Staff profile - Photo guidance

If this guidance has been shared with you by a colleague please make sure that they have contacted the Digital Team at digitalsupport@derby.ac.uk to request a profile be created. You will not be able to access a profile until this has been requested via our service desk.

Uploading a photo

Your photo can be one you already have or take yourself (using a camera on a mobile phone is fine) or from Thirdlight, the University image library. 

Your photo must meet the following requirements:

  • Square crop, between 1200px and 2000px in width and height
    (If downloading from Thirdlight there is an option for a “staff profile thumbnail” size)

  • Fit with the brand style by:

    • showing a related working environment or a professional event such as an Open Day or conference

    • not using cold blank backgrounds and sterile headshots

    • should not be taken in a “selfie-style”

Here are some examples comparing the old/new look to show the style of photo we are looking for:

Old style

Staff profile example old style

New style

Staff profile example new style

Old style

 

New style

The style of your photo must meet these requirements before it is published to the website to ensure it fits the brand guidelines of the University.

Further examples of best practice for images can be found in our Digital Guidelines. If you would like advice/guidance on your photo or have any questions please contact digitalsupport@derby.ac.uk.

Uploading your photo to your profile

We will take care of adding your photo to your profile, providing your photo meets the above requirements. Please email your request to digitalsupport@derby.ac.uk alternatively you can follow these steps or watch our video to do it yourself:

 

 

1. Compress your image

Before you upload the image it needs to be compressed to ensure that international users, and users on slow internet connections, do not get a bad user experience when browsing your staff profile. In order to do this we recommend the simple service offered by TinyJPG

TinyJPG reduces the size of images between 70-85%, it is critical that they go through this process before they are uploaded into the media library.  Smaller file sizes mean quicker load times on pages and less data usage from mobile users. Please note this will not reduce the dimensions of your image, they will remain the same. Tiny JPG will optimise the file size to improve loading time for users.

Drag your file into the box.

This will then automatically process the file. Once complete, click on the download button.

After this process, the new file is ready to be uploaded to the Media Library on TerminalFour.

2. Add to the Media Library

On the Media categories navigation in the Media Library, open up the Categorised and derby.ac.uk sections by clicking on the + beside them and then click on Staff profile images to highlight that category.

Now click on the + Add media button.



Drag and drop the file into the box at the top and under the name field type in your name eg Joe Jackson

In the description box, fill in the details of the photograph such as who is in it or the background eg Joe Jackson teaching a digital marketing class. It is very important this field is filled in accurately as this information will be used by Google and it will also to explain what is in the image for anyone using a screen reader (this increases accessibility and is a legal requirement).



Press save changes on the bottom right hand corner.

3. Add the image your to profile

Go to edit the Section config item as described in the Creating the profile guidance.

You need to click on the Thumbnail image square Select media button and select your image from the Media Library. 

 

When you have completed the Section config content (don't forget to add your Abstract - see the Writing guide), click save.

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