people.utwente.nl: (public) employee profile pages

People Pages (people.utwente.nl) is the UT phone directory and employee pages.

Some information is displayed automatically (contact information, publications, Osiris-courses, expertises, etc.)  Other information like projects, biography, social media and more can be added by the user. 

Why you should use people.utwente.nl

The UT considers it important that its employees are easily findable online, for fellow researchers, for the press, but also for a general public. Anyone can build websites, but getting high ranked in Google according to the guidelines that apply to all the different browsers and search engines is a profession in its own right and a daily task of the online experts of Marketing & Communication. We therefore strongly recommend using people.utwente.nl instead of a self-built page. These often lack the right SSL certificate, are not optimized for mobile devices and also do not meet the legal requirements of accessibility, which apply to (semi-) government websites. Also, the technical search engine optimization (SEO) in the website is missing in almost all cases and the user generally lacks the knowledge of substantive search engine optimization. For people.utwente.nl all these matters are optimally arranged and new options and standards are added regularly.

RANK HIGH IN GOOGLE


The name that was searched (box 1) corresponds 100% to the title at the top of a personal website (box 2). This counts very heavily for Google. In addition, the second search result has the advantage that that page has existed for a very long time. Despite both advantages of the self-built website, people.utwente.nl still gets higher in the search results, because it meets all the requirements that currently apply to websites. Do you see the order the other way around? A page you have visited many times yourself is generally shown at the top and can influence your results.

  • Other options: Own webspace/website

    If you want to build an extensive personal website yourself, it's best to do so on your own domain name, such as jansmit.nl. A domain name plus webspace nowadays costs a few euros per month. This often includes tools to set up a Wordpress website with one click. From the 1990s onwards, the UT facilitated this service, because at that time it was not yet easy for private individuals to register and build a website. Nowadays there are hundreds of simple services for this on the internet and it is of no use for the UT to build such facilities itself. Another big advantage is that your URL stays the same when you change university.

Instructions and manuals

We have instruction available for searching on people.utwente.nl, changing your profile and for adding a who-is-who page to a WebHare website, based on People Pages.

HOW TO LOGIN

There are two different logins available:

  • When outside the UT, login to find internal information in the People Pages: 'People' icon in the right upper corner. This options is available for students and employees.
  • Edit your profile page: menu (left upper corner) > My Profile. This option is only available for m-number accounts.

AUTOMATED BASIC PROFILE

The basic profile is generated automatically: people.utwente.nl collects information from over 10 systems within the UT and places it automatically. As a result, courses (from Osiris), publications (from Pure/research.utwente.nl), room number (from the AFAS workplace information), ancillary activities (for professors only) and more are always up to date. This visibility of a profile is linked to an employee's contract status (and email address) in the HR system. It will be visible when your email account becomes active and disappears on the same day when the email address of a former employee becomes inactive.

Employees can add to this basic profile themselves to create an extensive page with texts about research, education, projects, in the media, etc.

How to update information on people.utwente.nl 

The People Pages manual explains how to change your own page and how to authorize others for your page. The video has been created with a former version of People Pages. In the current situation, even more options are available.

Creating who-is-who pages in WebHare

31-03-2022: Update for making a who-is-who

The people folder to create a who-is-who has a new option: instead of only adding people to your overview, you can also add a full category from another who-is-who overview. The new option is shown in the screenshot below and it's a nice feature for people who have who-is-who pages on two levels: the research groups have a who-is-who page, and the department above wants to show a combination of all available who-is-who overviews without updating everything manually.

Manuals are updated

You can create who-is-who pages within your WebHare page. Personal information will be automatically updated based on information people have updated in People Pages. You can also add people that are not listed in People Pages.

There are three options to present your who-is-who overview: 

  

The first time, people (files) have to be added separately in groups (folders in WebHare). Personal information will be imported from People Pages and also automatically updated when someone updates his or her People Page. You may also add people that do not have a UT People Page manually if you need to include them in your who-is-who (like students).

Please note: It may take up to 12 hours to sync changes from People Pages to WebHare who-is-who pages.

