climbing migration mountain: 200+ sites from the ground up
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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
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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
Monday, September 15, 2014 Climbing Migration Mountain: 200+ Sites from the ground up
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Background: The University• New chancellor• Complete rebrand (including all websites)• Reorganization• Declining enrollment• Faculty strike • Mistrust in administration
Monday, September 15, 2014 Climbing Migration Mountain: 200+ Sites from the ground up
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
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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
Monday, September 15, 2014 Climbing Migration Mountain: 200+ Sites from the ground up
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Organization: visual timelines
Monday, September 15, 2014 Climbing Migration Mountain: 200+ Sites from the ground up
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Organization: Whiteboards
Monday, September 15, 2014 Climbing Migration Mountain: 200+ Sites from the ground up
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Organization: Spreadsheets
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Organization: Forms
Old School Online!
Monday, September 15, 2014 Climbing Migration Mountain: 200+ Sites from the ground up
WE WERE READY, BUT WERE THEY?
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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!
Monday, September 15, 2014 Climbing Migration Mountain: 200+ Sites from the ground up
“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
Monday, September 15, 2014 Climbing Migration Mountain: 200+ Sites from the ground up
• An internal communications plan
• Tools we used to communicate internally• Tasks on a calendar• Whiteboard• Post-its• Siri
Download our internal communications plan
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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
Monday, September 15, 2014 Climbing Migration Mountain: 200+ Sites from the ground up
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!
Monday, September 15, 2014 Climbing Migration Mountain: 200+ Sites from the ground up
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
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Our deepest apologies to Edvard Munch.