You can now get help more easily with our redesigned Vernon CMS Help website.
Visit the new site
Go to Vernon CMS Help or type help.vcms.vernonsystems.com into your browser. Add it to your bookmarks!
Features of the new site
- User-centred content and navigation that is focused on your goals.
- Guides to help new users get started.
- Comprehensive reference information about files, fields, and tools.
- Helpful cross-links to relevant topics to support your continued learning.
- Improved search results.
- Modern, mobile-optimised design that works on any device.
Why we redesigned the site
We want to make your life easier. Vernon CMS is a complex system, and you need clear, well-structured and supportive information that is easy to find and follow. We want to help you understand how to use the system and get the most out of it.
I would like the user manual site to be better at predicting and interpreting my needs. For example, I don’t know I need to search for ‘simple authority terms’.
– Vernon User Group feedback
Some of the content in the old Help site is outdated and inconsistent. The navigation is sometimes confusing and there are some gaps in the content. The site isn’t optimised for readability, it doesn’t work well on mobile devices, and dare we say, the design is pretty old-school.
Help in the user manual needs to be aimed a bit lower, and that help needs to be broken down even further into even simpler steps.
– Vernon User Group feedback
We also wanted to move the Vernon CMS Help content onto the help authoring tool that we already use for our other help sites, Vernon Browser Help and eHive Help. This migration streamlines our content management and publishing process.
Goals of the site redesign
- Research user needs and tasks.
- Redesign the site structure.
- Rewrite content.
- Migrate content to new site.
- Launch site and communicate.
Researching user needs and tasks
We looked at several sources of user information, including:
- Page views and search queries on the current site.
- Customer Support Portal queries.
- YouTube video views.
- Vernon User Group feedback.
Areas that people especially need help with include:
- Bulk updates
- Searching
- System maintenance
- Reporting
Content review
We reviewed the existing content and identified improvements.
Content on the old Help site was divided into basic and advanced topics, but it wasn’t always clear where you should go for which information.
Whilst the site had thorough information on fields, there were some gaps in content. For example, there wasn’t much information on each of the Object windows. Also, there were quite a few ‘dead ends’ where it wasn’t easy to find out more about a particular topic.
Information architecture development
We developed a site structure (or information architecture) and tested it with users. We used a tool called Treejack from a user experience company, Optimal Workshop. People were asked where they would look to find things in the new skeletal structure, which showed us how to improve it.
In the new site, content is grouped into nine categories according to theme. Regardless of your skill level, you’ll find all the information you need within each category. For example, all topics on searching are in one place, organised from simple to advanced tasks.
Content creation and migration
We reviewed and rewrote every page, checking the accuracy of instructions by testing processes within Vernon itself. Content is aligned with our user-centred principle of focusing on the tasks you are trying to achieve.
A new section on getting started includes content for absolute beginners that explains the concepts of how Vernon CMS works, as well as content for system supervisors who need to set up Vernon for their organisation.
The site includes comprehensive information about the major files, their windows and fields, and each of the tools. A glossary explains unfamiliar words that are used in the system.
Videos are also incorporated into the main categories.
Explore Vernon CMS Help
Highlights
Here are some guides that may be particularly helpful:
And for system supervisors:
What’s next?
We’ll review the help articles in our Customer Support Portal and link them to the new site. We’ll also include links to the new site in our next version, Vernon CMS 12.6 (Fantastic Fantail). We’ll measure how the site is used and continually review and improve it.
What do you think?
Your feedback on the new Vernon CMS Help site would be greatly appreciated – what you like and what could be improved. Please complete this short anonymous survey or email Penny Collins, Lead Technical Communicator at penny@vernonsystems.com.
We hope that the new site helps you learn about and understand Vernon CMS better. If you’d like to take your learning to the next level, check out our Vernon CMS Online Self-Study: Basic Course.
Vernon Systems develops innovative software for cultural organisations to manage and share their collections. We've been dedicated to the cultural sector since 1985.
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