Update on DU's Web Overhaul Project for September 2021
Despite a slower launch volume this month, a great deal of work has been underway. All information architecture and a high level of content outlining have been completed for the Division of Student Affairs and Inclusive Excellence (SAIE). Additionally, as of September 2, we are now live with:
SAIE’s core site also went live on September 2. However, we have temporarily reverted to the OU version as the SAIE team recommended some post-launch tweaks this week. We hope to have the site back up within the week.
Sites remaining to launch
- 37 sites led by Fastspot
- 12 sites led by MarComm (including Law Libraries, University Libraries, and Daniels College of Business)
MarComm, in partnership with campus stakeholders, has launched 123 websites and 10,472 pages since Drupal’s initial go-live in September 2018.
Roadmap updates
MarComm and Fastspot have finalized an updated roadmap. We expect the adjusted roadmap to continue through the winter term with many sites launching before the end of fall term. Up-to-date information, including the site prioritization summary, project roadmap, targeted launch date summary, and weekly progress checklist, can be found in PioneerWeb -> Website Governance. The current priority sites are Academic Affairs and SAIE. Campus administrative sites will be launched after the first of the year (HRIC, Facilities, Shared Services).
Several sites are slated for launch in September including Morgridge College of Education, Business and Financial Affairs, and Latinx Center.
Drupal updates
We are in the process of converting our Drupal environment from Drupal 8 to Drupal 9. This work will be completed this fall (target completion: end of November). The Drupal 9 upgrade will not have a major impact on our site migrations, site design, or site integrations. Additionally, our governance group identified optimization areas to ensure Faculty Profile content syndication works more reliably. Addressing a major issue with time out errors, we worked with IT to drop data fields that were being pulled from Activity Insight by the API, but were not currently being used in Drupal. This is in the testing phase, and when launched, should reduce the number of dropped profile updates once the API Profile endpoint is asked to furnish less data in each Profile request. Additionally, we created a simple web application (a button that a Profile editor can use in content.du.edu) to allow Drupal editors to check faculty data in the API in real time, and to re-pull an individual profile form DU Web API data on demand. This will allow editors to view whether an update to Banner or Activity Insight data has reached Drupal, and to push faculty Profile updates ahead of the normal import schedule if needed.