VMC Web Development

Well here it is and again a long period of time has lapsed without me making an entry in my blog. I apologize to both my readers.

Hopefully everyone knows that VMC has launched a new calendar.  It was launched on June 2nd. For our SiteBuilder users, we are working with a programmer to streamline the calendar for SiteBuilder. Normally we do our own programming, but this is special.

The contact to get access to the new calendar and learn of its features is Shiela Gad or Rhonda Kelly in the Vice-Chancellor’s office.

Other news, we are working on the first Web Council meeting this Fall which will hopefully bring a fair number of VMC Web developers together to discuss needs, common issues, and develop some networking contacts. There will be more to come in July about it.

Mean while, the new VMC Web Initiative is gathering strength and more sites are coming into both the new vanderbilthealth.com and mc.vanderbilt.edu templates. We are working with Diabetes, the Dental Clinic, the Pituitary Center, and the Diayni Center sites as I write.

I hope everyone is have a great summer.  Please stay safe and let me hear from you from time to time (3-1659). Maybe my team has or knows of resources that can help you with your Web Development tasks.

Take care,  Terry

Though I have not been writing much on this blog, there is a lot going on.

The VMC Web Council is planning the first meeting of the masses late this summer. We hope to have a lot of information and resources that will make your jobs as Web developers easier and give you contacts that are happy to help you succeed.

The VMC Web Team is continuing to work on new features and a new look for the working side of VMC SiteBuilder 2.0.

I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Summer.  I will add to this site as new information comes available.

Since budgets and evaluations are behind me, it is time to get back to my daily work.  One of the next projects I am undertaking may be important to one or more of you, it is online event registration.

My understanding is that the medical center used to use CVent but stopped because of the cost. Well, I have had a number of inquiries about online event registration and wanted to hear from everyone else.

Since it is early in the process, I am open to reviewing whomever people suggest.  I plan to contact CVent and I have already opened a conversation with Certain Online Registration.

I would also like to know how valuable this is to your departments and what specifics you are looking for in an online event registration software program.

My thought was to purchase the software for the medical center and charge users  for use. So, I will need an idea of the size of your events and how many your department would use per calendar year.

I would appreciate your input as I am not real familiar with this area, but plan to get that way very soon. So please email me your comments at: terry.smith@vanderbilt.edu.

The more information you provide me the better job I can do.

Thanks!

I want to thank everyone for coming to the VMC SiteBuilder 2.0 Preview.  We had right at 60 people attend.

I want to apologize for the stuffiness, normally we are a very laid back group.  Somehow standing behind a podium made it more formal. I can only blame myself and everyone who sat in the back row so we had to use the microphone.  Just kidding!

I will be sending out more information about the VMC Web Council, a new forum for VMC Web developers that has been blessed by administration, that I mentioned at the meeting.  Anna Belle Leiserson is making the final tweaks to the blog.  I will send it out when she is done.

This is an awesome time to be a Web developer in the medical center.  The new initiative, free resources, administration’s support, and now a group to help you even more and carry your needs to people who can help us affect change.  Life is good.

Don’t forget to give me me a call at 3-1659 if you need to chat.

I want to thank everyone who came out for the VMC Sitebuilder 2.0 new functionality demo yesterday.  We enjoyed sharing the new stuff with you and answering your questions.  If you did not get a chance to come, let us know if you would like us to do this again.  If we get enough responses, we will.  Or if you would like to set up an appointment with Jason Coles to update your knowledge base, you can email him at jason.coles@vanderbilt.edu and he’ll get you setup.

The new Web Initiative was mentioned in Friday’s Reporter.  We even made the front page, thanks Bill Hance.  The new initiative is so exciting.  For the first time in my ten years of being involved with the VMC Web presence, we will have a consistent, awesome Web site that we all own.  How cool is that?

I’m sure you can tell by the new SiteBuilder, that I am blessed with an awesome team, but without you, the user, it would be for naught.  I was just trying to find a way to use the word “naught”, so here it is.  Anyway, thanks again and keep in touch, we will.

I will be sending out more information about the first VMC Web Council meeting; it will be held in early August, but no date has been set.

Ta, Ta for now.

All,

Today is a very special day. Today the VMC Web Team, VMC Creative Services, and VMC Marketing launched the new Web site for faculty/staff, research, and education. Please go visit it at www.mc.vanderbilt.edu and let us know what you think.

We have been working tirelessly to launch this site with a huge amount of effort by Ryan Huber, Jonathan Dees, Jason Coles, and Melissa Carro. Congratulations to all.

The launch of this new site coincides with Dr. Jacobson’s State of the Medical Center Address this afternoon. It is part of the VMC Web Initiative that will bring a new consistent design to all VMC Web sites that started with the launch of the new consumer site (www.vanderbilthealth.com) last September.

As you can imagine, this is a lot of work that began almost two years ago. Separating the patient site from .edu was a huge step. We held several focus groups and talked to researchers, educators, and medical center leadership before we did anything. This is truly a joint effort.

