The document discusses migrating from the current Lotus Notes system to a new content management system (CMS) in order to improve website accessibility, flexibility, and reduce maintenance costs. It evaluates options like commercial, open source, and custom-built systems before recommending building a new CMS using Ruby on Rails for the front end and CouchDB for the database and content delivery. The document outlines a step-by-step migration scenario to develop the new system in parallel and transition over time through testing, database migration, and redirecting old links. The planned timeframe is to start implementation in January and launch the new CMS in production by November.

1. New CMS
Options and Implementation

2. in 30 Min.
What we have now
Alternatives
Migration Scenario
Technical Challenges

3. IDMC website?
Database
CMS
Content Delivery System

4. What we have
now

5. Lotus Notes
Meant to be a collaboration Database System
Used mostly as email server/client
It’s a document based database

6. Database
Schema
The website database is
divided into different database
files, each include different
documents with different
fields and forms.

7. In document based database all document
related information are saved together in one
document.

8. While in relational database a document may
spread over several tables.

9. each type has advantages and
disadvantages, but our data
currently uses the document type
model.

10. Lotus Notes Setup
Database CMS Web Serv.
Lotus Notes
All integrated together
Difficult/Buggy to separate them

11. Servers Setup
Online 20 min.
In-House ActiveWeb
Solutions
IDMC website Setup
ActiveWeb = Public Server
Code is locked at Online Solutions

12. Alternatives

13. Why Switch? :)
Web Accessibility
Flexibility in design
SEO enhancement & Semantic Layout
New web standard (resent year, HTML5 etc.)
Maintenance & Hosting Cost

14. Options
Commercial
Open Source
In-House Tailored

15. Commercial Systems
What we have now :)
We don’t own the code
Cost for setup, support and plugins
Not open to community contributions
Same time and effort to setup
Usually are retagged open source project
Built for web-masters
Force the client to adopt their workflow

16. Open Source
More options
Good for simple websites and blogs (OOB)
We can modify the code
Continuously evolving
Same time and effort to setup
Still built mostly for web-masters
Force the client to adopt their workflow
Less setup cost, good extensions are not free

17. Keep in mind
Already identified database schema
Won’t work out of the box
We need to pick one with editors support

18. In-House tailored CMS
Design based on our data model
Flexibility in improvements (we own the code)
Ease of database migration
Based on the same code and database of
alternatives solutions - not from scratch
solution! but not a copycat also.

19. Recommendation
Use Ruby on Rails for front end CMS
CouchDB for Database and Content Serving
Same technology used with GO/LI Forms
Same is used by Twitter, Yellow Pages, Hulu,
Basecamp etc.
Popular, open source, easy to use, fast to
develop with.
Built in support of RESTful URLs
Tons of free open source plugins (gems)

20. RESTful URLs &
Breadcrumbs
http://www.internal-displacement.org/africa/central-african-republic/causes-
and-background/background-to-the-displacement-situation
VS.
http://www.internal-displacement.org/idmc/website/countries.nsf/
(httpEnvelopes)/46F3AA2460658FACC125726B004F9DAB?
OpenDocument#9.2.3

21. Migration
Scenario

22. Parallel
Systems
Keep the old system
while developing a new
one in parallel would
guarantees ease of test
and a view of comparison
between them.

23. Step by step
Build a new database model
(improve the old one)
Sample Data
Build the CMS forms/list based on the new
model
Build website templates
Complete migration of Database
Build a redirect procedure for old link types
Configure a new server for the new CMS

24. Step by step cont.
Test
Migrate Web Stats
Setup email notification service
Migrate the Domain name
More tests to insure complete migration

25. Time Frame

26. Planning and research from now till the end of
the year.
Start implementation by January.
Have it in production by November
Keep supporting Lotus Notes and address any
problem during the above.

27. Questions