Cascade CMS vs. Modern Campus CMS

Cascade Server is well suited with it's WYSIWYG editor being better than most editors that I have used in other systems. In context, editing makes adding content easy compared to the last CMS I used where you had to wing it and view the page outside of the CMS to see if it was correct. The ability mix HTML, CSS, and the Script of your choice anywhere and with ease.

The scenarios were Cascade Server is less appropriate would be in the use of compilers or programs like Visual studio. You need to go out of Cascade Server and go to other environments to perform tasks and then copy the result to Cascade Server. You can write directly in Cascade Server, but it's easier to do in and editor that is specific to a function.

Incentivized

This website works well in an academic setting. It's easy to add pages as your site expands/grows. It's really easy to use and modify pages once you know what you're doing, but it can be a little tricky to get the hang of it at first. It is definitely useful to have in-person or virtual training before you dive in.

Incentivized

• Very easy-to-use. I trained over 200 users, and never once heard someone say that it was difficult to figure out. People generally left the training excited to get started managing their content.
• Technology independent. We were able to put any language into it that our customers required: .NET, classic ASP, PHP, static HTML.
• Customer Support. The Hannon Hill team was truly amazing when it came to helping their customers, including us. They always went above and beyond to fix issues, help customers figure out complex methods for using Cascade Server, and general support.
• Annual User's Conference. This was a great event that brought Cascade Server enthusiasts together, and the entire Hannon Hill staff was present and available for customers to talk 1-on-1 with.

Incentivized

• Assets are easily managed and can be edited independently of the page they exist on.
• Version history is handled well. Allows for a comment section to note what changes have been made.
• Dependency tags are perfect for media that is used in several places. Upload a photo once, use it in multiple places, edit the photo or its description in one place.

Incentivized

• Not much that I can add here, except that as a non-programmer, it can be a bit overwhelming to understand all the options and capabilities of the system. We have programmers who have been able to do almost anything we need with the system, but I can't understand it!

• OU Campus could use some improving on their upload changes as far as naming the document because when you are trying to upload the same document with minor revisions, OU Campus requires you to change the name of the document within OU Campus which creates multiple documents in the workfolder.
• When naming documents to upload into OU Campus, it would be nice if we could name out documents the way we would instead of having to put an underscore to indicate a space in the document. Most users of OU Campus has not had proper training to know that you need to do that.

Changing systems would require too much effort. Our institution is using Cascade Server, WordPress and Drupal but we only serve 2200 students so we have 1 too many content management systems. Reflecting on current technical resources we would like to drop down to 2. This effort hasn't moved forward because of the extensive work required to migrate content and train users in a new system.

Incentivized

I don't work at the college any longer, but I believe they will renew the license for the OU Campus Content Management System because of all the great benefits they have had since they initially deployed it. The system is very intuitive and easy to use. Department leads love it. The IT department also loves it because it saves them a lot of time and resources.

Cascade CMS is completely usable on mobile devices, we can train our content editors in a single 2-hour session, and we support 1,000 users with a very small team.

There is a level of complexity for the system administrators, site managers and web programmers who implement templates and content types. But the complexity is neither arbitrary nor inconsistent – and once learned provides a powerful environment within which we can develop robust sites that are beautiful and powerful, yet easy for our content editors to manage.

Once you've been training how to use it, it's really easy to use it on a daily basis

Incentivized

Amazing customer service and VERY customizable.

Incentivized

Does a great job.

Incentivized

They have always regarded any question or problem we encountered as very important. We have never felt that they ignore or downplay any issue and not once has anything been left unresolved. They also hold an annual conference where users are invited to attend and share their experiences and wisdom with the entire Cascade community. And with the care and support the provide, we all feel a part of that community.

The support at OmniUpdate is one of the reasons we continued with the company when time for renewal of contract.

Training was helpful.

Incentivized

Still needed that physical help

Incentivized

The key to any CMS implementation is PLAN, PLAN, PLAN. Proper planning with Cascade can increase your satisfaction exponentially once the site migration/creation is complete. When all is said and done, your implementation can make your site run like a Yugo or Maserati. Be smart and deliberate in your decisions. Drive the Maserati. It is already paid for.

Incentivized

The support team at OmniUpdate is available to assisting campuses with implementation

Cascade CMS focuses on managing content and gives you the tools to display this content any way that is needed. While it may lack some features/extensions found in other popular platforms, the user management, workflow and template engine are the best you can get.

Incentivized

I think the visual editing and version control. If the CMS server is down the website is still live because of content independent of the server.

I used it only a few times.

Incentivized

• Initially, ROI was positive - because we completely redesigned the website when we implemented Cascade.
• Over time, the inability to keep up with the latest interactive tools has reduced visitors time on site.
• Also over time, the difficulty of use has led to less buy-in by backend users, leading to outdated pages, little timely information, and lower visitors.

Incentivized

• Increased satisfaction with user experience. OU Campus has made it easier for us to address problems when they arise, making our website more efficient.
• Role-based control. Our old CMS made it very easy for users to change fonts and colors on their sections, which was very detrimental to the overall brand. That's not a problem anymore.
• Reduced training times. OU Campus is so easy to use, I've been able to cut training times down by half.

Incentivized