Content Management System (CMS) and switches to the new Ensemble CMS. The previous version of the VTCDD site will continue to be hosted by the university, however, our client will not be able to make any changes. For that reason, we shifted our project timeline back approximately two weeks so that we can iteratively update the site based on the client’s preferences. B.1.1 Project Preparation Before we could begin developing, we needed a better insight into the structure of the old website and all of the pages that needed to be recreated. To achieve this, we used a PHP web crawler to crawl within the vtcdd.science.vt.edu domain and create a map of all site pages and their interconnectivity. This revealed pages that were not as easily accessible as the client originally intended and have since been amended. B.1.2 Page Migration In order to fully migrate the site, we needed to first find all of the content and pages. To do this, we used a web crawler that searched through the entire site and found all of the pages. From the web crawler, we were able to generate a list of the URL’s for each page. The next step was to split up the page migrations between the team; see Appendix D. The old site contained much content, including pictures and documents. We provided our client with a Google folder to upload all of the content. This gave us full quality versions of the content. During the migration, we were able to restructure some of the data on the pages. On the old site, there were multiple columns on a page with an overwhelming amount of text. We were able to find more innovative ways to display the content in a less overwhelming manner. This included using accordions to hide and split up content. We also used modals, which, when clicked, present a popup with more information. This restructuring gave the site a much better flow.
Content Management System (CMS) and switches to the new Ensemble CMS. The previous version of the VTCDD site will continue to be hosted by the university, however, our client will not be able to make any changes. For that reason, we shifted our project timeline back approximately two weeks so that we can iteratively update the site based on the client’s preferences. B.1.1 Project Preparation Before we could begin developing, we needed a better insight into the structure of the old website and all of the pages that needed to be recreated. To achieve this, we used a PHP web crawler to crawl within the vtcdd.science.vt.edu domain and create a map of all site pages and their interconnectivity. This revealed pages that were not as easily accessible as the client originally intended and have since been amended. B.1.2 Page Migration In order to fully migrate the site, we needed to first find all of the content and pages. To do this, we used a web crawler that searched through the entire site and found all of the pages. From the web crawler, we were able to generate a list of the URL’s for each page. The next step was to split up the page migrations between the team; see Appendix D. The old site contained much content, including pictures and documents. We provided our client with a Google folder to upload all of the content. This gave us full quality versions of the content. During the migration, we were able to restructure some of the data on the pages. On the old site, there were multiple columns on a page with an overwhelming amount of text. We were able to find more innovative ways to display the content in a less overwhelming manner. This included using accordions to hide and split up content. We also used modals, which, when clicked, present a popup with more information. This restructuring gave the site a much better flow.
DrugDiscoveryFinalProjectReport.docx