By Caitlin Gibbons

The Metro State homepage received a new look in September, and since then all the internal pages of the site are steadily getting a makeover as part of the Web Content Management System project.

In the second phase of the WCMS project, more than 1,600 pages have been migrated to the new system and format. By the end of the project in September 2012, an estimated 10,000 pages will have been analyzed, removed or migrated into the new system.

But the project isn’t just about looks; it’s about making sites easier to use and update.

So far, users like what they’ve seen.

“Feedback about the ease of use of Site Manager has been positive. Site moderators are able to make changes quickly using this new tool,” Director of Web Communications Chris Mancuso said.

As departments are notified they are in line for migration, staff can sign up for training. WCMS training sessions are every Tuesday from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Details are listed in the Metro State Events Calendar on the home page. So far, 22 people in 14 areas have been trained in the new system, Mancuso said.

“We have launched 38 sites to date,” Mancuso said. Use this link to find the full list of launched sites.

The WCMS makes maintenance of department websites easier for both technical and non-technical staff. The Site Manager part of the system allows departments to edit and manage their own websites from any modern Web browser.

The Education Technology Center, which is handling the academic departments side of the migration, has completed approximately 21 percent of the tasks associated with the School of Professional Studies, Mancuso said.

“The first day of the spring semester is their targeted date of completion for Professional Studies,” Mancuso said.

The School of Business sites will be completed in the beginning of summer 2012, and the School of Letters, Arts and Sciences is slated to be completed in fall 2012. Student services, administration and finance, and other administrative department sites are also on the list for Phase III.

Kick off meetings for the Administrative websites that have yet to be migrated are scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 8 and Friday, Nov. 11, Mancuso said. For details on the kick-off events, contact Chris Mancuso at mancuso@mscd.edu . For more details and frequently asked questions about the WCMS project go here.