University of Cologne: Blog

After a two-year participatory process, the new main pages of the University of Cologne will go online in a fresh, modern design. All other websites, including those of faculties and institutes, will then migrate to the new design in 2026. For all existing content, there is so-called "Bestandsschutz," meaning no content will be lost through the relaunch. To better address target groups not only through a more modern design, the content has been restructured for improved orientation and user guidance. All content will in future be assigned to the four main categories: University/Faculty/Institute, Studies & Teaching, Research, and Transfer. With the new design, there will be another change in usage habits: the content appears in new attire, combining new structure and design to make the website overall clearer.

The Web Relaunch Team has published an SEO checklist that lists the most important points for page design according to SEO.

SEO optimization (Search Engine Optimization) means designing and improving a website in such a way that it achieves a better ranking in the organic (non-paid) search results of search engines like Google. The main goal is to attract more qualified visitors to the website by increasing visibility for relevant search queries. SEO is an ongoing process that includes technical, content-related, and structural measures focusing on factors such as content, user-friendliness, technical performance, and external links. 

Further information for editors: SEO Checklist 

The Web Relaunch Team published a Digital Accessibility Checklist in November 2025.

Accessible internet aims to make web offerings usable for as many people as possible – regardless of their limitations or technical capabilities. Additionally, various disabilities lead to unequal conditions for internet use. 

Blind people, for example, have the option to use a screen reader. These read the webpages and output the content via speech synthesis or a Braille display. Braille displays render text in Braille.

Public institutions are legally required to make their internet offerings accessible. The "Disability Equality Act - BGG" has provided the legal basis for this since 2002.

Find guidelines from IT Centers Cologne here: Accessibility on the Internet

Here, editors find detailed information about the TYPO3 CMS system.

[1] https://intvem.uni-koeln.de/typo3

[2] https://typo3.uni-koeln.de/hilfe-fuer-redakteure

[3] https://typo3.uni-koeln.de/extensions

[4] https://matomo.rrz.uni-koeln.de/

[5] https://typo3.uni-koeln.de

[6] https://typo3.uni-koeln.de/hilfe-fuer-admins/hinweise-zum-datenschutz-in-typo3/datenschutzhinweise-fuer-typo3-redakteure-und-admins



 

The new University of Cologne guideline creates a legally secure framework for operating websites. It regulates responsibilities and content accountability. The university, its members, and external website visitors are thereby protected from legal and security-related consequences. See guideline: https://uni.koeln/2ASXR

Contact

Feel free to contact us by email at DEK-Webredaktion@uk-koeln.de.

If you are referring to an existing page, please include the link to the page.
If texts need to be exchanged, please provide both the new text and the text to be replaced so we can better match it.

Bilingual Page

If the website is or should be maintained bilingually, please attach the English translation directly if possible. Please note that we only incorporate existing content and do not translate texts ourselves. For faster translation, we recommend the online tool deepL.

Technical Limitations

Please note that for technical reasons, we can only include one image in news articles (e.g.: Events and Press Releases). This image can only appear in the top left corner of the article. Additional images or documents can however be added as "attachments" below the article.
Expandable accordions (like this one) cannot contain images at all. The content management system imposes certain limitations here.

Selecting a custom font is also not possible, as all University of Cologne websites are bound to a specific layout. Text and text background colors are only available in limited selections. 

We currently manage the following pages of the Faculty of Medicine:

• Faculty of Medicine
• Center for Physiology
• Neuroscience
• FOR2722
• Center for Biochemistry
• Cologne Center for Genomics (CCG)
• Nursing Science
• Pain Research
• Biomedical Informatics
• Molecular Immunology
• Midwifery Science
• frühstArt
• Translational Epigenetics

Additional pages are currently under development.

