Starting a Web Office from
Scratch: Trials and Tales

committees, policies, guidelines

politics

Structure of team

function - services based agency /
global function

department location - IT VS marketing
vs hybrid
Size of university matter?
Quality of skill in each area matters
Front end engineering, usability are key
progressive in nature vs guarded

CMS - content / content providers
Buy vs Build
Workflow
Content Creators are empowered
Setting limits and sticking to them
Training for best practices
Not a silver bullet, doesn't fix people problems, doesn't write
copy
Be sure to enforce consistent style - writing, code, design

web groups

communication

project management
Centralize email address vs service request form
Project management takes a lot of time
Streamlining and getting the most bang for the buck
Time is finite, you can always add more people
find what works for you, be sure everyone is comfortable
and do it all in, halfway doesnt work

strategy / playbook

user centric

avoid bloat
under do, they don't need all those features
say no and make decisions based on need
Be the expert, that is why they hired you, bring backup to
statements you make
out of date and inconsistent
API's
global directories
Optimize for front end usage
Cache Everything.

processes
New Site vs. Redesign vs. Realign
Everything starts with the needs and goals
Then moves to navigation
Then content
Design, programming, testing
Refactoring once content is placed is not a bad thing
Internal team flow
Openess
Willingness to change
What is efficent for others may not be for you

measurement / goals

challenge your team and your
university to be better
Higher Ed Web Galleries
Internal Awards
Stats and trends show progress
Speaking and presenting to share your talent with others

rouge faculty/staff will always test their
limits
Give someone an inch and they will take a mile.
Allowing PHP, Script or other tags in your CMS
Poorly written code can be exploited very fast
Updates (esp security updates) need to happen often
Align with those that are a voice of reason, identify early
adopters and work with them

Questions?

Thank you.
Nick DeNardis
@nickdenardis
nick.denardis@gmail.com
Matt Herzberger
@mherzber
mherzberger@gmail.com