Master Template 0.2 released

Version 0.2 of the Master Template, the main tool we will use to build the European Campus, has now been released and is available to the pilot group.

Step by step

The Master Template version 0.2 marks the first visible application of our "step-by-step" deployment strategy: while, in the background, we continue developing all the features of the Master Template, we give the pilot group access to one feature at a time, and we don't enable new features in the testing version until the previous ones have not been tested thoroughly and all feedback processed.

At any new release, we:

• consolidate the existing features, incorporating bug fixes, usability improvements and other suggestions we received from the pilot group;
• add one new feature and ask the pilot group to focus on it for the following testing phase.

In version 0.2 we thus included an improved version of the main feature of version 0.1, the "Master at a Glance", and added the "Stories". We will gradually add new features (News, Events, and so on) until we get the whole template tested.

From a technical point of view, we heavily rely, for this incremental development, on features, a new and very promising technology recently implemented in Drupal, the platform on which we are building the Master Template.

Updated feature: "Master at a Glance"

The "Master at a Glance" was the key feature in version 0.1 and was the main subject discussed during our round of site visits (Paris, Rome, Tallinn, Stockholm, Zagreb, Vienna, Cyprus). More than 20 Master Programmes have already filled out this standardized presentation of a Master Course according to the criteria laid out in the pilot meeting held in Tallinn in April 2009.

The Pilot Group did an excellent testing work and provided a great amount of useful feedback, which we now integrated in version 0.2. Now the "Master at a Glance" page in all templates displays in a better way and uses an improved online help system. And all the existing content has been preserved in the process!

New feature: "Stories"

The feature we are focusing on in this testing phase is called "Stories". It complements the formal information provided in the "Master at a glance" by exposing non-formal information through the testimonies of people involved in the master template.

Our Master Template is mainly aimed at prospective students, who value non-formal, "personal", content besides the formal, "official", content of a Master website. Thanks to the "Stories", student life, research projects and spin-offs can be presented from a personal point of view, to maximize their impact on prospective students. In fact, our story list is a "gallery" with a picture of the author and a short quote: we want site visitors to perceive they are reading personal content posted by real people, not generic advertisement.

We designed a new interface to make story submission easier and more natural. Besides the gallery of submitted stories, we put a "Share your story" link, where all interested people can start writing their story by submitting a short quote. They are then taken to a page where they can enter their personal details and eveything about the story. The final approval is done by the site editor.

Next actions and features

We ask the pilot group to focus on stories for the time being. We will soon launch a story competition to be certain that the "Stories" features get proper testing and exposure. Then we will push new features, starting with News and Events, in the next Master Template releases.