Web Publishing

To present a consistent, professional image, it is imperative that all Tulane University websites clearly establish their connections to the university. In order to help those who contribute to the Tulane website, we have created a series of training classes and guides to help format, design and develop content for pages.

CommonSpot is being used for university departments and organizations that present content to external audiences, and currently have sites hosted on http://tulane.edu. For more information about using CommonSpot or to get on the training waitlist, contact the Office of Web Communications at website@tulane.edu.

Background About the Move to CMS

In 2007 the Office of Web Communications, in coordination with the Office of Technology Services, organized a Content Management System (CMS) committee to explore the acquisition of new system. This system is designed to

• provide Tulane community departments and organizations with a method of publishing Web content that would remove technical burdens associated with older Web publishing methods,
• present a browser-based editing interface accessible from the Web (anywhere, anytime),
• reduce the need for departmental software purchases or contracts with outside designers,
• manage design standards through common-look templates,
• allow the University Communications office to guide the university's Web presence & identity, and
  
• foster improved maintenance and timeliness of content.

Prior to the launch of the CMS, a university department would require someone technically proficient in Web authoring, direct access to the production Web server through an FTP account, and publishing software such as Dreamweaver to manage a local set of files. Whereas, now with CMS, a CommonSpot content owner browses to his or her site on an authoring server, and enters their Tulane User ID and password.

Upon completion of training, the Office of Web Communications will grant a user access to subsites and/or pages in the CMS that can be edited directly through a Web browser (Internet Explorer or Firefox) using a familiar editing interface.

Some of the features of the system

• Link validation tools.
• Ability to re-use content.
• Targeted, personalized and scheduled content capabilities.
• Simple forms and datasheets, allowing non-technical users to easily build data submission forms.
• Ability to set future content activation and expiration dates (like on holidays or during your vacation).
• Content freshness reminders.
• Easy upload of images, pdfs and resize images.
• Shared image gallery.
• Flexible workflow and approval processes.
  

If needed, a site administrator can specify that certain content owners' changes must be approved before being published. This, along with the option of scheduling the expiration or availability of content, will assist publishers with the otherwise difficult task of ensuring that a site's content is authoritative and current.

This new system is flexible and powerful. We are working as quickly as possible to help everyone implement the CMS. Thank you.