Please note that we are not responsible for the University Hospital websites (uk-koeln.de). In such cases, please contact webmaster(at)uk-koeln(dot)de.
We also do not provide support for the main website of the university (uni-koeln.de) or the portal page at portal.uni-koeln.de. You can find the responsible contacts here.
We are not responsible for ILIAS. Please contact ILIAS Support.
For more specific technical questions regarding Typo3 and your user account, please contact Typo3 Support (typo3master(at)uni-koeln(dot)de).

The web editorial team offers an online webinar on TYPO3 every six months. The system structure is presented and some basic work steps are explained using practical examples. Questions can then be asked. The date will be announced on this page and by email.

If you are already interested, feel free to contact us without obligation at DEK-Webredaktion(at)uk-koeln(dot)de to ensure we can inform you in time when a date is announced.

If you would like an introduction for your team using your own pages, please contact us for details.

Websites can additionally be built parallel as an English version. Please send us the English translation directly with changes and additions if possible.
Please note that we only incorporate existing content and do not translate texts ourselves. For faster translation, we recommend the online tool deepL.

The easiest way: First go to the start page of your website, e.g. Medical Faculty Medical Faculty: Medical Faculty (uni-koeln.de)

Now simply type /typo3 after the web address

The backend login screen now appears. Here you can log in with your university account and password, provided registration as an editor has been done by the TYPO3 team. For backend access registration as a member of the Medical Faculty, please first contact Stephanie Wolff.

If you have technical problems using TYPO3 or wish to activate or change a TYPO3 account, please contact the TYPO3 Administration.

If an editor is no longer working for you, please provide us with the name and university account of the respective person so that they can be deregistered by the University of Cologne TYPO3 team.

The Regional Computing Center of the University of Cologne (RRZK) also provides a separate overview of the most important TYPO3 functions and content elements.

You can find this at Help for Editors. Under UzK2015 Design you will find further information about the specific design of University of Cologne websites.

For requests regarding photography, graphics, video production, image databases, and poster printing, please contact MedizinFotoKöln.

For slider and teaser images, please note the format requirements below.

There are no rigid rules here. Generally, the thematically most appropriate folder in the backend should always be selected.
It is only important that you do not store files in the automatically generated "user_upload" folder, as these are only visible to a limited extent and can no longer be properly assigned. This leads to duplicates and forgotten files in the long term, which unnecessarily burden the server and thus the performance of the page.
Additionally, please use meaningful file names. For images of persons, we ask that the file be named in the format "Lastname_Firstname".

The most important (recommended) folders are:

• For personnel photos: MedFakDekanat > Bilder > 0_Portraits_Personal
• For files and images from events and related announcements: MedFakDekanat > Fakultaet > Veranstaltungen_und_Termine
• For press releases: MedFakDekanat > Nachrichten > Pressemitteilungen (if the image for the press release is a generic personnel photo without occasion, please use the personnel photos folder instead)

Within a press release, event announcement, or other website content, the format of an image is generally irrelevant and freely selectable.

Special requirements apply particularly to the following images:

• Personnel portraits
  Personnel portraits are taken by Medizin Foto Köln and delivered directly in the correct format.
• Slider on the homepage
  For the homepage slider, a aspect ratio of 12:5 must be maintained. Otherwise, switching between images of different sizes may cause optical and technical problems. The sliders are displayed at a resolution of 1440 x 600 pixels. The file should ideally be 1440x600 pixels or at least a multiple thereof. For example, 3660×1525 pixels would also be possible; however, it will still only be visible at 1440x600 pixels, so a higher resolution than 1440x600 pixels provides no advantage.
• Teasers on the homepage
  The teaser images in the "News & Info" section must have a aspect ratio of 16:9. They are then displayed at 320x180 pixels. The images must match this resolution or at least be a multiple of this resolution.
• Other teaser tiles
  When multiple teaser tiles with images are used side by side or stacked, it is important that the images have the same aspect ratio. The specific aspect ratio itself doesn't matter, as long as it is uniform within the teaser element. Otherwise, tiles may shift and "gaps" may appear between them. However, we recommend a aspect ratio of 16:9. In this case, the images would be displayed at a resolution of 320x180 pixels.

