UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MILWAUKEE of Information Studies
SYLLABUS
691 – Special Topics in Information Science: Content Management Systems
Instructor: Matthew Friedel Location: NQ - 3565
E-mail: Phone: 414-502-8526 (Google Voice)
Hours: by Appt. Fax: 414-229-6699
Meeting Time & location: ONLINE - 07/10-08/19 – Summer 2017
DESCRIPTION:
Provides advanced skills to create powerful and highly functional websites with various tools without using web development languages and coding scripts, but with open source web-based content management systems.
3 credits
PREREQUISITES: Junior Standing, Basic HTML knowledge preferred.
OBJECTIVES: Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
· Understand the role of content management technologies to acquire, organize and present web content.
· Understand the basic features of the various types of content management systems (CMS).
· Understand and explore methods, tools and applications for content management.
· Develop proficiency installing and configuring various CMS.
· Extend CMS functionality using components, modules and plug-ins.
· Understand the knowledge cycle: acquisition, storing, application and maintenance
· Deploy advanced CMS functionality, including community building, image galleries, and forums.
METHOD: Lecture/Discussion/Hands-on Exercises
Students with special needs should contact the instructor as early as possible for accommodations.
ACADEMIC POLICIES:
Academic policies may be found on the UWM Web site at:
http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/Acad_Aff/policy/uniformsyllabus.html. Additional policies may be found at the end of the syllabus.
TEXTBOOKS:
Beck, J.N. and Beck, M. (2013). WordPress: Visual Quickstart Guide. 3rd ed. Peachpit Press. [ISBN: 032195761X] Required.
WEB RESOURCES:
SOIS Student Web Spaces: http://uwm.edu/informationstudies/resources/it/tutorials/
Online Tutorials at Lynda.com: http://uwm.edu/lsito/lynda-tutorials/ [how to login]
· http://www.lynda.com/WordPress-tutorials/WordPress-Essential-Training/372542-2.html
· http://www.lynda.com/Joomla-tutorials/Joomla-3-Essential-Training/110275-2.html
· http://www.lynda.com/Drupal-7-tutorials/essential-training/73655-2.html
· Tutorials for latest versions may be available.
· There are many other tutorials available at Lynda.com regarding WordPress, Joomla and Drupal and please feel free to explore those tutorials once you finish these core ones.
ASSIGNMENTS:
Weekly Assignments (60%)
Every week, there is a hands-on assignment. The assignments should be posted by the due time, usually following Monday night at 11:59 on your SOIS LAMP Server account. The details will be available as the course goes along. Late submissions are NOT accepted with Doctor excuse or prior consent from instructor.
Final Project (40%: undergraduate students; 20%: graduate students)
At the end of the semester, you are asked to set up a community site on a Word press platform, where users can register by themselves and share their ideas and contents with other authenticated members. Your final project will be evaluated by the combination of criteria: required functionality 60%, usability aspect 20%, and aesthetic aspect 20%.
Term Paper (20%: Graduate Students Only)
At the end of the semester, graduate students are asked to write a paper on “Current state of CMS” with minimum 1000 words (excluding references, tables, figures, and etc.), 10 references including academic journal articles or books (each must have an ISBN or ISSN).
Questions to address in paper:
· What are the most popular (Open source and purchased) CMS systems today?
· Why would you choose open source vs. paid?
· What are the important criteria you should consider in selecting a CMS system?
· Why might you choose to build a custom solution vs. using a CMS?
· Provide real-world examples of companies that would use CMS?
Please use a commonly used style manual for your term paper (e.g. Turabian, Chicago, APA, MLA).
