Supporting Higher Education Institutions in Growth
3m5. Delivers Hochschule21 a New Web Portal with TYPO3 CMS for Education
Hochschule 21 - The University of Applied Sciences (hs21), based in the Hanseatic city of Buxtehude within the greater Hamburg metropolitan area, has been offering application-oriented courses and interdisciplinary research in the fields of construction, engineering, and health since 2004.
The university’s website was built using TYPO3, and the institution sought a long-term partner for its web support and continuous website development. It collaborated with TYPO3 Partner 3m5. to improve their website’s performance and set up a long-term support structure that would ensure security and performance levels remain high.
3m5. has experience working with clients across several industries in business-critical environments, delivering content management solutions and long-term web support services.
The Task at Hand: A Secure Website and Third-Party Integrations
The project had several objectives. Hochschule21’s desired outcome was a secure, high-performing and user-friendly website with ample third-party integrations and an efficient search system.
With regard to the extensions, these include third-party systems that were essential for the functioning of the Hochschule21 web portal. These portals include the registration portal, the intranet for students and employees, a mail system, the digital library, and Studinet. It’s essential that these portals can complement each other and operate efficiently and effectively within the h21 web infrastructure.
As Marion Albers, Professor of Law at Hochschule21, states, "our university is based on the core pillars of 'construction, health, and technology' and will grow prospectively through additional bachelor's and master's programs as well as increased interdisciplinary offerings. Therefore, our web presence must not only reflect the current study programs but also support our growth plans”.
Additionally, delivering a roadmap for long-term support, including upgrades and continuous development of the website, was part of the overall vision for the future to improve security and performance.
An Efficient Search System with TYPO3
Several third-party systems are connected to the web portal of hochschule21. The LDAP extension allows university employees to edit their own profile page on the website in the frontend. For searching the site, Solr was integrated. It searches thousands of pages in milliseconds and enables full-text search, search term highlighting, auto-completion, and synonym support, among other features.
For this, 3m5. offers professional support. “We have been continuously developing the portal in terms of security, performance, and databases. A specialized team exclusively takes care of TYPO3 upgrades” states the agency.
Fixed Cycle Support
Another update was the alignment of the Hochschule21 website with TYPO3’s fixed support cycle. From a planning perspective, this enables the h21 staff to plan website upgrades long-term. It also ensures that they will continue to enjoy TYPO3’s support services.
Having an Impact with TYPO3 Long-term Support
3m5 utilized TYPO3’s seamless integrations and scalability to create a highly functional website equipped with the tools needed for hochschule21 to effectively manage its online portals and integrate a collection of tools that are integral for its operations.
The delivery of a long-term support program creates a clear path towards future upgrades, ensuring that Hochschule21 can continue delivering exceptional online experiences.
Stefan Jahn, Project Manager at 3m5 says: "3m5. not only launches new web projects for customers but also maintains long-standing projects like this one. To do this, we delve into existing source code and develop projects successfully and professionally. In addition to regular upgrades, we also take care of security updates to protect the website from potential threats and ensure the confidentiality of the university's data and its users. Furthermore, 3m5. implements minor frontend improvements whenever desired to optimize the user experience and ensure that the website is both functional and user-friendly and appealing.”
TYPO3 and Higher Education
TYPO3 is the CMS of choice for higher education institutions worldwide. It's multisite capabilities, secure infastructure, and seamless data management functionality, offer universities and research centres the tools they need to excel.
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