An easier way to publish and manage information on MMSD and school Web pages plus a whole new look to these pages is coming soon.

A cross-department team supported by Web design experts has been working for several months now to plan for and execute the cross-over from current Web publishing processes and online page appearances to the improved system.

The cross-over will take place in mid-February.

Web publishing will be much easier due to the implementation of a new content management system called Drupal. The district's 32,000+ pages of Web information will be much easier to update using tools that look and feel a lot like word processing tools. You no longer need to be an HTML expert to publish.

The content on MMSD pages will be more current and relevant. Because all content will be in a database environment, it will be easy to report on which pages have gone without updating for extended periods and which have been "hit" infrequently (or not at all!) Publishers will be automatically notified about such information and prompted to make changes if needed.

Another key benefit is that all of the MMSD's Web pages will look similar. Audiences will feel like they are in the same place as they move from page to page, school to school, department to department. Obviously, certain design features will continue to allow for individuality. For example, school colors and logos will vary from page to page. And, of course, content will certainly reflect the unique needs of schools.

More information is yet to come about how department and school publishers will be trained on the new system. The hope is to combine training with the review of the content as it is transitioned from the old pages to the new — killing two birds with one stone!

The team also knows from other's experience with Drupal that much of the publisher training will be handled online, and not face to face, as it is very simple. Each and every publisher will be provided opportunity to approve content in the new system before the new system "goes live."

The new design for online pages will make the large amount of district pages easier to navigate in addition to the similar look mentioned above. The look will be cleaner and more visually striking.

The design will require publishers to be more customer-centered so that pages can be accessed based on who the user is; for example, parents will be able to click on a "Parents" section to find information pertinent to them.

If you have any questions about the new system, please contact one of the project team members: Rich Noble, Chris Burch, Vicky Woider, Ken Syke, or Kurt Kiefer.