BrownSites: Building and Managing a CMS Infrastructure for Higher Ed
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The case study details the development and management of a CMS infrastructure at Brown University, utilizing Drupal, involving planning, deployment, and addressing various challenges such as site configuration and data integration. Key strategies included understanding constituent needs, resource identification, and growth planning, while leveraging custom solutions for deployment automation and user adoption. The project emphasized the importance of APIs and collaboration to integrate various systems and enhance user experiences across departmental websites.
BrownSites: Building and Managing a CMS Infrastructure for Higher Ed
- 1. Case Study: Building and Managing a CMS Infrastructure for Higher Ed Alozie Nwosu WebServices Group Brown University CIS
- 2. Why present a case study? Community.
- 3. Brown.edu + Drupal = BrownSites Departmental Website Template Service
- 4. Application and Data Integration platform
- 5. March 2010 – March 2011: planning through initial deployment
- 6. Project team including members from Brown CIS and Public Affairs and University Relations
- 7. Platform: Drupal 6, PHP 5, MySQL 4, Apache 1.3
- 8. December 2011: version 1.1 w/ ~160 sites (~70 Prod + ~90 Dev/Sandbox)
- 11. Economic Crisis -> Re-org Getting off the Ground: Dumb Luck
- 12. Yea carrots!!!
- 13. CMS Implementation: The 4 Pillars Know Your Constituents
- 15. Choose Your Tools (Wisely)
- 16. Plan for Growth
- 17. 1st Pillar: Know Your Constituents
- 18. 2nd Pillar: Identify Your Resources
- 19. 3rd Pillar: Choose Your Tools...wisely
- 20. Problem : Deploy multiple subfolder sites with minimal maintenance
- 22. Single core + single database (table prefixes)
- 23. MultiSite (multiple databases) BrownSites uses subfolder MultiSite w/ db per site Discrete database per site; shared users across sites
- 25. Granular permissions per sites Multiple Sites? MultiSite.
- 26. Problem : Expedite deployment of multiple sites.
- 27. Options: Aegir
- 28. Install Profiles + Features
- 29. Jenkins
- 30. Home grown solution BrownSites uses home grown deployment script Built using Perl
- 31. Easiest way to go satisfying our requirements
- 32. See more: Appendix 2 Deployment Automation: Follow the Script
- 33. Problem: Configure/customize admin interface to encourage adoption.
- 34. Key issues discovered through usability testing during Pilot and Early Adopter phases
- 35. Variety of interventions required: Well-defined roles/permissions
- 36. WYSIWYG API + TinyMCE config and customizations
- 37. Admin module and custom users page
- 38. Workflow and Workflow Access – for publication workflow Ease Adoption through Ease of Use
- 39. Problem : Pull data from closed/silo'd systems to department websites.
- 40. Options: Data import via module (e.g. Feeds, Node Import,...)
- 41. Custom module BrownSites using custom modules (and APIs) for external data Bedework Event Calendar ( http://events.brown.edu )
- 42. Banner (course information) APIs: No more silos
- 43. 4th Pillar: Plan for Growth
- 44. Put It All Together Start playing and exploring early
- 45. Define client/system requirements as clearly as possible Align project with: policies and organizational strategies
- 46. influential stakeholders Test with users ( early and often )
- 47. APIs APIs APIs - the glue, the secret sauce, le raison d'etre May need to break out API/Data Integration into its own project
- 48. BrownSites: Present and Future
- 49. Q & A
- 50. Thank you. Brown WebServices: http://www.brown.edu/webservices Contact the team: webservices@brown.edu Contact me: email: alozie@brown.edu
- 52. d.o: alozie
- 53. Appendix 1: Key BrownSites Modules AdministrationUsers Admin Role
- 54. Role Delegation
- 55. Admin
- 56. Boost
- 57. Backup and Migrate Custom Calendar Widget
- 58. Brown Courses
- 59. Brown Template Options Media Image Assist
- 60. Embedded Media Usability/UI WYSIWYG API
- 62. Better Formats
- 64. Vertical Tabs
- 65. Views Bulk Operations Users Admin Role
- 66. Role Delegation
- 67. Workflow & Workflow Access
- 68. Get new site information from request database Create sites directory from default template folder Create temp folder Create empty site database and db user Update settings.php with db and db user Execute database import from paramaterized SQL dump Modify http config files – define site alias *upon errors throw error, stop execution, rollback where possible ** if success, operator manually reboots apache cluster to apply site alias changes Appendix 2: Deployment Script Highlights
Editor's Notes
- #3: [Community] Higher Ed + Technology: - low cross communication - low system compatibility Drupal Community: - strong + awesome!!! - shared knowledge helped us succeed - we wanted to give back
- #5: cms implementation projects can range from individual site/application to organization-wide platform. On the Coffee cup scale: large to jumbo. Characteristics of large-jumbo: - across organization, - centralized support (training, documentation, upgrades), - common platform for app development ("forms", "databases", app templates), - integration with enterprise systems (APIs).
