Our Content Management Systems
A Content Management System (referred to as a CMS) is the application that runs your website and that you use to edit and manage it from a central interface. Maintained in partnership by GW Information Technology and the Office of Communications and Marketing, we offer two CMS options: Drupal, which houses our primary websites, and WordPress, which hosts our blog sites.
GW Drupal
GW Drupal, our enterprise-level central content management system, is available for schools, centers, institutes, administrative offices and initiatives. (Official student organizations that need a website should may use the GW Blogs service.)
GW Drupal provides scalable features and functionality with customizable layouts, offering you flexibility in building and designing your site. The templates, features and functionality are built in to align with the university’s visual identity and brand guidelines.
If you’d like to create a brand new website or rework your existing one, submit a project request to work with our team.
Training and Support
To help you learn and utilize GW Drupal, we offer a demo site, video tutorials and documentation. If you work with us on a web project, we’ll provide one-on-one training to help you get started entering content, and we host office hours to provide ongoing support for technical issues or training needs that arise.
Web Listserv
All GW Drupal users are automatically added to the GW Drupal Users mailing list, which provides information about upcoming trainings, office hours, tips and tricks, and more.
If you're not using GW Drupal but would like to be added to the mailing list, email [email protected].
GW Blogs
GW Blogs is a self-service website publishing platform for initiatives, centers, institutes and current faculty, staff and students seeking to create simple websites or blogs.
GW Blogs is powered and hosted by CampusPress (WordPress for Education). There is a selection of themes and plugins available that meet GW’s privacy, security, accessibility and visual identity requirements.
Training and support are provided directly through WordPress, with limited direction from our team.
Official Blogs
Initiatives, centers and institutes may request an “official” GW Blogs site, which includes GW branding. The request will be reviewed by IT and OCM to ensure that GW Blogs is the appropriate platform for the website project. GW Blogs may not be used to replace or as an alternative for an official departmental or administrative office GW Drupal website.
Some examples of official blogs include:
- a GW program’s blog
- a blog or website about a funded research project at GW
- a blog or website for a GW initiative
Unofficial Blogs
Current faculty, staff and students can create an “unofficial” blog, which does not include GW branding and does not need to go through an approval process. These blogs do not relate to official university business and include a disclaimer statement to that effect.
Some examples of unofficial blogs include:
- a student, staff or faculty member’s blog or website
- a site created for a student class project
Official student organizations should contact the Office of Student Life for access to GW Engage, and they can use GW Blogs to create a website.