Having provided custom WordPress solutions since 2007 and holding web management roles within Queensland Government for most of that time, Stephen Cronin provides insight into the challenges facing the adoption of WordPress by government within Australia.

1. WordPress and Government
Stephen Cronin
6 November 2011
WordCamp Gold Coast

2. Long Rambling Introduction
• My two worlds:
– WordPress development
– Government web management
• Bringing the two together
• Worlds collide: high priorty WordPress project
• People keen to talk about WP and Govt
• Some success, but many challenges
WordPress and Government Stephen Cronin, WordCamp Gold Coast 2011 Page 2

3. The Compulsory Disclaimer
• Before I get too far…
• I'm here today representing myself. I work for
the Queensland Government, but I in no way
represent them here today. My views are
entirely my own and not those of QLD Gov.
• May differ from government elsewhere
• And now with that out of the way…
WordPress and Government Stephen Cronin, WordCamp Gold Coast 2011 Page 3

4. Successes
• Successes help frame the challenges
• In 2008, Mark Jaquith listed:
http://markjaquith.wordpress.com/2008/08/18/us-government-agencies-using-wordpress/
• But what’s happened since then?
WordPress and Government Stephen Cronin, WordCamp Gold Coast 2011 Page 4

5. Successes – The Showcase
• The Showcase list 22 sites under Government
http://wordpress.org/showcase/tag/government/
WordPress and Government Stephen Cronin, WordCamp Gold Coast 2011 Page 5

6. Successes – UK
• Trend towards the greater use of WordPress
• The Government Digital Service
• Alpha.gov.uk blog (but not main site)
• The Civil Service site relaunched in WordPress
http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/
• Word Up Whitehall
• British Prime Minister’s site since 2008
http://www.number10.gov.uk/
WordPress and Government Stephen Cronin, WordCamp Gold Coast 2011 Page 6

7. Successes - US
• Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
– Released plugins back to the community
– WP Document Revisions plugin also related
• Library of Congress, but only the blogs
• Others:
– The City of Albert Lea
http://www.cityofalbertlea.org/
– Administrative Conference of the United States
http://www.acus.gov/
WordPress and Government Stephen Cronin, WordCamp Gold Coast 2011 Page 7

8. Successes - Australia
• Federal level: govspace which hosts blogs and
other websites on behalf of agencies
http://govspace.gov.au/
• Queensland: Nothing….
– Survey of all departments: None using WordPress
– WordPress not even on the radar
– Some partnership sites
• Except for the one I’m working on now…
• There should be more!!
WordPress and Government Stephen Cronin, WordCamp Gold Coast 2011 Page 8

9. Challenges - Conservative ICT
• Government ICT is conservative by nature
• IE6
– Still in use
– WordPress Admin doesn’t work properly
– Posts in Twenty Eleven theme blank?
• Social media
• Change management & security
WordPress and Government Stephen Cronin, WordCamp Gold Coast 2011 Page 9

10. Challenges - Change Management
• Change = risk
• General model for change / testing:
– DEV -> TEST -> PROD
– Planning, including test and roll back plans
– Change Advisory Board (CAB) approval
– Communicate potential outages
• Required for all changes (even 1 click updates)
• Security
WordPress and Government Stephen Cronin, WordCamp Gold Coast 2011 Page 10

11. Challenges - ICT View of WordPress
• Plugin code quality
• Update frequency
• One click upgrade
• Update immediately for security
• Automatic updates
• Not all doom and gloom
WordPress and Government Stephen Cronin, WordCamp Gold Coast 2011 Page 11

12. Types of Government Websites
• Campaign website:
– Promoting an initiative, short life span
• Blogs:
– Expect to see more of these in the future
• Specific purpose:
– doing something different, specific purpose
• Enterprise website:
– The huge complex informational website
WordPress and Government Stephen Cronin, WordCamp Gold Coast 2011 Page 12

13. Enterprise Level Websites
• Picture of an enterprise level website:
– Anywhere from 3,000 to 10,000 pages
– Anywhere from 3 to 7 levels deep
– Several hundred distributed authors
– Complex workflows, up to 5 levels of approval
• How well does WordPress fit this type of site?
• It’s not about traffic, it’s about complexity
• The WordPress as CMS debate…
WordPress and Government Stephen Cronin, WordCamp Gold Coast 2011 Page 13

14. Challenges – Enterprise Websites
• Functionality:
– Search
– Workflow!
– User permissions
– Managing 10,000 pages
• Terminology: Custom What Types?
• There’s a plugin for that
• Enterprise level support
WordPress and Government Stephen Cronin, WordCamp Gold Coast 2011 Page 14

15. Challenges - Selection Process
• Depends on the project
• Large sites require formal selection process:
– Selective tendering, or
– Open tendering
– Supplier must be accredited
• How does WordPress get to the table?
– Automattic?
– The department?
– You?
WordPress and Government Stephen Cronin, WordCamp Gold Coast 2011 Page 15

16. CMSs Used In Government
• SharePoint
• Interwoven TeamSite
• OpenText / RedDot
• Squiz Matrix:
– Open Source
– PHP based
– Used extensively in Aust government
• So why are Squiz at the table?
WordPress and Government Stephen Cronin, WordCamp Gold Coast 2011 Page 16

17. Squiz Matrix vs WordPress
• Squiz is the company, Matrix the product
• Squiz are an accredited supplier to govt
• Functionality
• Custom Functionality
• Tighter focus
• Lots of other govt clients
• Secure hosting (used by other govt clients)
• Services and support
WordPress and Government Stephen Cronin, WordCamp Gold Coast 2011 Page 17

18. Challenges - The Government Niche
• Government as a niche
• Real estate and other niches
• Government niche involves:
– Low volume
– High effort (inc accreditation)
– Long lead times
– End to end services and support
• Any of you up for that?
WordPress and Government Stephen Cronin, WordCamp Gold Coast 2011 Page 18

19. Positives
• Plenty of things in WordPress’s favour
• It’s free, flexible, extendible, proven, avoids
lock in, many plugins, great community, etc
• Greater emphasis on business benefits
• Trends towards WordPress in government
• Everyone’s using WordPress at home
WordPress and Government Stephen Cronin, WordCamp Gold Coast 2011 Page 19

20. What Can The Community Do
• Relax (only the big sites are a problem)
• Align the language with the enterprise
• Build core plugins for government
• Precedence: A big govt site on WordPress
• Market the business benefits
• Companies targeting the government niche.
• Now get out there and go for it!
WordPress and Government Stephen Cronin, WordCamp Gold Coast 2011 Page 20

21. Thank You
• Thanks to everyone!
• If you want to discuss this further grab me
after the talk, or contact me:
– Email: sjc@scratch99.com
– Website: http://scratch99.com
– Twitter: @stephencronin
WordPress and Government Stephen Cronin, WordCamp Gold Coast 2011 Page 21