{"id":4422,"date":"2024-08-27T15:51:11","date_gmt":"2024-08-27T15:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thinking.is.ed.ac.uk\/melissa\/?p=4422"},"modified":"2024-08-27T16:03:52","modified_gmt":"2024-08-27T16:03:52","slug":"delivering-a-university-web-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thinking.is.ed.ac.uk\/melissa\/2024\/08\/27\/delivering-a-university-web-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"Delivering a University Web Strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_2229\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2229\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thinking.is.ed.ac.uk\/melissa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/04\/bits23.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2229\" src=\"https:\/\/thinking.is.ed.ac.uk\/melissa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/04\/bits23-300x175.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"175\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thinking.is.ed.ac.uk\/melissa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/04\/bits23-300x175.png 300w, https:\/\/thinking.is.ed.ac.uk\/melissa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/04\/bits23-768x447.png 768w, https:\/\/thinking.is.ed.ac.uk\/melissa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/04\/bits23.png 1004w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2229\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cool graphic designed by our cool LTW graphic design service<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">The University Web Strategy (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/edin.ac\/web-strategy-2018\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">https:\/\/edin.ac\/web-strategy-2018<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"none\">) identified a\u202fprogramme\u202fof activities, including the\u202fdevelopment of new web publishing tools or web publishing platform.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:150,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cThere is a fragmentation of technology, working methods and standards, which<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">leads to uneven and, in some cases, broken user journeys.\u201d &#8211; University Web Strategy<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">The strategy stated that \u201cit is important to recognise that technology is not a solution but an enabler. Whether delivered centrally or locally, there is a clear need to empower our staff by providing them with the intelligence, tools, standards and resources to attract and engage users.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:150,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Building a New Platform<\/h2>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u00a0Our Web Publishing Platform (now named EdWeb 2) project&#8217;s aim was to create a web publishing platform for our publishing community within a strong web governance framework. Therefore, this project should not be viewed solely in isolation but within the wider context of the web strategy. The goal was to create a platform that could be continually improved, meet the immediate needs of our existing editorial base but also meet the needs of Schools and business units that had never used the central service for web publishing before. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:150,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">The web strategy identified the following common approaches:\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:150,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0a7\" data-font=\"Wingdings\" data-listid=\"40\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Wingdings&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[9642],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0a7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Improve the quality of our web estate and online channels through the adoption of an inclusive and supportive governance model\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:150,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0a7\" data-font=\"Wingdings\" data-listid=\"40\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Wingdings&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[9642],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0a7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Enhance the accessibility and security of our web estate by establishing and evolving University-wide standards\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:150,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0a7\" data-font=\"Wingdings\" data-listid=\"40\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Wingdings&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[9642],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0a7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Enhance solution and content quality by improving the digital skills of web publishers and practitioners; establishing a common understanding of web roles and capabilities; and delivering web publishing and management tools<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:150,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cThe strategy does not set out to answer the exclusive needs of a business area or address a single specific University activity. As a pan-institutional strategy, it establishes a framework for the use of web technologies, both centrally and locally, to achieve business goals.\u201d &#8211; University Web Strategy<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">To address these common approaches the web publishing platform aimed to deliver a product that was flexible and geared for iterative improvement to support ongoing business and user demands.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:150,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">The delivered solution needed to support central and local innovation, allowing website teams in schools to make use\u202fof\u202fand extend the product appropriately, aligned with agreed University standards and\u202fguidelines.\u202f\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:150,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">This project has delivered the platform and associated processes to create the web publishing services that will support this strategy.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:150,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">This includes a high-quality, future-proof and long-term sustainable University web publishing platform, aligned web publishing services, training and a support model, all backed up by a team with the requisite knowledge and skills.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:150,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-contrast=\"none\">Successes<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134245418&quot;:true,&quot;134245529&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:160,&quot;335559739&quot;:80,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Planning<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0a7\" data-font=\"Wingdings\" data-listid=\"4\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Wingdings&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[9642],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0a7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Platform training <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">programme with the planning, development and roll out in very close collaboration with our\u00a0 Digital Skills team was very successful, and receiving excellent feedback<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\"> (Phase 2 \u2013 Deliverable 1.3)<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0a7\" data-font=\"Wingdings\" data-listid=\"4\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Wingdings&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[9642],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0a7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Major achievement to deliver a fit-for-purpose, web platform, fulfilling the targets set <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">regarding flexibility, migrating over 60 sites live despite some of the complex issues faced by the project.