NC State Engineering

COE Web Committee, Nov '05

Destructive CreationCreative Destruction(only one of these is a good thing)

Troy Hurteau - ITECS

NC State Engineering

Overview

● Discuss the Direction of the College Web– Our Top Secret Strategy– Playing Roles

● University/College/Departments● IT/Users● Technologies

– What Are We Not Doing That We Should Be?● What Are We Doing That We Shouldn't?

NC State Engineering

Top Secret Strategy

● New Template– Flexible Box Model - Shared– CSS Styles – Customizable– New Design Goals– Accessibility & Usability

Enhancements– Integrated Scripts

● Content Miracle– Finding a Content Management

Solution

NC State Engineering

Shared Flexible Box Model

● Sharing Structure, Not Look & Feel– Programmatic Use of <div>, <span>, class and id– Content & Navigation “Chunks”– Every Chunk Can Be Styled the Same

● CSS Allows For Shared or Custom Look & Feel– Browser/WYSIWYG PHP Detection– Content Migrates– One Change Propagates The Entire Site

Instantly– Soft or Firm Look & Feel Sharing

NC State Engineering

Shared Box Model Illustration

NC State Engineering

Design Goals

● Pure CSS Layout– Easy Migration to Future Looks– Browser Detection for Compatibility Fixes

● Text Only Navigation– Readily Available Fonts (Helvetica Neue/Arial)

● Clearer Sense of Location● Built In Accessibility & Usability● Discourage Arbitrary Styling

NC State Engineering

More Design Goals

● Divorce Political Structure and Site Structure– Front Page Supports Finding Groups

& Content In the College● Navigation On the Front Page Allows

Deep Linking & Is Easily Changed● Everyone wants to be on the front page

– Site Structure Organizes Real Content

● Careful Organization Helps Balance Lack of Content

● Emphasizes Primary Missions

NC State Engineering

Enhancements

● Bleached Content In the WYSIWYG– (Optional) Hiding of Positional Styles In WYSIWYG

Editor– Encourage Users To Not Style Content

● Printable Versions (Integrated Script)● Unhidden Skip Links● Contact On Every Page (Integrated Script)● Bread Crumb Navigation Indicates Location

(Integrated Script)

NC State Engineering

More Enhancements

● Highlighting Indicates Current Section (Integrated Script)

● One Template (to rule them all)● Better Use of Caching● Expose Contribute Connection Keys

(Integrated Script)● Quick Links & Quick Accessibility● Self Monitoring (Integrated Script)● Shared Content (Ties Into Location Scripts)

NC State Engineering

The CM Layer

● What CMS?– Still the Big Unknown

● Option Buffet (And/Or)– Contribute– PhpCMS– PhpWebsite– XML– Wiki– RSS

NC State Engineering

New and Shifting Roles

● How Will the University, College and Departments Affect the Web?– Appearance– Content Management– Policy

● The Role of IT and the User– Splitting the Work Smarter– Teaching Old Dogs

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The Technology Piece

● It's a Real Bear● Technology Addiction

– “You'll have to pry it from my cold dead hands”● Serving a Buffet Vs. a Four Course Meal

NC State Engineering

The Technology PuzzleThe Part We Still Haven't Pinned Down

NC State Engineering

Shoulds and Should Nots

Discussion Starter:● IT Should Provide Facilities To Get Work Done

– More Work on The Web– IT Shouldn't Author Content (Other than Computing

Support Content Obviously)– IT Shouldn't Foster Exceptions

● Users (Without Technical Knowledge) Shouldn't Implement Dynamic Systems– PHP everywhere is a double edged sword,

fortunately most users don't know how to take it out of the scabbard