Overview
Executive Summary
The University website is implemented on the Polopoly CMS platform. Following on from previous work, in 2012 a project (UWS006) was completed to create a Drupal Proof of Concept Evaluation to evaluate the suitability of the Drupal CMS platform for the University website. The final report recommended that some further investigation be completed (UWP002 Drupal Further Investigation and Training) but that fundamentally Drupal offered an exciting range of opportunities for the future development of the University’s website. Following on from this project a business requirements exercise was undertaken to document the requirements for the new CMS UWP001 Drupal Business Requirements and Business Case.
This project will deliver the new University-wide CMS and migrate the current LIVE content from Polopoly to the new CMS. The CMS will be built based on the User Stories documented as part of the requirements gathering delivered and signed off during the project UWP001.
Business Objectives, Deliverables and Success Criteria
No | Description | Success Criteria | Priority |
| Development | |||
O1 | To deliver a new University-wide CMS that meets the needs of the user community based on the User stories as prioritised by UWP. The new CMS will provide better support for mobile devices and offer content producers an easier, more adaptable system, while also providing at least the equivalent level of functionality of Polopoly. |
| M |
D 1.1 | a. Deliver a new and improved CMS that allows the current devolved publishing model to continue functioning as outlined in the user stories (business requirements). The CMS must be easy to use by non-specialist and occasional editors. b. The website delivered by new CMS must include a responsive design supporting mobile devices and provide an improved web experience for the website visitor. | a.
b.
| M |
| D 1.2 | Implementation of new CMS to DEV, TEST, STAGING, TRAIN and LIVE environments. The new CMS infrastructure must support the service in a performant, scalable and resilient manner. |
| M |
| D 1.3 | Develop technical support materials and handover system support to Production Management |
| M |
| Content Migration | |||
O2 | To migrate current LIVE content from Polopoly to the new Drupal based CMS. Also, to create a manageable/realistic transition plan that can be achieved with the resources available and within the timescales agreed |
| |
| D 2.1 | Engage and consult with all units/schools using old CMS, so they understand steps involved and are prepared for the transition/migration when their turn comes. |
| M |
D 2.1 | Complete a full audit of all current websites and their content – activities to included quantify number of individual websites, their size, number of editors involved, etc. |
| M |
D 2.2 | Initial editorial migration – following technical migration, review content to check that automated migration has worked properly, quantify the type and range of editorial activities required to make content fit the new site structure, content layouts and CMS editorial functionality. |
| M |
| D 2.3 | Produce a robust and manageable migration process that can be tailored and repeated for all units currently publishing in old CMS/Polopoly. |
| M |
| D 2.4 | Rollout of migration process/activity – following the successful initial migration (both technical and editorial), work with each unit/school to successfully move content from the old CMS to the new CMS. |
| M |
| D 2.5 | Decommission Polopoly |
| M |
| Training and Support | |||
| O3 | To provide the required training and support infrastructure to allow UWP to support the new service and ensure that users are trained to publish content to the new CMS and that the new service is suitable for all levels of users. | ||
| D 3.1 | Interface usability, design and development – to ensure interfaces are kept easy to use so that the training overhead is kept to a minimum. |
| M |
| D 3.2 | Develop training and support materials and train initial users involved in the initial migration |
| M |
| D 3.4 | Initial training delivery – support staff and initial users |
| M |
| D 3.5 | Rollout training delivery – regular training for all staff as each unit’s website is transferred from old to new CMS |
| M |
| D 3.6 | Deliver familiarisation/training for support staff to support service transition management |
| M |
| D 3.7 | Develop SLA and OLAs for the new Drupal Service |
| M |
| Change Advisory Board | |||
| O4 | Establish a Change Advisory Board (CAB) to enable ongoing management and development of the core CMS whilst enabling local development contributions. | ||
| D 4.1 |
|
| M |
| CMS Service | |||
| O5 | To increase the number of units/schools engaging with the central CMS service either directly or indirectly. In order to achieve this the new service should offer different levels of service and support according to the varying needs of different units/schools | ||
| D 5.1 | The project should provide a core profile of Drupal modules that may be used and modified or further developed by units/schools out with the central service. Appropriate levels of support available from the central CMS will be defined. |
| M |
| D 5.2 | Where possible liaison with other HE institutions using Drupal. |
| D |
Scope
The scope of the project is to deliver a University-wide CMS using Drupal Open Source software, migrate the current LIVE content from Polopoly to Drupal and provide training materials and associated support related documentation for the new service. This project will be delivered over two years, however, the it is planned to go live with an initial site in July 2014 and continue development and migration throughout 2014/15. While the main focus of the migration will be from Polopoly, it is expected that some non Polopoly content will be migrated. Plans for migrating this non-Polopoly content will be made when details of the source system and content are made available by content owners.
Additional Information for key milestones
- Development Phase 1 Review (Basic editorial functionality): At the end of phase 1 the CMS will have basic functionality. This will include basic editorial functionality, basic IA and basic user management.
- Initial Launch Units/Websites Agreed: Websites that will form the initial launch are agreed with business units
- Development Phase 2 Review (Content for reuse, basic dashboard, basic search. migration): At the conclusion of phase 2 the CMS will be enhanced with basic dashboard and search functions, the ability to reuse content, deletion and archiving and features to support migration. The principles of content types will also be defined.
- Development Phase 3 Review (Themeing, advanced image and doc mgt, basic proxy functionality): The end of phase 3 will see the CMS include theming, advanced image and document management as well as additional editorial functions. Consolidated central user management and basic proxy functionality will also be delivered.
- Migration Process Review: Migration process is tested, reviewed and agreed.
- Initial Delivery: Agreed websites are migrated to new CMS
- Development Phase 4 Review (Advanced/devolved user mgt, advanced dashboard, advanced proxy functionality): By completion of phase 4 advanced /devolved user management, advanced dashboard and search as well as advanced proxy functionality will be added to the CMS.
- Initial Deployment Review: After this review of the initial deployment the complete migration plan will then be progressed.
- Development phases 4, 5 and final build release, will include forms, feedback, additional CS customisation and potentially other outstanding “shoulds” and “coulds”
Build Milestones Sign Off
In addition to the core project team, the build milestones will be signed off by:
- Project Sponsor (Dawn Ellis)
- Product Owner (Neil Allison)
- Senior User(s) (TBD)
- Senior Supplier (Dave Berry)
Migration Process
After the initial site launch and migration, the remaining websites in Polopoly will be continually migrated throughout 2014/15, as per the plan produced for the Migration Process Review. With over 80 sites to migrate the progress will be reported regularly to the Project Board. The migration process is expected to be largely automated with some editorial effort required after sites are migrated to the new CMS.
Out of scope This project will not include incorporating new websites who do not currently use Polopoly into the centrally provided CMS.
Category
This is a funded project.