Unified Site

OHSU has begun an initiative to launch a new public-facing website, unified under one look and feel, with the tools and templates necessary to create and maintain that website into the future. The first step in this direction was completed on February 19, 2008 with the launch of the top two layers of the http://www.ohsu.edu website (the home page and the mission area landing pages, along with a revitalized About section).

The initiative encompasses a new OHSU website look and feel, compliance and enforcement protocols, training for web content managers and general web education for anyone at OHSU presenting information on the web.

When is the process for getting started?

We are not just redesigning the look of the web at OHSU. We are also reviewing all content and navigation to make sure it provides the best end-user experience and also presents a consistent and professional image of OHSU. If your group is ready to start this process, the first step is to contact Web Strategies to make an initial appointment, and then start reading our website to learn more about the process and get started on the necessary documentation.

What does “cross-mission” really mean?

Cross-mission is a concept that we are employing to reorganize disparate content on the OHSU website into a more user-friendly structure.  Instead of organizing content according to our org chart, the cross-mission approach revolves around our various audiences and the tasks site visitors need to accomplish.  So while a department may consider itself primarily a research organization, they will likely have some content that is more oriented toward education or healthcare.  Similarly, a clinic under the healthcare mission may also have an outreach component.  Each unit will retain ownership of their content, regardless of which mission the page is placed under.  Web Strategies will consult with you to help place your content correctly. The new architecture allows OHSU to present an integrated picture of what we have to offer while preserving the identity of all our individual units.

View of a demo of "cross-mission" content

What is going to happen to my current site if I don’t do anything?

If you currently have a website in CommonSpot, you will be upgraded to the latest release of CommonSpot 5.0 in early April 2008. Your templates, content and process will remain exactly as it is now. What will change is the look of the administrative interface. It is important to emphasize: The look of your website will not change, and end users will not notice anything different. You will still have to make an appointment with Web Strategies if you would like to move your website to the new unified site templates.

The latest CommonSpot documentation can be downloaded from: www.ohsu.edu/commonspot.

As part of this upgrade, Web Strategies will be cleaning up outdated and orphaned content.  You’ll receive information by email if you have pages that have not been updated in over a year or do not link to any other page within your CommonSpot site.

What about the global header and footer?

When a site is redesigned in the Unified look and feel, it will have the new header and footer. For all existing sites, the “classic” black bar will still be used. Because the new header really only makes sense in the context of the Unified Site, until existing sites are migrated into the new framework, they will retain the old header and footer.

Read the complete explanation on the Director's Blog

If you have questions or concerns that are not answered here, contact us and let us know.