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    • Broken images in preview: Unpublished images won’t display in preview.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)

Martian attack repelled; content management system implementation proceeds

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Sometimes during a major system implementation, sample messages inadvertently make their way to a live website. Such was the case yesterday when an orphaned training session alert went live on ten websites. The following message was displayed.

Sample alert message indicating Martians were attacking

Attack successfully repelled

We are excited to report that the attack was successfully repelled with only minor scratches suffered by the web support team. Web Support Help Desk supervisor Brian Heaton stated “…it was a brief but ferocious attack; it’s a great day to be a Bear!”

Implementation of new CMS continues

Progress on implementation of the new CMS continues, with ten MSU Springfield websites already live and plans to go-live in December with 60+ West Plains websites. Websites published from the new CMS, Omni CMS, include Marketing and Communications, Class Schedule, Catalogs,  Guide to Services, Visitors Guide and Research.

The Web Strategy and Development team recently led the process to acquire a new content management system (CMS) for university websites. This means that all Web Press sites will have an entirely new and improved editor experience. The name of product is Omni CMS, offered by Modern Campus (formerly OmniUpdate). The Omni CMS platform was developed specifically for Higher Education and has many features that we will utilize.

Some of the many advantages this new system will bring, are:

  • Regular online training for editors and administrators.
  • Online knowledge base and other resources.
  • More seamless editing with a deep link feature allowing you to login directly from the live website page you want to edit.
  • WYSIWYG editor with drag and drop functionality.
  • A pre-publish accessibility checker within the system.
  • A cloud hosted platform.
  • A cost effective solution.

We are planning for website migrations to occur as quickly as possible, but will probably extend into summer 2022. When we are ready to migrate your site, we will reach out to editors and work together to complete site migration to the new Omni CMS platform. Prior to that, we will be connecting with various departments and units to help ensure websites are up-to-date. In the meantime, please remove old and outdated content as time permits, which will help streamline the process and result in a more pristine website after migration.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions at WebSupport@MissouriState.edu.

New Content Management System Coming Soon

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The Web Strategy and Development team recently led the process to acquire a new content management system (CMS) for university websites. This means that all Web Press sites will have an entirely new and improved editor experience. The name of product is Omni CMS, offered by Modern Campus (formerly OmniUpdate). The Omni CMS platform was developed specifically for Higher Education and has many features that we will utilize.

Some of the many advantages this new system will bring, are:

  • Regular online training for editors and administrators.
  • Online knowledge base and other resources.
  • More seamless editing with a deep link feature allowing you to login directly from the live website page you want to edit.
  • WYSIWYG editor with drag and drop functionality.
  • A pre-publish accessibility checker within the system.
  • A cloud hosted platform.
  • A cost effective solution.

We are planning for website migration to take place in April and May of this year. When we are ready to migrate your site, we will reach out to editors and work together to complete site migration to the new Omni platform. Prior to that, we will be connecting with various departments and units to help ensure websites are up-to-date. Old and outdated content will need to be removed and cleaned up. This will result in a much smoother process and a more pristine website after migration.

We look forward to collaborating with our colleagues to usher all of our websites into this new platform. You’ll be hearing from us in April or May, but please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions at web@missouristate.edu.

 

 

Learn best practices for accessibility

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Join us for the 2019 Web Accessibility Summit, a conference about all things website accessibility for professionals in higher education and beyond, hosted this year by Missouri State University.

Details

When: May 29, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: Missouri State University, Glass Hall
Cost: $40

Workshops and track sessions will focus on how to make your web presence more accessible with technical and non-technical solutions. Networking opportunities will encourage sharing of information and resources with colleagues from around the state.

Missouri State faculty and staff should register through My Learning Connection. You may use your noncredit fee waiver to cover conference registration costs.

Non-MSU faculty and staff can register now.

Seating is limited so don’t delay.

Organizers

Several Missouri higher education institutions are organizing this event:

3 simple tips for improving your headlines

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Strong headlines are vital. They’re the billboards for your content.

Consider the classic 80-20 rule. For every 10 people who find your headline, eight will read the headline but only two will read the content.

Strong headlines entice your audience to keep reading.

You write headlines for many things: websites, articles and blogs, emails, social media and more.

Here are three basic tips for headline writing.

Know your audience, purpose and platform

Who are you writing for? What’s important to them? Why would your content interest them? Nick Usborne asks these questions, and others, as a starting basis in his Udemy course for headline writing.

If you know these answers, it’s easier to connect your audience with your content.

Audience/purpose: Your audience wants to know what’s in it for them. What will they get from reading your content?

Quality headlines suggest a benefit or gain.

Take the title of this blog post, for example. A very small time commitment (reading three simple tips) for a valuable outcome (improving your headlines).

Platform: Adjust your tone and style for the platform. Writing for alumni on Facebook is different than writing for current students on Twitter or Instagram.

Give direction or request action, but be brief

Guide your audience.

When we write headlines for the university homepage, we’re trying to get you to do something. We aren’t just making announcements or posting news releases.

Homepage of missouristate.edu showing featurette examples

These headlines typically begin with a verb or one of the five Ws: who, what, when, where and why, along with how. We want to give you an action to take, or help you learn about something.

Favor brevity and know your platform. Verbs are your friend. Long headlines with complex words are not.

Practice, practice, practice

Your first version of a headline won’t be your best headline. Try again. And again. And then maybe a few more times.

Upworthy writes 25 versions of a headline for each article. Try it.

Short on time? Even if you only write a dozen potential options, you’ll come up with a more effective headline than that first version.

In summary

There are many more tips for good headline writing not mentioned here.

Google “Tips for better headline writing” and you’ll have an endless amount of insight.

But these three tips should give you a start for improving your headlines.