To crop multiple images to the desired format in a time-saving manner, for example for teaser tiles, we recommend the online tool https://bulkimagecrop.com/. The source images can simply be dragged in or selected via the file browser. Then enter the desired resolution (see recommendations above). All images are now automatically cropped and output as a ".zip" archive. The archive contains all the cropped images.

Log in to Typo3.

Select "Filelist" in the left sidebar. The icon shows a cloud on a green background.

The folder structure now opens.

Make sure the "Extended view" option is checked. This option is at the very bottom, below the files.

Select a thematically appropriate folder for your file in the file structure.

Upload your file to the selected folder by dragging and dropping the file into the folder with the mouse or using the upload button (middle button above the folder title).

After uploading, your file will now be displayed in the folder.

The link to the file is located behind the "View" button. The "View" button is to the right of the file in the button bar. It shows a document with an eye.
A left click on it opens the link to the uploaded file. Instead, right-click on the "View" button and you can simply select "Copy link" (may be named differently depending on the browser) to copy the link to the computer's clipboard.

The file link can now be easily inserted where it is needed, for example, to link to files in iChannel.

Images and files can be replaced with a newer version instead of deleting and re-uploading them.

This is particularly advantageous when images or files need to be exchanged on multiple pages. Instead of deleting the image on each individual page and uploading a new version, the image can be centrally replaced in the file list and will then be replaced everywhere it is used.
There is also the option to keep the link to the respective file. This is especially practical if, for example, links to a PDF have already been shared and changes are desired later. Then the file can be "replaced" under the same link, and no new links to the updated file need to be sent.

To do this, first open the "Filelist" tab. Here, ensure that the extended view is activated by checking the box. The option is at the very bottom of the page after opening the "Filelist" tab. Then locate the corresponding file in the file list and click the "A->B" (Replace) icon to the right of it to select a new file. Optionally, check "Keep filename" to retain the existing link. This way, images or files can be exchanged with just a few clicks.

Files can be moved by first right-clicking on the file icon and then selecting "Cut" (Image 1). The file is now in the clipboard.

It can now be inserted elsewhere. Either by right-clicking on a folder > "Paste into" (Image 2), or by clicking the "Paste clipboard contents" button (Image 3) in the new target folder. The file is now moved from the source folder to the new target folder.

If files are already embedded on a page, moving them is still usually unproblematic. TYPO3 automatically updates all links to the new location of the file.

Multiple files can be moved simultaneously by selecting multi-select mode (Image 4). Files can now be selected by clicking the checkboxes and transferred to the clipboard (Image 5). They can then be inserted as usual. By right-clicking on a folder (Image 2) or clicking the "Paste clipboard contents" button (Image 3).

Moving multiple files may take a moment. Moving very large folders can take several minutes. In this case, please wait for the move confirmation message before moving further files.

The design options are limited to a specific layout that serves the recognizability of all University of Cologne pages.

Please note that for technical reasons, we can only embed one image per news article (e.g.: Events and Press releases). This image can only appear in the top left corner of the article. Additional images or documents can however be added as "attachments" below the article.
No images can be placed in expandable accordions (like this one).

Selection of custom fonts is not possible. Text and text background colors are limitedly selectable.

Due to some unavoidable technical hurdles, it may happen that the tiles of the news teasers (e.g.: Current funding announcements) are slightly shifted or there are gaps in the grid. This is normal and unfortunately not easily avoidable.

A file may be maximum 32 Megabyte (MB) in size for upload. Larger files cannot be uploaded.

However, the file size can be reduced before uploading by compressing the file. Compression reduces the quality of an image, video, or PDF, so that less information needs to be stored and thus the file size decreases. The quality loss may be visible but is barely noticeable in most cases. The more the file is reduced, the more noticeable the compression becomes.

