Extreme Makeover: WCS Website Edition

Published August 29, 2014

As you may have noticed, the WCS website, each individual school website, and the InFocus e-newsletter underwent an extreme makeover this summer – moving from a static website to a dynamic network of sites using the popular WordPress platform.

We recently sat down with Connie McVicker, WCS Webmaster, to discuss these changes.

Why the changes to the WCS websites?

Previously, all these sites were completely separate from one another. While the district website linked to each of the school sites, there really wasn’t consistency across the sites in terms of the content offered or our overall brand. Now, we essentially have a network of all Williamson County schools under one roof.

As far as the design of the new website, it is a lot cleaner and visually appealing, and we’ll continue to make changes as necessary to keep the look current.

What is the difference between static and dynamic websites, and what is WordPress?

Static websites are basically HTML-coded pages that can only be updated by someone with the knowledge of developing websites, and those skills must be kept current as it is constantly changing. Dynamic websites are more functional, easier to update, and create more visually appealing pages, where expert HTML skills are not required which makes it easier for our school webmasters to maintain. It also makes it easier for the district to apply global changes to all sites at once. Most importantly though, our sites are now web responsive meaning they can be viewed in any medium – on a computer monitor, an iPad, a mobile phone – no matter the size of the screen.

WordPress is a very popular and robust content management system (CMS) – think of creating a webpage using something similar to Microsoft Word which is very familiar to most people. We can add functionality easily by using plugins without touching the overall design and structure of the site.

Why are the school websites now housed under the district site?

While the school websites are using the same platform, each school still maintains and has control over their content. There was a lot of duplicate information being published across the school websites previously. As district information, policies, or documents change, it doesn’t necessarily get updated across all sites. With the current structure, this allows the school webmaster to concentrate on publishing content specific to their school – not spending time designing new pages and coding HTML – while allowing us to publish district-wide information thus alleviating duplication. For parents and the community, this should make it easier to search and locate information.

What changes happened over the summer?

Ultimately, the goal for each school was to convert to the new platform. This involved transferring all their information into new pages under the new structure. While a lot of this information existed, each school still had to create new pages and format it. While this is still happening, and the webmasters are getting used to the new platform, a good majority of the information is now live.

How has each school benefited from this?

Each school was given a specific structure from which they can build upon. A required global navigation menu now exists across the network of schools that includes a Calendar, Faculty/Staff pages, Student Resources, Extracurricular activities, etc. This will help parents know where to look for information, regardless of the school at which they’re looking. It also gives the webmasters the same overall site format, so they can help one another as needed.

Does each school have one person in charge of their website?

Parents may not be aware of this, but yes – we have 41 school webmasters, four of whom are brand new this month. Each of these individuals have worked very hard over the summer to convert their old school sites to the new format – this included generating new content, creating hyperlinks to teacher pages, emails, and other sources, and adding images and documents, just to name a few tasks. These individuals work hard to keep the school’s website up-to-date around their already busy teaching schedules.

Give us a day in the life of working with each of the school webmasters.

During the summer, we trained each webmaster on the new platform – how to create and edit pages, how to upload media, how to create image sliders, etc. Now, we’re working on setting requirements for each of the schools, such as what to include on their faculty/staff pages, how to keep parents informed using the school’s Google calendar and their news/events pages, etc. These required elements are essential to parents. The webmasters also work with me to troubleshoot any issues, ask questions, and request new functionalities they may need. I will constantly be monitoring the school sites to ensure compliance with the district’s policies, that the school websites are publishing current information, as well as continuing with the training and support they need.

Are there any changes parents should be aware of or to which parents should be looking forward?

Most of what we have planned won’t outwardly affect parents, but it will help our website function more effectively for our webmasters by adding features, which in turn gives our families the information they need. Over the next couple of months, the district and school websites will continue to evolve and change. Keep your eyes peeled for new things!

Do parents and students have a voice regarding the website and its content?

Of course! Parents and students of Williamson County Schools are our primary audience, along with community members and future WCS families. If something is not working properly, or is difficult to find, contact the appropriate webmaster. Each school has an email link at the bottom of their home page directly to their webmaster. I would encourage our audience to report issues, make suggestions, or even to request information not found on the websites so we can address it.

Maintenance

To contact Connie, please email Connie.McVicker@wcs.edu.

Additional information from Connie?

Just one – we are planning to perform site maintenance the first weekend of September. Beginning Friday, September 5 at 5 p.m., WCS.edu will be down for maintenance through Sunday evening. This maintenance is essential to our continued progress and will hopefully only last a short time, but we will bring it back up as soon as we ensure everything is working properly.