Climbing Migration Mountain: 200+ Sites from the Ground Up

CLIMBING MIGRATION MOUNTAIN

200+ 270 Sites from the ground up

Liz Hunter, Web Developer – [email protected] Mann, Assistant Director – [email protected]

Web Communications, University Communications and MarketingSouthern Illinois University

Cascade Server User ConferenceMonday, September 15, 2014

1Monday, September 15, 2014 Climbing Migration Mountain: 200+ Sites from the ground up

mailto:[email protected]


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Southern Illinois University

• Public research university

• 18,000 students• 8 colleges and School

of Law• Approx. 60 academic

departments

• Made the switch to Cascade in 2011

• 500+/- websites!

Monday, September 15, 2014 Climbing Migration Mountain: 200+ Sites from the ground up

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Background: Websites (pre-Cascade)

• Very few standards• Almost 500 independent sites• Multiple Platforms• Webmasters were faculty, staff, students

= bad websites and manual migration


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Background: The University• New chancellor• Complete rebrand (including all websites)• Reorganization• Declining enrollment• Faculty strike • Mistrust in administration


WE HAD TO GET IT DONE(& WE WANTED TO)Organization | Buy In | Communication | Work


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OrganizationWe knew we wanted to:• Standardize/streamline the process• Move quickly• Have clearly set goals

Three things that kept us organized:• Writing a detailed plan• Creating visual timelines (both yearly and projects)• Whiteboards, spreadsheets, & forms


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Organization: A written detailed plan

• WE DID THIS FIRST!• Set goals• Gain continuity in designs and system• Migrate core University websites

• Defined priorities• Raised questions and possible roadblocks• Outlined methods of meeting goals

Download our detailed plan


http://webservices.siu.edu/_common/documents/siu-transition-plan.pdf

http://webservices.siu.edu/_common/documents/siu-transition-plan.pdf

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Organization: A written detailed plan

Methods of meeting the goals

• Needed to work closely with departments• Needed to work with groups of 6-8 websites• Needed to outline the basic steps for each project

Basic steps toward completion

1. Kick-off meeting2. Communicate to learn

key info about each site3. Develop site

architecture4. Training5. Enter content6. Check

accessibility/brand compliance

7. Launch


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Organization: visual timelines



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Organization: Whiteboards


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Organization: Spreadsheets


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Organization: Forms

Old School Online!


WE WERE READY, BUT WERE THEY?

Monday, September 15, 2014 Climbing Migration Mountain: 200+ Sites from the ground up 15

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Buy In• We needed to not only inform the campus about the change, we needed to gain the confidence of the campus and reassure stakeholders that we would give full support to the mission of the university and departments.

• Large town-hall style meetings & CMS demos • “Look, it’s easy!”

• Meetings (or project kick-offs) with stakeholders • Deans, directors, chairs, editors

• Never say never: problem-solve instead!


“MUCH UNHAPPINESS HAS COME INTO THE WORLD BECAUSE OF BEWILDERMENT AND THINGS LEFT UNSAID”- Fyodor Dostoyevsky


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Communication• We were clear about the plan (internally too)• Welcomed and encouraged input • Followed up


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Communication


• An internal communications plan

• Tools we used to communicate internally• Tasks on a calendar• Whiteboard• Post-its• Siri

Download our internal communications plan

http://webservices.siu.edu/_common/documents/siu-internal-comm-plan.pdf



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Communication: A clear plan• Displayed plan details on our website• Notified chairs and webmasters 4 weeks before project• Kick-off meetings • Bring cookies!

• We were as transparent as possible


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Communication

Welcomed input

• “We are here to help.” • We said it out loud!

• Let them pick the time for meetings• Doodle.com polls

• Take all suggestions and needs into consideration

Followed up

• Courtesy calls• Check-in emails• Scheduled 1-on-1 meetings if needed• No contact usually indicated a problem• Followed up with surveys to improve


THE WORKSomeone Everyone has to do it


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The Work• 2011 - Purchased Cascade • Migrated 3 sites – outsourced 3 templates • SIU created 3 templates• Created migration plan

• 2012 – Migrations of “First 50” sites (but really 65)• Created 1 template

• 2013 – Migrations of “Second 50” sites (but really 81)• 2014 – Migration of remaining 100 sites

That doesn’t equal 270 ???“In-house” migrations were started by the end of 2012


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The Work- How did we get it done?

• Outsourced 4 of our 8 templates• Added 10 student employees• Offered limited writing assistance• Trained departments• All hands on deck!

• May 2014 – hired one more full time person - Alexis!


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Wrapping it upThings we could have done

better

• Each year we improved• Better knowledge of Cascade• Consistency of naming conventions• Terminology list for users• Cleaner code from the start

What now?

• Responsive• Fix inconsistencies• Continue improving• Get back to our real jobs• It’s time for a redesign, but at least we have a CMS!!!


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What did we accomplish?• Staff can update websites easily and often• SIU has a consistent look• Our department can better support the campus • End web users should *hopefully* be able to find what they are looking for on our websites!


THANK YOU!

Liz Hunter, Web Developer – [email protected] Mann, Assistant Director – [email protected]

Web Communications, University Communications and MarketingSouthern Illinois University

Cascade Server User ConferenceMonday, September 15, 2014


Our deepest apologies to Edvard Munch.



Software

Climbing Migration Mountain: 200+ Sites from the Ground Up