Web. Orange you glad we’re doing a refresh?

In addition to undertaking a site-wide redesign, the Web team is also exploring CMS options.

Why are we revisiting CMS? At a crossroads of sorts, we are contemplating either a significant upgrade to Ingeniux, our current content management system (CMS), or possibly moving to a new package. Both actions will require us to retrain campus users, so we’re exploring all options.

And options there are. There are more than 50 CMSs out there now (not so in 2004 when we implemented). Further, we are now fully staffed and have UNIX in the mix (again, not the case when we first implemented).

We felt our very first step in this process should be to check in with campus users. Last week, the team had the pleasure of meeting with two groups of highly engaged faculty and staff to discuss their experiences with Ingeniux and/or self-publishing. We reached out to more than 30 CMS users and campus technology advocates for their input; nine met with us across two sessions. We enjoyed our discussions! The atmosphere was intimate; everyone got a chance to share on almost all topics covered.

This is the feedback we received, which will help us develop our feature list:

Tuesday, March 11, 2008, 1:30-3:00 p.m.:
1) Make sure Mac users can access the CMS using any Mac and many browsers
2) Offer the capability to make Web forms
3) Will there be space for large media files? How will video work?
4) Can we use the CMS for individual faculty pages or department intranets?
5) How to stop some code I put in from being stripped out
6) Be able to just cut and paste content in (not have to save as plain text first)
7) Can the look and feel be more blog-like?
8) I’d like integrated podcasts, RSS, etc.
9) Easy to use, but enough tools for the power user
10) Faster save
11) Easier to upload PDFs
12) Upload my own images

Friday, March 14, 2008, 9:30-11:00 a.m.:
1) Make sure Mac users can access the CMS using any Mac and many browsers
2) Offer the capability to make Web forms
3) Make it really easy to use — drag and drop
4) Shorter training sessions
5) Can we use the CMS for individual faculty pages? Can students use it?
6) Upload my own images
7) Faster save
8) Be able to just cut and paste content in (not have to save as plain text first)

Much of what we heard was stuff we, too, would like to change. And we think we can. What was interesting—and heartening—was to hear that both groups wanted to be a part of the process as it unfolds. So, we agreed to start a discussion via the blog. Please keep in mind, continued feedback on CMS likes/dislikes/wish list items is welcome; add a comment here. Note: If a third feedback session is of interest, we’ll certainly hold one.

We will use the feedback we received last week, as well as our own experiences with CMS, to develop user-centered specifications. We’ll also be connecting with our colleagues in Computing and Technology Services for help in developing server and technical specifications.

My next post will include information on what other people are doing when it comes to CMS (both user groups were eager to know what other campuses ran). I can share a little now—this March 11, 2008, UWeb-D round table on Choosing/Comparing CMSs offers a glimpse at what some institutions are using or thinking about using… and why… and how…

Posted by Melissa Meehan at 04:05 PM | Trackback URI