whole domain to an email server provided and maintained by the relevant project. If this restriction is unacceptable then you should register the domain with an external provider who can supply both web and email facilities.

Up: Contents Previous: 7. Project accounts for individuals and student clubs Next: 9. Leaving Oxford