January 2022: general availability
Goal: Make the service available for general use by the Duke community
- Consider user feedback and provide exceptional customer service
- Expand user base through service outreach and additional site launches
- Maintain an efficient, stable system while making continuous system improvements
- Look for future enhancements and updates on our News & Updates page
Summer 2021: initial Rollout
Goal: Successfully launch first Sites@Duke Pro sites
- Launch sanford.duke.edu in late July 2021, the first live production Sites Pro website
- Implement policies and processes for governance, new site requests and launch, system enhancements and updates, training, and user experience consulting
- Establish a product roadmap, communication channels, and a user community
Early 2021: Sites@Duke Pro Pilot
Goal: Soft-launch the newly named Sites@Duke Pro enterprise Drupal system with a pilot phase to solicit feedback and further improve the service
- Continue working with the Sanford School to refine all aspects of the system, including stability and usability enhancements
- Determine and implement strategies for service delivery and management
- Partner with additional Duke units for the Summer 2021 pilot phase
2020: Sanford.duke.edu Partnership
Goal: Partner with the Sanford School of Public Policy as a primary stakeholder, redesigning sanford.duke.edu as the first pilot website of the enterprise Drupal system
- Review functional requirements and create a base build and underlying infrastructure – incorporating feedback from real users based on real content needs
- Design and build a visual front-end theme with an updated Duke look and feel
- Develop training materials for site admins
- Form an internal management committee to oversee development of the system
- Focus on implementing cost- and time-saving measures for customers
2019: enterprise Drupal Service inception
Goal: Build an enterprise Drupal service as a cost-effective and efficient mid-tier web development option for Duke customers
- Create a Drupal 8 base build as the foundation of the enterprise Drupal service and custom Duke Web Services projects – offering a standardized "kit" with consistent features and settings, with most code updates occurring at the base build level
- Architect a system using a Drupal back-end, Gatsby middleware, static front-end, OpenShift hosting infrastructure, and integrations with various enterprise Duke services
Project Goals
- Facilitate the successful move of all DWS Drupal sites out of Drupal 7 by the D7 sunset date.
- Use a standard code base to improve consistency across DWS sites, adhering to best practices for Drupal development, usability and user experience, security, accessibility, etc.
- Improve active projects by reducing the number of hours for standard website development; a more streamlined requirements-gathering process and a shorter development phase will speed up project timelines and potentially reduce budget estimates.
- Reduce maintenance efforts through standardization. Adhering to a standard Drupal feature set and supporting fewer custom sites will reduce planning, creative, and development time – thereby improving team availability and turnaround time for support requests, speeding up customer communication and response, reducing maintenance costs, and boosting client satisfaction.
- Provide a consistent and well-designed user experience for site admins – reducing time spent on development, documentation, training, and support.
- Allow for a "headless" development model – use Drupal to power the back-end, and a separate framework for front-end theming. This model capitalizes on Drupal's strengths as a database, while allowing for more custom, creative front-end themes, unencumbered by Drupal's inherent design constraints.