Step Two Designs

This article outlines three tiers of activities that can make an intranet accessible for those with disabilities.

While a CMS cannot magically keep content up-to-date, effective use of technology options can help greatly.

It should not be automatically assumed that the one CMS will ideally serve both the intranet and website.

There are three groups involved in the selection of a new CMS: steering committee or senior sponsor, the stakeholder group, and the evaluation team.

There are three main approaches to delivering custom functionality and interactive features on websites and intranets.

There are two common ways of editing content in a CMS, and each has its strengths and weaknesses.

There is a simple answer to the question: how long will it take to choose a new CMS?

More than just about finding the right CMS product, it’s also about obtaining a vendor who can support your needs for the lifetime of the solution.

Content management scenarios provide a ‘day in the life’ description of how the CMS will be used in practice.”

If a CMS is not usable then it will not be successfully used by authors, and this can be assessed during product selection.

Organisations often make the selection of a CMS much harder than it needs to be. They do this by running into common pitfalls that impact on the selection and success of the CMS project.

The day the contract is signed with the CMS vendor, the vendor will show up asking: so, what are we actually implementing?

Organisations are almost always better served by separating out the design and the CMS, and sourcing these from different providers.

How good are the search capabilities built into CMS products, and when should you make use of them?

We are looking for the product that is the best fit to the organisation’s needs. What is rarely recognised, however, is that while we are evaluating vendors, CMS vendors are also evaluating us.

One of the greatest fears when selecting a new CMS is that the vendor will go bust, but more must be done that just purchasing from a ‘big’ vendor and hoping for the best.

When deploying a CMS across the whole organisation, the rule is: the more users, the simpler (and more usable) the system should be.

There are three clear phases to the adoption of a content management system. The activities and spending patterns during these phases needs to be understood, to ensure that sufficient time and resources are made available.

While the goal of interoperability between content management systems (CMS) is very important, it is limited by the lack of implemented standards.

The unspoken truth is that workflow often doesn’t work well in practice, leading to the question: is workflow the wrong metaphor?

Implementing a CMS is not easy. Our experience has shown that there are five key aspects that must be addressed as part of the deployment project.

The requirement for self-sufficiency should be addressed by all organisations looking to purchase a content management system.

AGIMO Better Practice Checklist, for those given the responsibility to determine CMS requirements and evaluate products.

AGIMO Better Practice Checklist, on the implementation of a content management system (CMS).

Consider presenting requirements in ‘narrative’ format, as this provides a more complete description of needs, and gives much-needed context to vendors responding to the tender.

Open-source CMS has now matured to the point where it should be considered alongside commercial products, but is not without its weaknesses and issues.

This briefing provides an at-a-glance definition of terms for a range of information systems, including CMS, DMS and RMS.

In the context of limited budgets and timetables, organisations must identify the most uncertain aspects of a CMS project, and concentrate management efforts on them.

There are two main publishing models used by content management systems: dynamic and batch publishing, and each has its strengths and weaknesses.

There is no single best authoring environment provided by a content management system. Instead, the authoring tools must be matched to the job at hand to ensure they are easy and efficient to use.

An important first step is to gain an understanding of the CMS marketplace. This briefing outlines a few of the practical ways of doing so.

There are real problems with many tenders released, and it is valuable to revisit the purpose of a CMS tender.

This article explores the role of XML in the context of content management systems, focusing specifically on the business issues.

While a CMS tender should focus on business requirements, technology issues will need to be specified, but in a way that ensures the best system is not knocked out of the running.

Gives a practical introduction to content management systems, and how they can benefit an organisation.

The success of a CMS depends it being used, and whether authors create content. It these two challenges makes the usability of the CMS critically important.

In answering this question, light will be shed on the long-term value of a CMS in capturing organisational knowledge, and its role in a broader KM strategy.

By following a requirements-focused methodology, instead of feature-driven approach, the right CMS can be selected to meet your unique business needs.

This briefing helps to dispell the widespread confusion in the marketplace between document management systems (DMS) and content management systems (CMS).

This briefing lists some very practical ways in which CMS metadata can be put to work.

A look forward to the future direction of the CMS marketplace, in January 2003.

A non-technical introduction to how a CMS can benefit any website, however small.

Content management systems should be made to meet specific business goals. Without a clear vision of these goals, it is impossible to track the success of the project, or ensure that the benefits are maximised.

Without care and attention, a CMS can slide into a state of living death. Such systems can be revived by implementing a number of practical (and non-technical) activities.

There is no ‘correct’ answer to this question. To get the best business outcomes, you must understand the strengths and weaknesses of both approaches.

There are a huge number of vendors and products in the CMS market, and comparing them is difficult. This paper describes tools, techniques and tips for selecting a CMS that meets your needs.

Read about the project to create a customised content management system for the NRMA. It now holds over 15,000 pages, and is constant use by a dedicated team of over half a dozen authors.