Lessons In Sharing Open Source

National Association of Government Web Professionals 2013 National Conference

LESSONS IN SHARING OPEN SOURCELeslie LabrecqueCity of Boulder, Colorado


Agenda• Project Definition• Technology Used• Lessons Learned• The Final Product• Questions

National Association of Government Web Professionals 2013 National ConferenceNational Association of Government Web Professionals 2013 National Conference

Project DefinitionProject Phases Defined


Old Website Design• This was our old website…• Joomla CMS• Around since May 2006


Phase I - Research Project• Site Navigation• Content Organization• Data Retention and Archiving• Search Capabilities• Site Aesthetics• CMS Functionality (Joomla)


Phase I - Process• Request for Information (RFI) Issued• Nine proposals received• Five vendors selected to present• Narrowed down to two vendors


Phase I – Design Winner• Vision Internet

• Deliver a responsive design template• We would integrate with the CMS


Phase I – CMS Winner• City of Arvada

• Shared use of their CMS• Both cities would use and contribute to• Enter into an intergovernmental agreement• We added a PHP developer position to our staff


Phase II - ImplementationDate Task

Apr 2012 Kick-off call with Vision Internet

Apr – May 2012

Conducted internal and external surveys

Jul 2012 On-site visit and approved wireframe

Aug 2012 Delivered round I design mockups


Design 1 Design 2

Design 3


And The Winner Is…


Design Phase TimelineDate Task

Aug 2012 - Dec 2012

Worked on homepage mockups

Dec 2012 Completed and approved homepage mockup

Jan 2013 Completed interior page design

Feb 2013 Delivered working prototypeTested and refined prototype Work with Vision completed


CMS ImplementationDate Task

Sept 2012 Hired PHP Developer

Oct 2012 Installed Arvada’s CMS code

Mar 2013 Integrated design with CMSRan migration scriptTrained users

Mar 2013 – Jul 2013

Repurposed content for responsive design

Jul 2013 GO LIVE!


Would Also Be Great If…• Implement new constituent relationship management

system (CRM)• Online document repository• Officially announce online data catalog


Technology UsedThe Technology We Are Using


Arvada CMS (XPress)• PHP 5• MySQL database• Kohana PHP framework• jQuery UI


Why We Chose XPress• Government specific• Easy/Intuitive for our web managers• Integrated link checker to scan for broken links• Integrated with Vimeo, YouTube, Google Maps and Flickr• Tagging system to multi-purpose content


CMS/Social Media Integration• Embed related videos from YouTube and Vimeo• Include related photos from Flickr• Provide map with address on any page• Include an image banner on any page• Include scrolling mini-banners on any category


Additional Technology• CRM - Government Outreach hosted solution• Online Records Access – Laserfiche web portal (Rio)• Open Data – Open Colorado/CKAN


Lessons LearnedWhat We Learned From This Project


Clean House• Clean up the code before sharing• Remove hard-coded variables


Learn the Technology• Take the time to learn the technology• Do this before you install the code


Hire Good People• Added PHP developer position• Have a rock star systems administrator


Communication• Regular meetings• Show/Tell • Keep management informed


Establish Roadmap• Where is the project going?• Agreed upon enhancements • Enhancement timeframe?


Scope Creep• Lot of things you can do• Stick to the roadmap


Shared Code Repository• Master code repository• Each agency can have their own


Bug Tracking• Collectively log bugs• Collectively squash bugs


Modularize• Write reusable modules• Can someone else use this?


Know Your APIs• Read the documentation• Write code to catch exceptions • Sign up for updates


Webmaster Tools• Setup Google and Bing

webmaster tools in advance• Fetch as Bingbot and Googlebot• Don’t delete old website


Bing Move Tool• Use the Site Move Tool!• Located under Diagnostics & Tools


Responsive Design• Include tables and forms in

design contract• Separate stylesheet for IE8• Will not work for IE7 or below


HTTPS?• Everything has to be https• IE will throw an error every time• Newer browsers will not show

the content


Keep Old Website Active• Maintain access to old website• Use no follow in <meta> tag on

old website


Search Issues• Have a good internal search• Search engines take time to reindex


Robots.txt• Include directories you don’t want indexed• Use wild cards to eliminate old pages


Sitemap.XML• Create a sitemap• Place at the root• Submit to webmaster tools

accounts


301 Redirects• Setup 301 redirects• Redirect top level pages• Redirect high traffic pages


Soft/Hard 404 Error• Hard 404: Not Found• Soft 404: Also returns 200 OK code


Documentation• User and reference manuals• Style guides


Share The Love• Setup a website to share• Join the community and

help where you can


The Final ProductWhere We Are Now


Questions?Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @leslielabrecque

Delicious: d.me/leslielabrecque

Slideshare: slideshare.net/leslielabrecque

Lessons In Sharing Open Source

Technology

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