I’m about to embark on a BIG construction project and I thought it would be fun to document it as I go. Plus I need a place to write down my thoughts – it helps me think and plan. So this post is the first in a series about my project – taking the Norwich University website from a boring brochure site to a dynamic content and information tool.
When I arrived at Norwich University I knew I had an extensive job ahead of me. The web infrastructure was a mixture of outdated HTML pages, old WordPress installs, Typepad, and custom coded CMS. Many people had the ability to add content but no one was providing guidance to the different groups to create a consistent voice. There wasn’t even a clearly defined goal for the website. My web server was throwing so many errors it was creating an error log of over 100Kb every day. Within 3 months of my arrival, our server shut down because it ran out of room on the disk! I needed a plan and I needed it quick.
The first item was to keep the site from sinking. It took a while but I located the issue – some outdated scripts. Removed them and the errors slowed way down. Great! I have some breathing room. Next up. Get our websites into a stable, flexible platform I can rely on – I chose WordPress. Why? Because it meets our needs, I can add tools and customize how it looks easily, and the administrative interface is very easy to understand and use – a good thing because my users are university staff and faculty. They need it to be simple and easy to use.
Over the past 18 months my team and I have been ripping out the old junk and moving our websites over to WordPress. As of today have 6 WordPress multisite networks and about the same stand alone installations. We have a few more sections and miscellaneous pages left to move over. Very few errors now. Instead of 100Kb a day, I might get a few hundred. Again from old scripts that are still out there.
The next step is really just going back to basics and focusing on a solid plan. Here’s the current plan!
- Identify our audiences and define goals for each
- Overhaul out content to achieve the goals for our different audiences
- Create fresh visual designs to match our different audiences
- Upgrade our WordPress installations with the new designs and content
- Create the tools we need
- Segment our website analytics so the data is more useful
- Help our customers, faculty and staff, understand the why and what
- Train university faculty and staff to leverage what we build
The project actually entails a lot of details that I’ve conveniently left out like how I’m going to build an entirely new network of WordPress websites while keeping the old ones in place. I’ve also neglected to mention several key components to almost any college website:
- Mobile users
- Campus Map
- Emergency communications
- Calendar of events
- News and stories
- Testing
- Getting consensus
- I’m sure I’ve missed some
I will share what we’re doing as we’re doing it and I invite you to ask questions and comment. I hope by sharing this project, you will find benefit. So this is where I start the journey. I hope you find it useful.
