2020 CMS Status Updates
Here are CMS status updates for 2020.
Key to Status Updates
⚠ = Informational Message
✔ = Service Operating Normally
⛔ = Service Disruption
Dec. 15, 2020
⚠ Dec. 15, 2020, 10 a.m. - During the weeks beginning Dec. 21 and Dec. 28, support for Mass.gov will be available every business day from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. except Christmas Day and New Year's Day when the office will be closed.
➥ Read the email for more information.
Dec. 14, 2020
⚠ Dec. 14, 2020, 10 a.m. - MassDOT is in the process of converting all exit numbers on highways statewide to a milepost-based number system. We are making you aware of these changes as they may affect content you have posted on Mass.gov.
➥ Read the email for more information.
Nov. 24, 2020
⚠ Nov. 14, 2020, 11:00 p.m. - We’ll soon be providing access to Formstack’s secure uploads feature, and want to let you know that this could affect how you access certain form submissions made prior to the Formstack upgrade.
➥ Read the email for more information.
Nov. 17, 2020
⚠ Nov. 17, 2020, 2:40 p.m. - We’ve made some enhancements and structural changes to the Feedback Manager to resolve issues and improve performance.
➥ Read the email for more information.
Oct. 28, 2020
⚠ Oct. 28, 2020, 1:30 p.m. - Mass.gov now has a slightly different look. We've switched the official typeface for Mass.gov’s Mayflower design system from a licensed font called Texta to an open source version from Google named Noto Sans.
➥ Read the email for more information.
Oct. 26, 2020
⚠ Oct. 26, 2020, 3:30 p.m. - We’re pleased to announce that the Leadership Dashboard, now called the Organization Web Analytics Dashboard, has been released. You can use the new dashboard at www.mass.gov/organizationwebdata.
➥ Read the email for more information.
Oct. 23, 2020
✔ Oct. 23, 2020, 1 p.m. - The Content that needs attention dashboard has been fixed and is again displaying data that can help you prioritize pages to improve.
➥ Read the email for more information.
Oct. 21, 2020
⚠ Oct. 21, 2020, 9:30 a.m. - Mass.gov has a new look at the top of its pages designed to give users a clearer path to the information they need.
➥ Read the email for more information.
Sept. 22, 2020
⚠ Sept. 22, 2020, 1:30 p.m. - We're offering special Office Hours this week for those interested in previewing upcoming Mass.gov navigation design changes.
➥ Read the email for more information.
Sept. 18, 2020
⚠ Sept. 18, 2020, 1:00 p.m. - Mass.gov will soon have a new look at the top of its pages designed to give users a clearer path to the information they need. The familiar horizontal row of terms and dropdown menus (“Living”, ”Working”, etc.) that traditionally appears at the top of Mass.gov pages will be moved to a menu that can be opened from the upper left corner of the page.
➥ Read the email for more information.
Sept. 17, 2020
⚠ Sept. 17, 1:30 p.m. -We’re thrilled to introduce a new set of Web Analytics Dashboards built into the CMS. They provide basic reporting capabilities to help you better understand how your content is being consumed and, potentially, how to improve it.
➥ Read the email for more information.
Sept. 14, 2020
⚠ Sept. 14, 2:00 p.m. - We’re excited to announce that we’ve upgraded from an out-of-the-box version of Google Analytics to the premium GA 360 edition. This delivers immediate new features to those who use Google Analytics to track data about their content, and will soon allow us to restart the embedded CMS Web Analytics Dashboards.
➥ Read the email for more information.
Aug. 19, 2020
⚠ Aug. 19, 11:30 a.m. - The issues with menu items for “My content” and “All Documents” in the CMS, and with public-facing News and Alert content, have now been fixed.
➥ Read the email for more information.
Aug. 19, 2020
⚠ Aug. 19, 10:30 a.m. - We're investigating 2 issues affecting the use of the CMS and issues that may be public-facing.
➥ Read the email for more information.
July 8, 2020
⚠ July 8, 3:45 p.m. - We previously reported an issue with the Feedback Manager tool in the CMS performing slowly and not showing data when first loading. This issue has now been fixed.
➥ Read the email for more information.
July 1, 2020
⚠ July 1, 2:35 p.m. - Two new features have been released to the Information Details content type — the visual story template and the ability to add Tableau data visualizations.
➥ Read the email for more information.
June 29, 2020
⚠ June 29, 2:30 p.m. - In an effort to improve Mass.gov navigation, we’ve made a couple of noticeable changes to the relationship indicators found atop pages across the site.
