Tao Gao – IT Consultant / Web Administrator, SCSL
Catherine Buck Morgan – Information Technology Director, SCSL
April 16, 2007
Using a CMS to Build Community
Rhumba with Joomla!
Agenda
Why Joomla? Case Study – South Carolina State Library Joomla in a Nutshell
Why Joomla?
What are the Benefits? Open Source It’s Easy to Install, Use, Manage and
Reliable• Joomla vs. Drupal
• Joomla vs. Blogs Separation of Content and Form Portable Extendable Strong Support Communities
Who’s Using it? Government Agencies
• SC IT Directors Asso. Commercial Businesses
• Porsche Brazil Non-Profit Organizations
• United Nations RIC
CMS Comparison
Comparison Metrics• A tool to compare up to 10 content management systems
at once. http://www.cmsmatrix.org/matrix
Google Search Trend
Case Study: SCSL
Library Background
South Carolina State Library provides, advances and promotes library services and equal access to information for all South Carolinians through:• Services to Libraries• Services to State Employees• Services to Citizens with Disabilities• Services to General Public
Why a Redesign
Before:
Why a Redesign?
Issues• Static HTML• Table-based Layout• Basic Perl Scripts (i.e. Contact forms)• Outdated Content• Incoherent Navigation• Inconsistent Style and Structure• Graphically Unappealing• Lack of Interactivity• Several Hundred Scattered Pages and Growing Rapidly
Redesign Goals
What We Wanted• Standards Compliant Design (Section 508)• Intuitive Navigation• Separation of Content and Form• Staff Collaboration• Site-Wide Search• Online Job Submissions• Community Oriented• RSS Feeds
Redesign Process
Phase I: Plan• Redesign Proposal, Sept. 2004• Conducted Online User and In-House User Surveys
Mar. – Apr. 2005. 227 responses
• Review of Current Content• Lessons Learned
Used SurveyMonkey to poll our users about the current website. Most useful feedback came from open-ended questions.
Decided to have people who were not familiar with the subject areas review key content areas. Worked well. Fresh eyes.
Needed a Well-Qualified & Dedicated Team– Project Manger, Creative Graphic Designer, Web Developer with
CSS and PHP Experience, Content Developer
Redesign Process
Phase II: Design• Agency Re-Branding, Feb. 2005• Interface Design and Review• Process Stalls… • Lessons Learned
Graphic designer did not have an understanding of the business case
– Result: Mock-up still presented a flat website design Who was the Project Manager??
Redesign Process
Phase III: Development• Content Audit and Review (Summer 2005)• Explore CMS Options• Find Outside Host Server for Development (Nov. 2005)• Joomla Learning Curve• Translate Graphical Interface to Joomla Templates• Content Migration• Identify and Incorporate Desired Functionality• Continued to Maintain and Update Static Site
Redesign Process
Phase V: Deployment and Evolution• Staff to review website, June 2006• New website goes live, July 2006• Site moved to new in-house server, Aug. 2006• Evaluate • Growth and Refinement• Lessons Learned
Few staff reviewed the site Day 1: Where? Why? BUT kudos for website from state and
beyond CMS makes it easier to evaluate depth of content Send web administrator to China for a month
Website Evolution
After:
Website Stakeholders
Before• Homepage Committee• PR Committee• Web Administrator
After• 2 Web Managers• 25 Authors• 326 Registered Members; 130 Not Yet Approved
Special Invitation to CIL Attendees
It’s All About the People
I'm the IT Manager at SOLINET (a librarynetwork in Atlanta). One of my co-workerssent me the link to your new site as we arecurrently looking at redesigning our site andI'm always looking for ideas.
Your site looks great and you've included lotsof great features. I was impressed by yourblog posting than mentioned you were able todo this in just 9 months. I think that'simpressive.
- IT Manager, SOLINET
I love being able to add my own content to thewebsite, especially parts that update frequentlysuch as the New Resources.
- Amanda Stone
Reference Librarian
The remarks were made earlier today bya blind friend. She uses the Internetheavily but uses a quite old version ofJAWS running on a 5-year-old PC withWindows 2000 operating system. Ithought you would be pleased to knowhow easy it was for her to navigate.
- Reference Librarian Greenville County
The ease of adding news and links hasencouraged me to be more proactive insearching for content to add to our website. I am very happy with the new web site, andfind it easy to add content.
- Kecia Greer TBS Reader’s Advisor
Your site was easy to access and explorelinks!!!
- Library Patron
Joomla in a Nutshell
Easy Installation
Our Server Specs: Software
• PHP• MySQL• Joomla 1.02• Apache Server• XAMPP• Windows Server 2003
Hardware• CPU: Dual Xeon® 2.8 GHz• RAM: 2GB 400MHz DDR2• Storage: 36GB x 4 (RAID 5)• Tape Backup
Download Latest Joomla!
Prepare MySQL Database Unzip and Upload Files to Server
Browser Install
Template Design
Joomla Template Elements• Index.php
• template_css.css
• Images
• templateDetails.xml Joomla Template Flexibilities
• Movable Boxes
• Easy to Customize UI (User Interface)
Working with Content
Static Content• Assign Ownership• Instruct Staff in Adding Content (WYSIWYG)
Active Content• Sections, Categories and Content Items• User Submission Process• Review and Approval
User Contributed Content
WYSIWYG editor• Users Don’t Need to Know HTML • Pre-defined Content Formatting
Website Administration• Separation of Content and Form • Reinforcing Accessibility Guidelines• File Handling• Image Management
Joomla Extensions
Extensions• Templates
A templates defines the layout of your Joomla web site Front-end
• Components Components are core elements of
Joomla’s functionality.
• Modules Modules are small content items that can
be displayed anywhere that your template allows them to be displayed.
Administrator Control Panel
In Joomla Administrator Control
Panel, you can install
Components, Modules and
Templates easily.
Community Building Tools
Joomla and Library 2.0• Member Profiles• Discussion Forums• Calendar • RSS Feeds• Tag Clouds• Event Registration Management • Blogs• Groups • Photo Galleries• Book Reviews• More…
Community Building
Identify Targeted Groups and Interests Listen to User Input Offer Valuable Services That Are Easy to Use Train Community Users Have Fun!
Questions?
For discussions, additional information and updated slides, visit
Joomla in Libraries . com