Most content on the HRS website should be web content generated and managed through our WordPress content management system (CMS).

We have legacy content in PDF and other formats that would be more user friendly, accessible, and searchable if converted to web content. While some documents will need to remain in their original non-web format, most should be converted.

Questions to Ask Before Converting a Document to Web Content

Is the core content already available somewhere else? To avoid duplicating content or confusing users about where to look for information it might be better to remove the PDF instead of converting it.

Where should the content go? Where would site visitors expect to find it? Does all of this content belong together on its own page, or should it be distributed into more user-friendly locations? If the content does need its own page, where (under what page parent) would it best live?

Does the content require a specific layout or design, or can it be adapted into a more web-friendly format? For example, if the content has a lot of centered elements and columns, are those necessary to communicate the information or can it be simplified for readability and to align with the overall site design?

Can the content be revised into a shorter or simpler format? A good question for any piece of content, especially on the web where users tend to skim instead of closely read content.

On this page

Basics of Converting a Document to Web Content

If you don’t have the original text:

  • In Adobe, select Tools > Export and choose either Word or rich text format. You may need to clean up things like spacing and line breaks.

If you do have the original text:

  • Copy-and-paste the content (paragraph-by-paragraph) directly into the WordPress block editor. It should retain links and basic formatting.
  • Update to make accessible (remove non-link underline, add alt text, etc.)

Don’t use an automatic converter from the internet (especially not a free one). They often produce bad markup, and might just be malware.

Why Prefer Web Content to Documents

Web Content

Web content is made up of HTML pages – often generated by a CMS like WordPress – including anything from text to images to video.

Most of the content online is web content.

Documents

Documents are standalone items made up of image and text layers – often generated by a desktop application like Word, LibreOffice, or Adobe.

PDFs, Word documents, PowerPoint files, etc.

Benefits of Web Content

  • Easy to edit and update: Automatically matches the design and layout of the site.
  • One current version: No hunting for the latest version to update.
  • Better user experience: Responsive, its layout can adapt to differently sized devices.
  • More accessible and SEO friendly: Fewer challenges to make accessible to both people and search engines.

Are documents like PDFs ever okay? Yes. (With some caveats.)

Documents Are Okay When…

Users need to download or print content in a specific format, such as:

  • A very long and complex publication.
  • Posters or other items intended for display.
  • Forms or contracts that cannot be converted to web forms.
  • Educational material intended for physical classroom use.
  • Templates intended to allow users to download and edit them.

How to Make Good Documents

Start with an accessible source document.

Provide content in both Web and Document format.

  • Make sure users want or need the print version to avoid duplicating work for little gain.
  • Would the browser’s built-in print-to-pdf function work instead?