Managing and supporting a central CMS

…for a devolved web publishing community

University of EdinburghWebsite Programme

www.ed.ac.uk/website-programme

Introductions

• Neil Allison @usabilityed

– Programme manager– Responsible for user experience and staff training– Leading CMS review process & consultations

• Joe Farthing @josephfarthing

– Communications & technical specialist– Split role between UWP & Sustainability– Focus on improving the CMS user experience

Overview

• Background– Where we came from – where we are

• How we do things round here

• Where are we going?

• Our challenges– Your challenges?

Where we started (2006)

• Small project team

• 2 year initial timeframe

• Collaborating with Information Services and Communications & Marketing

Where we are right now (2012)

• Small programme team– Backed up with editorial support

• Coordinating a larger virtual team– C&M, IS, User training & support,

Disability Service, Records Management

• Facilitating a large diverse web community– Polopoly CMS users– Web management specialists across University

Initial scope

• A central website driven by a single CMS – Polopoly

• ‘Outward facing’ content owned and managed by distributed units– “Units”: my shorthand for:

• Schools, Colleges, Subject areas, Research institutes, Programmes, Offices, Departments…

• Basically, any group of web publishers acting (semi) autonomously

Where the scope stretched to…

How does all this hang together?• A single CMS instance

• Initial access regulated – training compulsory

• Workflows and permissions set as required, unit by unit

• Graphic design tied down to a great extent

• CMS functionality steers editorial and IA approach– Guidelines, support and training too

• No web police– But we do QA, appraise and encourage review & enhancement

What do we do to deliver this?

It’s not just CMS service management

What do we do to deliver this?• Training

– Polopoly, W4tW, Usability testing, Prototyping, Analytics

• Support & community– Phone, email, drop in 1-2-1– Wiki and online discussion– Guidelines

• Polopoly-specific• University wide

– Appraisal, enhancement, QA– Web Publishers Community– Technical Peer Group– Surveys and consultation

• CMS– System administration– Ongoing development– External functionality

• Graphic design management

• Legal compliance– Accessibility– Privacy– Information retention

Meet our CMS users

– Annabel

– Colin

– Terry

– Harriet

Annabel the Admin Assistant

• Feels she’s doing a better job than with previous website

• Likes that Polopoly help & support is on hand

• Little interest in the bigger picture, or in the website users

Technical

Time for publishing

Frequent user of Polopoly

Full relevant functionality used

Non-technical

No time for publishing

Infrequent user of Polopoly

Minimal relevant functionality used

“I haven’t got time. Just tell me what you need doing”

Creates new web pages using content as provided with minimal copyediting

Updates existing pages as directedTY

PIC

AL

TA

SK

S

Everything takes too long. Edits should be really easy

Avoids anything other than the basic features.

No time to experiment or to risk trying new things that may go wrong.

PA

IN P

OIN

TS

Colin the Communications Specialist

• Wants to learn from others – no interest in reinventing the wheel

• Sees his website in broader contexts – part of his comms activity and part of greater University site

“It’s better than before but I want to do more”

Steers local publishers Oversees site management Manages high profile content &

tweaks others’ work

PA

IN P

OIN

TS

Too hard to monitor editorial activity on site

Some layout restrictions & limitations are frustrating

Pace of development too slow

TY

PIC

AL

TA

SK

S

Technical

Time for publishing

Frequent user of Polopoly

Full relevant functionality used

Non-technical

No time for publishing

Infrequent user of Polopoly

Minimal relevant functionality used

Terry the Technical Specialist

• Keeping an eye on tech development innovation, both in & out of Polopoly

• Pleased about the reduction in editorial tasks & basic user support

• Ambivalent about Polopoly, Uni-wide publishing & guidelines

“Local solutions better meet our needs”

External systems support & integration

One-off projects covering all areas of web development

Emergency publishing, fixing others’ problems

PA

IN P

OIN

TS Would like more freedom to

customise locally Integration options could be more

sophisticated

TY

PIC

AL

TA

SK

S

Technical

Time for publishing

Frequent user of Polopoly

Full relevant functionality used

Non-technical

No time for publishing

Infrequent user of Polopoly

Minimal relevant functionality used

Harriet the Head of Unit

• Keen to be seen to be on board with corporate systems

• Little time for the detail, but the site has to deliver for the business

• Wants to cut costs & save time – a professional, hassle-free website

• Supportive of guidance & Uni-wide bigger picture, so long as she’s still in control

If she could remember how: Updating own staff profile Tweaks to key pages

“Spread the workload, cut the overheads, impress our visitors”

TY

PIC

AL

TA

SK

SP

AIN

PO

INT

S

Asks others to make edits for her Forgotten the basics since

training. This should be obvious! Relying on training booklet.

Support wiki? What’s that?

Technical

Time for publishing

Frequent user of Polopoly

Full relevant functionality used

Non-technical

No time for publishing

Infrequent user of Polopoly

Minimal relevant functionality used

Where are we going?

• The University has committed to a significant investment in the website over the coming years – “…to continue to develop its current corporate

website, and to take it to the next phase.”

• The Website Programme was tasked with consulting the web publishing community and key stakeholders to inform development of a Business Requirements Document

Looking to the future

“The future of the University website must be rooted in the people managing it, and their interrelationships; with Information Services

providing the technology to underpin a resilient, flexible, collaborative platform.”

“Providing functionality isn’t enough.”

Beyond the CMS

• The CMS is a vital cog in our web publishing machine alongside:

– Web publishers’ skills and time available – Training & support– Technical development & support– Collaboration within the community

Retain & enhance

• Consistency of the website – Editorial, navigation, information architecture

• Standards, guidelines & quality assurance • Pre-defined styles & formatting help

– We just need more flexibility • Training & support services• Potential for sharing

– But needs to be better realised

Issues to address

• CMS usability– Too slow, clunky & time consuming

• Range of presentation options is too narrow• More direct control for site managers • More sophisticated tools needed

– For system-, content- and user-management • More sophisticated integration options• Better opportunities for technical development

– Involvement & collaboration• Website search isn’t good enough

Greater flexibility

• More page layouts– Ideally with the opportunity to develop locally

• More space for local identity and branding

• More colour palettes

• More sophisticated integration options

• More opportunities for technical development contributions from across the University

The challenge

“…to deliver a broader range of options while maintaining the core elements of editorial and structural consistency…”

Discussion & activities

Are our challenges your challenges?

Strict policing of guidance

No guidance – (laissez faire)

Single CMSLots of different CMSs

INSTITUTION NAMEYOUR MAIN CMS, ANY OTHER CMSs

INSTITUTION NAMEWHERE YOU WANT

TO GO IN THE FUTURE

INSTITUTION NAME

YOUR MAIN CMS, ANY OTHER CMSs

Where you are now Where you want to go

INSTITUTION NAME

WHERE YOU WANT TO GO IN THE FUTURE

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