Web Strategy and Development Blog

Recap: Hello Omni CMS, goodbye Web Press!

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During MarCom Training Week, the office of web strategy and development presented “Hello Omni CMS, goodbye Web Press!”

The goal: Help all web editors become familiar and comfortable with using the university’s new content management system (CMS), Omni CMS.

A summary of the presentation is detailed below. You can also download the full presentation (.pdf).

What’s changed and basics

Compared to the old system, Omni CMS is easier and quicker to use.

Key takeaways:

  • To log-in, just go to the page you want to edit and scroll to the very bottom. Look for the little copyright-looking symbol (c). This is the DirectEdit link. Click it.
  • To start editing your page, select the green rectangle icon labeled “Main Region.”
  • To navigate between pages or sections of your site, select Content->Pages. All pages are saved as .pcf files. Your “homepage” is always default.pcf.
  • WYSIWYG Toolbar: Where all the editing magic happens. This is where you add, edit or enhance your content.
  • Dashboard: The command center for all your editing activities.
  • Global navigation links are displayed site-wide. Local navigation links are limited to a specific page.

Design system

The web design system is the foundation for building your pages.

Key takeaways:

  • Everything comes from snippets (puzzle piece), components (atom icon) and assets (box with arrows).
    • Snippets: The starting point for building your page. Grids are the most common. Grids “hold” your content.
    • Components: Where you showcase or highlight your content. Examples include touts, call to action (CTA) and more.
    • Assets: Specialized, frozen content. Maps, catalog content and policies are the most common.
  • Use the elements guide for determining how these items should be used.
  • Make sure your content is accessible and legible to all.

Access and support

How to get access or request help for updating your website.

Key takeaways:

  • Know the steps for becoming a web editor.
  • Contact us or review our documentation if you need help.
  • Common support questions:
    • Directory and profiles: Profile details are updated by our office. Office location and phone number can be updated by the individual person.
    • Broken images in preview: Unpublished images won’t display in preview. You must publish the photo(s) for them to display in preview mode.
    • Forms: A work in progress. Minor edits to frozen forms can only be made by our office.

Download the full presentation: Hello Omni CMS, goodbye Web Press! (.pdf)

The latest on academic website redesigns

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Over the past year, many of Missouri State’s academic websites have undergone redesigns.

Here’s a recap of what we’ve done and what’s ahead.

MCHHS websites

As part of a comprehensive marketing project with the college, many of the redesigns have focused on the McQueary College of Health and Human Services and its departments.

We started with the college site and went from this:

Homepage of former McQueary College of Health and Human Services website.
Previous MCHHS homepage.

To this:

Homepage of McQueary College of Health and Human Services website.
New homepage highlights MCHHS’s degree programs.

The new MCHHS website went live last fall.

By the numbers

The success of the MCHHS redesign is shown in the numbers.

Through Google Analytics, we compared a three-period for the website: pre-redesign and post-redesign.

Highlights include:

  • The removal of outdated pages cutting down on unwanted or misguided traffic.
    • Bounce rate is down from 83% to 28%.
    • Session duration is up from 1:09 to 1:32.
  • Site traffic is more qualified. Our users are more likely to find what they need. Top page views were:
  • Major reduction of bounce rates on all devices. Especially mobile (reduced to 29% from 87%).
  • Pre-redesign, there were top referrers that looked to be internal (Word, Teamwork) and now those referrers are what they should be: Google, search.missouristate, direct, Twitter, Facebook.

Going forward, we plan to continue emphasizing analytics in our redesign strategy.

More on MCHHS

We’ve also completed recent redesigns for two MCHHS departments: the School of Nursing and the new public health and sports medicine department.

These new websites feature the key aspects of our redesign strategies over the past 12 months:

  • Concise, SEO-friendly messaging (using terms like “major” and “degree” more often) on the homepage and program pages. Example: BSN-Completion for nursing.
  • Prominent call-to-action (CTA) buttons.
  • Less clutter overall and a more more-friendly website.

Over the next 18-24 months, all department websites under MCHHS will undergo redesigns.

Other redesigned websites

Key highlights for journalism program on media, journalism and film website.
The journalism section of the redesigned media, journalism and film website. Each degree program on redesigned sites has a “Why earn this degree?” section that uses photography to highlight its unique aspects.

Through the academic website project, several other departments and programs have undergone redesigns over the last year as well.

Defense and strategic studies got a much-needed refresh. The new website highlights DSS’s unique programs and location (Washington, D.C.)

Other redesigns since 2020 include:

What’s ahead

The COVID-19 pandemic has slowed down our redesign workflow.

In the coming months, we’re hoping to pick up our usual pace and continue these redesigns, which we normally rotate among Missouri State’s eight colleges.

Learn more about the Academic Website Project.

New design for university websites

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We’re excited to announce that Missouri State University websites will soon have a fresh look. The first change comes next week on the homepage.

Our goal: to create an action-oriented experience for future Bears. The new homepage will also showcase bold video, imagery and content elements.

What’s new

All Missouri State University websites hosted in Web Press are moving to new templates.

In late April, we’ll start the transition with the release of a new homepage.

Top portion of new Missouri State University homepage.
A sneak-peak of the new homepage. The modern look includes an expansive “hero” video area.
New Missouri State University homepage on mobile view.
The new homepage on mobile view.

Other highlights on the new homepage include:

  • An admissions-focused layout. We’ve made it easier to apply, visit and donate to Missouri State.
  • A carousel of stories, centered around student success.
  • Upcoming events in an easy-to-read format, with quick links to the full calendar.
  • Bold, impactful stats that detail university accomplishments.

The new templates have other options for design layouts, too.

All MSU Web Press sites will switch to the new templates, and we will release a schedule for this move later in the year.

For questions or concerns

If you have any questions or feedback, please contact us.

Template version 2018.11.0 released

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Added

  • Dynamically generated changelog to documentation section
  • New patterns:
    • Degree plan
    • Job description
    • Religious lives of women profile
    • Homepage alert

Changed

  • Location of image and script assets from deprecated external folders to currently-managed msuwds folder
  • Blog and calendar feeds to use new loader animation
  • File structure of course and degree patterns

Fixed

  • Visible search button artifact on global masthead

Template version 2018.10.0 released

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Added

  • Default styles for description lists
  • Task for testing accessibility of patterns with Axe
  • Terminal messages to clarify task initiating at during build
  • Consistent element state (link, visited, hover, active) styles to links and buttons

Changed

  • All list styles to have greater consistency among each other
  • Catalog degree pattern to use notice pattern include instead of static HTML
  • Gulp task structure to reduce redundancies and further streamline the various build processes

Fixed

  • Legend series labels showing in reverse order on stacked bar charts
  • Spacing inconsistencies within:
    • feed items
    • overall grid structure
  • Invalid div nested within button on accordion pattern
  • Inconsistent heading structure within scholarship pattern
  • Hanging Gulp processes
  • Error when copying out UI theme
  • Styling issues regarding links with .Button class

Removed

  • Styles that caused double underline on hyperlinked acronyms