Below are the blog entries for May 2009
Participate in our CMS Weekly Webinar, Every Tuesday at 2!
By Morgan Griffith
Friday, May 29th, 2009 at 10:00am
We have lots of visitors and prospects that browse our site daily looking for information that will help them understand the full capabilities of Cascade Server. While we constantly post new content and resources that will aid them in doing so, sometimes the best way to understand a solution as comprehensive as a web content management system is to do so in person.
We also realize, however, that not everyone has the time or resources for an on-site CMS demo early in the prospecting game. For this reason, we offer our Cascade Server Weekly Webinar each and every Tuesday at 2pm EDT.
Our Webinars are held via GoToMeeting and typically last around 45 minutes, depending on the depth of questions after the webinar. Our Cascade Server Weekly Webinar is a great way for potential executive users and decision makers to get a glimpse of our enterprise content management system and the painpoints our solution helps solve.
Webinars are intended to provide a no-pressure group atmosphere for people to get a more general understanding of our system, how it's laid out, and how it helps ease the burden of managing web content.
If you're interested in seeing Cascade Server in action, we encourage you to sign-up for our Weekly Webinar. It's a great way to help you immediately identify whether Cascade Server has the potential to meet your organizational web content management needs. Our next webinar will take place this upcoming Tuesday, June 2nd, at 2pm EDT. We look forward to seeing you there!
Category
- Resources
Best Practices for CMS Web Teams
By Morgan Griffith
Thursday, May 21st, 2009 at 11:00am
Before acquiring a CMS, it's critical to identify the individuals involved with administering, managing, supporting, and contributing to your organization's content management efforts. This involves documenting current Web team roles and anticipating new roles that will exist as a result of CMS acquisition.
The exact roles and number of people involved will vary on a per-case basis, and depending upon size, many organizations can successfully implement a CMS solution without every role listed below. This is intended to serve as a guide to get you thinking about the typical roles that you may need for your content management implementation.
In addition to one person responsible for overall management of the site, typically referred to as a Webmaster, the ideal post-CMS acquisition Web team is typically comprised of two sub-departments or teams:
- System Administration & Development Web team
- Content Web team
**Please note that the size and structure of your ideal Web team may differ; many organizations can and have successfully implemented and integrated their CMS with fewer or more positions than we list here.
System Administration & Development Web Team
This is the team that manages the back-end of your web site, including everything from database, server, and application management to server-side scripting and knowledge of languages such as PHP, Java, and ColdFusion. Programmers and back-end technical specialists familiar with the right languages for your system are critical for effective maintenance and management of your CMS solution. On the design side of things, you may have a template and site-design guru, a graphic designer, and even a programmer for implementing items like SWF (Shockwave Flash) and JavaScript on your site.
Those who support and administer your CMS implementation will also be included on this team. Your CMS support specialists are the ones who oversee the use and processes associated with your content management system. The support team will often include a project manager or Webmaster, who is responsible for the general oversight of your site and implementation. This person serves as the go-to contact for any concerns, ideas, or issues related to your site and your content management system. A System Administrator will also be part of this team, and serve as the point person for managing the technical aspects of your CMS implementation.
Content Web Team
Content Web specialists are responsible for things like your site's ease-of-use and accessibility, design, and content. On the content side, roles such as content contributors, marketing writers, and copy editors are all typical content-focused positions dealing with client-facing site materials. By taking on the responsibility of content development, contributions and improvement, this team allows the developers and system administrators of your organization to focus on the set-up and management of your site.
This team should be made up of experts on the messaging of your organization -- those who can effectively contribute valuable content to your site and use appropriate keywords to ensure relevancy when content is searched. Content contributors can include faculty and staff updating course listings, marketers creating and editing 'About Us' content, and rich media experts who can upload and place files and graphics in the necessary areas of your site.
Aside from ensuring adequate staffing when taking on a CMS implementation, being technically prepared is of equal importance. For a breakdown of technical requirements, please visit our WCM requirements page.
Category
- Resources
Cascade Server Firefox Extension Updated for 6.x Compatibility
By Morgan Griffith
Thursday, May 14th, 2009 at 12:30pm
The Hannon Hill engineering team is always working to further streamline your daily use of Cascade Server. For instance, our engineers released the first version of the Cascade Server Firefox Extension last year, putting many of Cascade Server's features a simple right-click away. With the April release of Cascade 6.0, the team again updated the extension to be compatible with our flagship product's latest features.
If you're interested in learning more about the Cascade Server Firefox Extension, you may visit this previous blog post announcing its initial release.
The extension is available for download here: http://www.hannonhill.com/downloads/cascade.xpi, or you may also download it from the Mozilla's Firefox Add-Ons page.
Category
- Resources
2009 User's Conference: A Can't-Miss For New Cascade CMS Users
By Sam Beresford
Thursday, May 7th, 2009 at 10:21am
While we pride ourselves on our Knowledge Base and our top-notch client service, there's simply no substitute for listening to an engineer explain a process in person or grabbing some knowledge from a peer over breakfast. For users who are new to Cascade Server and still adjusting to its nuances and terminology, attending the 2009 Cascade Server User's Conference is a phenomenal opportunity; the insight and expertise shared by our presenters, from both Hannon Hill and our clients, is immensely valuable in getting Cascade Server implemented, adopted, and used to maximum effect.
Last year, our speaker line-up featured a mix of equally impressive presenters culled from both our own office and our client list. Eric Palmer, the Director of Web Services at the University of Richmond, provided an in-depth look at how his department streamlined the university's online and print course catalog publishing by combining the operations using Cascade Server. Ross Williams, Hannon Hill's Services Trainer, gave a fantastic overview of the ever-important workflow process and how it can be integrated into practices already being used in the workplace. Justin Klingman, the Senior Web Designer and Lead CMS Specialist at Beacon Technologies (a Hannon Hill partner), led a 'cheat sheet' session for end users, offering an array of tips and tricks, including content re-use, JavaScript application integration, and search engine marketing techniques. In addition, attendees were able to hear about plans for future versions of Cascade Server straight from Hannon Hill's Director of Engineering, Bradley Wagner.
Along with the array of highly informative presentations from the people who make Cascade Server and the users who've mastered it, there's our venue, the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center, the SWAG, and last but certainly not least, the food; check out our last blog post for the lowdown on all that good stuff. Add it all up, and the 2009 Cascade Server User's Conference represents an incredible opportunity for sharing, learning, and networking, particularly for new Cascade users who are eager to take advantage of our dedicated and informative community. In closing, we want this entry to serve as our official invite to all of the clients we've signed since the 2008 Cascade Server User's Conference -- register now to attend the 2009 Cascade Server User's Conference!
Category
- Events
Sign-up for our weekly webinar or contact us if we can help in any way.
