Hi all
I'm probably a bit late to this conversation but its my first day back in the office for a while :)
In answer to Paul's questions:
1. Do you deal with content centrally?
No, like others with a cms we have a distributed network of web editors across the institution. None of them are specifically web developers, they are just people who have had it put as part of their role in various teams and departments. So it's devolved to the people who are 'owners' of the information.
2. If you have distributed content providers how do you ensure quality and accuracy?
We use a piece of software called SiteRay (http://www.silktide.com/siteray) which we use to regularly run reports on parts of the site. Simple errors are sent for the web editors to fix themselves (or else they never learn) and errors in templates or anything more technical is dealt with by the central web team.
3. What training do you give content providers?
The web and publications team in Marketing run a 'Writing for the Web' session, this is compulsory and must be completed before we give them the technical training on the cms. Once they have the technical training they get access to the system, but without publishing rights. We also have a test of common mistakes that they must take before they get publishing rights. Like a driving test there are minor and major errors, if they get any major errors wrong we will go through it with them and they then must wait a while before taking it again. If they miss a minor error we'll go through it with them but they still get publishing access.
We also run a series of monthly workshops for the web editors to book on. They cover specific templates, working with documents, using images on the site, web accessibility, analytics reports etc. Also as part of this regular slot we hold drop-in sessions where people can just come along and ask us questions about their specific issues.
As well as all this they can always call the web team with any problems and we'll either talk them through it on the phone, or go over and sit with them at their desk to resolve it. This covers technical queries but more often than not the queries we get are on the best way to display the information on the site.
4. Do you set a 'corporate tone' for written content?
Yes we do. It is designed to match our brand (friendly, supportive etc) and is what the 'Writing for the Web' training is based on. We also have it available as a document for people to download as well as handy cards reminding people of common misspellings and alternatives for jargon.
I'm happy to share more information if people are interested in the writing guidelines or workshops - just email me or tweet me (http://twitter.com/webpackets)
Deborah
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