In the past month, the project team has made good progress on several Phase 1 milestones in the OSU Extension web upgrade project.

Identify/confirm contacts
We compiled existing information on website contacts. Beginning Oct. 21, we will email current website contacts with a request to confirm or update the site manager and decision maker for each site. The relevant Regional Administrator or Program Leader will be copied.

Preliminary development
We have a Drupal 8 dev site (test site) set up for the new OSU Extension main web presence.

Identify essential features/functions/content
We identified and prioritized features for development during Phase 1. Decisions were made based on the project’s guiding criteria.

Content strategy
We invite you to learn alongside the project team. The new “Learn with us” page on the project blog includes resources we’ve found useful in exploring, understanding, and applying content strategy. Check these out, and let us know your thoughts!

What’s next

• Begin development work on priority features, starting with people/locations directory.
• Audit and prioritize content for main OSU Extension site, Phase 1.
• Develop initial user-friendly tags/categories.

Questions?
Please contact the project team. Your feedback will help us improve our communication plan and the project blog, especially the FAQs.

The Extension web upgrade project is entering the development phase!

Here’s an update on what’s happened recently, what’s next, and how you can learn more.

What’s happened

After discussion with the project team, the O&E executive team (Scott Reed and Lindsey Shirley) approved a set of essential commitments, guiding criteria, and strategies for moving ahead with the project.

This approach allows us to take the bold first steps in shifting OSU Extension’s overall web strategy from “site development and design” to “content strategy.” This is a major shift and also an opportunity for meaningful, positive change.

We’ve also created a project blog. Going forward, this will be the primary source for project information, status updates, and FAQs.

What’s next

There is a separate strategy and process for specific groups of sites and content in the OSU Extension web family. The strategies at a glance blog page provides an overview of the following:

• Phase 1: Main OSU Extension web presence, County/Employee Resources sites, and Program/Other sites
• Phase 2: Developing and applying content strategy

In brief, Phase 1 development (through January 2017) is about transition and preparing sites and content for the next step. The timeline page provides an overview of the milestones and general timeline for Phase 1 (through January 2017).

• Note that one of the first steps you may be asked to assist with is identifying/confirming contacts for site managers and decision makers for each website in the OSU Extension family.

Learn more

Going forward, you can expect regular updates via the project blog and Extension ConnEXTion newsletter. The project team will also have individual or small-group consultations as needed with current site manager and decision makers throughout Phase 1.

Questions?

Please contact the project team, and we will reply as soon as possible. We want to hear from you. Your feedback will help us improve our communication plan and the project blog, especially the FAQs.

Last week, your Extension web steering committee shared a near-final draft of the project Discovery Report with Scott Reed. Now, you can also view the executive summary, or read the final full report.

This report is a key milestone in our web upgrade project. We all aspire to make our next generation of OSU Extension websites user-driven, easier to manage, and truly awesome. But before we decide “how we’ll get there” we need to know where we are, where we could be, and what we might encounter along the way.

This report summarizes the past year of research, including web data; competition analysis; and input and feedback from internal stakeholders, Extension administrators, and the steering committee. It also outlines what research is still to come, and offers a glimpse of emerging priorities for web development strategies and features.

What can you do to help?
Later this month, we will offer an Extension-wide survey to gather additional feedback and input on priorities. Please take advantage of this opportunity.

If you have comments on the Discovery Report, or questions at any time, please contact EESC or anyone on the steering committee.

—Your Web Steering Committee
Jeff Hino, Tamara Hill-Tanquist, Brooke Edmunds, Ann Marie Murphy, Alisha Atha, Patrick Proden and Victor Villegas

We have some exciting news. The project to update the OSU Extension family of websites has begun!

OSU Extension must have an effective, engaging web presence to remain relevant and successful in an increasingly digital world.

Here’s how we’ll get there:

• This morning, the newly formed Extension Web Steering Committee is having their first meeting. This small, committed team of Extension faculty and staff will help guide the process, and be our advisors and connectors to the broader needs of our organization and those we serve.
• During the next 5 months, EESC will conduct research and collect the feedback we will need to create an effective, engaging web presence for OSU Extension.
• Then, we’ll start creating it.

You can expect regular updates to the organization on process and progress, and opportunities for input.
For additional details, including the timeline, milestones, steering committee members and more, see the OSU Extension website upgrade plan.

If you have questions at any time, please contact EESC.