Best solution to present information to end users
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Something I've seen posted about here and that other site lately is that people aren't asking the right questions in the search for a solution to their problem.
Today I come to you all looking for the best way to ask my question, and perhaps make me think about things I haven't considered yet for my question.
Problem: My boss wants a centralized solution to disseminate information to our end users that's fun yet informative and easy to use.
I would like it to be easy to maintain and update.
I created a MediaWIKI site, but the boss hates it, while it's functional, I wouldn't call wiki's easy to use for end users (I've tried searching on it and the results are always mixed), and she flat out think it's ugly so she doesn't think the end users (mostly woman) will ever bother with it.
Further requests:
The homepage should look nice, professional with easy to use search and navigation. The home page should be easy to edit, and when things are rolled off the homepage they should be findable via search.
It needs to have areas that contain the Employee handbook, policies and procedures and a bi-weekly newsletter.
It would be great if it had a calendar (probably more than one) that could be maintained by a separate non IT person for a list of activities.Currently there is no plan for users to have the ability to interact with the page, the data will simply be static (changed by those assigned to maintain it).
OK guys, thanks.
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An internal Wordpress or other CMS would be better than a wiki. A wiki is for when you expect a lot of people to be editing.
The plus side is that there are a ton of plugins and themes already designed for things like this. Then all you have to do is handle the content.
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SharePoint? Alfresco? LifeRay?
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@scottalanmiller said:
SharePoint? Alfresco? LifeRay?
Sharepoint looks worse than wikis do! it's not really a webpage, to me it's more of a web'fied windows explorer (at least that is what I saw when Alex was showing it to me).
I've never heard of the other two.
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Or wordpress
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Remember the rule of marketing - someone has to see something three times before they'll notice and take action. It's best if those three touch points are in different media. So you'll need to email people, then show them how to get to the wiki, then also do desk drops with the URL to the wiki.
Also this video has some good pointers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osUwukXSd0k
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Thanks Nic.
Though I do have to agree with my boss, the Wiki isn't pretty or sexy or in general appealing. So even showing it to them, while they might be able to be forced into it, I just don't see them advocating for it.
Plus since the search feature doesn't work as well as I'd like - I need to move on.
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Did you look into any of the tools that I had listed?
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I'm working on a different fax issue (beside posting on here) this morning. I hope to dive into them a bit this afternoon.
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As it was said you can do WordPress and it can also be used for the company site (or a separate site.) Only workers with accounts would be able to see the workers area information.
You can also add a nice event calendar that is simple enough for your workers.
We could add an advanced search as well.
The weekly newsletter could be set up to be sent by MailChimp (email provider) and would come from posts on the website that would only be seen by the logged in workers. "fun yet informative" part can come from leaving comments on in the posts so that the workers can provide input if management wants to have feedback. (I know there no plan at the moment for users to interact, but it could be turned off or on at anytime.
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As much as I hate these type sites as a user. Have you ever seen thoughs sites where before you can even send an email/ticket it takes you through a self-service portal? Maybe implement something like that. They use the topic/title the user enters (usually it will say describe your problem in a few words) Wonder if this would be beneficial to you? I find them highly annoying though.
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@thecreativeone91 said:
As much as I hate these type sites as a user. Have you ever seen thoughs sites where before you can even send an email/ticket it takes you through a self-service portal? Maybe implement something like that. They use the topic/title the user enters (usually it will say describe your problem in a few words) Wonder if this would be beneficial to you? I find them highly annoying though.
I don't follow?
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Something like this https://support.freshdesk.com/support/articles/156518-helping-users-to-your
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Sharepoint really seems like an obvious choice. You have Windows servers already, presumably?
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@Reid-Cooper said:
Sharepoint really seems like an obvious choice. You have Windows servers already, presumably?
Did you see the part where I said Sharepoint looks like crap? It's fine for a document repository, but it's not a webpage that encourages casual browsing. At least the ones I've seen.
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You can theme Sharepoint however you like. Totally customizable.
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@scottalanmiller said:
You can theme Sharepoint however you like. Totally customizable.
I would love to see examples.
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@Dashrender Google Images would be your friend here.
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Have you made any progress on finding a solution that you want to present?
