Webpage Content Management Service in Development
Earlier this year, the U of S purchased a Webpage Content Management System (WCMS) for institutional use. Since then, several units including Information Technology Services (ITS), University Communications, Financial Services Division (FSD), Edwards School of Business (ESB), Educational Media Access and Production (EMAP), College of Engineering and Student Enrolment and Services Division (SESD) have been learning about the system (Cascade Server by Hannon Hill) and creating a central support structure to handle enquiries, training and troubleshooting.
Several Units have completed successful pilots using Cascade to implement webpages and how-to-use training sessions have been held for personnel in the University Secretary’s Office, President’s Office, Provost’s Office, University Advancement, VP Research Office, Food Services and the Wilson Centre. EMAP has completed several of the sites mentioned and is using Cascade for future website development.
Information sessions or demonstrations of the tool and the sample site were conducted for representatives from College of Medicine, IT Managers Forum, Graduate Studies and Research, Campus Safety, and Offices of Communication, Development and Alumni Relations. The School of Environment and Sustainability websites are expected to be in Cascade shortly, and the Department of Computer Science is currently exploring the system.
Sites built using Cascade appear no different from websites built using other tools, and interact seamlessly with them. You can see a sample of sites built using the institutional WCMS system at:
- http://www.usask.ca/vpresearch/
- http://www.scifi.usask.ca/
- http://www.usask.ca/consumer_services/foodservices/
- http://www.cuccio-cdpiuc.ca/
Watch for the Edwards School of Business site which is being implemented using Cascade and going live to coincide with the School’s first anniversary.
Next Steps
Following completion of the pilot phase, we expect to fully launch the new WCMS Service in the fall of 2008.
See http://www.usask.ca/its/about/projects.php for highlights and FAQs about this project.