How long to retain old website?

[Stephen Davis]

Hi, Ward.   We kept virtually all of our old files in place for many months 
after our transition to a new site last fall while we systematically put in 
file & directory x-refs, redirects or sometimes just simlinks.  When the 
content & links on old pages was clearly volatile and easily outdated we 
did remove them sooner rather than later.  If you have web hit statistics 
you can actually track how quickly use drops off from the old pages and 
maybe let that be your guide.

An idea you may already have thought of: If you have files & directories in 
the old system that don't have a one-to-one relationship with files & 
directories in the new system, it's helpful to put a search box (for the 
new site) on any generalized cross-reference pages, so that users have a 
fighting chance of finding the content they want.  You see this on large 
commercial sites sometimes (since they actually worry about losing 
customers ;)

We tried to make the transition as smooth as possible for our users; but 
even so, the simple fact of so much change at once threw some of them for a 
loop.  So the more you try to cushion the change, the better.  Also, imho 
the more we 'evolve' sites rather than simply replacing them, the easier it 
will be all around.

______________________________
Stephen Paul Davis
Digital Library Program
Columbia University Libraries

email: daviss at columbia.edu
phone: (212) 854-8584
fax:   (212) 854-0089
______________________________

 >Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2001 09:38:45 -0600
 >From: Ward Price <wprice at panam.edu>
 >To: web4lib at webjunction.org
 >Subject: old web sites
 >
 >When a web site has been redesigned, and has new URLs for its pages, how
 >long should the old site (with appropriate "this page has moved" messages)
 >be maintained? We recently replaced our old site 
<http://www.lib.panam.edu/oldindex.html>
 >with a new one <http://www.lib.panam.edu/>. (Unfortunately, the old site
 >does not yet indicate that a new site exists.) Our Systems Administrator
 >wants to take the old files off our server. I think the old site should
 >remain up, at least until I can make redirect messages for the pages, and
 >have them posted for awhile. But for how long?