WebSite Content Management
Press Article from Luxembourg Business - May 1999
Keeping visitors happy through regular updating
While spending time surfing the Internet, either for work or leisure purposes, one comes across WebSites of varying complexity, presentation, navigation, and content. While the first three of the above are all or partly the responsibility of (internal or external) technical resources, content relies on a different perspective.
To provide up-to-date information on the organizations products, services, etc., the WebSite and its content need to be continuously maintained. This is normally the responsibility of an individual, business unit, or department within the organization itself, but sometimes the information gathering, data collection, and WebSite content update is outsourced to a content provider or WebSite content editor.
<*dv_0*>Whichever approach is adopted, it needs to result in regular updates to the WebSite content. There is nothing more frustrating for a WebSite visitor than to come across a site which says its last update was months previously. This discourages visitors from returning.
This situation normally stems from a number of reasons:
- The WebSite was created and launched without the necessary attention and (financial and personnel) resources being deployed, after a quick, easy, and cheap solution was adopted.
- Little or no attention was paid to content management or WebSite updating, as the Web Designer / HTML Author was concentrating on implementing the site by working on design and development.
- No forward planning was achieved, thus resulting in problems when issues such as content update and modifications to the WebSite structure have been identified.
- Manual updates to unstructured HTML code are sometimes possible by content editors unfamiliar with WebSite technicalities, but deploying technical resources on an regular or ad hoc basic for content management issues are not normally cost effective.
The Answer is to deploy an information management system, ensuring non-technical content editors can undertake content management tasks without relying on technical assistance. Depending on the requirements, different solutions can be tailored to the organizations needs. They can consist of one or more of the following:
Templates
These can be developed according to the organizations WebSite design. The template can then be used from a standard HTML editor. Stylesheets can also be adopted throughout the WebSite, closely linking with templates and enabling future global changes to the WebSite.
A related concept to templates involves Wizards which prompt users for answers to questions, as in many mainstream software packages nowadays.
The resulting pages are then uploaded to the web server. If the web page is new, instead of a modification to an existing page, the (parent) web page which links to it also needs to be updated, unless dynamic scripts are used (see below).
Content Applications
These can be developed for use by a content editor, who uses a web browser-accessible form to enter data. Clicking on the submit button results in a HTML page being produced with the newly-entered data positioned and presented as appropriate, based on a script-based template. Uploading the page to the web server completes the task.
Database Applications
These are normally used when a large amount of data is held on the site, the data changes frequently, and/or dynamic web pages or search facilities are supported in the site.
Data is held in a structured database format and two applications are normally deployed - one for providing dynamic pages and / or querying and reporting facilities in the WebSite, the other for the content editor to manage the site content. Usually add, delete, and modify facilities are supported by an application which is securely accessible via a standard web browser.
Client Applications
These can be developed to reside on a content editor's computer, and are usually deployed when the content editor is already responsible for managing the same data for existing traditional publishing requirements.
When the data has been produced for existing publishing requirements, an easy-to-run application can be launched which publishes electronically, by converting the data into a pre-defined format and then uploading to the web server. The corresponding database / WebSite application then produces the new data as required.
The Result is that as soon as the data has been updated, in the database or otherwise, by the content editor, the WebSite visitor has access to this new data without any delay or technical intervention.
Following the implementation of one of the above solutions, or a combination based on multiple aspects and tailored to specific needs, WebSites can be managed by an organizations content editor and be supported by internal or external technical experts.
If they have done their job well, the technical experts will not be needed, at least until the WebSite requires enhancement of a different nature.
This article first appeared in the October 1999 issue of Luxembourg Business. It is the Copyright (1999) of International City Magazines (ICM S.a.r.l.) and we use it with their kind permission.
