New look website unveiled for Polytechnic

Information communication technology used by The White House is being used at the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic.

The tertiary institution unveiled its new-look website yesterday, www.boppoly.ac.nz, which  uses the latest in content management systems.

A polytechnic spokesperson said the system, Drupal 7, was one of the best website frameworks available and used by organisations including The White House, Beehive, NZ National Library, Inland Revenue, MTV UK and Mattel.

The polytechnic chose Drupal 7 because it was a flexible, open-source content management system.

Maggie Hope, marketing and communications manager at the polytechnic, said: "The new website has been designed to set the foundation to enable the site to grow and add new functionality along the way."

"It is imperative that we deliver a product that is user-centred and presents a compelling and consistent message, that its content is up-to-date and provides users with the information they are looking for - whether that be potential students, parents, teachers, potential employees, media, industry, government or community."

Consultation for the project took two months of careful planning by the project team and involved students, staff and community through a series of workshops, small groups, individual usability tests and more.

"The 'do it once and do it right' mantra was how the team approached the entire project," Ms Hope said.

"Months of hard work and dedication has really paid off and we're thrilled with the results."

The hands-on phase kicked off in January after several months of testing potential content management systems.