Hosting and Administering Multiuser
CMSs for Higher Education
Eric Scott Sembrat
October 2016
edUi Conference
SaveUs,SelfService!
Eric Sembrat
Web Manager at Georgia Tech
Graduate Student at Georgia State
Lives in Atlanta, GA
Ziggy.DOGHubble.DOGSara.FIANCEE
@esembrat
webbeh.com
edui@edui: ~$ ./agenda-for-today
1
Common Problems with Web
The issues we all face on a daily basis -
documentation, best practices, and security.
2
Self-Service Web 101
Get the details on what self-service is, who is
leveraging it, and the benefits.
3
How do I Self-Service?
A quick synopsis of the project plan for
selecting a self-service application.
4
Growing Your Application
Now that you have an application, how do
you maintain and extend it for your unit?
Oh,OurCommon
WebProblems
Whenlookingatlarger
decentralizedorganizations,
there’sacommonthreadin
issuesandproblems
facingwebdevelopment.
thewebisn’talright
Branding

Experience

Security

Technology
4areasofconcern:
Branding
branding
education
ismoreimportant

thanever.
branding
however,mostDIY
attempts
are
dreadful
examples
let’sseesome
Typicallyrequiretechnical
expertisetoaccurately
implement.
brandingresources
Tendtolagbehind
centrally-maintained
trendsandbestpractices.
Experience
webeditors
smallscaleunitshave
whicharen’tregularwebusers

orwhichhavemanymorejobduties.
teachable?
CSS,Javascript,PHP,CMSAPIs…
or,isthereabetterway?
Security
security
today,we’reforcedtoconfront
fromallareasofweb.
ServerLayer

WebApplicationLayer

WebApplicationPlugins

UserAccounts
DDoS

Phishing
experts
doweforceourwebuserstobe
inupdatingandsecuritymanagement?
access
or,moreimportantly
tosecurityandupdates?
shouldweevengiveend-users
whynot
centralize?
Technology
websites
howdowekeep
uptospeedonbest-practices?

strictforlegalrequirements?
readyforupcomingtrends?
responsive
takethelastbigseismicshift:
mediaqueries?
doyoursmallwebsiteownerswrite
https
whatabout
?
Self-service
totherescue
once
wouldn’titbegreatifthese
challengescouldbefixed
forallwebsitesunderan

umbrella?
self-service
enter
self-service
whatis
anyways?
self-serviceseparatesthe
setup&configuration
fromthe
sitemaintenance
Sets up configuration.
applicationmaintainers:
end-users:
Selects and configures appearance.
Creates and edits content.
Enables features and plugins.
Applies security + app updates.
Adds new features and plugins.
Develops campus-specific features.
Conducts training.
provisioned
websitesare
notconstructed.
user-created
contentis
usingcurated/approvedassets.
whousesthis?
(andmore)
SelectaCMSfor
development
planning
thekeychallengeis
and
logistics
planning
whoisthisintendedfor?

whatismyend-goal?
whatismysuccessmetric?

wherewillthissystemlive?
whatsystemsareavailable?

whatframework/systemwillIuse?
logistics
whatfeaturesareneeded?
whatpluginsarerequired?
willIneedatheme?
willIneedcustomplugins?
whatabouttraining?
whataboutdocumentation?
cost
and,aboveall
(whatcanweafford?)
productprice
costiseitherdeterminedby:
development
price
or(usually)
eachhavetheirprosandcons.
productcost
eachhavetheirprosandcons.
development
cost
howtofind
afteransweringallthequestions
possiblesolutions?
1
talktopeerinstitutions
researchtheirsolutions,

challenges,projects,and

futureoutlook.
2
initiateabetatestgroup
findtestusersinyour

primaryaudiencestoserve

aspristineguineapigs.
theirfeedbackisgenuine.
3
findpotentialsolutions
afterresearch,cometothe

tablewithoptionsfora

solution.
(cost,features,flexibility,etc)
4
test,react,andanalyze
letyourbetatestersexplore.
letthembreakthings.seeif

whatyourgoalsarematch

reality.
makenotes.interview.keep

metrics.
5
touchbasewithreality
lookatresultsand

summarizeallmajorkey

points,challenges,and

successesforeachtool.
6
takeabreak.
you’vedonealotsofar.
7
weigheachoption.
scoresolutionbyits

strengthsandweakness.
comparewithcurrenton-
campussolutions.
8
fin.
younowhavealist
ofsolutionsthatfit
yourrequirements.
customization
armedwithdata,nowit’sallabout
Customization
andgrowth
campus
integration
thetime-consumingcreature
development
usuallyinvolves
work
thingstoconsider:
whatcustomservicesexist?
whatarethebrandingrequirements?
whatunitswillneedtoworkwith?
newcampusinitiatives?
whatcustomservicesexist?
considerfacultydatabases,news/
eventservices,userauthentication,
etc.
integrating
thevalueof
shouldoutweighresources
standardize
theseserviceswould
practicesandworkflow.
buy-in
andcreatethealmighty
forprospectiveusers.
whatarethebrandingrequirements?
legalrequirementsforaccessibility.
brandingcampaigns,logousage,and
header/footerrequirements.
edge-cases
keepinmind
fortheodd-balls.
whatunitswillneedtoworkwith?
thinkaboutorganizationsthathave
complementaryservices,suchasthe
domainregistrar.
partners
thinkof
andaffectedunitsoncampus.
newcampusinitiatives?
lookaheadtoupcomingtrends,
policies,campaigns,initiativesand
planaccordingly.
Casestudy:

GeorgiaTech
pwp.gatech.edu
goals:
OutletforLab/Center/PersonalWebsites
StandardizeandExtendBranding

MitigatelegacyCMSsecurityvulnerabilities
Meetneedofabloggingplatform
ProvideeasierCMSthanon-campusDrupal
whodidwelookat?
GeorgiaStateUniversity

OpenScholar
DrupalMultisite
howdidwechoose?
Ourtestusersandtheirresponses.
whatdidwedevelop?
GTtheme(GTBoilerplate).
GTbrandingplugin.
GTCASplugin.
GTSiteMaintenanceplugin.
GTnews/eventsplugin(WIP).
GTdirectoryplugin(WIP).
currentchallenges
Maintainedby0.2FTEtimeover3staff.
Enhancedsecuritymeasures.
Back-portingDrupaltoWordPress.
questions?
Eric Sembrat
Web Manager at Georgia Tech
eric.sembrat@coe.gatech.edu
@esembrat
webbeh.com

October 2016 - edUi - Save Us, Self Service!