{
    "version" : "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1",
    "content" : "news",
    "type" : "single",
    "title" : "Building Brick by Brick: Ed.gov’s Website Redesign and Mobile Implementation |Digital.gov",
    "description": "Building Brick by Brick: Ed.gov’s Website Redesign and Mobile Implementation",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/2015/02/12/building-brick-by-brick-ed-govs-website-redesign-and-mobile-implementation/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"Building Brick by Brick: Ed.gov’s Website Redesign and Mobile Implementation","summary" : "Rome wasn’t built in a day. Neither are website redesigns. In line with the piecemeal responsive Web design implementation trend we recently highlighted, the new Ed.gov website redesign happened in three phases. In this case, budget limitations and existing content management systems (CMSs) influenced the decision-making","date" : "2015-02-12T10:00:39-04:00","date_modified" : "2024-04-02T09:45:13-04:00","authors" : {"awichman" : "Ashley Wichman"},"topics" : {
        
            "content-strategy" : "Content Strategy",
            "mobile" : "Mobile"
            },"branch" : "cm-topics-button-component",
      "filename" :"2015-02-12-building-brick-by-brick-ed-govs-website-redesign-and-mobile-implementation.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2015/02/2015-02-12-building-brick-by-brick-ed-govs-website-redesign-and-mobile-implementation.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/cm-topics-button-component/content/news/2015/02/2015-02-12-building-brick-by-brick-ed-govs-website-redesign-and-mobile-implementation.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/cm-topics-button-component/content/news/2015/02/2015-02-12-building-brick-by-brick-ed-govs-website-redesign-and-mobile-implementation.md","slug" : "building-brick-by-brick-ed-govs-website-redesign-and-mobile-implementation","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/2015/02/12/building-brick-by-brick-ed-govs-website-redesign-and-mobile-implementation/","content" :"\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2015/01/250-x-374-EDgov-3-0-homepage.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Screenshot of the Ed.gov website\u0026#39;s homepage\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\nRome wasn’t built in a day. Neither are website redesigns.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn line with the \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/2015/01/13/trends-on-tuesday-responsive-web-design-implementation-happening-piecemeal/\"\u003epiecemeal responsive Web design implementation\u003c/a\u003e trend we recently highlighted, the \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/2015/01/23/new-ed-gov-homepage-and-more/\"\u003enew Ed.gov website redesign\u003c/a\u003e happened in three phases. In this case, budget limitations and existing content management systems (CMSs) influenced the decision-making process.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“We use three different CMSs,” said Jill James, Web director at the Department of Education. “We timed the phases of our redesigns with technical upgrades that we needed to do anyway.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe redesign process began in late 2012, with an initial look at budgets and the realities of what a redesign would mean for the website. James and her colleagues in the Department’s Office of the Chief Information Officer determined that timing the redesign with technical upgrades would save money and make the best use of resources.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“The entire redesign process took longer than I would have liked, but we did it to save money,” said James. “If you have the funds, you can accelerate your deployment. But, with tight budgets, you have to be savvy and take advantage of opportunities.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey started with a WordPress upgrade for their flagship blog, \u003ca href=\"http://www.ed.gov/blog/\"\u003eHomeroom\u003c/a\u003e. The second phase was focused on upgrading TeamSite/Websphere, and a few of the smaller mini-sites of Ed.gov that were based in WordPress.The website became mobile-friendly in June 2014, when the \u003ca href=\"http://www.ed.gov/blog/2014/06/ed-gov-has-a-new-look/\"\u003esecond phase of the website redesign\u003c/a\u003e was finished.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003ca href=\"http://www.ed.gov/blog/2015/01/new-ed-gov-homepage-and-more/\"\u003ethird and final phase\u003c/a\u003e was completed at the end of January. Their homepage and online press room are based in Drupal, which was upgraded from version 6 to 7.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2014/09/520-x-195-UsabilityGov-reboot.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Various mobile devices showcase the responsive design of Usability.gov\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eAll of Ed.gov’s website and blogs now have \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/2014/09/03/mobile-web-templates-how-to-use-open-source-cms-to-implement-responsive-web-design-webinar-recap/\"\u003eresponsive design\u003c/a\u003e and Bootstrap styling. The combination of responsive themes and Bootstrap means that Ed.gov pages automatically adjust to the size of smartphones or tablets. Going with this style was a pivot from their initial plans.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“As we looked at Bootstrap, we realized it would take care of a lot of theming and styling issues on the site,” said James. “It provided a big shortcut for us. Early in development, when elements on a page would collapse or reorder at different screen widths on the test site, it was a hot mess. Once we started using Bootstrap, things worked better, and it saved us a lot of time.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJames noted that her team had to make only a few content changes to account for changes in navigation.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“We did not remove any pages or content: It was more about the style and design of the layout,” said James. “In some cases, there were links in the left navigation area that were not in the body of the page, so we fixed things like that before we took out the left navigation.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlthough Ed.gov is based on three different platforms, James said that they have worked hard to tie the branding together in a way that is not disruptive to customers. Many customers don’t even notice they are on different parts of the site, James said.\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
  ]
}