Director's Blog

The cobbler's children have no shoes, so the old saying goes. Well, we were determined for that not to happen here at Web Strategies. The enthusiasm with which the new Unified Site templates have been greeted is very exciting, and we have been very busy meeting with groups large and small, helping to plan upcoming site redesigns. At the same time, we knew that our own site needed some revamping, and we decided that it was a good opportunity to use ourselves as an example for others. You can review the documentation (content matrix and information architecture) that accompanied our redesign to get an idea of what you should be creating for your own site.

We are always telling you that websites are living, breathing things, and you need not only to keep the content fresh but also to revisit the layout and navigation to best serve your audience. We hope that our new site will provide an even easier path to the tools and information that you need; as always we look forward to hearing your suggestions.

We are ready to upgrade our content management system to the latest version of CommonSpot. As part of this upgrade we will be migrating all existing CommonSpot websites to the new version. This should be transparent but as is always the case with changes, something might break for someone. Test your sites NOW! Existing OHSU websites that have been built in CommonSpot are available for testing in the 5.0 development environment. I urge everyone who is responsible for one of these sites to thoroughly review your webpages in this environment. Here are the details of the migration from Renee and Damon.

----------------------------

The CommonSpot upgrade (from version 4.6 to version 5.0) has been scheduled for next Tuesday, April 8. There will be no downtime for live, public-facing websites. CommonSpot authoring will be unavailable most of the day on April 8. You'll receive an email when the upgrade is complete and authoring is available again.

The only interruption to website availability will be a 60 minute outage on the authoring server from 7am - 8am. During this time, live ozone sites will be unavailable. Anticipated project time line for April 8: - 7-8am: CommonSpot authoring and live ozone sites are unavailable - 8am-12pm: Upgrade and migration to new hardware - 12pm-3pm: Sites are live in new environment - 3pm: Authoring is available

If you notice problems with your site on April 8, please call the help desk at 503.494.2222 or email webadmin@ohsu.edu.

Your CommonSpot 5.0 site is available to preview right now!

To prepare for the upgrade, we've created a copy of all CommonSpot 4.6 sites in a development environment and upgraded them to CommonSpot 5.0. We'll be running through a standard set of tests, but due to the large volume of content, will not be testing each page. Let me know if you'd like access to the upgraded version of your site before it goes live. (This testing is strongly encouraged!)

On Tuesday, February 19th, OHSU launched a new version of its main website. While the focus of the initial launch was the OHSU homepage and mission pages, altogether we launched 203 new pages. New content is being added regularly and the rush is on to redesign department websites under the Unified Site guidelines. So what happens now? Web Strategies has three immediate post-Unified Site launch goals.

First, we will be working with each of the departments that have expressed a desire to redesign their sites or may already be in the process of doing so. Either Heather Penner or myself will meet with each of these teams and make sure that our design and development resources are available to them in the most timely manner possible. We'll also be working with departments that have engaged outside vendors to make sure we aren't reinventing the wheel and paying for the privilege.

Second, next week we are kicking off a major upgrade of our web analytics capabilities. This spring, OHSU will have a much deeper insight into how our web efforts are working (or not working).

Third, we are turning our attentions back to the search capabilities of our websites. Now that we have the infrastructure in place and the basic capabilities launched, we want to enhance the functionality and utility of search at OHSU. Beyond the new capabilities you have read about here ("Endeca Search – Phase II, 7 January 2008) we are going to be working on the content and metadata itself to make search results more relevant and the result sets more navigable.

As you all know, OHSU is facing some major challenges. As a result of the loss of the tort-cap the university is being forced to cut, consolidate and curtail. In the past, support for the web has been first on the chopping block. Naturally, there has been a lot of concern for the future of the web at OHSU in the post-tort cap world. We have started moving forward and have made a lot of progress toward revitalizing the web at OHSU. No one wants to see those efforts and investments derailed. I want to assure everyone that they won't be.

I have been meeting with members of the Executive Leadership Team regarding the impending launch of the Unified Site. Without exception, each member of the ELT has reiterated how critical the web is to weathering these difficult times and moving the institution forward. None of the initiatives we have undertaken or the support we have promised will be diminished by the loss of the tort cap. I think it is very telling that despite the challenges the institution is facing, Web Strategies has been instructed to fill the open positions on the team. We have an outstanding support analyst and a seasoned developer joining us at the end of the month. I look forward to introducing them to you.

The Unified Site will launch on schedule, February 19th with a new homepage, mission pages for Healthcare, Research, Education and Outreach as well as a revamped "About OHSU" section. This is just the start. Several areas of OHSU have already engaged Web Strategies to begin the process of redesigning their sites and integrating with the new Information Architecture. The coming year is going to see a transformation of the web at OHSU. The strictures placed on OHSU by new fiscal realities make that more imperative than ever. For once, difficult times will move us forward instead of back.

-dls-

Launch of the Unified Site design is approaching fast. We are on target to go live with a new look and feel for OHSU online in February, so I thought you should know what to expect. First of all, only a small segment of OHSU's current web presence will change. The main OHSU landing page, www.ohsu.edu, and each of the top-level mission pages will be completely redesigned in accordance with the Unified Site visual identity guidelines. Below this level, existing websites will not change. Existing commonspot sites will be transferred to the new environment Renee McKechnie described in a previous post, but they will not be redesigned for the February launch. The only section of the current web that will change significantly below the top level is the About OHSU section. Web Strategies and the Strategic Communication group are working together to create a completely new area on the website for learning about OHSU.

This does not mean that we are going to just put a new coat of varnish on the front door of our website and declare victory. We are developing a completely new information architecture for all of OHSU that will facilitate the migration of existing sites into the new structure over time. As this architecture gets refined, we have been posting documentation on the Web Strategies website. Several departments have already put in a great deal of work on recreating their sites in line with the unified site design. These will be in the vanguard of the migration.

Part of the new architecture is a move away from organizing content according to our org chart. Our new approach revolves around our various audiences and the tasks the need to accomplish on our websites. So while a department may consider itself primarily a research organization, the will likely have some content that is more oriented toward education or healthcare. Similarly, a clinic under the healthcare mission may also have an outreach component. The new architecture allows OHSU to present an integrated picture of what we have to offer while still preserving the identity of all our individual units. In February we will have example sites available to demonstrate how this cross-mission navigation will work. These won't be live sites, but will be available for review as each area begins to consider integrating their site with the new OHSU design.

As we roll out with Unified Site, Web Strategies is available to assist with the planning and execution of migrating your site to the new world. Start laying the groundwork now by looking hard at your content, who your audience is and what you want to help them accomplish. We are here to help so please don't hesitate to give us a call.