Free external websites for this purpose include, for example:

• https://compresspng.com/ (Images in PNG format)
• https://compressjpeg.com/ (Images in JPG/JPEG format)
• https://www.iloveimg.com/compress-image (Images)
• https://shrinkpdf.com/de/ (PDFs)
• https://www.freeconvert.com/de/video-compressor (Video)
• https://www.xconvert.com/ (Everything)

Addresses (e.g. for team views) can be edited in the Lists tab. Most addresses are located in the folder Medical Faculty > Addresses. Some subpages use their own address folders (e.g. "Biomedical Informatics > Addresses_MI"). Addresses can be easily searched by name. To do this, simply click the magnifying glass icon in the upper button bar.

Placeholder images are located in the folder MedFakDekanat > Images.
The files "100placeholder_01_man.png" and "100placeholder_01_woman.png" are available there.

To schedule photo appointments, please contact MedizinFotoKöln.

Websites can additionally be built as an English variant in parallel. When making changes and additions, please send us the English translation as directly as possible.
Please note that we only incorporate existing content and do not translate texts ourselves. For faster translation, we recommend the online tool deepL.

Websites can now also be translated semi-automatically with DeepL. You can find the corresponding instructions here: TYPO3 DeepL Translation Guide

The design options are limited to a specific layout that serves the recognizability of all University of Cologne pages.

Please note that for technical reasons, we can only embed one image per news article (e.g.: Events and Press releases). This image can only appear in the top left corner of the article. Additional images or documents can however be added as "attachments" below the article.
No images can be placed in expandable accordions (like this one).

Selection of custom fonts is not possible. Text and text background colors are limitedly selectable.

Due to some unavoidable technical hurdles, it may happen that the tiles of the news teasers (e.g.: Current funding announcements) are slightly shifted or there are gaps in the grid. This is normal and unfortunately not easily avoidable.

If changes have been made by you or us but are not displayed, this may be due to an outdated cache.

A static image of already accessed websites is cached both on the servers and locally on your PC. This speeds up loading the website, as the server doesn't need to be queried for the corresponding data with every click. Occasionally, however, the image stored on your computer may be outdated, making changes invisible to you. In this case, we recommend clearing your browser's cache so that your browser must load the current version of the page.
Alternatively, it may help temporarily to open the website in the browser's incognito mode, which doesn't use this cache. If changes are visible in this mode but not in normal browsing, it's due to your browser's local cache.

Instructions for clearing the cache depending on your browser can be found below:

• Google Chrome
• Mozilla Firefox
• Microsoft Edge

In some cases, an old version of the website may also be cached server-side. Then an outdated image of the website is sent to users. The server cache is automatically cleared regularly. Accordingly, missing changes should be visible at the latest after a few hours.

If changes are still not visible, please contact us.

Fundamentally, all public pages are automatically listed. Usually, no additional action is required here.

However, we have received some inquiries in the past regarding the findability of pages on search engines like Google. In some cases, newly created pages were not listed on Google for several months. Unfortunately, we have only very limited influence on Google's listing. Google discovers new pages by having crawling bots automatically search for new pages.

The probability of faster listing can at least be increased by linking from pages already known to search engines to the new pages. For example, through start or portal pages like Studium und Lehre or the Index. This way, Google finds the new page faster.
It is also advisable to have at least one multi-line text passage on each page. Google prefers content-rich pages. Therefore, portal and start pages should also include some text in the main column if possible.

You can check if specific pages and their subpages are findable in Google. Use the "site:" search operator in a Google search query for this. This shows all indexed pages with the URL following the search operator. For example: "site:molekulare-immunologie.uni-koeln.de" or "site:medfak.uni-koeln.de/fakultaet/veranstaltungen". If no results are shown, Google has not yet indexed the page.

In addition, we unfortunately have to ask for patience regarding understandable frustration about long waiting times. Here we can only wait for the search engine operators.