Web Publishers’ Community – August update
Once again, we’d like to thank all those who came to this month’s WPC session. It’s been a very busy summer and this week we were pleased to announce the successful migration of our 100th site to EdWeb! This is a fantastic achievement and one that we are hugely proud of. However, there is still a long way to go and we continue to rely on your feedback and support. For this reason, this month’s session was all about you having your say!
A colourful month
UWP’s Rachel Bhandari got the ball rolling with a quick update on the development and implementation of the new Drupal-based University CMS, EdWeb.
So what’s new? Well, first of all, if you’ve visited the IS website in the last few weeks, you may have noticed a certain red banner at the top of the page. This means that the entire IS site has now been migrated to EdWeb – all 5000 pages worth. This was no easy feat, but by working closely with other departments within the IS division, we have managed to pull it off without any major problems or delays and the site is now live. Hurrah!
Speaking of red banners, EdWeb users will be interested to hear that there is now a selection of different colour palettes available to choose from. This allows even greater flexibility and individuality when designing your website, and enables you to create something both eye-catching and engaging. Do you think your site would look good in bright blue? Or perhaps a spruce grey? The option is yours to choose! However, be sure to read our guidance before choosing a colour for your website:
Lastly, Rachel spoke about the feedback we have been receiving on the new CMS, and how vital it is to EdWeb’s continuing success. Specifically, we encourage lead publishers who have been through the migration process to complete a short migration feedback survey – this information can then be used to improve processes, communications and reporting within the project. We are interested in hearing all of your feedback, both positive and negative, so please do take the time to fill it out.
That’s not fair!
Next up was Lizzie Cass-Maran, who led a group activity session on the best way to prioritise new sites coming into EdWeb. With so many new business units across the University wanting to publish websites using EdWeb, it is becoming increasingly important that we establish prioritisation metrics in a fair and sensible way. Specifically, we were asked to discuss what we think makes one site more urgent than another.
Together, the room was able to come up with a wealth of ideas which were then voted on by the room by way of sticky coloured dots. The results are currently being reviewed and we’ll update you on the outcome in due course. In the meantime you can read more about the process in Lizzie’s blog post:
CAB – a vehicle for change
After a short coffee break, Stratos took to the stage to introduce the new EdWeb Change Advisory Board (CAB). The CAB system is there to ensure and coordinate EdWeb change requests to ensure that every request for change (RFC) is properly evaluated before being approved/rejected. Requests should be submitted through an EdWeb webform – once you have submitted your RFC you will be contacted by the Change Manager who will then inform you of the outcome and whether or not any further information is needed.
It is hugely important that EdWeb continues to develop and adapt to the needs of its users, both now and in the long-run. In order for this to happen, it is vital that users of the University Website, EdWeb and the EdWeb Distribution have a place where they can submit their ideas and issues and CAB will help to facilitate this.
Your thoughts and ideas continue to shape the development of EdWeb and we encourage you to come to us with all of your suggestions.
Share what you’re doing
If you’d like to let us know about anything you’re working on that you think would be of interest to the Web Publishers’ Community, please get in touch! Or feel free to take the stand in the tea and coffee break to show us what you’ve been up to.
The next meeting will be 30 September, 2015, in Room 1.07, Main Library. Full details will be circulated when the agenda has been finalised.
