Site Help

Many links on the Web Guide are available to EPA Intranet users only. If you are an outside contractor working for EPA, please contact your EPA representative for more information. If you are another federal agency or other party interested in EPA's web policies and procedures, please contact EPA through the "Contact Us" page on this site.

Questions?

Web or WebCMS Questions?

Call the EPA Call Center
1-866-411-4EPA (4372).

Computer Questions?

Call CTS
1-866-955-4CTS (4287).

PDF Disclaimer

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view PDF files. See EPA's PDF page for more information about getting and using the free Acrobat Reader.

WebCMS Frequent Questions

Scheduled WebCMS Webinars

WebCMS Access

Q: How do I register for the WebCMS?

A: Before you can log in, you need access to the WebCMS. Your first step is to register in the Portal. The Portal is not the actual WebCMS, but is used to register your account and establish the sync for LAN ID and passwords for EPA staff and onsite contractors. Off-site contractors can request an EPA Portal ID via the portal.

NOTE: The Portal is only for creating your WebCMS account.

Here's a short overview on registering to use the WebCMS (PDF) (6 pp., 670 K).

Q: How do off-site contractors access the WebCMS?

A: Off-site contractors must have remote access (using Firepass) to the EPA network. It is inexpensive and simple to acquire via the Working Capital Fund.

Off-site contractors must then request an EPA Portal ID. This ID is the login name for the WebCMS. Registration requires an e-mail verification from an EPA contact who manages your work.

Request Access to a Community

Once you can access the Portal, request access to the WebCMS Community.

Select the WebCMS Community

Once your request has been approved and someone has given you access to a folder, you may then log in to the WebCMS. If you do not have membership in any folder in the WebCMS, you will not be able to log in.

Practice area: https://lippizzan.rtpnc.epa.gov/webcms65.html
EPA WebCMS: https://ecms.epa.gov/webcms65.html - our production system

Please understand that you cannot log in to either of these systems until a Folder Administrator has authorized your access. For lippizzan, contact John Shirey or Judy Dew. For the EPA WebCMS, this function is the responsibility of the cognizant Webmaster. Also note,

The repository is WebCMS.
The application is Web Publisher.

I've locked myself out of the WebCMS. What do I do?
Go to portal.epa.gov. Try to login. If you're able to log in, you're not locked out of the system. If you're not able to login, then you need to get the LDAP system to reset your user id and password. Call Phone: 1-866-411-4EPA (4372) to request the reset.

Q: What are the roles and privileges in the WebCMS?
A: Roles and privileges in the WebCMS. (DOC)

WebCMS Migration

Q: What do I need to do to prepare for a move to the WebCMS?

A: Here's a nice overview of best practices (ppt., April 2009) you can follow.

Identify funding and resources for migration.
Clean up your ROT. There are Rottweiler reports available for each tssms to help identify ROT.
- Evaluate your inventory and decide what moves to the new environment. You pay for each file you move.
- NOTE: Don't forget to repair broken links after cleaning up ROT. Maxamine reports contain broken link information.
- Overview of ROT (.ppt; April 2009)
Clean up your code. This step can be done with your own people or contractors.
- Tidy Site Scan Reports for each TSSMS.
  - Review PreTidy Errors (left sidebar link on individual reports)
  - Tidy Errors. For our purposes only the errors matter, ignore the warnings.
  - If you would like a TIDY scan rerun for a tssms after you've cleaned it up, send a request to Judy Dew or Susan Fagan.
  - Tidy Reports are also publicly available.
Talk to your Office's Content Coordinator to request your metadata spreadsheet. The metadata spreadsheet is prepopulated for existing content when the OEI designate contractor is used for migration. You must have a Working Capital Fund agreement in place for this step, as you start to incur expense. All migrated content requires metadata. Technical assistance is available. Contact Susan Fagan.
Identify primary folder name and structure
- Think about the folder layout your area will have.
- Identify the folder administrator for your web area.
- Think about the roles in the WebCMS (.doc) and who should be in which role.
Attend training and webinars for the WebCMS. We also have online training modules.

Q: How do we migrate existing content into the WebCMS?

A: Much of the initial migration will be done by contractors. Here's the checklist we'll follow (note that there are tasks for the content owner, as well).

Create folder in webCMS (Request for a new Folder / Area (blank) [.doc] | Request for a new Folder / Area (example) [.doc])
Create areanav file in folder. The areanav file contains all of the information that's related to the web area (e.g., sidebar links, area search code, contact us links, local style sheet, etc.) The areanav.xml is created/modified by the webmaster for an area.
Create XML files from HTML extract. (Extract, Transform)
Import the XML files into the WebCMS. This step is limited to a single contractor with server administrator rights.
Move other web formats for your web area. (gif, jpg/jpeg/jpe, png, pdf, txt, css, js, xml (data format))
Load metadata
HTML/PDF files are run through the Content Intelligence Service (CIS) which suggests terms for selected metadata fields.
Review and validate metadata supplied by the system.
Publish web area from the WebCMS.
Manage site from WebCMS. Once migrated, all future content will be developed and managed in the WebCMS

Q: How do we add metadata for files?

