Start a project
Before starting a new website project, please make sure that you have approval to request a new site. Approval must be received from a department manager, director, chair or dean.
We have provided a basic outline of the phases and project activities that you should undertake as part of your web development project.
- New user requests must be submitted by an authorized approver.
- New website requests must be approved by the department's Chair, Dean, Director or Manager.
Who can use AEM?
- Toronto Metropolitan University employees can use AEM for websites created in support of Toronto Metropolitan Departments, Faculties, Schools and Programs.
Training
- Training is mandatory in order to access an AEM website.
Reflecting Toronto Metropolitan University's visual identity, (PDF file) TMU's Web Style Guide is a tool to create visual consistency and simplicity across all Toronto Metropolitan websites. This style guide sets out to establish a common framework while allowing for customization through a variety of different content types and components.
All content built within the templates use default colours from the Toronto Metropolitan Branding Guidelines; however, not all colours from the Branding Guidelines are usable on Toronto Metropolitan websites.
Things to consider before engaging with your vendor
If you are considering hiring a vendor to develop a website in the Web CMS (AEM), there are a few things you should consider and discuss with your potential vendor.
Web Skills
Before your project begins, consider the individual(s) responsible for maintaining your site and discuss their experience with your vendor. If your resource is HTML savvy, is a great designer and has basic programming skills, this may give your vendor more room to be creative in their web design and development. If your resource has little to no web experience, it is critical that the vendor know this before designing a site that will be challenging to maintain.
Training and Documentation
Include training and documentation as a mandatory deliverable of your project. Once your site has launched and your vendor has moved on to other projects, you are now responsible for updates and changes to your website. You need to know how they built your site in order to make updates. If you do not include training and documentation, your department may find it difficult to make changes to your site.
Custom Code - not permitted in AEM
External code, including CSS, JQuery, JavaScript, etc. is not permitted in AEM and this needs to be communicated to any vendor you hire.
