OU Campus is our new Content Management System, or CMS for short. CMS is a form of software that is being implemented to manage ETSU’s website development process. The Content Management System allows departments to update their content. Currently, to update content each department has to essentially "know" how to manage a website, including all the html coding, table layouts, etc. This can be a difficult and time consuming task.
Why change to CMS?
Departments and Colleges can focus on keeping information up to date. Content can be changed frequently providing the visitor a sense of site validity. CMS offers users the flexibility of updating content without the hassle of specialized software. With CMS, content can be changed and updated from any computer on or off campus without the need for web editors like Expression Web or Dreamweaver. Furthermore, that content is still under the control of the department, and can include text, pictures, movies, etc.
One advantage of CMS is the uniform look and navigational structure that will be provided to all ETSU sites. CMS allows users to "get use to" one system of navigation (ETSU buttons on top, department links on the left) which would stay basically the same for every campus page. This will allow users to find their information faster and more consistently and avoid the frustrating layout changes which we have now.
When will the transfer take place?
The transfer to CMS will not take place university-wide at once, but rather by departments and colleges. The time frame for the change in one college would be approximately three weeks.
Are there any restrictions to the CMS sites?
There will be a need to ensure uniformity and thus across the entire campus there will be a common page type that presents a banner, a left-hand navigation menu, an area for text to the right of the navigation menu, and footer. Groups may be allowed to modify certain elements to meet their specific needs such as; color (users are allowed to choose color to apply to a limited section of the website), and images. eLearning and the CMS team strive to make the transition from older sites to new as painless as possible.