Highline Website CMS Transition
Moving Highline’s Web Presence
Four of Highline College’s student-facing websites will move to a new content management system during the fall quarter of 2024. These include highline.edu, admissions.highline.edu, registration.highline.edu and financialaid.highline.edu.
Background Information
A content management system (CMS) is a computer software that allows users to create and update digital content on a website. The college currently uses WordPress as its primary CMS. The new CMS, called Omni, is a product of Modern Campus, a software company well-known nationally and among Washington state higher education institutions for helping remove technological barriers for students.
The rationale for this content shift aligns with the Student Success Council’s strategic priorities and goals to focus on student enrollment and retention. Our ultimate goal is to remove enrollment barriers and increase access to information, leading to greater student success at Highline College.
This implementation will make it easier for students to navigate the website and find the information they need. The new CMS will prioritize a student-centered approach, and as part of this effort, students will be included in the feedback process to ensure their needs are being met.
Current Status
During this CMS implementation process, we recognized the need to significantly reduce the number of web editors to better align with accessibility standards, plain language requirements and overall college branding.
We are identifying a limited number of web editors who will have access to the new CMS and creating a new process for requesting website edits to sites that will be moving into the new system. Currently, only people with access to highline.edu, admissions.highline.edu, registration.highline.edu, and financialaid.highline.edu will be affected. If you are a web editor for a site outside those four, no immediate change will be made to your website workflow.
Future Goal
Our long-term goal is to eventually move all student-focused sites into the new CMS, moving from a distributive model into a more centralized one. We will be providing more information as it is available.
Have Questions?
If you have any questions, please reach out to mesmith@highline.edu or tjohnson@highline.edu.
FAQs
What sites are involved in this transition?
Only people with access to highline.edu, admissions.highline.edu, registration.highline.edu, and financialaid.highline.edu will be affected at this time. Users on these sites will receive additional information.
When will this transition begin?
We’re in the final implementation phase of the new CMS and plan to start using it for the four identified sites in the fall of 2024. The goal is to consolidate all student-focused sites into the new CMS over time, so we can work in a more centralized way. We’ll share more information as it becomes available.
What is the editing process during the transition period?
As we transition from the current WordPress websites to the new Modern Campus integrated site, we will be controlling editing on the current WordPress sites. This is to ensure that the content on both the WordPress sites and the new Modern Campus site in development have matching synchronized content.
To facilitate this process, we have created a Website Update Request Form. This form will allow editors to request changes on the current sites, which will then be added to the new integrated website in development. By using this form, we can track edits and ensure that your requests are completed promptly.
Please note that this form is only for editors on the Top-Level, Admissions, Registration, Student Records, and Financial Aid websites.
My site is not one of these four sites. How will this affect my site?
Only the top-level site (highline.edu) and three department subdomains (admissions.highline.edu, financialaid.highline.edu, and regisitration.highline.edu) will be affected at this time.
How were the sites selected to move into the new CMS?
The college’s current top-level site (highline.edu) and three most commonly visited subdomains: admissions.highline.edu, registration.highline.edu and financialaid.highline.edu were selected to provide clearer direction and information for prospective and current students.
