Content Strategy with Parameters: Rigid CMS and Ingenuity

May 5, 2012
2 min read

*(EDIT: AOL/Patch changed formats and many articles no longer appear in original form)

Project: AOL Hyperlocal Election Coverage (Subset: Southern Lehigh School District School Board Election Forum)

Problem: Content Strategy within a rigid CMS

Solution: Get creative

One thing I've learned while working as editor at the Upper Saucon Patch, getting information is hard. As a citizen, you want information, but you have to wade through a bunch of fluffy kittens and OHMYGODTHESKYISFALLING content to find the information that helps make your life easier. As a journalist, that makes me nutsy.

You know what else makes it hard? Rigid paramaters within a CMS. At AOL/Patch, we have a proprietary CMS that allows for very little flexibility, makes linking strategy complex, and if you want to create a more sophisticated content experience...you get the picture.

So with the local elections coming up, I decided that sleep could be optional, came up with a plan to hold forums for three supervisor elections and one school board election, and to create a flexible database that would allow readers to move back and forth in the content. Here's the plan:

1. Host Forum (One for each of four elections, ex. Southern Lehigh School District election)

2. Hire freelancers to transcribe each candidates answers in real time (Yea Matt Poulter, Jenae Holtzhafer, and a bunch of my fellow editors!)

3. Create page for each question with answers from each candidate

4. Create page for each candidate with a compilation of their answers

5. Create master page that allows readers to find content based on either questions, candidate, or election.

Check out the final product:

Landing Page: The Answers: Southern Lehigh Board of Education Forum Results