A: You will need to complete the migration metadata spreadsheet (.xls). Directions for completing the metadata spreadsheet (.doc) are provided.

Q: What is the WebCMS Migration Schedule?

Please note that the schedule is undergoing much revision. When we finalize the timeline, we will update this table.

EPA Migration Schedule (OEI Leads) Currently Under Review
Wave	Office (OEI Lead)
Wave 1	OA (Susan Fagan), OCFO (Susan), OIA (Susan), OGC (Susan), Region 8 (complete)
Wave 2	OARM (Michael Hessling), OEI (Judy), Region 2 (Susan), Region 9 (Judy)
Wave 3	OSWER (Michael), Region 3 (Susan), Region 7 (Judy)
Wave 4	OAR (Judy), OECA (Michael), Region 1 (Susan), OIG (Susan)
Wave 5	OPPTS (Michael), ORD (Susan), Region 6 (Michael), OW
Wave 6	Region 4 (Judy), Region 5 (Judy), Region 10 (Susan)

Q: What's the migration going to cost?

A: We're working on efficient ways of migrating and options to reduce costs. Information about the cost is available on the WebCMS Migration Wiki. The wiki is on an intranet server. EPA and onsite contractors should log in with LAN ID and password. Contractors need AAA/Firepass to see the material.

Q: What happens after my content is migrated into the WebCMS?

A: Begin managing your Web content within the WebCMS, instead of the old business processes.

Make sure your personnel are trained for their respective roles.
Consider adding additional content authors to your ranks - the WebCMS makes page creation much more straightforward for nontechnical personnel.
Shift your focus from managing look and feel of content to managing the content and its metadata
Invest saved Webmaster time in improving our visitors' ability to discover and access the information they need to complete their tasks at www.epa.gov and keep content current and accurate.
Begin rigorous Web records management practices, through the WebCMS connection with the EPA electronic records-management systems (when supported).

Q: What surprises have come up during migrations?

The biggest surprise was the large variation of JavaScript and resulting issues, but there are others. See the WebCMS gotchas list for more information.

What about Domino and Cold Fusion sites? Intranet?

A: We anticipate piloting migration of Domino in mid-2010, after we have made significant progress in migrating the static content into the WebCMS.

Preliminary analysis suggests that some Domino content can actually be migrated into the WebCMS, replacing the Domino applications.

Cold Fusion applications must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Many applications will likely not migrate. Long-term, it will be possible to manage the Cold Fusion templates and code within the WebCMS, but this is not within our tactical planning horizon.

To be clear - whether or not to migrate any content from an existing Domino or Cold Fusion application into the WebCMS will be the decision of the application/content owner. The NCC will continue to support and enhance the existing Domino and Cold Fusion hosting environments for the foreseeable future. Without significant dialogue and advance notice, there will be no changes to these environments.

The WebCMS is certainly a tool that can be used to manage EPA's intranet content, and there are lots of good reasons for moving in this direction. However, our primary focus is our public static content. After we are fully migrated, and as time and resources permit, we will entertain offices who desire to manage their intranet content through the WebCMS.

WebCMS Use

How is a web page created in the WebCMS?

Q: What metadata is required for all web content?

A: The required metadata fields are:

Title: Title is particularly important, since it is used so extensively. Include critical search terms in the title.
Description: A one sentence description of the content. The description should be succinct, yet add substantive information beyond what’s available in the title.
Open Keywords: Additional term(s), not in a taxonomy, which an author or editor believes is important for retrieval. Examples include "the green book" or "eROE." Separate multiple values in the spreadsheet by semi-colon.
Agency Function: Government Service or related to the mission of the Agency. Examples include: "Prevent Pollution" or "Research and Development. Separate multiple values in the spreadsheet by semi-colon.
Content Type: Typology that indicates what type of information this is. For example, Factsheets or Data Files and Maps.
Channel: Short list of content distribution and publication channels for the top level of the information architecture. Laws & Regulations, Science and Technology, Learn the Issues, and About EPA. Separate multiple values in the spreadsheet by semi-colon.

Without these fields, your HTML and PDF content cannot be migrated or saved in WebCMS.

This is the complete metadata specification for the Web CMS (DOC).

WebCMS Background

Q: What's a Web Content Management System (WebCMS)?

A Web Content Management System is a single tool to manage, use, and reuse the Agency's web assets. It provides an enterprise method for page creation, a common look and feel that can be easily updated from a single point, providing consistent metadata using a common IA and taxonomy, and providing enterprise navigation.

