There are currently 19 portlets available on the Ag Content Management System (Ag CMS), but some of those portlets offer little or no value or are not being used. In an effort to simplify the management of portlets, our Ag CMS team will be making some portlets unavailable (see the full list below) beginning on May 24, 2013.
If your Ag CMS site is currently using a portlet that will become unavailable, don't worry. In all cases but one (the TAL portlet), you can continue to use that portlet on your site. Making portlets unavailable will remove them from the "Add Portlet" menu, but will not disable them on existing sites.
That said, we do recommend removing or replacing portlets that have become unavailable as soon as possible. In some cases, there is a portlet that will provide the same function as the portlet being made unavailable.
Managers of sites using portlets that will become unavailable will receive an email listing the soon-to-be unavailable portlets in use on their site and outlining options for removing or replacing them.
If you have questions or concerns, please contact Bob Bertsch, 231-7381, or Sonja Fuchs, 231-6403.
Learn how to use portlets in Ag CMS
| Portlet | Reason for Removal | Possible Replacement |
|---|---|---|
| Calendar | does not function correctly due to use of search to list day's events | Events portlet |
| Classic | provides no value in Ag CMS | none |
| Facebook Feed Form | provides little value in Ag CMS | none |
| Login | provides little value in Ag CMS | none |
| RSS Feed | does not correctly function | Feed Mixer portlet |
| Search | does not use our default custom Google search | none |
| Tag Cloud | provides little value in Ag CMS | none |
| TAL | provides little value in Ag CMS | Static Text portlet |
| Video Player | provides no value in Ag CMS | none |
Now that all Ag CMS sites are live in the new Ag CMS, we have removed the "Logins" links to the old Ag CMS from this site. In the next several weeks, we will be phasing out references to the "NEW" Ag CMS and return to just Ag CMS.
Thanks to all site managers for your work and patience in getting your Sites transitioned.
]]>Our renewed efforts have begun with a revision of the Ag CMS web site. We have made a handful of changes, including creating a new home page, updating request forms, adding links for logging in and reorganizing training and tutorials.
The home page of the Ag CMS site will now feature the latest information about the Ag CMS in the form of blog posts. We have recently added the capability to display an Ag CMS folder or collection in "blog view." We are taking advantage of this new functionality on the Ag CMS home page. We'll be creating new posts frequently in an effort to keep you informed. These posts will be displayed on the home page and archived on the site for you to refer back to.
The forms for requesting an account and a site in the Ag CMS have been updated and moved to Google Docs. This transition will have little affect on your use of these forms, but it will help us keep better track of your requests.
We have also added a form for a Go Live request. The "go live" process, which makes your site available to the public, used to be initiated by an email. now you can come to this site to complete the request.
Most Ag CMS users log in directly to their Ag CMS site using a URL sent to them via email when their site was first created. Sometimes this link gets lost. Sometimes one user manages more than one site and has trouble keeping track of the multiple login URLs.
To help address this problem, we have added login links to the right-side column of this site. Now users can click on the login link that matches the type of site they are trying to access, login with their username and password, and choose the site they want to manage from the left-side navigation.
Reorganizing Training and Tutorials
We have lagged sorely behind in developing Ag CMS training and tutorials. Although the web site revisions do not include new resources at this time, we have reorganized our existing resources to make them more accessible. Ag CMS training resources will now be hosted with all other communications training materials on the Agriculture Communication web site.
This reorganization reflects the increasing overlap in the different areas within Ag Comm. You'll still be able to find the Ag CMS resources by coming to the Ag CMS site.
Hope you enjoy the changes. There are definitely more to come.
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