➥ Read the email for more information.
June 25, 2020
⚠ June 25, 3:30 p.m. - Now, within 1 week of an Alert or Promotional page's unpublish date, all users belonging to an Organization as listed in the CMS for that Alert or page will receive an email to let them know that it is set to unpublish.
➥ Read the email for more information.
June 17, 2020
⛔ June 17, 1:30 p.m. - We’ve become aware that the Feedback Manager tool in the CMS is performing slowly and not showing any data when it first loads. In the meantime, there is a workaround for the results issue. Once you add information in either the Feedback Manager author or organization field and click the "Filter" button, you should see data.
➥ Read the email for more information.
June 3, 2020
⚠ June 3, 2:30 p.m. - Due to an update to Alerts in the latest CMS release, all published Alerts show a last modified date of June 2, 2020. There have been no changes made to any Alert content, and this updated last modified date is not posted anywhere on the public-facing site. Please reach out to Mass Digital through ServiceNow if you have any questions.
⚠ June 3, 2:30 p.m. - Authors can now put an Alert on all their organization’s pages at once.
➥ Read the email for more information.
May 18, 2020
⚠ May 18, 11:30 a.m. - Please join us via WebEx for the next Mass.gov User Group Meeting scheduled for Monday, June 1, from 2-3 p.m. This meeting will be an opportunity for Mass.gov authors and editors to come together to ask questions and share best practices about a new type of Service pages — custom link groups.
➥ Read the email for more information.
May 14, 2020
⚠ May 14, 10:20 a.m. - Authors can now build decision trees with up to 6 possible answers for each question posed in a Decision Tree Branch. Previously, authors were limited to 2 possible answers.
➥ Read the email for more information.
May 13, 2020
✔ May 13, 2020, 10:30 a.m. We previously reported an issue where pages were not displaying correctly on public-facing Mass.gov, even though they appeared correctly in edit.mass.gov. This issue has now been fixed.
➥ Read the email for more information.
⛔ May 13, 2020, 9:27 a.m. Some users are reporting that pages are not displaying correctly on Mass.gov. We’re investigating the issue and will update you once we have more information.
➥ Read the email for more information.
May 7, 2020
⚠ May 7, 2:16 p.m. - To make the CMS more secure, we’re now requiring new or newly re-activated users to set up 2-factor authentication (TFA) during their first log-in session.
➥ Read the email for more information.
May 5, 2020
⚠ May 5, 3:30 p.m. - We still have access to the data normally found in the analytics dashboards. Reach out if there is data we can help your organization find.
➥ Read the email for more information.
May 4, 2020
⚠ May 4, 3:15 p.m. - Quickly convey important information to your audience using a Featured Message on your Organization page.
➥ Read the email for more information.
May 1, 2020
⚠ May 1, 1:30 p.m. Thank you to all who attended April’s User Group Meeting and made it such a success. We know these are challenging times and we appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to join us.
➥ Read the email for more information.
April 30, 2020
⚠ April 30, 1:08 pm - Flexible new Service page template called Custom link groups now available to all. This format allows more freedom in the amount and type of content you can organize on Service pages.
➥ Read the email for more information.
April 23, 2020
⚠ April 23, 1:30 p.m. - Join us at our next User Group meeting on April 27 to talk about your agency's COVID-19 content and the new COVID-19 landing page.
➥ Read the email to learn more
April 17, 2020
⚠ April 17, 1:16 p.m. - You are invited to join us via WebEx for the next Mass.gov User Group meeting scheduled for Monday, April 27, from 2-3 p.m. Join us to discuss your COVID-19 content and how your agency is responding to the outbreak.
➥ Read the email to learn more
April 15, 2020
⚠ April 15, 10:00 a.m. - The Binder content type has been expanded to support a wider variety of content types, including links to How-to, Form, and Promotional pages.
➥ Read the email to learn more
April 13, 2020
⚠ April 13, 9:15 a.m. - Reach out to us if your pages are receiving user feedback intended for another organization. We might be able to help constituents find what they're looking for.
➥ Read the email to learn more
April 2, 2020
⚠ April 2, 8:00 a.m. - Mass Digital, in conjunction with Governor Charlie Baker’s office, the Department of Public Health and the COVID-19 Command Center, has launched a new COVID-19 landing page.
➥ Read the email to learn more
March 31, 2020
⛔ March 31, 2:48 p.m. - Page dashboards within the content management system are displaying incomplete data because of the unprecedented traffic Mass.gov is experiencing due to COVID-19.