Here's a definition for EPA:

EPA's WebCMS is a software system for the creation, management, and publishing of our Web content. It will provide us content that is discoverable and accessible, relevant, accurate, timely, and complete through these features:

requires tagging Web content with metadata as part of page-creation process
using an automated classification engine, helps with this tagging by applying our Web taxonomy to pages based on their content
facilitates building topical sites - using that metadata and its built-in search engine
enables "intelligent pages" that are built dynamically using business rules easily inserted in pages. Again, the business rules use the metadata - topics, terms, keywords, author, creation date, information type, etc. - to build very useful lists of links for our visitors.
can be used to monitor and enforce any number of policies that are difficult to enforce now, e.g., external links

A web content management system is a system that allows you to apply management principles to web content.
CMS Watch. Version II. 2007, Site License / Enterprise Edition.

Secondary goals include reducing the cost of web page production and removing technical barriers for subject matter experts to create and manage their own content.

Q: What is the software that the EPA will use for the Web Content Management System?
A: EPA is deploying its Agency Web CMS in EMC Documentum as a part of its larger ECMS infrastructure.

ECMS stands for "Enterprise Content Management System." Numerous applications have been deployed within the ECMS infrastructure, including, but not limited to:

CMS - Correspondence Management System, replacing an old Notes-based system
eIUR - electronic Inventory Update Reporting (http://www.epa.gov/oppt/iur/) in OPPT
Notes email records system, and
regulations.gov - the electronic docket for public comment on proposed rule-making

Having the Web CMS share platforms with this growing list of applications will soon facilitate cross-application data sharing.

Q: What features are part of the WebCMS?

A: WebCMS features available in the initial release:

Channel and Topic pages - creates consistent top level navigation for EPA.gov. Populated by the system using the metadata.
RSS feeds - simple form completion to create a RSS feed for a web area, a page, or a directory.
Managed Links:
- Link dissolution - When a file is removed from the system, the links to that file are dissolved (<a href> is removed) from all the pages. This will virtually eliminate internal broken links.
- Mail notification (completion pending) - The removal of the <a href> could leave bad info on a page so the owner of the page gets a message telling them a broken link was removed but they need to review and repair as needed.
Breadcrumbs generated from directory structure. No longer completed manually
Areanav - this method of setting up the navigation for a web area, allows a low number of templates in the WebCMS. It might be something that only admins love but should save a lot of wear and tear across the board as time goes on.
Added Channels, Homepage identifier and Records button into the metadata for each page.
- Channels will help create the top level pages for Laws and Regs, Learn the Issues, and Science and Technology.
- ACSI responses from site users have indicated that they'd rather land on a top level nav page than in a PDF file.
  - A homepage identifier will be used by the search engine to improve search results and improve our user's experience
  - Not proven but should be able to autogenerate a site map for the entire web site.
- Records button. A way to move web records into the records management system and use a records management option
WCMS watermark. We'll be betwixt and between web management systems for a long time. The watermark provides a way to identify a page that's maintained in the WebCMS.
First Paragraph. People can write good summary paragraphs of page content that can be used as the blurb in the search results and when we reuse content across the site.
Enforced Metadata. Uses the EPA web taxonomy and Information Architecture to put all of EPA on the same page (so to speak). Metadata needs to be taken seriously. We will be offering training sessions in the future. The better our metadata the better we can slice and dice epa.gov site to meet our customer's needs.
- Five required metadata fields. Completing five fields, including two dropdown lists and a checkbox, is not a burden.
- Pages are submitted to the Content Intelligence Service (CIS) when moved into the system. The CIS scans the content and proposes suggestions for the 2nd set of metadata fields (but not audiences and geographic locations).
  - Needs review to ensure they are correct. (minimum effort required)
  - Add terms that were missed by the CIS (extra credit but helps provide better search results)

Q: What are the benefits of the Web IA and Web CMS?

Improved navigation
Information that is easy to find, accessible, relevant, accurate, timely and complete
Improved search results from both EPA’s search engine and external search engines
Content that is topic-based
Reduced Web maintenance costs
Improved link management and great reduction in the number of broken links
A more efficient suite of internal Web content publishing methods
Improved consistency in the appearance of the pages
Improved ease of use for our diverse audiences

Q: Did we waste time and money to move to the template 3.2.1?

A: No. Moving to the new template helps.

ROT (Redundant, Outdated, Trivial) Clean Up. Every time we have to touch every page in the web site, a lot of content is deleted from the EPA site. Since that's the first step in preparing to move to the WebCMS, it's was valuable effort.
Code Clean Up. Many people cleaned their code as they moved to the new template. That's another step in preparing a move to the WebCMS.
We use code from the template to programmatically capture the content from the existing files. With ~90% of the HTML files in template 3.2.1, it makes the migration possible.

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