API documentation (for programmers)

For API documentation please see (only available after login)

Photography

About once a year, we hire a photographer for people.utwente.nl photos for a few days. Employees who have not taken a picture recently can then sign up for a time slot. The dates will be announced in the news section on the Service Portal (also sent to employees on Monday morning by email). On the signup page, the current dates are announced. When all spots are taken, or the sessions have ended, there is an option to get an alert when the next dates are available. 

Frequently asked questions

  • Creating and deleting personal profiles
    • When can a member of staff be found in the public phone book (people.utwente.nl)?
      • UT employees can be found in the phone book if they have a valid contract in the HR department’s system. Employees are removed from the phone book with immediate effect when their contract is terminated.
      • External members (with a guest account) can also be found in the phone book.
    • When is a profile page created for a new employee (people.utwente.nl/v.vangogh)?

      A profile page is automatically created for a UT employee when their personal account and email address are created in the UT account system (TAP). If the HR department already has the employee’s details, this profile will be created two weeks before the employment start date. External staff do not usually have their own URL profile page. Users simply see an overview of their contact details. However, endowed professors who are employed externally are given their own profile page, just like regular UT employees.

    • What's the difference between regular UT employees and guest accounts?

      Guest accounts have a guest icon (the letter G) visible in the overview on the People Pages, next to their avatar (picture). On their personal profile page, next to their avatar (profile picture), they also have a flag with "Guest Staff". The profile of guests is public but can not be found in public search engines by default, like UT accounts. The holder of the guest account can decide for himself whether the profile can be found in public search engines (in the authorization tab).

    • When does a profile page get shut down?

      This is an automated process. When employment ends, the profile page remains online for a transition period, but it can no longer be found in the address book.

      • The transition period for academic staff is 1 year.
      • The transition period for support staff is 1 month.

      The profile details remain in the database for six months after this period, even though the profile page is offline. During this period, the profile details cannot be accessed by external users. At the end of the six months, the profile details are deleted and cannot be recovered.

      The administrators of people.utwente.nl can take an employee’s profile offline earlier if requested. The employee (or the secretary’s office with the employee in the CC line) can request this by emailing the people.utwente.nl administrators at the Marketing and Communication Department (onlinemedia@utwente.nl). However, the profile cannot be kept online after the transition period, as it is automatically linked to the employee’s email address.

    • Leaving employment: Can my personal page at people.utwente.nl be redirected to another website?

      It is not possible to redirect your personal page to another website, as your personal page is linked to your University of Twente email address. After a certain amount of time, your email address and the URL of your personal page may be reused by the university. Your page will, however, remain online for the transition period (see previous question).

    • Resuming employment: Can I reuse my old profile?

      The profile details of academic staff remain available for 18 months after the contract has been terminated. The profile details of support staff remain available for 7 months after the contract has been terminated. If an employee resumes employment after this period, the original profile details will have been automatically deleted. A new profile will be created including only the basic details.

    • Resuming employment: Why have my settings changed?

      When employment is resumed, some of the settings will be restored to default. Be sure to check the settings under the ‘Privacy’ tab, as profiles pages are automatically set to be publicly available. The visibility of your contact details and profile may have changed if your role has changed.

    • Resuming employment: Why is my profile not available online?

      If your profile was manually deactivated by the administrators when you left the University of Twente, it will still be deactivated when you resume employment, and will not appear online automatically. The administrators will need to manually reactivate your profile.

    • What happens to a profile when an employee passes away?

      Findability in search Field 

      HR will change/set the employment end date in the HR system. This makes the person unfindable in the search field of people.utwente.nl.

      Removing the profile URL

      Typically, the profile (example: people.utwente.nl/v.vangogh) will not be removed immediately, and as such the personal hyperlink will remain in tact. For the profile URL the normal grace period for ended employee contracts applies. Family members may request to:

      • keep the profile online and place an In memoriam link/test on it or
      • to take down the page immediately

      Please use the In Memoriam protocol of the UT for assistance.

