Let's say IPS hires Oscar Mathieson. What does it take to add Oscar to their Web site?

Employee information appears in several places on the IPS site. The About Us page lists five randomly selected employees:


You can see the employee's name, photo, and a one paragraph bio.

Another page lists all of the employees. Like this:


The same data - name, picture, and short bio - but in a different format.

If Oscar writes an article, his name and photo will be on it:


Click on Oscar's name, and you'll get this:


Name and photo as usual, but a complete bio, rather than the short one.

You can also see a Contact tab, below Oscar's name. Click it, and you can email Oscar:


You have to enter a code before the message is sent. The code is in a twisted image, which computers can't read. This foils programs that hunt through the Web, looking for contact forms to fill with spam.

Oscar's email address is not on the form. This protects against programs that harvest email addresses.

That's five - count 'em, five - pages where employee information appears. So when there's a new hire, how many pages need to be updated?

One.

That's right. A person edits one page, and the back end automatically reuses the content, wherever it is needed.

When Oscar is hired, he fills in his page:


He types in a long bio, and a short summary. He uploads a picture. And that's it. The system will automatically add him to employee lists, create a contact form, link his About page to articles he writes, etc.

Also notice: the person who creates the page about Oscar is the employee who knows the content best. That's Oscar himself.


Faster and cheaper Web site updates. Less work, less to go wrong.

But wait, there's more