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Iteration 1 – Sprint 1 - Site Structure
Analysis
UNESCO
Daniel Mankarios
daniel.mankarios@alphamosaik.com
Thursday, May 21, 2009
jeudi, 21 mai 2009 Page 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.
2.
3.
Description of the mandate ..................................................................... 4
1.1.
Introduction .................................................................................... 4
1.2.
Document subject and scope ............................................................. 4
1.3.
References ...................................................................................... 4
1.4.
Definitions ....................................................................................... 4
Action Plan............................................................................................ 5
2.1.
Analysis .......................................................................................... 5
2.2.
Proposed Measures........................................................................... 7
2.2.1.
Iteration 1 components of the site hierarchy ..................................... 7
2.2.2.
Iteration 2 components of the site hierarchy ................................... 10
2.2.3.
Overall site structure ................................................................... 11
Appendices ......................................................................................... 13
3.1.
Appendix A – UNESCO desired structure ........................................... 13
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Document history
Author :
Daniel Mankarios
daniel.mankarios@alphamosaik.com
514 931-3169 x178
Reviewer(s)
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3
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1. Description of the mandate
1.1.
Introduction
The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) wishes to create a new public web site
using a renovated look and a more alluring interface. The platform selected is
Microsoft Office SharePoint 2007. The website will be using AlphaMosaik's
multilingual module as well as several custom components to deliver a rich
experience to all future users of their site.
1.2.
Document subject and scope
This document will cover the analysis of UNESCO’s desired site structure in order to
provide a shared understanding of the approach to be taken in SharePoint to
address UNESCO’s needs. The purpose of the document is twofold: to provide an
understanding to UNESCO about the implementation details of the site and to
provide AlphaMosaik a working document for the integration phases. The site
structure will provide the overall hierarchy of the site which is somewhat equivalent
to the SharePoint skeleton. The document will limit itself to discussions about site
structure and provide recommendations based on Microsoft best practices.
1.3.
References
1.4.
Definitions
WSS
WFE
SQL
AD
MOSS
BLOB
IIS
SP
TL1
TL2
TL3
Windows SharePoint Services v3.0
Web-Front-End
Structured Query Language
Active Directory
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
Binary Large Object
Internet Information Services
Service Pack
Theme Level 1
Theme Level 2
Theme Level 3
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2. Action Plan
2.1.
Analysis
UNESCO has provided a basic outline of the site structure desired (see
Appendix A). Although this provides a logical breakdown of the site in terms of
navigation, it does not provide the full picture when it comes to site hierarchy.
UNESCO has also provided mockups of the site containing a variety of
components including the left hand navigation.
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Based on a combination of the provided site map, the discussions with UNESCO
and using the site mockups provided, it is possible to distinguish the need for the
following set of sites:
Site
Description
Home
Welcome page for the UIS
website
Education site containing
information pertaining to
Education.
Literacy site containing
information pertaining to
Literacy.
Education
Literacy
Science and
Technology
Content (In scope
content only)

Science and Technology site
containing information
pertaining to Science and
Technology.









Welcome page
(unique page).
Theme Level 1 page
Theme Level 2 pages
Theme Level 3 pages
Theme Level 1 page
Theme Level 2 pages
Theme Level 3 pages
Theme Level 1 page
Theme Level 2 pages
Theme Level 3 pages



Theme Level 1 page
Theme Level 2 pages
Theme Level 3 pages



Theme Level 1 page
Theme Level 2 pages
Theme Level 3 pages


Theme Level 1 page
Workshop lists
Culture
Culture site containing
information pertaining to
Culture.
Communication
Communication site containing
information pertaining to
Communication.
Statistical
capacity building
Contains a list of workshops
that individuals can attend.
Data Center
Placeholder site
OUT OF SCOPE
Document Library
Contains all UNESCO’s internal
documents, categorized using
UNESCO taxonomic standards.

Mix of documents
(multiple content types)
Current Surveys
Contains a list of surveys by
theme.

