UCLA Office of Instructional Development Web Site Redesign May 20, 2005
Web Site Revision Goals Create fresh look Promote OID’s services across campus and the internet Re-architect structure: move web site from unit-based to function-based Distribute authoring, editing, and posting to trusted members
Web Site Options Static web pages Content management system
Static Web Pages Content consists of web pages stored on file system Posting is centralized through a web master Authoring may require knowledge of HTML May require specialized software to create and manage site
Content Management System Web site content stored in database Authoring and posting distributed to trusted users No knowledge of HTML required to create content
Additional CMS Benefits Content workflow: author to approver Built-in document management Database storage provides full-site searching Allows for dynamic web site architecture
Why Plone? Open source, cross platform Common tools (Apache web server, Python language) Rich community of developers Growing use (three new books since October 2004) All content managed through a web browser Standards-based: CSS, XHTML, RSS Extensible platform - Products (i.e., calendar, wiki, versioning)
Why Plone? (cont.) Stable User-friendly Integrates well with Apache Dynamic news and events Tight, extensible security: permissions down to object level Users can share content and grant equal or less permissions without need of admin support
Who Uses Plone - Business and Industry State of Hawaii NASA / JPL Mars Rover Site WCBS-TV New York
Who Uses Plone - Education Connexions Project - Rice University UC Davis School of Medicine Eduplone.net
Plone Installation - Quick Install Everything in one folder Propagates multiple Python installations Hierarchical
Plone Installation - Manual Install Each technology install separately Single Python install for entire OS Clarifies relationship of technologies
User Roles General Public Member Owner Manager
Document States Visible Publish
Bread crumbs NavigationSearch tool page Print page Login
Content area Units: TEC selected Subheadings
User Training Hands-on training sessions Custom Documentation How-tos (Eleven 2-3 page docs) User guide (33 pages) On-going updates and modifications
Next - Live Site Demo Skinning - default Plone look and CSS Admin interface and backend