site migration and content strategy
DESCRIPTION
When a site is out-of-date and/or its CMS is limited, often the best solution is a site migration. The migration is an opportunity to implement an entirely new look-and-feel, mobilize the site, fix navigation, re-assess the site’s goals, and re-organize content. A migration provides an opportunity to run the site on a CMS that is more powerful and more user-friendly like Joomla. Randy is the migration lead and content strategist for the migration project of the Joomla! Community Magazine which includes over a thousand articles filled with links, images, and attachments. He will share the challenges that the project faces, the strategy for migration, and a high-level explanation of the approach in Joomla. The discussion will be suitable for the business-minded who must understand the issues and make decisions accordingly as well as for the developer who must implement a solution.TRANSCRIPT
Site Migration and Content StrategyRANDY CAREY
iCueProject.com
Careytech.com
This presentation is delivered live with my commentary. To help it communicate through slides-only, in this slide deck I have added annotations to provide a bit more explanation.
example annotation
• Careytech Studios
• iCue Project
My main work is [a] developing websites and custom applications for clients (or for agencies with client projects) and [b] Through the iCue Project I focus on developing tools and techniques for improving the web management experience.
JCM Migration ProjectI just accepted the role of migration lead and content strategist for migrating the Joomla Community Magazine (JCM) into Joomla 3.x and core content.
JCM Migration ProjectJoomla is an international project, and the migration project team members come from all over.
This presentation
• Site Migration
• Content Strategy
This presentation covers two areas: migration of web sites and content strategy. The latter is an important (and often overlooked) part of site migration.For each of these areas, I will be referring to our approach in the JCM Migration.
Site Migration
Site MigrationEvery site that lives for a few years needs a revision to keep up with the times. Very frequently this will require a migration from one technology to a more modern and more appropriate one.
Why Migrate?
Site MigrationBecause there is a cost to migrate (money, time, human and emotional resources), we naturally want to evaluate the returned value.
or “When to migrate?”
site redesign (visual)
Site Migration Why Migrate?
The most obvious reason to a client is that a migration enables a new visual design.
update or change CMS
Site Migration Why Migrate?
Often the migration is needed so we can install an upgraded or more appropriate CMS.A rich and powerful CMS like Joomla 3.x adds a lot of new features and opportunities…
add new features
Site Migration Why Migrate?
The new CMS can offer new features, such as Joomla 3’s content versioning…
new or better technology
Site Migration Why Migrate?
…or take advantage of new technology such as responsive design.
re-organize site’s content
Site Migration Why Migrate?
The need to reorganize a site and its content can suggest a migration. Such reorganization should be considered as part of any migration project.
improve workflow for content management
Site Migration Why Migrate?
Likewise, the need to improve the workflow of content managers can either demand a migration or at least be considered during a migration.
Are the workflow steps logical, intuitive, and streamlined? I have another presentation on this: http://www.slideshare.net/careytech/streamlining-the-clients-workflows-in-joomla
improve workflow for content management
Site Migration Why Migrate?
before
after
change vendor
Site Migration Why Migrate?
A legitimate (but not ideal) reason for conducting a site migration is the change of vendor. If a client wants to change vendors for reasons of trust or competence, the client often has to change to that vendor’s supported CMS.
But a client should never pick a vendor with a proprietary CMS. That is vendor lock-in, among other negatives.
not just one, sum of all
Site Migration Why Migrate?
The point: When evaluating the value of migrating, consider the value of all these.
recent example
Site Migration Why Migrate?
I shared an example where the motivating reason to migrate was to upgrade form Joomla 1.5 to 3.x so that we could replace an outdated e-store with a modern component.Once the migration was complete, the client realized they ought to invest in a new visual design and a reorganization of navigation and content
recent example
Site Migration Why Migrate?
So what could have been done during migration was undertaken in a second phase.
Site Migration Why Migrate?Again: Have the client consider all of these when faced with a decision about migration. Taken together, the client is more apt to choose to migrate, and the client will end up with a better product upon completion of the migration.
What is it that we are migrating?
Site Migration Migrate what?
We ought to think about exactly what it is that is getting migrated…
Content
Site Migration Migrate what?