GRADING:
95-100 A superior work91-94 A-
87-90 B+
84-86 B satisfactory, but
undistinguished work
80-83 B-
77-79 C+ / 74-76 C work is below standard
70-73 C-
67-69 D+
64-66 D unsatisfactory work
60-63 D-
below 60 F
COURSE SCHEDULE AND READINGS:
Week / Week of / Topic / Assignment / Reading1 / 7/9-7/15 / Introduction and Course Overview / Syllabus
WordPress / Setup WordPress Site / Beck and Beck
Installation, Managing accounts / Chapter 1-4
2 / 7/16-7/22 / Picking the right Themes / Theme Assignment / Beck and Beck
Chapter 5-10
3 / 7/23-7/29 / Best Wordpress Plugins for all purposes. / Plugin Assignment / Beck and Beck
Chapter 11-16
4 / 7/30-8/5 / Security best practices / Security Assignment
5 / 8/6-8/12 / Drupal / Setup Drupel Site
Installation, Drupal site setup
6 / 8/13-8/19 / Joomla! / Setup Joomla! Site
Installation, Adding contents
FINAL Project – Building Community Site
Term Paper (Graduate Student Only)
Due on August 19, Saturday, 11:59 PM
UWM ACADEMIC POLICIES
The following links contain university policies affecting all SOIS students. Many of the links below may be accessed through a PDF-document maintained by the Secretary of the University: http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/SecU/SyllabusLinks.pdf. For graduate students, there are additional guidelines from the Graduate School (http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/Grad_Sch/StudentInfo/), including those found in the Graduate Student and Faculty Handbook: http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/Grad_Sch/Publications/Handbook/.
Students with disabilities. If you will need accommodations in order to meet any of the requirements of a course, please contact the instructor as soon as possible. Students with disabilities are responsible to communicate directly with the instructor to ensure special accommodation in a timely manner. There is comprehensive coverage of issues related to disabilities at the Student Accessibility Center (http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/DSAD/SAC/MainOffice.html ), important components of which are expressed here: http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/DSAD/SAC/SACltr.pdf.
Religious observances. Students’ sincerely held religious beliefs must be reasonably accommodated with respect to all examinations and other academic requirements, according to the following policy: http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/SecU/acad%2Badmin_policies/S1.5.htm. Please notify your instructor within the first three weeks of the Fall or Spring Term (first week of shorter-term or Summer courses) of any specific days or dates on which you request relief from an examination or academic requirement for religious observances.
Students called to active military duty. UWM has several policies that accommodate students who must temporarily lay aside their educational pursuits when called to active duty in the military (see http://www3.uwm.edu/des/web/registration/militarycallup.cfm), including provisions for refunds, readmission, grading, and other situations.
Incompletes. A notation of “incomplete” may be given in lieu of a final grade to a student who has carried a subject successfully until the end of a semester but who, because of illness or other unusual and substantial cause beyond the student’s control, has been unable to take or complete the final examination or some limited amount of other term work. An incomplete is not given unless the student proves to the instructor that s/he was prevented from completing course requirements for just cause as indicated above (http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/SecU/acad%2Badmin_policies/S31.pdf).
Discriminatory conduct (such as sexual harassment). UWM and SOIS are committed to building and maintaining a campus environment that recognizes the inherent worth and dignity of every person, fosters tolerance, sensitivity, understanding, and mutual respect, and encourages the members of its community to strive to reach their full potential. The UWM policy statement (http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/SecU/acad%2Badmin_policies/S47.pdf) summarizes and defines situations that constitute discriminatory conduct. If you have questions, please contact an appropriate SOIS administrator.
Academic misconduct. Cheating on exams and plagiarism are violations of the academic honor code and carry severe sanctions, ranging from a failing grade for a course or assignment to expulsion from the University. See the following document (http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/OSL/DOS/conduct.html) or contact the SOIS Investigating Officer (currently the Associate Dean) for more information.
Complaints. Students may direct complaints to the SOIS Dean or Associate Dean. If the complaint allegedly violates a specific university policy, it may be directed to the appropriate university office responsible for enforcing the policy.
Grade appeal procedures. A student may appeal a grade on the grounds that it is based on a capricious or arbitrary decision of the course instructor. Such an appeal shall follow SOIS appeals procedures (http://www4.uwm.edu/sois/academics/MLIS/mlisappeals.htm). Step 3 appeals for graduate students are handled through the Graduate School. These procedures are available in writing from the respective department chairperson or the Academic Dean of the College/School (http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/SecU/acad%2Badmin_policies/S28.htm).
Examinations, Finals. The Secretary of the University is authorized to prepare the final examination schedule. The time of the final examination for an individual or a class may be changed only with the prior approval of the dean or director of the respective college/school. The change will involve a postponement to a later date. For individuals with exam conflicts, a separate week at the very end of the exam week will be reserved to take one of the conflicting exams (http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/SecU/acad+admin_policies/S22.htm).
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