What is a Site Manager
Each CLA department, or center, website needs at least one person to oversee content, updates, and serve as the go-to person regarding the website, which in general terms is the definition of a Site Manager. The CLA Web Services team works with department chairs, and center directors, to determine who the Site Manager(s) should be. To keep the lines of communication as straight-forward as possible there are generally only one or two Site Managers per website.
Site Managers have the highest level of access to edit their website, and CLA Web Services makes every effort possible to place control over website content into the hands of Site Managers. However, in general, the "look and feel" (colors, fonts, and overall structure) of a website is largely controlled by CLA Web Services, and changes to this can only be performed by CLA Web Services upon request from a Site Manager.
What Does a Site Manager Do
Site Managers serve as a liaison between a given department, or center, and the CLA Web Services team. So, when a department, or center, wants to add a new feature to the website, or request to be added to our queue for a full redesign, we rely on the Site Manager(s) to coordinate communication within the department, or center.
Site Managers are the primary care takers of the website content. This may include text, images, videos, documents (pdfs), pages, news, events, forms, and more. If a person within the department, or center, needs to change content on the website it is expected that they contact the Site Manager to have the change made. If the Site Manager is unable to make the change themselves then they are expected to submit a web support request and we will assist in making the change. Thankfully, many of the CLA websites are on our WordPress Multisite system which allows for control over much of the content without needing to know even basic web development (HTML or CSS). If you know how to make a purchase on Amazon, or fill out web forms, learning how to use WordPress will be fairly straight-forward.
CLA Web Services Collaboration
It's inevitable that there will eventually be the occasional need for assistance (or requests to change / update content, or make changes the Site Manager is unable make) and we rely on Site Managers for this communication. In fact, per our policy, if we receive a support request from someone other than a Site Manager (or chair/director) we will forward the request to the Site Manager for approval before making any changes.
To help us stay as organized as possible and respond to requests in a timely fashion we ask that all requests be submit through our online form. Using this form will automatically open a web support ticket in our ticketing system which can be seen, and addressed, by anyone on the CLA Web Services team. This ensures that emails aren't lost in our work email inboxes or sent to someone who is on vacation or no longer working at CSU.
Getting Started
Now that you know what a Site Manager does you may be wondering what to do next. If you haven't already gone through a training session, your next step will be to contact us (using the button below) to setup a time to do one-on-one training and get your access setup. After training we provide support, additional training, and other services at no cost to the department.
Training
Training is generally one to two hours long and covers the following topics:
- Verify proper access to your website
- Provide training:
- WordPress fundamentals (Pages, Posts, News [and Broadcasting News], Events, Forms, Navigation/Menus, Users)
- WordPress Extras (Other plugins or features unique to our infrastructure or your site - generally this includes Page Builder)
- Web Accessibility (Overview of how to craft compliant web content, and provide additional material to assist with this process)
- Answer any questions that you may have
- Ensure that you have proper email addresses, phone numbers, and are aware of our Slack team account for followup communication and submitting support tickets
Note that access to edit a site will not be provided until you have gone through training and understand your responsibilities, including specifics regarding web accessibility.
Support, Additional Training, and Services
After going through training you will then have access to begin updating your website as needed. However, we're always available to you to provide the following services:
- Support: We're here to answer any questions that you may have and assist with any needs you may have relating to the maintenance of your website. To submit a support request please email cla_webhelp@mail.colostate.edu and include links to the pages related to the request.
- Additional Training: The initial training session covers a lot of information that may need refreshed from time to time and we're happy to meet with you to ensure that you're comfortable using the tools (primarily WordPress) needed to maintain your website. We are also able to provide advanced training on other web topics, such as search engine optimization (SEO), google analytics, web page design/layout, and more.
- Website Redesigns: Our team designs, and develops, all department, and center, websites for the College of Liberal arts and once a website redesign is in our queue (upon request and our approval) we will schedule a time to redesign the website. Note, this includes a complete content audit (and likely a rewrite and restructuring) of the existing website and will be heavily dependent on the involvement and collaboration of the Site Manager, and likely the department chair or center director.
- Special Requests: If our schedule permits, we're able to create custom graphics/icons/textures and assist with photo editing/compositing (to be used on existing websites), and develop new functionality/features that aren't available on the websites' existing infrastructure.