- #6: 1) Economic Crisis => Organization Reorg - Senior Administration + Brown Corporation mandate for resource consolidation - translation: reduce need for technical specialists in departments by providing better centrally-supported tools 2) Brown Corporation mandate for Brown.edu Home redesign/upgrade - provide new look and feel for Brown.edu - better showcase news, evemts, and integrate multimedia - improve maintenance tools for more responsive updates – provide automation and integration with other systems where possible
- #7: The carrot: a system that upgrades the design of the site and makes site easier to maintain. diminishes the effects of... The stick: a) approval required for hiring of external resources for department website design and development. b) some department technical personnel/functions absorbed into CIS (university's IT department)
- #8: 4 Pillars ["maaaarble columns!"] of CMS Implementation CMS Implementation big undertaking. Core team of 8. Planning started Feb 2010. Pilot sites launched Feb 2011. Bulk of development Sept 2010 through January 2011. For success: 1) Constituents: audience, stakeholders, users. Needs, wants, constraints. 2) Resources: team members, skill sets, existing/projected infrastructure. In-house vs. external resources. Constraints: Budget? Time? Personnel? Other? 3) Tools: start learning early. Build test sites. Online articles and videos. Webinars and training sessions. Identify technical challenges early. Leave room to experiment. 4) Growth: Be prepared. Gradual deployment. Support? Training? Platform performance and scaling?
- #9: Who are your constituents? What are their needs? Constraints? Overlaps? Conflicts? Identify and target key requirements. Identify potential collaborators - especially Pilot and Early Adopters. (focus of WebServices Design Team.) Two initial roll-outs: a) Pilot - tested rollout process and training. b) Early adopters - system enhancements, retest deployment and training, initial implementation request process. Key stakeholders: who's got leverage? Who will support (with funding or clout)? Upper level support (directives from upper IT management, budgeting, university governance and strategy?). For BrownSites project: Mike Pickett (CIO), Plan for Academic Enrichment, the Brown Corporation (redesign and re-org).
- #10: Who's the team? What tools and skills are already in place? What tools and skills are needed? BrownSites Personnel: 11 person web services team (7 fulltime + 4 interns). 3 members of UNIX Admin Team. 2 person computer education team. 1 member of the Help Desk. 3 members of Public Affairs and University Relations (PAUR). Infrastructure: Running Apache (version), PHP (version: ), and MySQL (version: ) on Linux. Prior Drupal installations for today@brown and news@brown (PAUR). Pilot department site projects in 2009 & early 2010 (PTP, BME, GradSchool).
- #11: Drupal = Flexibility => (near) Infinite Possibility Rubber Meet Road: Modules, Techniques Important stuff: - Platform: MultiSite vs. MultiCore, DB Prefix - Deployment Automation - Usability Accommodations/Enhancements - Data Integration: Bedework, Banner
- #16: Use the information gathered from learning about constituents, resources and tools to prepare for the issues of deployment process, training, support/maintenance, customization, performance/scaling (site count, server traffic, database size,...). What tools can you put in place (server analytics, watchdogs, load testing)? What team member support roles do you need (trainers, help desk, communications, IT directors)? What non-technology resources are needed (communications and outreach, IT policy, customer service strategy/procedures)? For BrownSites, preparations included Boost configuration, database backup (via Backup and Migrate), Disaster Recovery coordination and testing, request process development and stewardship (including training and production launch). Custom development and exceptions: policy, intake, process, prioritizing, charge back.
- #17: [Elmer's Easy Squeeze]
- #18: Brownsites version 1.1 (version 1.2 planned release 2/1/2011) ~160 sites deployed (~60 production) Plans: Improve system upgrade process (currently: manual sql dump scrubbing) improvements to request and deployment automation (e.g. better integration btwn request and deploy systems) Automate site decommission Build/Integrate faculty/staff info by dept.