Pursuant to DENR Administrative Order No. 39 which mandates government agencies to migrate to the Government Web Hosting Service (GWHS) of the Department of Science and Technology-Information and Communications Technology Office (DOST-ICTO), the Mines and Geosciences Bureau conducted the Training on Web Migration and Development Using Joomla 3.0x Web Template on May 24 to 27, 2016 at the Icon Hotel in Quezon City which was attended by regional Information Technology Officers and their alternate representatives.
The training started with a short program wherein the Assistant Director, Atty. Danilo U. Uykieng, welcomed the participants with inspiring words. “The website is the office itself because it will introduce us to the public we serve to show that the MGB is effective and efficient in the delivery of public service. The website will help educate the public on what we do and the services we provide. It will help us to promote who we are,” Atty. Uykieng said.
During the introduction, the trainer, Mr. Gregorio Iyo, presented the objectives of the training. The aforesaid training was aimed at the following objectives: 1. install and configure Apache and MySQL server using XAMPP software; 2. install, configure and update the Government Web Template (GWT) using Joomla Content Management System (CMS); 3. administer Joomla CMS through the Administrator Dashboard; and 4. administer iGov web hosting cPanel Portal used as staging server for all government websites.
To inform the participants of the legal basis of the training, Mr. Iyo gave an overview of Administrative Order No. 39 which mandates government agencies to migrate to the Government Web Hosting Service (GWHS) of the Department of Science and Technology-Information and Communications Technology Office (DOST-ICTO). DAO No. 39 enjoins government agencies to produce and regularly update the contents of their websites, subject to prevailing policies, rules and regulations of the government. It is clearly stipulated in the same order that all NGAs, GFIs, GOCCs, and inter-agency collaborations, programs, and projects shall completely migrate their websites to the GWHS. In addition, all migrated websites to the GWHS shall make their content compliant with the Uniform Website Content Policy (UWCP).
Mr. Iyo also gave an overview of DOST-ICTO Memorandum Circular No. 2015-001, Series of 2015, otherwise known as the Government Web Hosting Service (GWHS) Memorandum Circular. Said Memorandum Circular enumerates the rules and regulations on migrating to the Government Web Hosting Service (GWHS) of the DOST-ICTO Office. The Government Website Template Design (GWTD) Guidelines aims to institutionalize a corporate online identity for all government websites. It contains the guidelines governing the look and feel of government websites in terms of content, structure and design.
Before he gave an overview of XAMPP server, Joomla Content Management System, and iGov cPanel Portal, Mr. Iyo assisted the participants to install XAMPP and Joomla softwares on their laptop units. As learned by the participants, XAMPP is an open source web server used to host the CMS and its database system, while Joomla is also an open source Content Management System (CMS) that enables people to develop websites and powerful online applications. The participants were also informed of the latest features and developments in Joomla.
Hands-on activities were given by the trainer to the participants to enrich and intensify their knowledge of XAMPP and Joomla and assist them in their web migration through the iGov Web Hosting cPanel Portal. The first day of the training ended with a comprehensive discussion on the content, structure and design of government websites. Mr. Iyo also discussed the basic interface requirements and mentioned the vertical measurements.
The comprehensive discussion of the content, structure and design of government websites continued on the second day of the training. Mr. Iyo enumerated the required content and demonstrated to the participants how these elements will be added to the website development.
The use of gender-fair language was also discussed. According to Mr. Iyo, government agencies should consider the gender-fair use of language based on the recommendation of the Center for Women’s Studies of UP Diliman. He told the participants that guidelines can be found in the Gender-Fair Language Primer. In the same way, Mr. Iyo recommended the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office (PCDSPO) Style Manual to the participants in order to be guided in writing articles. The participants were tasked with more intensive hands-on activities to reinforce their newly-acquired knowledge and learning experience during the day.
On the third day of the training, the participants were introduced to the cPanel Interface. They were also asked to access their respective cPanel accounts and to use the login details provided. According to Mr. Iyo, cPanel is a unix-based web hosting control panel with automation tools and a graphical interface to quickly and easily manage the hosting of a website. The migration to the GWHS Joomla SEO Settings which is purely a hands-on activity followed after the discussions.