It is funny how this also coincides with our annual evaluations. More money for all, whoopie! Just kidding.

Finally, just a quick reminder that we will be hosting our VMC SiteBuilder 2.0 preview tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. in Light Hall, room 214. And yes, the new SiteBuilder is part of the aforementioned initiative.

Have a great day. I will be at the State of the Medical Center Address, so stop me, say hello, and tell me in person what you think about the new sites.

Hi All,

We have a date, time, and location for the first VMC SiteBuilder 2.0 Perview Session.  It will be held on April 4th in room 214 Light Hall.  The meeting will begin at 2:00 p.m.

I want to remind everyone that this is not a training session.  This is to preview the new functionality of SiteBuilder.  This session is for seasoned SiteBuilder users who clearly understand the basic functionality of S.B.

The preview should not take very long, but we also want to talk to you about the new VMC Web Initiative, a new VMC Web resource group, and field any questions you may have.

The goal is to keep this simple, informal, and we may even have some fun.

The VMC Web Team and I are looking forward to seeing you all next Friday.

Respectfully, Terry

The votes are in; we have received an overwhelming response from you, our VMC SiteBuilder users, to preview VMC SiteBuilder 2.0. We are in the process of securing a large room on the medical campus to make this happen. Hopefully we will have the date, time and location to everyone by tomorrow.

This is an exciting time regarding the VMC Web presence. For the first time in our history, we are moving, with administration’s support, to a more unified Web presence that is designed and written for the end user. In the past we, as you know, have had a variety of designs that were flavored with each department’s idea of how the end user wanted to get that information.

Our institution has an awesome and well deserved reputation, but the Web presence did not adequately echo that professionalism. Now with your help, we are on our way to achieving this lofty goal.

So to keep from putting you to sleep, I will end this entry and promise to get back to you about the preview meeting as soon as I hear from room scheduling.

Take care. Terry

Yesterday at 2:30 p.m. the VMC Web Team launched VMC SiteBuilder 2.0.  This was a huge amount of work by Ryan Huber and Jonathan Dees.  Jason Coles also contributed to the effort.

What this means to SiteBuilder users is new functionality.  It includes the ability to create and place content modules, add preexisting tools (e.g. Find a Doc and Maps & Directions), and create forms. Plus, Google Analytics is an option for all new sites.
The new SiteBuilder uses two approved templates.  One is for clinical sites and a second for all others.  The new templates have a fresh new look and promise to help our visitors get the information they need about Vanderbilt and our services.

With any new software, we expect some wrinkles to happen and we will do our best to iron them out in a timely manner.  While that is happening, Jason Coles will be gearing up to train users on the new tool.  It isn’t complicated, but with new features it is a good idea to be exposed to them in a one-on-one training session. So, if you want a refresh or new training, please email Jason at: jason.coles@vanderbilt.edu to set up training beginning the week of March 17.

Like any SiteBuilder(SB) update, the new functionality is available to all SB users immediately with the caveat, the new functionality is only available on the new templates. Older templates do not and will not have the new functionality.

We are also working on the new www.mc.vanderbilt.edu Web site. It is long overdue.  We met with Joel Lee, Associate Vice Chancellor of Communications two times in the past three months and have received approval to move forward with our new design.

The new .edu design will echo the clinical side, but have a slightly different, more academic/research feel to it.

In the past I have shared with everyone the new VMC Web initiative.  It first became apparent with the release of the new clinical site. Now, the rest of the medical center Web sites will be coming on board.

As new and updated SiteBuilder sites come on board, users will note that there are only two templates to choose from. This is part of the new initiative.  One, consistent look.  We feel it is a good one that you will like.  I hope you do.

Finally, as I come to the end of this book, I want to make it clear that current SiteBuilder users will not have to give up their current templates until they decide to change them to the new design.  They can still make updates to the content without changing the template, but once they pick the new design, there is no going back.

In the future there will be discussions as to when all sites must come over, but that has not been decided yet.

As always, if you would like to talk to me directly, please call me at 3-1659.  I would rather you call me to clear up any confusion than to assume the worst.

Thanks for your time and patience,

Terry

Just a quick note to let everyone know that the new VMC Patient/Visitor Web site (www.Vanderbilthealth.com) has been successfully launched and it may mean that you need to check your links to VMC.

We knew that separating out the patient/visitor audience would create new challenges for Web developers in the medical center, but the pros far out weighed the cons.  Having said that, I ask that you please revisit the links to VMC on your sites.  If your site’s audience is patients and visitors, please direct them to Vanderbilthealth.com.  If your site’s audience is not patients and visitors, please direct them to our mc.vanderbilt.edu Web site.

We have developed the VMC sites so that a user can go from one to the other, but our hope is that by separating them our patients and visitors will find their information more quickly.

We have also placed a link on the new Web site for feedback.  Please use it to let us know what challenges you face regarding the new site and we will do our best to help you.  We have already had great feedback and have made changes based on that feedback.
Have a great weekend.

Terry