Website Redesign

Introduction

• Existing Site -- What is working well?• 35 or so content editors across campus• College brand consistent across entire site• Increased viewing from 3,860 pages/day in

2001 to 14,500 pages/day in 2008. • Robust server with Windows 2003 and IIS 6

and over 900GB of free space; direct connection to Jenzabar data, use of mysql/postgresql databases and php and perl for interactivity between users and data

Introduction

• What Problems Do We Need to Solve?• Out-dated design• Out-dated content • Content used across multiple sites• Out-dated FrontPage editor• Image editing • Marketing initiatives hard to measure

Overview

• A Content Management System (CMS) will address all of these issues and provide many more new features to enhance the H-SC website.

• Ingeniux CMS requested in budget • Marketing Research requested in budget• Web editor requested in budget

Design• THEN: Tables layout for 800 x 600 screen resolution• NOW:

4%

+50%1280 +

15. 320 x 396 with 312 visits – pdas/cell phones (early Oct. 08)

Design

• Homepage with Sample Screen Resolutions

1920 x 1200 on 24” monitor 1280 x 800 on 15” laptop

Design• THEN: Audio/video minimal due to dial-up

connections in 2001/2004• NOW:

YouTube has set the standard as one of top ten most viewed sites on the Internet. Flash is commonplace on College homepages and campus tours.

64%

2.5%

Design• THEN: 1997 -- web in all text• 2001 – homepage all images and links;

redesign took 8 months• 2004 – redesign of banner images, roll-over nav

took two years• From 12,000 pages in 2000 to over 50,000

now. To redesign site as it is now would take over two years.

CMS Design

• All content in xml with archives in db• All design in CSS and templates• Could roll out main site in 6 months to 1

year

• NEXT redesign would take much less time – only CSS and templates would need to be redone.

Content• New pages built all the time; old pages rarely

deleted; links to old content hidden throughout.• CMS allows publication dates and expiration dates• CMS has link checker to correct old link problems.

Content• Use across multiple departments

• NOW: news article manually reformatted to fit design under academics

• CMS will allow content to be pulled from News to Admissions newsletter, academic departments, study abroad, College homepage automatically

Menus• NOW: software generates roll-over

menus • Homepage, departments,

extended homepage set• All edited by webmaster• Site index generated manually in

two formats• CMS will automatically

generate menus when pages added within each department• Automatic for homepage and site

index

Editing• NOW: most content editors use FrontPage

• Doesn’t support CSS easily – new HTML 5 standards move all formatting out of HTML and into CSS

• IE 8 is using some HTML 5 • Not standards compliant

• CMS is standards compliant • CSS and templates will enforce use of CSS for

formatting but will work much like MS-Word for editors

Content• Standards compliance enhances download speed and interoperability across different browsers.

• Are you getting your message across in 2 minutes 11 seconds?• Includes finding

and reading

Images• Pictures downloaded to web from cameras

• Sizing in FrontPage does not decrease file size• CMS will have built-in image sizing for

showing on the website and thumbnails for links to larger images.

Marketing

• Initiatives that drive users to the website need current information

• Measuring results on the website needs content specific to initiative separate from regular content

• CMS provides more control over this • Set content to begin and expire at certain times• Use Google Analytics to measure goals

Conclusion

• CMS will improve the H-SC website by:• Managing redesigns easily and efficiently• Expiring out-dated content and deleting old

links• Sharing content across multiple sites• Replacing out-dated FrontPage editor and

enforcing standards compliance• Enabling image editing for everyone• Analyzing marketing initiatives more effectively

Conclusion• Colleges/Universities using Ingeniux

• Washington and Lee University• Lynchburg College• Roanoke College• Davidson College• Franklin and Marshall College• Morehouse College• Randolph College• Bucknell University

Next Steps• RFP process December 2008• Submitted Ingeniux CMS in budget proposal Jan 2009• Also asking for Market Research and new staff position• Begin template design spring 2009• Survey different constituent groups spring 2009• Purchase CMS July 2009 • Market research when students return Aug-

Sept• Finalize templates with Ingeniux fall 2009• Usability testing on templates fall 2009• Move content over to CMS Jan – June 2010• New site July 1, 2010

Help!

• Think as a prospective student• Send me your favorite websites for design

and navigation (this could be homepage, admissions, campus tour, map, etc.)

• Be a constituent group for a survey• Be part of the usability testing of

templates

Resources• Google Analytics for the data and graphics

about H-SC website.• Content Management Systems comparison

website- CMS Matrix (see Excel files: Enterprise level, Open Source)

• Hannon Hill’s Content Management Systems Buyer’s Guide

• Internet Archive Wayback Machine http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.hsc.edu

Resources• Colleges/Universities using various CMS

products:• UVA – Ingeniux, Ektron CMS400• VT – Rhythmyx• Roanoke and Lynchburg College – Ingeniux• UR, William & Mary -- Cascade Server

• W&M blog on redesign• Longwood – RedDot

• CASE Awards for web design 2008 Judges Report • Schools using Drupal• Sites using MODx

Resources• Ektron CMS400 demo, Ingeniux demo,

University of Richmond presentation, visit with Longwood University Dir. Of Web Communications (RedDot), talked with Hollins College webmaster, demos of Enfold Systems, demos of Systems Alliance, demos of OmniUpdate, demos of RedDot, installed test versions of Drupal and Modx

• RFP issued in Fall 2008• Checked references on RedDot, Ingeniux, and

Enfold Systems