August 05, 2003

Just Say No

Gerry McGovern writes about getting the right people to publish intranet content. I mention this not because he has anything earth-shattering to say, but because what he has to say is nicely summarized in his article.

Websites need to get back to basic principles. Websites that represent organizations should be organized in a coherent and consistent manner. They require strategies and objectives. They need to be measured. Somebody should be in charge. This is management A-B-C. It's often missing.

Distributed content creation seems to be something of a holy grail. Lots of CMS packages tout the ability to allow "non-technical" or "business" users to create the own content. Few of these vendors are going to stop and ask if you actually want these users to be adding this content to the website. I actually think that setting up a system that enables non-technical people to add content is great. But, such a system probably needs to be paired with a strong site manager who can provide direction and editorial assistance. This kind of central "bird-dogging" can ensure the content stays relevant, fresh, and on-topic.