Content - metadata
Site Migration Migrate what?
• SEO meta fields• old URL -> 301 redirect• category membership• content organization• tags• image attributes
features / behavior / brand
Site Migration Migrate what?
automation -vs- human effort
Site Migration automation
It would be nice if we could automate the whole process, but that is not realistic
For smaller sites, it seems easier to just copy-and-paste. But reasons to automate:• a site with hundreds to thousands of items (articles,
product data)• Data that would be tedious or error-prone to do by
hand.
automation and human review
Site Migration automation
I feel everything that gets automated needs to be reviewed by a human.
JCM Project
Site Migration JCM Project
Now I’ll share a bit about the migration approach we will be taking for the JCM.
Site Migration JCM Project what we want
The current site is on Joomla 2.5 and K2. We want the site running on the latest version of Joomla (3.x) and to use core (com_content) as much as we can.
improved workflow
Site Migration JCM Project what we want
The editorial team reports that they want workflows that are streamlined and more efficient.
Workflows span the registration and approval of an author, creation and submission of a new article, editorial review and editing of an article, linking translated articles to the originals, managing the articles within an issue, and publishing the issue.
refreshed design
Site Migration JCM Project what we want
? ? ? ?
This is a great opportunity for a visual redesign.
new features:
Site Migration JCM Project what we want
• responsive• microdata• content versioning• single button publishing• Joomla’s ACL• better tagging
The move to 3.x will buy us these new features and capabilities
asset management:
Site Migration JCM Project what we want
We will be reworking our digital asset management. For example, an author or editor should see only the images relevant for the article currently being edited.
future-proof content:
Site Migration JCM Project what we want
This is the time for us to work toward separating content from format so that the content of an article will easily import into other and future channels.
our approach
Site Migration JCM Project
So how do we plan to do this…
migrate just the content (and relevant metadata)
Site Migration JCM Project approach
segment work, work concurrently
Site Migration JCM Project approach
visual design build template
incrementally prototype and build behaviorpublic UX, multi-language issues, workflows, ACL, content structures, etc
content migration
review migrated content
initial requirements
Site Migration JCM Project approach
visual design build templates
prototype behaviorpublic UX, multi-language issues, workflows, ACL, content structures, etc
content migration
review migrated content
initial requirements
prototype and iterate discovery informs all other work
By iterating the prototype, we’ll get quick feedback from the stakeholders. Whenever we learn new information or a need to change an assumption, we quickly inform the whole team so other work can adapt to the newly discovered changes.
prototype behaviorcontent structures
content migration:
Site Migration JCM Project approach
content migration
We need to discover the exact content structures that the new site will need. Prototyping will inform the content migration work.
Content migration will be automated through a tool and the tool’s code will be adjusted and tested until we see it getting all content into the new content structures.
review and clean migrated content
Site Migration JCM Project approach
The ‘body’ of content needs to be migrated early so that a team of volunteers can review each of over a thousand articles for how well the migrated content works within a responsive design, and to identify and fix inline styling.
content migration: review & clean migrated content
Site Migration JCM Project approach
content migration
review migrated content
…this means that content migration needs to migrate the main content early (so the volunteers can start their work on the large set of articles. But later on, the migration will need to leave this content in place while updating other fields as needed. (example: the hit count cannot be updated until the last minute before we throw the switch to the new site.)
small team, experts, empower experts
Site Migration JCM Project approach
Migration Recap:
Site Migration recap
Why migrate?
Site Migration recap
• weight benefits of all opportunities• opportunities
What can be migrated?
Site Migration recap
• content• meta-data (SEO, etc.)
• features/apps (Whatever the site’s tribe expects)
• branding
Automation
Site Migration recap
• human review
JCM approach
Site Migration recap
• only content rethink and rebuild everything else
• work concurrently, iteratively
What is content strategy?
Content Strategy
What is content strategy?
Content Strategy
Planning for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable content.
-- Kristina Halverson
Role of a content strategist
Content Strategy
• Lead the stakeholders into an articulated content strategy.
Role of a content strategist
Content Strategy
• Lead the stakeholders into an articulated content strategy.
