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W&M's Digital Presence: Cascade Content Cleanup Guidance, Tools & Resources
Contact: [[creative]]
Summary
The following message was sent to select Cascade editors and managers on September 19, 2025.
Full Description
Hello -
Last week University Web & Design identified you as a point of contact (POC) for one or more Cascade sites. As introduced in our message to all Cascade editors last week, the university will be reimagining our externally-facing website and exploring a new internal communications platform (intranet). This work is vital to strengthening W&M's brand, driving prospective student demand and improving the online experience for all audiences. At university leadership’s direction, our first milestone is a review and cleanup of Cascade web content by December 15, 2025.
Overview
- See the full list of current POCs and a brief overview of those responsibilities.
- Bookmark the home for this project where all POC messages, guidance and resources will be available.
What Content Needs Cleaning Up?
You will need to make decisions that are appropriate for your content and audiences, but please consider this a time for robust action and a dramatic reduction in your content. We offer the following guidance to get you started:
- Must remove or update inaccurate content – expired announcements, old processes, COVID-19 guidance, etc. Pay particular attention to content created more than a year or two ago, as it may now appear dated or irrelevant.
- Must review all storage folders and only keep files actively in use – documents, images, widgets, etc.
- Must delete all archival-like content and store it offline in OneDrive, Box, etc. – if an archive is needed
- Must correct incorrect uses of the university's name
- Could review all grammar and punctuation
- Could complete any needed accessibility enhancements
Cascade Content Ownership & Review Dates - December 15 Deadline
- Each POC has been assigned ownership of all assets within their identified folders (pages, images, documents, etc.).
- All assets must be deleted or manually reviewed – the POC can delegate this review process to additional Cascade editors.
- For any assets kept and verified as up to date, an editor must mark it as "Reviewed."
- Learn more about content ownership and content review dates.
Acquia Optimize Reports
- Next week you will begin receiving weekly reports from Acquia Optimize, a tool that scans and monitors websites for issues related to broken links, top editorial policies and accessibility.
- Learn more about Acquia Optimize reports.
Additional Resources & Tips
- Use the Review Guide for documents, images, pages and more.
- Review your site analytics to prioritize your efforts.
- Learn how to easily archive pages offline before deleting them from Cascade.
- Learn how to get the most out of your Cascade relationships.
- Learn what to consider before moving and renaming assets.
- Learn how to easily update documents and images.
- Learn why and how to update your page menus when changing page titles.
- Learn how to publish your work faster.
- Learn how to use Working Copies to lock and collaborate on updates to a page.
Drop-In Support Sessions
- POCs are invited to join us at any of the upcoming Drop-In Support Sessions. These will be scheduled weekly through December 15 in both an in-person and virtual format. Watch the Cascade calendar for upcoming sessions.
- Support is also available by contacting your Cascade Manager.
We will continue to contact this group throughout the fall semester to share updates, info and reminders. Please email [[creative]] with any project questions.
Thank you in advance for your dedication and professional attention to this work as we strive to enhance W&M's digital presence – together!
Best,
Jesse Windley
Associate Director of Web Communications
University Communications | University Web & Design