By
Laura Folio
Friday, February 1st, 2008 at 3:30pm
I recently joined the Hannon Hill team and most of my previous marketing experience required very little technical skill beyond email. One of my first projects was to begin updating the online Knowledge Base for one of our product lines. This meant modifying a substantial amount of information on our website and even building some new pages. Having to edit and create my own web content was a pretty intimidating task. However, part of the process of updating our own website involves using our very own CMS product, Cascade Server. Once I was introduced to the fundamentals of Cascade, I realized making the updates myself wouldn't be as hard as I had imagined.
I'm sure many of you out there are faced with a similar dilemma. For most technically unsaavy folks out there who are more frequently browsing web content then creating it, the thought of updating a web site or building a new page may be overwhelming. If the products or services your company offers are anything like ours and constantly shifting and adapting to new trends, your team is also constantly striving to stay on-top of the content and message your site is presenting. Yet, for many busy IT departments in companies across the country, updating the company website with each new tip and trick discovered is not a top priority. This can lead to customers with lots of questions, or even lost sales because product updates are not being communicated in a timely manner.
Whether you're an IT expert or not, a user-friendly CMS can make it easy to perform updates yourself, with little or no knowledge of the more technical skills involved in creating a website. (I can attest!) By managing these updates within your department, you can be sure to have the most up-to-date information available for your customers and avoid the IT bottleneck. So, just how does Cascade Server make keeping up with your website so easy?
Familiar Interface
Cascade Server uses a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor that is similar to a basic word processor. Users are able to format their text and see how it will appear without any HTML coding. Inserting images and links takes just a few clicks of a button. It's also painless to create a copy of your page - so you can simply change the content and keep the same layout, making the process of creating new and consistent pages less of a headache.
Minimal Learning Curve
As I mentioned above, our CMS uses a functional layout that you are already familiar with. Because of this, it's simple for multiple users across departments to get the hang of the system. This means you won't need endless training sessions and tutorials to get moving. Hannon Hill also offers an extensive online knowledge base and great support from real, live humans when you do need some extra help.
Central Organization
Cascade Server allows your company to store everything in one place instead of spreading it across multiple servers. Permission levels for different user groups makes it easy to ensure that everyone has access only to the appropriate content. This allows updates to be made across the organization by subject matter experts. The templates and formatting keep everyone's work looking consistent. Because Cascade Server is web-based, employees who travel frequently or telecommute can have access to the system at all times, making time sensitive updates a breeze.
Version Control
If you're not ready to go live, your CMS ensures that you can save your work without publishing it. You can also preview your content right in the Cascade Server interface. If you hit publish a little too quickly, don't panic -- version control allows you to restore your previous page with the click of a button. In fact, a CMS can save all of the previous versions of your page, neatly displaying when and by whom the last updates were made.
Easy Approvals
When you delegate work to other members of the team, it can be hard to keep up with who is assigned to what project and monitor progress. In Cascade, Workflow Managment makes sure that all content runs through the appropriate checks and balances before going live. Additionally, the Audits and Reporting function makes allows the administrator or department head to quickly view all user activity on the system and keep abreast of all updates being made.
So bypass the IT department next time you need to make up update. Trust me, it will help you stay on their good side for when you really DO need their help.
Category
- Commentary
