New platform promises more functionality and flexibility
In late October the CMC Marketing Department will migrate the main CMC website to WordPress, a widely used web publishing platform that will provide us with greater capabilities and stability.
Initially, not much will appear to change. The homepage will look different, but the navigation and design of the interior pages will be basically the same.
Why the change?
- Technical issues with the current platform have caused us to spend a great deal of time maintaining the site and troubleshooting.
- There have been several service outages with the current provider, taking the entire site offline, sometimes for hours.
- We need to move to a more robust system that gives CMC the latest capabilities and puts us on par with other colleges, meeting the expectations of today’s sophisticated users.
What are the benefits?
- Mobile: The new site incorporates “responsive design” which presents information differently based on the user’s device (hand-held, tablet or desktop).
- Wider distribution of information: a piece of content (such as a faculty bio) can be posted once, then called onto several pages.
- Calendars: We will have robust
When users click on an event or featured class, they will be able to see the details, get a map and add it to their personal calendar. calendars that will be easy to navigate and provide the ability to present current class schedule information and events on selected web pages. Among other functions, users will be able to add calendar events (including class dates) to their personal calendars with a click.
- Easier to Navigate: Drop down menus with better design for easier navigation.
- Access to the WordPress universe of plug-ins an add-ons for greater functionality now and in the future.
- What do I need to do?
Give us feedback.
The new site will be released for internal review several days before public launch. After launch we will be collecting user feedback to ensure the best online experience possible. Web Content Editor Frank Martin will provide training on the new system so CMC staff and faculty can learn how to publish.
This change will take CMC several steps forward and build a good foundation for the college’s online presence.