The new Rutgers.edu, which includes all top-level universitywide webpages, is now supported through a content management system (CMS), a web application that makes it easy for content creators to add, edit, and manage a website. With a CMS, editors can update websites easily without having to learn or edit HTML.

In University Relations’ research into the use of a CMS, we have had many meetings and discussions with the Office of Information Technology as well as with IT professionals, web developers, and numerous content providers from throughout the university. Additionally, we have conducted background research on various CMS options, focus groups with content providers, and user testing with developers.

Throughout this process, we have worked with Digital Wave Technologies to complete the necessary research and analysis and to determine the functional requirements of a CMS for the university. After careful consideration, the university selected the open-source CMS, Drupal, as the appropriate platform—a platform that has been customized to meet the university’s specific needs.

The Drupal CMS is currently used to manage several websites across the university, including those for Rutgers–Camden, the School of Law–Newark, and the Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation. Website redesigns using CMS are currently under way—including the development of templates for school and administrative sites—with the Graduate School of Education, Mason Gross School of the Arts, the School of Management and Labor Relations, and University Relations.

If you are considering a major update to your website, please keep this CMS project in mind. While there is no firm date for implementing a universitywide CMS, there are steps web developers can take to make it easier to convert to a CMS in the future. For example, websites can be implemented using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), so that the content is separated from the structure. If you plan to revise your site, please contact Eve Burris for guidance.