The State of Iowa has created an enterprise platform as part of a Digital Transformation initiative, to allow for all state agencies using the platform to create constituent-facing content in a similar manner.
The platform consists of multiple content types and a media library to allow authors the ability to publish information that is easy for end users to understand.
The bulk of State agencies have been assigned a "Cohort" in the queue of rollouts onto the platform.
Your Public Information Officer is informed regularly about the next steps for their cohort.
Use your assigned login to access the system. The vast majority of website authors will be State employees and will log in using your existing single sign-on process.
The site uses a structured content approach to standardize data and work towards the ability to "edit in one place, update everywhere".
The majority of content on the site is made up of "Content" including Basic Pages and Landing Pages, with many different pieces of "Microcontent" embedded.
Learn how to use those two types of content: Content vs. Microcontent.
It's most important to understand that one piece of Microcontent may be placed multiple times, and a change to the original piece will be reflected in every instance. For example, if a Promo called "Subscribe to Newsletter" gets an updated image, that Promo will be updated with the new image, in all places where it's used.
The DOM DoIT team working on the initiative has shared approximate website launch dates with all initial cohorts. If you have questions or need more information, reach out.
Our guidelines are to use shorter menu titles and to use fewer than 6 menu items at a time. If there are more than those, the hamburger menu will automatically appear on the top-right corner. We recommend using fewer words in your top level navigation menu items, and also allowing only a maximum of six top-level menu items.
We recommend adding a featured image on pages to "fill" the space to the right of the screen. In most cases the screens will show what is expected, and for smaller screens the information below will be slightly cut-off to encourage users to scroll to view more.
Users who are using a Listing Page will more than likely anticipate a scroll.
To help encourage users to scroll, please include more information in the summary, like “see special factors to consider below.”
All authors on the site are one of multiple pre-defined "Roles":
Writers: submit content for review
Editors: edit content
Publishers: publish content
Agency Managers: manage the agency settings
Here is a breakdown of the roles: Authors on the platform