When you publish content on the CMS, it isn't published immediately. Instead, it goes through workflow: a series of approvals to make sure the new content is ready for publication. This page covers the questions most frequently asked about workflow.
What is workflow?
Cascade provides us with a procedure called workflow, which provides checkpoints for web content. Typically, the content for a web page needs to be approved at the unit level and at the university level.
So if you are an author for your unit's website and you submit content for publishing, Cascade's workflow will first notify your content approver (perhaps a department chair, dean, or office or program director). The content approver checks the information you have submitted for accuracy and appropriateness. They can approve the content as is, edit the content and send it on to the next step in the workflow process, or reject it and make suggestions for you to implement and resubmit.
After the content approver has approved the content, they submit it to the Digital Team. (In some cases, you may be both an author and an approver for your site. In that case, your content will go directly to the Digital Team.) A web editor on the Digital Team will not change the meaning of your content and is not responsible for rewriting it. The editor is responsible for checking spelling and punctuation, verifying accuracy when possible, making sure templates have been used correctly, and ensuring that you've represented your unit and the university in the best way.
The editor may publish your content as is, make adjustments and then publish your content, or reject your content and make suggestions for you to implement and resubmit.
When your content has been published by the web editor, it will appear on your site the by following day. Please note that the daily deadline for publishing is 2:00 p.m. Items that reach the web editor after 2:00 p.m. may be delayed an extra day.
When will my content go live on the IUP website?
Generally, content submitted by 2:00 p.m. during the week will be published that day.
Until your content is published, website users will see your existing site on the current iup.edu website.
As all submissions need to be published by the Digital Team, submissions after 2:00 p.m. may be delayed until the following day.
Exception: Items not published after 2:00 p.m. Friday afternoon will be handled on the following Monday (except holidays).
Why would my submission be rejected?
The Digital Team, which includes the editor, helps make IUP look the best it can in this medium.
Knowing how to write for the web takes skill and experience. We know not everyone is comfortable writing for public consumption, particularly in this medium. Just as we have a university editor for print publications, IUP has a web editor for web publications. The web editor's priority is to look out for the university's reputation—and to make us all look good—in addition to making sure the site clearly communicates its intended message.
In some cases, the web editor will make necessary edits to your content and publish it. In other cases, because of time constraints or to help content authors learn to write for the web more effectively, the editor may reject the content and send the author suggestions to implement and resubmit. Feel free to contact the Digital Team at web-team@iup.edu if you do not understand the reasoning behind content changes or rejection.
How will I know if my content has been approved or rejected?
Content authors and approvers will see notifications on their Cascade dashboard if the content has been published or rejected.
If content is rejected, the reasoning and suggestions for improvement should be outlined in the comments.
What kinds of edits may be made to my content?
Areas where you are likely to see editing changes are spelling, grammar, punctuation, style, and format.
Toward that end, content authors and approvers can help by using Cascade's spell-check feature on their content before submitting it for approval. They are also encouraged to check out their content in preview mode before submitting it, so they can see how it would appear on the website. In some cases, text or images may be hidden or may go off the page, but site maintainers won't know if they don't preview their content by selecting Preview Draft.
Content authors and approvers are also asked to do their best to ensure content is clear, concise, accurate, and appropriate, and the web editor will assist when necessary.
Many authors and approvers have an excellent command of the English language. However, they may not be familiar with the elements of style. For instance, when do you spell out a number and when do you use the figure? When do you write out the name of a month and when do you abbreviate it? Is it Indiana, Pennsylvania; Indiana, PA; or Indiana, Pa.? Do you use a comma before the last item in a series? These questions have no right or wrong answer, but the university does follow a consistent style in these situations and many, many others.
Does the editor follow a particular style?
Yes. While we have made some customization, the web editor primarily follows the Chicago Manual of Style, the same style the university editor uses.
The editor also employs a style guide recently adopted by the President's Office and the university's executive team for the Council of Trustees Docket. Here are some helpful guidelines on university style.
When is a change made (and content approved) without informing the content author/approver?
Basically, the Digital Team will make a change and approve content without informing the content submitter when the change is viewed as minor.
Often, these are changes involving grammar, punctuation, spelling, or conformity with university style (see the University Style Guide). There are simply too many content submissions to contact the web maintainer about each minor change.
Examples:
- Adding or removing commas
- Uncapitalizing “university” and job titles that do not immediately precede names:
Michael Driscoll is the president of the university. - Fixing dangling modifiers:
Transferring to IUP, Bob's major was English. > When Bob transferred to IUP, his major was English. - Minor clarifications of sentences.
When is the content author/approver informed of a change made before publishing?
The Digital Team will notify the content author/approver of a change made before publishing when the change is significant or when the change is something likely to come up again in future submissions by that author/approver.
Often, a member of the Digital Team will contact the unit author/approver to help with fixing the submission.
Examples:
- Rewrite of a large amount of text for clarification.
- Moving content to a different category (for example, from Policies to How To)
- Fixing content in accordance with the template (for example, moving or resizing a photo that extends beyond the page or covers other page elements)
When is content declined?
The Digital Team will decline content when it needs significant work that would be most beneficial for the author/approver to do in order to improve future submissions.
The unit author/approver is always informed of the reason by email or phone. Often, a member of the Digital Team will work with the unit author/approver to improve the content.
Examples:
- Content that is clearly incomplete (and possibly an accidental submission)
- Content that is not appropriate for the audience (for example, content that is not reader friendly)
- Content with a repeated problem (for example, an extensive table of contents or collection of items with no set summaries)
- Content requiring major fixes to work within the template (for example, content that is off the page)