What is the Content Management System?

I am very proud to have been part of a two-person team that developed a content management system in C# ASP.Net from the ground up. It is a system that allows our users to update their live websites through a separate, secure internal site. Consistently described as “incredibly easy to learn and use”, the system now supports over 70 internal and external web applications.

How Did It Begin?

When I came to Clermont in 2004, the web developer had the idea of building our own management system. It had become clear that the small team had become an unnecessary filter on the County’s voice to the world. We were also able to quickly and easily quantify to management that the work required to simply update the site was repetitive and would be sensibly replaced.

Existing systems that met our needs were deemed too expensive, so we resolved to build our own. The overall goal was to develop something that was as easy to update as a Microsoft Word document, making the ability to update one’s website so easy it was irresistible.

How Did We Do It?

Looking for a quick success after I started, I redesigned the County portal. The new design created a demand within other existing agencies for a new design of their own. I then developed a brand for the County that gave us flexibility and a similar DNA to use on each site within the County framework. Users are now happy to find that the sites look and feel the same. This is not only great for usability; our users have reported that they feel confident because they know they are on an official County site.

Development was done in Asp.NET and C# with databases that have since been updated to SQL 2005. We developed a framework for page codes, templates and CSS among other things to make replication and new site development a quick and easy process.

Testing

We identified three internal departments who were power users in terms of website use and recruited their help in testing the components as we developed them. Not only did they manage to serve as incredibly thorough testers, news of their work created envy within other departments. We had quite a bit of demand for the system before it was even out of testing!

Going Live

The initial sites launched immediately before the biggest web traffic test in Clermont County history when the small Ohio County became a lynch pin voting district in the 2004 Presidential Election.  Not only did the new sites stand up to the pressure, they were lauded by the news media for our recently-added “voting results as we have them” system. (Of course, it turned out that having a large group of bloggers and reporters constantly refreshing our results page drastically increased our traffic load!)

Currently

The sites have won quite a few prestigious awards (which I have covered here) and we continue to improve them. Demand to be added to the system continues and has been a key driver to getting disparate County agencies folded into the Clermont County web brand, a prerequisite for using the system.

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