What platform should I use to author and publish my department/faculty/division/centre website? This is a question that the IT and Communications divisions are often asked and we have consequently prepared the following guidelines and advice.
But first some important principles…. Authoring, publishing and maintaining a website need not be tasks reserved for technically-minded people. In fact, it is far preferable that these tasks are performed by the people most concerned with communications in your entity – and in order to do this they need not be skilled in “html, javascript” and other arcane technical tools and languages.
Secondly, websites must increasingly be fresh, dynamic and interactive. This implies that website maintenance is not a once-in-a-semester exercise, but a continuous commitment that should involve many contributors and authors in your environment, all co-ordinated by a designated editor.
Where one does require professional input is at the initial stages of a website’s design: design of the particular user experience that is required, graphical design and information layout (i.e. templates or master pages) and preparation of the technical platform. After these stages website management revolves around generating content and using the site for effective communication with the target audience(s).
So – in order empower people not skilled in web technologies to manage and contribute to their own websites and to maintain image and look-and-feel consistency across multiple pages and sites, most institutional websites are increasingly built on so-called Web Content Management Systems (WCMS). There are various examples of such WCMS’s including, Joomla!, WordPress, Sharepoint, Drupal, Oracle Portal, Nettoolbox, etc. So which one(s) should you use?
We strongly recommend the following:
- Until recently many faculty and departmental websites were built and authored on the Oracle Portal WCMS. However, this platform is approaching end-of-life and will be phased out over the next years. Do not build any new sites or do major upgrades of sites on this platform anymore.
- The university has officially adopted the Microsoft Sharepoint platform as the institutional WCMS for official websites. Do build new sites on this platform. Both the IT and Communications divisions are gearing up to be able to support and advise website owners on its use.
- We also offer a WordPress blogging platform for sites that require blogging functionality. Institutional support is limited, but WordPress is easy to use and suited to small, single sites.
- Ensure that all websites include the necessary code to log web usage data for analysis of usage of the sites (known as Web Analytics). We offer a PIWIK Web Analytics platform for this purpose, although you could use Google Analytics as well. But you need to be aware that given the need for on-campus users to open Inetkey for Google Analytics to work, such users, if they are in your target audience, will experience degraded site performance if Intekey is closed.
- Ensure that you are familiar with the requirements of the University’s Web Regulation, which governs the management of institutional websites.
Although all the other WCMS’s mentioned above, and others, do run on our servers and are used by many, neither the IT Division nor Communications provides any WCMS-level support for them. Entities that have in-house technical skills or are able to afford external technical support may wish to continue using them, but we recommend that plans be made to eventually migrate those websites to the Sharepoint platform.
Contact the E-communications Division (ecomms@sun.ac.za) or Advanced Support, IT Division (helpinfo@sun.ac.za) in order to learn more about Sharepoint and to prepare the plans for your new or upgraded website.
ARTICLE BY RALPH PINA
Watter platform moet ek gebruik om my departement/fakulteit of afdeling se webwerf te skep en publiseer? Hierdie is `n vraag wat die afdelings IT en E-kommunikasie op `n gereelde basis gevra word. In antwoord hierop het ons die volgende riglyne en advies saamgestel.
Maar eers, `n paar belangrike beginsels …. Die skep, publiseer en instandhouding van `n webwerf hoef nie uitsluitlik gereserveer te word vir diegene wat meer tegnies georienteerd is nie. Om die waarheid te sê, is dit verkieslik dat hierdie take eerder verrig word deur die mense wat nou betrokke is by die kommunikasie van die afdeling. En om dit te doen, is dit nie nodig dat hulle geskool moet wees in “html, javascript” en ander obskure tegniese hulpmiddels en tale nie.
Tweedens – webwerwe moet al meer en meer vars, dinamies en interaktief wees. Dit beteken dat webonderhoud nie net `n eenmalige oefening is nie, maar `n voortdurende verpligting wat verskeie bydraers en skrywers in die omgewing, gekoördineer deur `n aangewese redakteur, se betrokkenheid vereis.
Waar daar wel professionele en meer tegniese insette nodig is, is by die aanvanklike fase van die webwerfontwerp: die ontwerp van `n spesifieke gebruikersondervinding, grafiese ontwerp en uitleg van inligting (byvoorbeeld template of “master pages”) en die voorbereiding van die tegniese platform. Nadat dit in plek gesit is, is die fokus op die genereer van inhoud en die effektiewe gebruik van die webwerf vir kommunikasie met die afdeling se teikengehoor.
Om dus persone, wat nie geskool is in webtegnologieë nie, te bemagtig om hul eie webwerwe te bestuur en inhoud by te dra en om die voorkoms en algemene “look-and-feel” oor veelvuldige bladsye en webwerwe te verseker, word institusionele webwerwe toenemend op sogenaamde Web Content Management Systems (WCMS) gebou. Daar is verskeie voorbeelde van WCMS’s, insluitende Joomla!, WordPress, Sharepoint, Drupal, Oracle Portal, Nettoolbox, ens. So watter van hierdie behoort jy te gebruik?
Ons beveel die volgende sterk aan:
- Tot onlangs is baie fakulteit en departementele webwerwe gebou en geskryf op die Oracle Portal WCMS. Hierdie platform nader egter sy vervaltyd en sal oor die volgende paar jaar uitfasseer word. Moet asseblief geen nuwe webwerwe op hierdie platform bou of groot opgraderings doen nie.
- Die universiteit het amptelik die Microsoft Sharepoint platform geselekteer as die institusionele WCMS vir amptelike webwerwe. Alle nuwe webwerwe moet op Sharepoint gebou word. Beide IT en die E-kommunikasie Afdeling is besig om op te rat vir die nuwe platform en sal mettertyd in staat wees om ondersteuning, sowel as advies oor die gebruik daarvan aan webwerfeienaars te gee.
- Ons bied ook `n WordPress blogplatform vir webwerwe wat blogfunksionaliteit vereis. Institusionele ondersteuning is beperk, maar WordPress is maklik om te gebruik en ideaal vir klein, losstaande webwerwe.
- Maak seker dat alle webwerwe die nodig kode bevat wat die data van webgebruik kan aanteken (bekend as Web Analytics). Ons bied `n PIWIK Web Analytics platform vir die doel, alhoewel jy ook Google Analytics kan gebruik. Wees egter bewus dat gebruikers op kampus Inetkey sal moet gebruik om statistieke te sien indien jy Google analytics verkies. Indien hierdie gebruikers jou teikengehoor is, gaan hulle swakker werksverrigting van jou webwerf ervaar as Inetkey nie oop is nie.
- Maak seker dat jy vooraf bekend is met die vereistes van die Universiteit se Web Regulasie, wat die bestuur van institusionele webwerwe beheer.
Alhoewel al bogenoemde WCMS’s, sowel as ander wat nie genoem is nie, op ons bedieners gehuisves word en deur baie gebruik word, lewer IT en E-kommunikasie nie WCMS-vlak ondersteuning daarvoor nie. Entiteite wat binne die afdeling oor die tegniese vaardighede beskik of in staat is om eksterne tegniese ondersteuning te kan bekostig, mag moontlik verkies om daarmee voort te gaan, maar ons beveel aan dat reëlings getref word om mettertyd die webwerwe te migreer na die Sharepoint platform.
Kontak die E-kommunikasie afdeling (ecomms@sun.ac.za) of Gevorderde Ondersteuning, IT (helpinfo@sun.ac.za) om meer te leer oor Sharepoint en om voor te berei vir jou nuwe of opgegradeerde webwerf.
ARTICLE BY RALPH PINA
