Introduction to WebCS

What is WebCS?

Migration plan

Differences from ePortfolio

New features include:

• Announcements
• Tasks
• Project Tasks

Summary and Next Steps:

• If you are responsible for maintaining a page on our public site (any site that starts with www.cgc.maricopa.edu):
  • The public website (webport) is being replaced with WebCS.
  • Our web team will be migrating all of the content from webport to WebCS. No action is required on your part for this migration to happen.
  • Webport has been set to read-only mode through the migration phase, and the new WebCS system will become editable after the cutover on July 1st.
  • Training will be available throughout Summer and Fall. Keep an eye out for emails coming soon from Lesley Cryderman with training schedules!
  • Training documentation and self-help is also available at WebCS Central

• If you have a personal website on ePortfolio (personal sites that start with eport2.cgc.maricopa.edu or employeeweb.cgc.maricopa.edu):
  • The Personal ePortfolio system is being replaced with a new HTML-only system much like employeeweb. More information on this system will be available soon.
  • Users will be responsible for migrating their own content away from personal ePorts
  • ePort will remain read-only throughout the Fall semester as a reference site. This content will not be deleted.
  • Training documentation is also available at WebCS Central

• If you used an ePortfolio as your class website:
  • For instructional websites, distributing content to students, coordinating discussion boards, and other e-learning functionality, our recommendation is Blackboard.
  • Blackboard ASP is reliable, full-featured, stable, and offers 24/7 live phone support, as well as dedicated on-campus support resources and service level uptime agreements
  • Blackboard has been designed from the ground up as a Learning Management System, and in most cases is the best tool for the job.

• If you have students create educational ePortfolios (student content on eport2.cgc.maricopa.edu):
  • There are two options available for student electronic portfolios:
    • Google Sites - Hosted by Google. This is part of the District-wide move to Google for student email, and is part of the suite of Google applications available to students along with their @maricopa.edu email account. This option has the most flexibility and power, and is easy to learn.
    • Blackboard 8 Portfolios - Hosted by Blackboard. This is an option that has been made available along with the Content System in Blackboard 8. It is the simplest of the options, but also the least flexible.
  • Limited documentation is available for each of the options at WebCS Central
  • Google sites for employee usage is not available under the terms of our current Maricopa contractual agreement. Therefore the recommendation for Faculty is to sign up for a standard Google account which will create a slightly different but similar experience compared to students.
  • Drop-in sessions will be held by Ben Archer throughout week of accountability.
  • Blackboard 8 training, including Content System and Portfolios, will be coordinated through Faculty Development and/or Linda Zehr, who has replaced Tom Foster in the role of Blackboard Support
  • If you plan to use student portfolios in the Fall, please email Ben Archer as soon as possible with your preferred system, or to schedule a time to discuss and demonstrate your options, to assist us in creating the appropriate documentation and training.

• If you have a departmental group ePortfolio (any site that starts with eportg.cgc.maricopa.edu):
  • Collaborative team sites will be re-created on our new Intranet site which is still in the development phase
  • The expected production release date of the Intranet site will be in mid-Fall semester
  • Group ePorts will remain available throughout the Fall semester, after which time they will be changed to read-only fo allow migration to the Intranet
  • Groups will be responsible for migrating their own content to Intranet team sites
  • More information about the Intranet development will be made available as it develops, in coordination with Web Advisory Group providing stakeholder feedback

WebCS Basics

There are two main types of content within WebCS: Web content (such as webpages) and Lists (such as document libraries, image libraries, and calendars). A good general rule is that if there are several of the same type of content, you are probably dealing with a list.

Web content is comprised of a page that contains one or several "web parts". Web parts are individual content sections on a page. For instance, this text is inside of a web part that displays HTML content. Other web parts display calendars, to-do lists, photos, Excel graphs, and many other content types. 

Lists are another funamental building block of WebCS. Lists are simply any collection of items, whether they are documents, images, calendar events, names, or discussion board posts. This gives users a lot of flexibility, as it is possible to create custom lists with nearly endless possibilities, customizing content types and information. 

WebCS also gives the ability to manage access permissions in a very powerful way, allowing access to public users, logged-in users, specific people only, or just yourself. These permissions can be applied broadly (such as to an entire site or collection) or very narrowly (to a specific page or document).