The Magnificent 7: A Centralized TYPO3 Multi-Portal for Universities in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

In 2015, seven universities in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania embarked on a joint journey to unify their digital presence. Their objective was to create a centralized web platform that would host their respective websites, and serve their diverse academic communities. To accomplish this task, they partnered with +Pluswerk, whose extensive experience working with clients in the higher education space, combined with their expertise in delivering high-performing TYPO3 projects made them the ideal agency for the project. 

The participating institutions were the University of Greifswald, whose IT center managed the central server, the University of Rostock, the Wismar University of Applied Sciences, the Rostock University for Music and Theatre, the University of Neubrandenburg, the University of Stralsund, and the Alfried Krupp Institute for Advanced Study in Greifswald.

The participating institutions sought to modernize their digital infrastructure and deliver staff and website visitors an improved experience. The modernization process would include ensuring that the new websites would meet the latest accessibility standards, streamline content management, and ensure scalability for future growth. 

Using TYPO3 as a centralized platform allowed them to accomplish these objectives, thanks to the CMS’s robust feature offering, customizable designs, and functionalities that catered to each university’s unique needs.

During the implementation phase, the +Pluswerk team collaborated closely with representatives from the participating universities to ensure the outcome met their requirements. They did this using an agile approach involving regular sprint reviews with all stakeholders. This approach ensured transparent progress, prompt feedback, and efficient prioritisation of features. 

A unified deployment pipeline and an automated testing environment were set up to guarantee stability and make future updates simpler across all connected university sites. The result was a scalable, maintainable platform architecture that met technical and organisational requirements alike.

One of the most interesting aspects of the project was its scale. Upon completion of the new platform, it served over 280 domains, over 76,000 individual pages, 505,000 files 45 extensions, and was used by over 2,500 editors, all of whom were able to access their sections of the platform. 

+Pluswerk’s expertise was especially valuable for the project as they developed 19 extensions to support the project’s completion.

The success of the multi-portal system implementation demonstrates the power of digital collaboration in the higher education space. By unifying their web presence on a single platform, the universities of Mecklenberg-Western Pomerania were able to reduce costs, strengthen security, align maintenance schedules, and improve overall efficiency and accessibility. 

The project also marks another milestone in TYPO3’s long running success working with institutions of higher education worldwide. TYPO3 remains the first choice of premier universities that look to enhance their digital infrastructure and streamline their content management operations.

Are you interested in learning more about how TYPO3 can support universities in their digital journey? 

I'm interested