Survey listing
Fact Sheets
Placeholder site
OUT OF SCOPE
Glossary
Placeholder site
About UIS
A series of pages allowing users
to learn more about UIS as an
organization.
OUT OF SCOPE
 Theme Level 3 pages
 Job listings (PDF)
Search
A site to provide search
capabilities and results

No actual content, just
pages for search and
results display
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2.2.
Proposed Measures
Bridging the gap between the logical structure and the SharePoint site structure is
made easier using SharePoint’s native site and subsite features. SharePoint
supports the elaboration of a hierarchy through the creation of subsites and pages
within sites. There can be as many levels of subsites as desired but pages can only
provide a single sub-level from any given site.
The proposed site hierarchy is therefore broken down into the components of the
hierarchy to be delivered in the iterations:
2.2.1.
Iteration 1 components of the site hierarchy
The following components comprise the site hierarchy to be developed and
deployed in iteration 1. The SharePoint site collection serves as the top site (root
site) for a series of sites (hence the name site collection). The Home site is
considered to be the site collection, hereon simply referred to as a “site”. The
subsites will also be referred to as “sites” in order to simplify the understanding.
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Home
Welcome
Page
Education
TL1 Welcome
Page
Pages (TL2 +
TL3)
Literacy
TL1 Welcome
Page
Pages (TL2 +
TL3)
Science
Pages (TL2 +
TL3)
Culture
TL1 Welcome
Page
TL1 Welcome
Page
Pages (TL2 +
TL3)
Communication
TL1 Welcome
Page
Pages (TL2 +
TL3)
About UIS
TL3 Welcome
Page
Pages (TL3)
Job offers
2.2.1.1
Hierarchy
The hierarchy presented above comprises of two levels of sites (“Home” being level
1 and all other sites being level 2) and a third level of pages. Each site is
represented on the diagram accompanied by a dotted line connected to a page (TL1
in most cases) representing the default page (i.e. the welcome page) for the site in
question.
It is also important to note that the document library displayed in the diagram
above is a subcomponent of a particular site (About UIS) but does not itself consist
in a hierarchical level. Rather, it is a container for content belonging to its parent
site. However, the documents and files found in a document library can be
displayed and referenced from any location in the site regardless of its parent site
(which should only provide logical grouping in the appropriate location). It is not
expected of UNESCO to understand the finer nuances of SharePoint (what consists
of a hierarchical level, how pages are treated, etc.). The content editors and
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viewers will not need to understand the underlying hierarchy as much as they need
to understand how to use it.
The pages found underneath each site provide a third level of hierarchy. It is
important to note that SharePoint does NOT support a hierarchy of pages within the
same site. In order to give the illusion of hierarchy within pages, TL3 pages can be
displayed only from within the content zone of a TL2 page whereas TL2 pages are
directly visible in the navigation:
Site
Pages (TL2)
However, the component used to display the menu will be completely flexible
enough (please see document pertaining to expanding menu), allowing editors to
place elements of any physical level at any level in this menu.
2.2.1.2
Site templates
SharePoint includes a variety of site templates, each template having different
features activated by default and different content included. AlphaMosaik will create
a unique template for UNESCO which will be used to create any new sites at a
future time. This also simplifies site creation as design elements and features do
not need to be reapplied for each site as they are included in the template. The site
template to be created will be based on a “Publishing site with workflows” template.
This template includes all CMS features of SharePoint already embedded (publishing
pages, libraries, roles) as well as content approval workflows (discussed in the
security and roles document).
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2.2.2.
Iteration 2 components of the site hierarchy
The second iteration of the UIS Website deals with a separate subset of sites. The
diagram below illustrates this subset.
Home
Statistical
capacity
building
Statistical
building
Welcome Page
Pages (TL2 +
TL3)
Data Center
TL1 Welcome
Page
Document
Library
Document
Library
Welcome Page
Documents
Current
Surveys
Survey
Welcome Page
Fact Sheets
TL1 Welcome
Page
Glossary
TL1 Welcome
Page
Search
Pages (Search,
advanced search,
results, etc.)
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2.2.3.
Overall site structure
For completeness, the overall site structure is illustrated by the following diagram
(exclude pages, lists and libraries):
Home
Education
Literacy
Science
Culture
Communication
About UIS
Statistical capacity
building
Data Center (Placeholder)
Document
Library
Current
Surveys
Fact Sheets (Placeholder)
Glossary (Placeholder)
Search
*Note that placeholder sites will not have any content added to them as part of the
scope of this project and will serve only as containers for any future pages UNESCO
wishes to add.
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2.3.
Conclusion
To conclude, this document has covered the basic discussions in regards to
SharePoint site structure and should provide a starting point from which to build the
website. The site structure presented is fairly straightforward and will provide
UNESCO with the required framework for adding content and provide a hierarchy
for grouping content. Absent from this document are discussions pertaining to the
actual content of the site and the objects used as containers for this content within
each site (i.e. lists and libraries). The reason for this omission is due to the fact that
the analysis of the layout pages, that display content from various sources, is to be
conducted at a later time.
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3. Appendices
3.1.
Appendix A – UNESCO desired structure
13