• Provide expertise, guidance, and recommendations.
• Do or oversee the work
JCM Project
Content Strategy JCM Project
I will discuss content strategy in terms of the JCM Migration project.
content structures How will data live in 3.x ?
Content Strategy JCM Project
From the movie Apollo 13, where technicians realize that the filters on the LEM are different from those on the capsule. They needed to find a way to merge the two systems.In our project, the data structures of K2 are not identical to those of Joomla 3.x
content structures How will data live in 3.x ?
Content Strategy JCM Project
------
content migration strategy
Content Strategy JCM Project
K2 Content• -----• ---• --------• -• ---• ------• ---• ----------
Article----
-----------
new
migration index
The migration process must create records in a custom table, records that track the relationships between the old site’s content and the new records
------
content migration strategy
Content Strategy JCM Project
K2 Content• -----• ---• --------• -• ---• ------• ---• ----------
Article----
-----------
existing
migration index
When the migration routine needs to adjust or add new content, it will reference the migration index table.
metadata migration strategy
Content Strategy JCM Project
K2 Content• -----• ---• --------• -• ---• ------• ---• ----------
• SEO meta fields• old URL -> 301 redirect• article -> monthly issue• tags and categories• image attributes
multi-lingual articles, editions
Content Strategy JCM ProjectWe need to accommodate articles in multiple languages as well as special editions dedicated to a particulare language (below is English and Spanish editions)
editorial workflow
Content Strategy JCM Project
ACL
We will use a role-based approach for authors and editorial staff, so that we can better manage workflows and editorial UX.
editorial workflow
Content Strategy JCM Project
create edit tag /SEO publish
workflow = notification and tracking
Content Strategy JCM Project
create edit tag /SEO publish
• ***• ***• ***• ***• ***
notification tracking
Workflow might include governance (who can do what), but it is more about notifying people and providing some tracking of the state of workflows (in this case, the state of each submitted article)
workflow ->
Content Strategy JCM Project
streamline steps
7 steps 3 steps
authoring / editorial UX
Content Strategy JCM Project
Where we can, we will apply a streamlined approach to editorial roles.
authoring / editorial UX
Content Strategy JCM Project
For example, a person should see only the fields relevant to that person’s role.
authoring / editorial UX
Content Strategy JCM Project
…and the toolbar should be minimalized to display only few buttons and to provide only those editing features that person should have access to.
toolbar : semantic markup
Content Strategy JCM Project select topics
<span style="color: #800000;"><em>getInstance()</em></span><em class=“jcm-code-snippet”>getInstance()</em>
<span class=“jcm-author”><div class=“jcm-caption”><code> </code><cite> </cite>
We plan to provide new JCE buttons that will apply ‘semantic’ markup.
examples of code from buttons that apply ‘semantic’ markup
AVOID inlining
replace with CSS classes
blobs -> chunks
Content Strategy JCM Project select topics
blob approach
chunks approach
blobs -> chunks
Content Strategy JCM Project select topics
1 2
3
45 6 7 8 9
We can identify at least 9 chunks for an author’s bio form
blobs -> chunks
Content Strategy JCM Project select topics
truncation fails
gasp… truncation is not a good technique when we need short versions of the same content
blobs -> chunks
Content Strategy JCM Project select topics
we need two fields/versions for ‘same content’
blobs -> chunks
Content Strategy JCM Project select topics
…A recent article on how Flipboard assemble articles shows that they maintain multiple versions of the same image
cropped
full width
smaller version
Content Strategy Recap:
Content Strategy recap
What does content strategy plan for?
Content Strategy recap
• creation of content
• management of content • publication of content
• governance of content
What is the role of content strategist?
Content Strategy recap
• articulate a strategy• guide, recommend, oversee
areas to consider
Content Strategy recap
• content structures• workflow of content authoring and management
• governance (ACL)
• improve toolbar (semantic markup)
• future-proof for multiple channels
Questions? Discussions?
Site Migration and Content Strategy
Randy Carey• iCue Project – web architect• JCM – migration lead and content strategist
Site Migration and Content StrategyRANDY CAREY
iCueProject.com
Careytech.com