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Frequently Asked Questions
The MSU Denver Web Content Management System (CMS) Project was an effort to better support and improve MSU Denver’s Web presence. Co-sponsored by University Communications and Marketing and Information Technology Services, the project team originally implemented a Web content management solution in September 2011 to support the creation, management, delivery and sharing of Web content across the University while promoting quality, consistency, accessibility, and security. These elements are regularly assessed to ensure the institution’s Web presence and CMS platform continues to provide a high-quality user experience.
Currently the TerminalFour Site Manager, now at version 8, is the enterprise web content management solution for MSU Denver, however as of July 1, MSU Denver will begin to utilize the WordPress CMS platform. UCM will provide Concerige Content Migration Services to support the process across MSU Denver.
General Web Content Management System
Web content management involves all aspects of the creation, publishing, sharing and storage of information that eventually appears in a MSU Denver website.
A Web CMS is software that stores and organizes content and information about how it can be used and presented. A Web CMS integrates and centralizes tools and mechanisms for accessing, editing and publishing information to the Web.
Web CMS applications are based upon databases that offer flexibility in the ways that content can be accessed and published. Generally, users of the system create, access, and publish content from a centralized Web-based interface that provides all of the tools necessary to manage the information and structure associated with a Web site.
The Web CMS will make it much easier for non-experts to develop and maintain Web sites that meet campus guidelines for branding and accessibility, and will streamline the publication workflow for experts and non-experts alike.
Responsibility for Web site maintenance falls to many people in different locations and with varying skills. The Web CMS will greatly reduce the number of technical staff and other resources required to maintain a site, and will empower staff who already author and manage content to do so directly without extensive specialized technical training.
A Web CMS separates the Web creation and update processes from the design and technology needed to maintain a site. By making content management less dependent upon technical coding skills and local IT resources, the publication process is streamlined and the maintenance workload greatly reduced.
Additional benefits include:
• Speed and ease of content updates
• Content stays timely
• Permission-based publishing (improved security)
• Compliance with federal laws concerning access to information for people with disabilities
• Automatic link maintenance
• Design and branding consistency
• Version control
• Workflow
No. The MSU Denver student activities office manages websites for official MSU Denver student organizations. Please contact the student activities office for more information.
Scheduling and Migration
The process will begin in mid-May and continue through October. UCM will work with Web Authors to schedule a preferred two-week period. We have proactively been reaching out to teams that get heavy web traffic to begin the process.
The migration will take part in three phases: Pilot Partners, Early Adopters, and Main Migration.
- Pilot Partners have all been scheduled and are helping to create a well-defined process to allow a seamless transition for all.
- Early Adopters have also been scheduled and are asked to still complete the migration process in two weeks but will need to pause content updates for a longer period.
- Main Migration will begin June 28 and will continue on a rolling basis through the end of October.
It depends on how much content is on your site, however we are still asking all Web Authors to complete their content migration in two weeks. If you need additional support for the migration, please work directly with UCM’s Web Team to explore possibilities for support.
Yes, all content will need to be manually moved over. Given that this is a manual task, we suggest rethinking if the current structure is the right one and if there is any content that is no longer needed.
Copy and pasting from T4 will bring over text, links, and styled text, much as copy and pasting in MS Word would. Images, videos, and other stylizing decisions will need to be uploaded to WordPress during your migration cycle.
Not currently. We will be scheduling website migration meetings with each site. During that meeting we will provide your URL and teach you how to use WordPress.
We will be scheduling website migration meetings with each site, during which you will receive the URL and training on WordPress usage. Web Authors will then maintain the ability to continually add edits to their web as needed. Identified Web Authors own the content hosted on their site.
The simple answer is yes, but please keep in mind that Early Adopters will not see their launch until July 1.
Yes, all sites under the msudenver.edu domain will be running out of the same WordPress instance.
UCM will leverage best practices and update some addresses. URLs perform better in organic rankings when search engines can read them like a human does – e.g., full words, hyphens between words, and no unnecessary conjunctions. Given this, we do expect some URLs to be updated; however, we will create necessary redirects to ensure there is no interruption from marketing materials or bookmarked links with access to those pages.
Website Functionality
The exact frequency has yet to be determined; however, WordPress does allow for more frequent content publishing.
Yes, templates are set up to render embed codes produced by external platforms.
Yes, there will be a place to host your media files (PDFs, images, videos). It will be remarkably similar to the T4 library.
Search is markedly better in WordPress. When entering content, you can select phrases/words, to add. The A-Z library will have additional functionality to type and search versus by first or last name.
Currently, the A-Z library is hosted on an external platform and is pulling information from another internal database. Focus is currently on the website migration and we are not expecting major changes to this library.
Information that is gated for staff and faculty can be hosted on SharePoint, which currently leverages SSO and provides more control over user access. However, should there be a need for password protected page, WordPress has built in functionality to accommodate.
Yes. Depending on where it is housed, we can move the entire site at once and will work with you to determine priority of sites, should you oversee more than one.
Web administrators will be prepared to handle these requests.
Yes. We understand that this issue causes clutter in the CMS. WordPress will allow us to keep information that we may need in the future or fully delete information that we no longer need – keeping the CMS focused on only current content.
Anchor links are a built-in functionality of landing pages. Subsequent detail pages should be focused enough to not need this functionality.
Customizations: Plugins, Widgets and Reporting Platforms
WordPress has an impressive number of plugins; a list of available ones has already been vetted and approved.
Yes, SiteImprove will continue to be able to be used with the new CMS.
We have created templates that should allow customization (while maintaining site consistency) without needing to do any further custom coding. Should you find something is not functioning as intended, we can leverage our partners to help rectify.
Accessibility and Language Options
We are still evaluating services that allow us to provide translated pages more easily. This is a long-term goal that we hope to continue progress toward.
To meet accessibility standards, pictures should never automatically advance. Given that a goal is to be fully accessible, these pictures will have the option to manually to advance the photo.
Yes, there will be a place to enter information for elements that are required for accessibility standards – e.g., captions, headlines, and descriptions.
Other
The website is not set to host transcripts; however, if you are using a platform currently to host, it can still be linked directly to that platform or embedded into the CMS.
MSU Denver will continue to engage with our partners, Clique Studios, following the launch of the new site to have a wide range of support services.
UCM provides a variety of photos through the photo shelter platform. Photos can be accessed at photo shelter.
Since the sites are independent of each other, integration is not necessary to operate as intended.
We will provide guidelines on optimal photo and video specs that will work on the new site.
We are working to best determine when the need for T4 no longer exists.
Non-branded MSU Denver templates will be available near the end of the summer for specific use cases.