Production Workflows
Production Workflows
All units in the College produce content via our customized D8 CMS. While the CMS forces linear content production, editorial production is not always straightforward.
Use the following workflows for web pages, new verticals, website reorgs, and all scale of articles to ensure flawless outcomes.
Before You Publish a New Website Page
School Chairs and Research Center Directors will need digital support for new campaigns or program expansion throughout the year. As you get these new assignments, follow this workflow:
1) Write down a content plan or draw a wireframe. This plan should include:
- Title of the new page
- Deadline for publishing
- A list of modules
- Images required for modules, and whether or not they already exist
- Any required graphic design or development
- An outline of body text for each module
2) Email the content plan/wireframe to the Director of Communications as soon as you are finished with it. This email will trigger a follow-up conversation with the DirCom. For example, this new page may have larger relevance to the College/Institute and may therefore require promotion on several other websites. Subsequently, the content plan/wireframe may need to expand.
3) When you complete the content for this new page, it's time for vetting:
- Unit leadership should thoroughly read the page before it's published, making sure all information is accurate and satisfactory
- The College Director of Communication must review the page to make sure the content meets College and Institute standards. If corrections are necessary, the DirCom will send a list of edits or discuss them with you directly.
4) Publishing and promotion: When the unit leader and DirCom have both signed off on the new page, it is ready to publish. As soon as the page is published, all relevant parties within the College and the Institute must be notified via email. This can be as simple as a note that says "Hi there, we just published this page, here's the url:" or it could be as complicated as a launch note that goes to several other research centers across campus and Institute senior leadership.
Your interaction with the DirCom throughout the process of building the new page will help determine what sort of promotion is necessary.
Before You Publish An Article/Photo Essay
Articles and photo essays are critical assignments for Institute alignment. These assignments must meet College and Institute writing standards and should be clearly related to unit, College, or Institute strategic goals.
Follow this simple process for articles/photo essays:
1) Plot the assignment on the Institute content tracker. Work with the DirCom to provide information such as:
- Publish date
- Working headline
- Article/photo essay description
- Collaboration with other units
- Any compelling visual assets
Make sure your unit leadership is aware of all deadlines.
2) Write an outline of the story, and go over the outline in your 1-on-1 meeting with the DirCom.
3) Conduct any necessary interviews, photo shoots, or video production for the article/photo essay.
4) Write the text of the article/photo essay. Make sure to write captions with photo credits and alt tags for any images included in the story.
5) Build the article/photo essay in the College D8 CMS. Choose a "Modular Feature Page" for this type of content. If this assignment requires syndication, you will also need to build a short Mercury article that teases and then links out to the College of Design content. DO NOT PUBLISH AT THIS TIME, rather, save the page as a draft in the CMS.
- Make sure to finish writing the article at least two days prior to the publish deadline, unless you have agreed to a specific schedule with the DirCom
6) Email the DirCom to let her know the article/photo essay is ready for copy editing within your unit's website content log. The DirCom will reply immediately with the copy editing timeframe, which will be in accordance with the publish deadline.
7) The DirCom will send any necessary edits: make any corrections and then notify your unit leadership that the article/photo essay is ready for them to read. They should already be aware of the deadline and should have scheduled time to vet the story before publishing.
8) Publish the story and promote it on:
- The main page of your website
- The News and Events page of your website
- Your social media account(s)
Share promotion modules with the DirCom for inclusion on the College website. Be prepared to present the article in the weekly Institute content meeting if necessary.
Major Website Development
Developing an entirely new vertical or reorganizing your website? Here's the strategy to follow:
1) Edit/expand the IA of your website. Use our LucidChart account to find and redraw your webtree.
2) Write a content plan (see details in the web page strategy) that goes over all new pages and navigation.
3) Schedule a "touch base" meeting with DirCom and unit leadership to go over the IA and content plan. This meeting is the opportunity to discuss goals, alignment to Institute, web dev or graphic design requirements, and deadlines.
4) Begin production according to the content plan schedule. Update the DirCom with project progress during 1-on-1 meetings.
5) Work with the DirCom to plot any relevant content from the expansion on the Institute content tracker. Follow the strategy for articles/photo essays.
6) Vetting: All pages of website expansion need to be copy-edited by the DirCom and read/approved by unit leadership before they can be published and linked in the website navigation. This vetting should be itemized on the content plan, with enough time to accomplish before the publish deadline.
- Once the DirCom has finished copy editing and sent you a list of edits, make all necessary corrections.
- If unit leadership requires substantial changes, schedule a "touch-base" meeting with the DirCom, web developer, and graphic designer to go over the scope and adjust deadlines as needed.
7) Publish and promotion: publish according to the content plan deadlines. If this project warrants, send a launch note email to all relevant parties. If this project warrants, send promotional assets/module to DirCom for promotion on the College website.