Rebuilding a large commercial-facility site on PowerCMS to withstand multi-editor operation

What changed

• Number of editors
  Simultaneous operation across multiple departments
• Update frequency
  Daily level
• Publication errors
  Curbed through workflow

Challenge

A commercial-facility site is updated by staff from several departments—tenant, sales promotion, facility operations—each updating different content at different frequencies. It is an environment where the editing parties are dispersed: tenant information by the stores, campaigns by the merchandising department, facility information by the operations department. Getting the permission design and templates wrong can hand update rights to an unintended department and cause mistaken publication, or leave templates inconsistent across departments and breed operational confusion. At a large commercial facility where updates occur on a daily basis, a breakdown in operations does real damage.

Approach

1. 01 Took stock of the content types and their editing parties, and redesigned the templates
2. 02 Organized approval flows and permissions using PowerCMS's workflow features
3. 03 Implemented facility-specific UI (floor maps, store search) with PHP / JavaScript
4. 04 Handled MySQL schema design and optimization of image and PDF delivery
5. 05 Documented per-department update guidelines to ensure operational quality at handover
6. 06 Established a routine of pre-publication preview and diff review, systematizing detection and rollback in the event of mistaken publication

Key success factors

Templates designed per editing party

We took stock of the content types and their editing parties and redesigned the templates on a per-department basis.

Clear approval flows

We organized approval routes and permissions with PowerCMS's workflow features, structurally lowering the risk of mistaken publication.

Implementing facility-specific UI

We built out facility-specific UI such as floor maps and store search with PHP / JavaScript, rather than leaning too hard on a generic CMS.

Delivery optimization

We optimized down to the MySQL schema and image/PDF delivery, so operations would not break down even with daily updates.

Solution

Centered on PowerCMS, we defined templates, permissions, and workflows on a per-department basis. The front end handles dynamic elements with PHP + JavaScript, incorporating facility-specific features such as store search and floor maps. The configuration withstands simultaneous operation by multiple departments with daily updates, and we structurally contained the risk of mistaken publication through workflow.