  • Update your who-is-who in Webhare
    • Do I have to add new people?

      New people have to be added once. If you want to add someone just add a file named 'person from People Pages'. If you need to add someone else (students), then you choose the second option and fill in all information manually. If a person from People Pages is listed in your who-is-who, all information for that person will be updated automatically if something changes in People Pages (like a new photo or room number).

    • Do I have to remove people?

      People who are listed in People Pages: If a persons's UT appointment stops he will stay in the who-is-who as long as his email address is working. In general, accounts are disabled one year after the appointment is terminated, but for support staff this is only one month. If you want te remove someone from the who-is-who as soon as his appointment stops, you can delete the file for that person manually in Webhare.Please note: if someone is invisble in the who-is-who because his account has been disabled, then the file is still available in WebHare. You would have to delete that file at some point. 

      Manually created people: People in the who-is-who who have been created manually (students) will stay in the who-is-who until you delete them in WebHare.

    • Why is it not possible to show the Who is who automatically?

      Showing all the people who work in department X is not possible in practice, because many departments also want to show guests or students. It also appears that departments sometimes want to leave different people in their face books for longer than the appointment is, or want to take them out of the face books earlier (a few months before the end of their employment). Therefore, this functionality cannot be automated.

  • URL and email address
    • How is the URL of my profile page determined?

      The URL of your profile page is composed as follows:

      • In English: people.utwente.nl + [name of employee], e.g. people.utwente.nl/v.vangogh.
      • In Dutch: personen.utwente.nl + [name of employee], e.g. personen.utwente.nl/v.vangogh.

      The name of employee in the URL is the same as the part of their primary email address before the @ sign. Employees can change their primary email address at tap.utwente.nl. The URL of their personal profile will also change within 24 hours.

    • Will the URL of my profile page change if I change my email address?

      The URL of an employee’s profile page is determined by his or her primary email address. If an employee changes his or her email address (via tap.twente.nl) from v.vangogh@utwente.nl to vincent.vangogh@utwente.nl, this will also change in the URL of the employee’s personal page within 24 hours. The part of the email address before the @ sign determines the URL of an employee’s personal page.

      Changing your email address will not cause any problems. As long as your old email address is still registered in the system as a secondary email address, and incoming emails are forwarded to the new primary email address, users who type in your old URL will automatically be forwarded to your new URL. For example, users who type in people.utwente.nl/v.vangogh will automatically be forwarded to people.utwente.nl/vincent.vangogh.

  • English vs Dutch version
    • Why do I need to keep my profile updated in English and Dutch?

      If potential website visitors type Dutch words into a search engine such as Google, the top search results will be in Dutch. For your page to be found by visitors in the Netherlands, your main details therefore need to be available in Dutch. Search engines are set to recognize languages to ensure that users only see results in a language they can read. If a personal page is only available in English, there is a high chance that the webpage will not be found by Dutch users.

      Your basic page is set up automatically in Dutch. If you do not want to make your whole profile available in Dutch, include a link to your English profile in your bio to redirect visitors.

    • Can I include English text on my Dutch profile page?

      Please do not include English text on your Dutch page. Search engines do not accept webpages written in more than one language. There is a high chance that search engines will place your page much lower in the results if you include a mix of languages. There is also a chance that your profile may be blocked, as search engines sometimes block pages that include text in more than one language.

  • Privacy, findability, legal provisions and UT agreements
    • Can my profile be set to private or taken offline?

      If necessary, the administrators at the Marketing and Communications Department (onlinemedia@utwente.nl) can:

      • take a profile offline if the employee has left the University of Twente and does not want to be visible during the transition period. The transition period is a period of 12 months (academic staff) or 1 month (support staff) in which the employee’s email address and profile page are still activated. Please note: If a profile page is taken offline manually, it will not appear online automatically if the member of staff resumes employment more than 6 months after the transition period. For academic staff, this is a total of 18 months after the contract was terminated, and for support staff, this is a total of 7 months after the contract was terminated.
      • take a profile offline if a member of staff dies while in employment at the university.
      • restore default settings if a profile is used inappropriately. The information the employee has filled in will be temporarily removed, but will not be lost.

