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Site Help
Topics
Glossary
Site Map
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).
WebCMS Frequent Questions
WebCMS Support
If you have a problem with the Documentum WebCMS, send an e-mail to Web CMS Support.
WebCMS Access
WebCMS Migration
NOTE: - the renovation of the EPA web site into the MRS (microsite, resource directory, and searchable collection) structure halted the WebCMS migration schedule. We are now restructuring our Web site and are no longer migrating into the Documentum WebCMS.
WebCMS Use
WebCMS Background
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.
Q: Once I've registered, how do I log into the WebCMS?
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.
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 webcms65.
- 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 Use
Q: How is a web page created in the WebCMS?
Q: What metadata is required for all web content?
This is the complete metadata specification for the Web CMS (DOC). 
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.
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 currently using EMC Documentum for its Agency Web CMS 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
EPA is in the process of building the next generation WebCMS using Drupal.
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?
A:
- 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
