Dialog Web Communications at OSU

Flickr is loaded with OSU images

We’ve become avid users of the photo sharing service Flickr here at OSU. We go way beyond merely having an official OSU account on the service.  Key content on our main OSU site and top level pages is integrated with our account.

Press releases (like this one) created by our news office use Flickr images. That way the image from the release becomes a searchable part of our Flickr presence. The multimedia page on our News site features a Flickr search and categories that pull from sets in our account. The pages also randomly pulls preview images from these sets right onto the site.

Our Powered by Orange campaign features a Flickr component, too. The Benny on the Move gallery features photos of people who have taken a cutout of our mascot, Benny the Beaver, and photographed him traveling around the world. This is done by merely uploading the photo to Flickr and tagging it with “bennyonthemove.” Our Summer Session program is also running a “Flat Benny” contest.

We originally started using Flickr for one of our student bloggers who traveled to Antarctica on a research project and chronicled his trip with hundreds of amazing images in Transmissions from the Ice Sheet.

OSU Archives is also a member of the Flickr Commons, joining the Library of Congress and the National Galleries of Scotland as the first university to become part of this group that shares archival photos with the world via Flickr.

We also share photos with Facebook and Ning, as well as via a number of other online services. But on the photo side, nothing is quite as extensive as our integration with Flickr. It folds nicely into our own site, and it also moves a lot of our content to a space where it is exposed to an audience searching for strong images. So far, it’s been an effective way to share our photos.

Popularity: 30% [?]

We’ve worked with Central Web Services to create a new set of themes for Drupal 6 that follow the latest brand and identity guidelines. We’ve planned them to be flexible and adaptable for a range of sites, with plenty of room to add identity elements. We hope that it allows users to focus on what’s most important in their Web sites: the content.

Too often a wealth of time and energy goes into planning and designing the template, the actual look and feel of the site.  And then the Web project begins to lose momentum when it comes to developing and maintaining the content. But content is the most important aspect of any online project. With these themes, users can jump right to the editorial part of a project and get through the cycle of a Web development or redesign project before fatigue sets in.

This is the OSU "Orange" theme

You will need to be running version 6 of Drupal to use these themes. We hope to eventually include HTML and CSS for those not working with a content managed site, but those will take more time for development. If you have a Drupal 6 development site, you probably already have these themes available. To set up a Drupal dev site, contact CWS. For assistance in planning content and strategy for your site, using these themes, contact Web Communications. We’ve also published guidelines for use of these themes.

This is the OSU "Grey" theme

Popularity: 62% [?]

Many Oregon State Web communicators use software called Drupal to manage their content. Content management is an efficient way to distribute editorial responsibilities. Also, by placing your content into a database-driven system like Drupal, it becomes easier to search, update, categorize, reuse and syndicate.

But this doesn’t mean that moving to a content mangement system from a static HTML-based site is easy. It’s challenging and also a lot of work. These facts often result in what I’ll call “content management backlash.” In some circles, Drupal is used like a four-letter word. But in truth, any content management system, with its array of advantages and disadvantages, would earn a similar level of abuse.

I have my own challenges in working with Drupal. I’ve worked with a number of CMSs over the years, including WordPress, Cascade Server, Microsoft CMS, TextPattern and Joomla, as well as some home-made options. Drupal is easier than some, and more challenging than others. The features it provides are, however, very similar. But a couple of factors make me feel good about working with Drupal.

First off, it’s an open source project. That means it’s free to use. It is developed by a worldwide collective of intrepid programmers all working for free. It isn’t completely selfless…many of these developers turn around and use Drupal on client projects and sell their services for support and maintenance. But as a Drupal user,you aren’t required to pay a dime. In higher education, where we’re always seeking creative ways to stretch our thin budgets, that’s a huge advantage. It always hurts in our field to sign those dwindling budget resources over to Adobe, Microsoft, Apple and the rest.

The next reason I feel good about working with Drupal is that our university plays a large role in keeping the Drupal project running. Drupal.org, the worldwide community of Drupal users and developers, is hosted right here in the basement of Kerr at Open Source Labs. OSL has played a role in a number of highly regarded open source projects, including Mozilla Firefox. With many Drupal users on campus, we also have a number of users who can serve as resources. There is also extensive Drupal training on campus.

So whenever I grow frustrated using our main content management tool, I try to recall all of those problems I’ve had using other systems. They’re all capable of giving you fits. Then I also try to remember that by using Drupal, I’m investing in a project in which OSU has a very large stake. But none of this means I’m a Drupal purist. In fact, this blog is running on another open source content management system that plays a significant role in higher education, Wordpress.

Popularity: 15% [?]