Communication & Collaboration  ·  For Staff, Faculty, IT Administrators

Web hosting, website development resources, and support for the campus web platform.

UC Santa Barbara provides website hosting resources and domain guidance to help campus organizations create secure, reliable, and appropriately branded websites.

Connect Sites: UCSB-Hosted Websites

Connect Sites is a managed website hosting and content management service for UCSB departments, programs, labs, centers, and other campus organizations. The service supports self-managed websites built with Drupal or WordPress and is hosted through the Pantheon cloud platform.

Connect Site hosting features include:

  1. Separate development, test, and live environments
  2. Secure HTTPS connections
  3. High-availability, high-performance website hosting
  4. Content delivery through Fastly’s global network
  5. New Relic performance monitoring
  6. 20 GB of dedicated solid-state storage
  7. Daily backups with restoration available for up to two months
  8. Automated monitoring and 99.9% guaranteed uptime
  9. Regular platform-level security and maintenance updates
  10. Support during normal UCSB business hours (Mon-Fri, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.)Higher-performance service tiers, which may require additional funding

Before Requesting a Site

Your website will need an approved UCSB web address, or domain, before it can be created. Contact the IT support team for your school, division, department, or unit to discuss available options.

Second-level subdomains 

Generally appropriate for labs, centers, programs, and other groups associated with an existing department or organizational unit.
Example: mylab.psych.ucsb.edu

Top-level subdomains

Reserved for official schools, divisions, departments, institutes, recognized research centers, and certain campuswide programs or services.
Example: engineering.ucsb.edu

Review our Subdomain Guidelines & Usage page before requesting your subdomain. Once your request has been approved, submit a request to create your Connect site through the ITS Service Desk.

Service Considerations

Connect Sites provides website hosting and platform support but does not include website design, development, content creation, or ongoing site management.

Website owners are responsible for maintaining their Drupal or WordPress site, including applying updates to applications, themes, and modules. Pantheon offers automated WebOps tools that can assist with routine updates. Website owners should also plan for a significant redesign or platform upgrade approximately every four to five years in coordination with a web developer.

UCSB Web Theme

The UCSB Web Theme is a ready-to-use website-building solution designed for university websites built with Drupal. It includes prebuilt page layouts, modular design components, UCSB branding, and ongoing enhancements at no additional cost. Visit the UCSB Web Theme User Guide to learn more.

Web Analytics

Connect Sites may use Google Analytics to understand website usage, evaluate content and functionality, and monitor website performance. Analytics data can help site owners answer questions about how visitors interact with a website or individual pages.

Request Hosting or Support

Submit a ticket to the ITS Service Desk to:

  • Request a new Connect site
  • Request assistance with an existing site
  • Ask questions about hosting options or service levels

For additional assistance, contact the service desk at (805) 893-5000