Step 1: Exploratory Work

Completed by the Health Sciences Communications and Marketing web services team at project kickoff.

Site Audit - Web Services

Before any migration work begins, the Health Sciences Communications and Marketing team conducts a high-level audit of the client’s existing site and asks that the content decision-makers complete the Website Content Exploratory Worksheet. The goal of the site audit is not a page-by-page content review, but rather a structural and navigational assessment. The exploratory worksheet allows us to learn more about the client’s mission, goals, and intended audience(s).

• Review the existing site's information architecture and navigation

• Identify structural issues, redundant sections, or outdated organizational patterns

• Propose a revised navigation and site structure for the client’s review

• Confirm which content areas will be handled by HSC platform integrations (see note below)

• Review the exploratory worksheet to determine content focus.

• Align on the overall scope of the migration with the client

HSC Platform Integrations: Several content areas are powered by centralized University and Health Sciences systems and may not be able to be manually moved such as:

• People/Profiles: Faculty, staff, and resident/fellow profiles are fed to all Health Sciences websites dynamically from the HSC Directory — clients won’t manually build profile pages

• News: Articles, stories, and announcements are pulled dynamically from the HSC News System — clients won’t move news content manually

• Events: Health Sciences sites link directly to WVU Calendar and do not display events natively — standalone events sections may be removed from the new site structure

Staging Site and Access Setup – Web Services

• Develop a new Umbraco Cloud project environment for the unit/school

• Set up development and staging environments (dev → staging → live)

• Assign Umbraco editor roles, when permitted, and permissions to clients or content contributors

• Confirm the target URL and initiate any URL/subdomain requests as needed

Kickoff – Unit/School, HSC Communications & Marketing

• Conduct a kickoff meeting with the client to:

  • Discuss the exploratory worksheet outlining site content goals.

  • Identify audience(s), challenges, and pain points from client’s standpoint.

  • Walk through the proposed site structure and any audit findings

  • Confirm point of contact for content decisions and updates

  • Clarify which content will come from SOLE News, HSC Directory, and other shared content options like tuition, student profiles – These are referred to as dynamic data or HSC platform integrations.

  • Establish a migration timeline and launch target date

• Provide communicators with access to Umbraco training resources and documentation.