Content University of Miami © University of Miami 2003

Daniel Colcher Associate University Webmaster Wendy Dibean University Webmaster © University of Miami 2003

About UM Coral Gables, FL since ,978 undergrad, grad and professional students 9,466 faculty and employees 13 Schools and Colleges –Medical School and Law School © University of Miami 2003

The History WWWC created in 1997 Web policy created in 1997 –All sites must have certain components –All administrative units must follow design First Webmaster hired in 1997 © University of Miami 2003

The Problem 100 departments using “Site Builder” Still too technical for users to follow the policy Constant support calls Complete rewrite with every redesign Only Webmaster and student workers © University of Miami 2003

Goals Vendor supported application Easy updates for non-technical users Allow technical users to have control Centrally controlled design with distributed content Content Sharing Up-to-date content Workflow © University of Miami 2003

Evaluated Packages Vignette StoryServer (V-series) Allaire Cold Fusion Documentum Interwoven Selected Vignette StoryServer v4.0 © University of Miami 2003

Reasons for Selecting Vignette Flexible Leader in Commercial Marketplace Expandable development environment Competitive pricing model (non-disclosure agreement) © University of Miami 2003

Reasons Cont. Multi-server Support Component-level Caching –Performance of static content in dynamic form Personalization capabilities © University of Miami 2003

Implementation Timeline Summer 1999 – began evaluation process October purchased Vignette StoryServer 3 month development 1 month content migration of 100 existing departments and Graduate School March 17, 2000 – launched UM Web Development Site version 1.0 © University of Miami 2003

Customer Buy-in Allowed for non-technical content authors New site design Migrated existing pages for Departments and Schools Ease of use along with flexibility “Let students do the work, you just launch to the site” © University of Miami 2003

Hidden Agendas Untouched content removed after one year Limited FTP access –Eased phone calls –Limited file types User authentication moved to central user base (Windows NT) Lower replication of content throughout Simplified Future Redesigns © University of Miami 2003

Where we are today 295 departments 6 Schools/Colleges 580 users –340 active users –100 sessions per day Content and traffic tripled © University of Miami 2003

What the Future Holds More flexible, scalable environment Other Schools (including Medical) Publish to multiple locations in multiple formats –Portal –PDA –Cellular Phones © University of Miami 2003

Problems Faced / Lessons Learned Web Content v. Web Page –Navigation complexity –Fixed site layout and types of pages Lack of Suggested Practices and Personal Knowledge / Experience Application Componentization © University of Miami 2003

Lessons Learned Cont. Take time to plan Database Design –History of Changes / Restores Optimize ALL database calls © University of Miami 2003

Suggestions Think of content items not pages Separate data and processing from display –More difficult than expected Flexibility vs. Limitations Allowing for diverse user levels Keep workflow simple Content Taxonomy Good time to re-architect site © University of Miami 2003

Web Development Site Calendar Major Matcher Reporter’s Sourcebook Admission Request System Directory Update Site Off-campus Housing Database School of Music Event Management Computer Operations Log Form Creator – in development © University of Miami 2003

Questions? © University of Miami 2003

Wendy Dibean Daniel Colcher © University of Miami 2003