Taming an intranet
How to stop your WordPress intranet becoming an unmanageable mess
Our web developer Sam Parsons brought our attention to this article about intranets. Although the article is primarily aimed at WordPress developers, there are lots of useful nuggets that are of wider interest. This is also pertinent as we begin to investigate the creation of an intranet.
We already use WordPress a lot at the University (for instance, this blog runs on WordPress), and may use it more in the future.
A clearly defined audience means that it’s relatively easy to get wants and needs but also means that it’s also easy to get swamped with requirements as every employee produces a list of every feature and function they’ve ever needed resulting in the dreaded and potentially debilitating Scope Creep.
The major driver for this creep is that intranet development is generally underpinned by an inclusive approach. In theory, such an approach makes sense – you have a defined and accessible audience so why not go straight to the source and find out what people want?
The issue is that you will be the only person on the project thinking about that organization as a whole: everyone else will be thinking about themselves first and foremost…