Web Support Services
Content Management System
News
Reed's Fall 2005 Catalog is our first site to utilize the content management system. Check it out.
Introduction
Under the direction of the web policy committee, CIS has been evaluating systems that will help make Reed’s web site more robust and easier to maintain. This should be welcome news to individuals and departments that have struggled to maintain their web sites with traditional web editing tools like Dreamweaver. The advent of content management systems (CMS) has helped to make web maintenance easier in a number of ways. A CMS can provide:
- an easy, web-based interface for editing web pages;
- pre-defined templates so it is easier to make use of good design;
- automated sharing of content that is used in more than one location, such as course descriptions and event information;
- the ability to publish the same content in multiple formats, such as a web page and a PDF or Word file; and
- automated navigational elements such as expandable menus and "crumb trails."
We have selected Cascade (formerly ContentXML) from Hannon Hill as Reed’s content management system. In our product evaluations, Cascade proved to be full-featured, flexible, affordable, easy to use, and easy to set up, making for relatively quick site deployments. Moreover, web sites generated via Cascade can co-exist with traditional web sites, so we are not forced to migrate the entire Reed web site all at once.
Our first new site in the CMS will be Reed’s News Center, which is scheduled to go live in early August. The 2005-06 college catalog will be the next major site to be published. CIS will also be creating templates for departmental web sites and will begin working directly with departments to migrate their sites in the fall. Please contact Marianne Colgrove if you would like more information on migrating your website.
As the CMS project progresses, more information will be posted to this web site.