      A profile can only be taken offline completely in very exceptional circumstances, partly due to legal provisions such as the Personal Data Protection Act.

      Users can:

      • prevent their whole profile page from appearing in search engine results by changing the settings under the ‘Authorization’ tab.
      • make certain information on the page, such as working hours and the telephone number, completely invisible or only visible to internal users.
      • replace personal information with general information for external users (e.g. replace their own telephone number with the telephone number of the secretary's office).
    • Why are the people pages made publicly available?

      The University of Twente considers it highly important that its employees can be found online by both university users and external users when it comes to profiling them as experts in a particular field of study or being visible to fellow researchers from other universities. The people pages, which can be found via the University of Twente phone book or via search engines, contribute to the university’s online visibility and show employees in a professional light to the outside world. If they wish, employees may edit or restrict their own online visibility.

      Another important aspect is the legislation regarding ancillary activities. Under the Personal Data Protection Act, the University of Twente is required to specify a professor’s ancillary activities on his or her profile. The people pages fulfil this requirement.

    • Why are certain details automatically activated and other unavailable by default?

      It is in the University of Twente’s interest as an employer to ensure that its employees can be found online. The university may therefore make general contact details and personal details such as an employee’s professional email address, telephone number and address publicly available. As not all employees want to their telephone number to be publicly available, an alternative telephone number (e.g. the telephone number of the secretary's office) can be published for external users. 

      Other personal details that are classified as ‘Special personal details’ in the Dutch Personal Data Protection Act may only be published if the employee has granted his or her permission. Photographs fall under this category, and may not be displayed without prior permission from the employee.

  • Making changes and granting rights
    • How do I login?

      To login, go to people.utwente.nl and use the login button (people-icon) in the upper right corner.

    • How can others (e.g. staff at the secretary's office) edit my profile?

      Generally, employees can only edit their own page. However, it is possible to authorize others to manage your profile. You may, for example, want to authorize your secretary. Log in to people.utwente.nl and go to the ‘Authorization’ tab. At the bottom of the page, you can authorize several colleagues to manage your page.

    • Can I log in to someone else’s personal page to manage their profile?

      We recommend that you only log in with your own m-number. If you want to manage someone else’s page for them, they can grant you authorization by editing the settings under the ‘Authorization’ tab on their own personal page.

      Please note: It is not possible to log in with more than one m-number in the same browser. You can only log in with a second m-number using incognito mode (private browsing). A login number is valid for the entire browser, and not just for one tab.

    • What information can I fill in?

      Log in to your personal page via people.utwente.nl to view all the fields and read a short summary of what you should include in each field. For further explanation, see the additional information in the user manual.

    • When are changes applied?

      Changes are applied to your personal page (people.utwente.nl and personen.utwente.nl) immediately. Other systems that display the details of your page may not be updated in real time, as they only read out the personal page data once or twice a day. It can therefore take a number of hours before changes are applied on UT websites created in WebHare.

  • Other
    • Can I redirect my old personal page (on the departmental website in WebHare)?

      It is possible to redirect your old personal page. We kindly request that the secretary's office of each department submits a list of all the URLs that need to be redirected. This list can be submitted by email to onlinemedia@utwente.nl

      Please note that this is only possible if the old profile was on WebHare, otherwise the administrators will not be able to access your old profile page to create a link.

    • How do I download a list of employees from the people.utwente.nl address book?

      It is not possible to download a list of employees. If you need a list of the employees of a particular department, your unit’s HR contact person can request this list from the HR department.

Contact

The Online Media Servicedesk of the Marketing & Communication department is responsible for user support of the people pages. Do you have questions about updating your page? We are happy to help!

User support/contact
Servicedesk Online Media
Servicedesk Online Media
Marketing & Communication

Please check our FAQ before contacting us. Most questions are answered there.

Please note: For granting user rights, please contact the owner of the profile. He/she can grant rights to you after logging in (last tab 'athorization', last option on the page). 

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