\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\"> (Phase 1 \u2013 Deliverable 1.3)<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0a7\" data-font=\"Wingdings\" data-listid=\"4\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Wingdings&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[9642],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0a7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Early and ongoing engagement with the service users, and the wider web publishing community, was essential to ensure the web platform <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">developed in a meaningful way to address their external audience engagement needs.<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\"> (Phase 1 \u2013 Deliverable 1.2, 7.1)<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0a7\" data-font=\"Wingdings\" data-listid=\"4\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Wingdings&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[9642],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0a7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"4\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The project has delivered a solution in line with the original University Web Strategy in terms of the flexibility offered and that the offering should appeal to Schools and business units that have never used the central service at all for their web publishing. For example the School of Chemistry now has a live site on EdWeb 2.\u00a0 (Phase 2 \u2013 Objective 4, Deliverable 4.1)<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span data-contrast=\"none\">Developing for our Wider Community\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134245418&quot;:true,&quot;134245529&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:160,&quot;335559739&quot;:80,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">The\u202fUniversity of Edinburgh\u202fis\u202fa\u202fhighly devolved\u202forganisation\u202fin terms of physical locations, organisational structure,\u202fdecision-making\u202fand budgets,\u202fpurposes,\u202fgoals\u202fand\u202faudiences.\u202f<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:150,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Aside from the central team,\u202four community extends\u202facross the\u202forganisation, from\u202fsystem\u202fadministrators and\u202fdevelopers\u202fto\u202fUX and user-centred design practitioners,\u202fcontent creators\u202fand\u202fmarketers, each operating with significant\u202fautonomy\u202fand responsibility for their\u202fown sites. We had to take this into consideration as early as possible in any decision-making process, and to emphasise the importance of user centred design, backed up by user research, and using the experience and expertise of staff around the University.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:150,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">The new platform had to work for existing\u202fusers of our CMS but also support the needs of our devolved community\u202fof developers and administrators who are responsible for building, developing and managing our wider web estate, from colleges and schools to individual research projects.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:150,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">We chose to continue using Drupal as this platform\u202fand surrounding processes\u202fsupport\u202fhighly\u202fdistributed development, allowing\u202fcode\u202fcontribution back to a\u202fmanaged\u202fcommon\u202fmodular\u202fcode base.\u202f<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:150,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-contrast=\"none\">Project Approach\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134245418&quot;:true,&quot;134245529&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:160,&quot;335559739&quot;:80,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">The project was approached in two main phases, with the ultimate goal to have introduced the new web publishing platform and having all relevant EdWeb content and sites migrated to the new platform by November 2022 (the initial deadline for Drupal 7 end-of-life).\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:150,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">The deadline of completing the migration needed to be moved due to the extremely complex nature of the websites built in EdWeb, and the differences between the two platforms, as well as ongoing resourcing issues and is currently set for November 2024.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:150,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">The project involved the application of\u202fAgile methodologies using the Scrum framework and has tried to use a user-centred approach to service design wherever possible.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:150,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u201cUser-centered design is based on the understanding of a user, their demands, priorities and experiences and when used, is known to lead to an increased product usefulness and usability as it delivers satisfaction to the user. \u201c &#8211; Wikipedia <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/User-centered_design#:~:text=User%2Dcentered%20design%20is%20based,delivers%20satisfaction%20to%20the%20user.\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">User-centered design<\/span><\/a><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:150,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The University Web Strategy (https:\/\/edin.ac\/web-strategy-2018) identified a\u202fprogramme\u202fof activities, including the\u202fdevelopment of new web publishing tools or web publishing platform.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThere is a fragmentation of technology, working methods and standards, which\u00a0leads to uneven and, in some cases, broken user journeys.\u201d &#8211; University Web Strategy\u00a0 \u00a0The strategy stated that \u201cit is important to recognise that technology is &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[307],"class_list":["post-4422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eople-place-work","tag-web"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinking.is.ed.ac.uk\/melissa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinking.is.ed.ac.uk\/melissa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinking.is.ed.ac.uk\/melissa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinking.is.ed.ac.uk\/melissa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinking.is.ed.ac.uk\/melissa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4422"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thinking.is.ed.ac.uk\/melissa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4427,"href":"https:\/\/thinking.is.ed.ac.uk\/melissa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4422\/revisions\/4427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinking.is.ed.ac.uk\/melissa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinking.is.ed.ac.uk\/melissa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinking.is.ed.ac.uk\/melissa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}