Primarysite: Preparing for the new school year

Primarysite

Overview

As the end of the academic year approaches, there are steps you can take now to get your website ready for September. If there are changes you need us to make, submit your requests before the end of term to avoid longer turnaround times - September is our busiest period and requests made then can take up to two weeks to complete.

If you have any questions about anything in this article, contact us at support.ps@junipereducation.org.

The Primarysite CMS is being phased out and replaced by Juniper Websites. Before booking any chargeable work, we strongly recommend discussing your migration with our dedicated team as you may be incurring charges for work that will no longer be needed after you migrate. Contact us at migrations@junipereducation.org or find out more about your migration.

End-of-year checklist

Work through the sections below to make sure everything is in order before the summer break:

  1. Arrange end-of-year archiving (if staying on Primarysite).
  2. Review and update your homepage.
  3. Refresh your homepage slideshow images.
  4. Request any chargeable design changes.
  5. Check your MIS data is entered correctly.
  6. Check your MIS server arrangements for the summer.

Arrange your end-of-year archiving

We can archive your class pages and gallery over the summer break so they are ready for the new school year. Book via the archiving form — this gives us everything we need to schedule and complete the work.

Book your archiving

Submit the form to get your archiving scheduled before the summer break:

Book your archiving here

 

Archiving prices:

  • Large sections such as class pages: £109.00.
  • Standard pages such as the gallery: £75.00.

Previous years' content remains accessible via a link at the bottom of the page after archiving.

We can only archive entire pages - we cannot archive parts of a page. Special pages such as Latest News and Newsletters cannot be archived.

The Juniper Websites CMS allows you to archive your own pages, removing the need for this annual charge once your migration is complete. Contact our migration team before booking to make sure archiving is still the right option for you.

Review your homepage

Homepage changes take longer in September because of increased demand. Check what needs updating now so changes can be scheduled before or during the summer break. Email support.ps@junipereducation.org to request changes or schedule them for a specific date.

Things to check:

  • Are all your quick links correct, working, and still relevant?
  • Are all your navigation headings still relevant?
  • Is your awards bar up to date?
  • Does everything else work as expected?
  • Do you need to restructure your site?
  • Is your Ofsted logo up to date?

Migrating to Juniper Websites means you can manage most of these tasks yourself without raising a support request. Download the comparison table to see what you gain.

Update your homepage slideshow

Whether you want to remove old images or refresh your slideshow entirely, get these changes in before September. Requests received in September are subject to turnaround times of up to two weeks.

To send us your new photos:

  1. Transfer your photos using WeTransfer.
  2. In the Email to field, enter support.ps@junipereducation.org.
  3. In the comments, include your school name, postcode, any specific instructions about the images, and the order you'd like them displayed.
  4. Email us the WeTransfer link to make sure your request is picked up.

The slideshow holds a maximum of 8 images. Send no more than 12 images for us to choose from.

Photography guidelines:

  • Dimensions: 1800–2000 px wide × 1120–1400 px tall.
  • File size: no larger than 5 MB per image.
  • Format: JPEG only.
  • Orientation: landscape.
  • Composition: the main subject should sit in the bottom two-thirds of the image.

Juniper Websites allows you to manage your slideshow directly — no support request needed. Contact the migration team to find out more.

Chargeable design or homepage changes

If you are considering any major or chargeable changes to your site, it is worth speaking to our migration team first. Depending on where you are in your migration journey, it may make more sense to make those changes on the new platform rather than investing in the existing one.

Contact our migration team at migrations@junipereducation.org before commissioning any major design work.

Check your MIS data

One of the most common queries we receive in September is MIS data not pulling through as expected. Taking a proactive approach now can make for a much smoother start to the new year. The points below cover the most frequent issues. Take some time to review each of the points below:

  • Allow enough time for data to pull through

    Data starts pulling through at 10am and 4pm each day, and can take up to four hours to appear in your contact data. If you have made changes in your MIS and cannot see them, check the time before raising a support request.

  • Cross-check your data using a pupil who is pulling through correctly

    We can only pull through data that meets certain requirements. If a contact's data is not entered or categorised correctly in the MIS, it will not appear on our end. Use a pupil whose data is already pulling through correctly as a reference to check that all required fields are completed in the same way.

  • Court order checkbox

    We cannot pull through contacts who have the court order box checked in the MIS. You must add these contacts manually. See Using your contacts area for guidance on adding contacts manually.

  • New and leaving pupils - start and end dates

    A new pupil's data will only begin pulling through from their start date. It starts pulling through at 10am on that day, so allow until after midday before expecting to see them in your contacts. The same applies to leavers, their data will stop pulling through from their leave date.

    Make sure start and end dates are entered in the MIS before the relevant date, not after.

  • Setting priorities for contacts

    The SMS area and the booking system both require a pupil to have a priority one contact to pull through correctly. The school app additionally requires that the contact has been granted app permission and has a mobile number entered.

  • Entering your MIS data correctly

    The following fields must be completed correctly in the MIS for contact data to pull through. Pay particular attention to the email and phone number fields as these must be set as Primary email and Mobile number respectively.

    Required fields: StudentID, Name, Year, Reg, ContactID, Priority, Title, Surname, Forename, Mobile number, Primary Email

MIS servers and the summer break

Over the summer break, your servers may be switched off or updated. If this happens, it can cause errors that prevent data from updating. If your MIS data is not updating in September, check with your IT team to see if a server change or outage is likely to be the cause, and contact Wonde to reestablish the connection.

 

Tasks you can do yourself on Primarysite

Many tasks can be carried out by your own staff if they have the right permissions in Primarysite. The guides below cover the most common queries we receive:

For a full list of guides, visit the Primarysite section of the Help Centre.

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