➥ Read the email to learn more
March 26, 2020
⚠ March 26, 10:00 a.m. - We recognize that organizations across the state are rapidly creating content on Mass.gov to address the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. We’re here to help with any of your content needs.
➥ Read the email to learn more
March 17, 2020
⚠ March 17, 1:31 p.m. — We’ve heard from some customers that they’ve experienced difficulty logging in to Mass.gov remotely. In some cases, this happened because users could not find the CMS login URL outside of their usual work environment.
We wanted to share the Mass.gov login URL to make sure you could save it in your teleworking bookmarks. You can log in to the CMS at any time using your regular credentials here:
➥ Read the email to learn more
March 16, 2020
⚠ March 16, 2:11 p.m. — Some users have let us know they are currently using an iPad or tablet to edit content on Mass.gov and have requested some documentation on how to work in that kind of environment.
You will need to select your content items differently to access the “Edit” function when using an iPad or tablet to work within the Mass.gov Content Management System (CMS).
➥ Read the email to learn more
⚠ March 16, 10:28 a.m. — Over the last week, lots of information has been thrown at all of us very quickly and our colleagues at the DPH have put together an incredible collection of information on COVID-19. We appreciate the work all of you are doing to keep the people of Massachusetts informed on this and other matters.
We considered a lot of options to make it as easy as possible for you to access the CMS while teleworking and implemented the best option Friday. Feel free to try logging in at home.
➥ Read the email to learn more
March 15, 2020
⚠ March 15, 12:01 p.m. — Over the last few weeks, lots of information has been thrown at all of us very quickly and our colleagues at the DPH have put together an incredible collection of information on COVID-19. We appreciate the work all of you are doing to keep the people of Massachusetts informed on this and other matters. We know how hard you are working to figure things out in your own agencies. We are too.
➥ Read the email to learn more
March 13, 2020
⚠ March 13, 1:22 p.m. — Over the last week, lots of information about COVID-19 has been thrown at all of us very quickly. We appreciate the work all of you are doing to keep the people of Massachusetts informed on this and other matters. Access to the CMS while teleworking has been implemented. Feel free to try logging in at home.
If you have trouble logging in, please submit a ServiceNow request.
➥ Read the email to learn more
March 12, 2020
⚠ March 12, 12:00 p.m. — As Mass Digital updates the infrastructure behind the CMS today to support telework, we want to let you know this may cause log-in issues.
➥ Read the email for more information
March 11, 2020
⚠ March 11, 3:30 p.m. — COVID-19: We're actively working to ensure all CMS users will have the access required to make updates to Mass.gov in the event they need to telework.
➥ Read the email for more information.
March 9, 2020
⛔ March 9, 5:17 p.m. — Currently the "Content that needs attention" dashboard is not displaying properly. Scores and Pageviews (1 Month) are not displaying on the "My Content," "Needs Review," and "All Content" tabs.
We are currently investigating the issues and will provide an update when we have more information. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes.
➥ Read the email for more information.
Feb. 24, 2020
⚠ Feb. 24, 11 a.m. — On Wednesday, Mass Digital will be making improvements to SiteImprove groups so users will have a more complete view of pages within their organization and all pages they are interested in following.
➥ Read the email for more information.
Feb. 11, 2020
⚠ Feb. 11, 2:03 p.m. — On Feb. 26 Mass Digital will be making improvements to SiteImprove groups so users will have a more complete view of pages within their organization and all pages they are interested in following.
➥ Read the email for more information.
Feb. 3, 2020
⚠ Feb. 3, 10 a.m. — Thank you to all who attended January’s User Group Meeting and made it such a success. An event description, recordings of the meeting and Ignite Talk presentation, and notes from the breakout sessions have been published in the Knowledge Base.
➥ Read the email for more information.
Jan. 29, 2020
⚠ Jan. 29, 2:34 p.m. — Thanks to all of you who came to the Massachusetts Digital Service offices for Monday’s User Group Meeting. Nearly 40 people joined the meeting in person while another 30 joined remotely to learn about Promotional pages. Look in your email tomorrow for more details about the Promotional page dashboard.
➥ Read the email for more information.
Jan. 28, 2020
⚠ Jan. 28, 1:02 p.m. — Thanks to all of you who came to the Massachusetts Digital Service offices for Monday’s User Group Meeting. Nearly 40 people joined the meeting in person while another 30 joined remotely to learn about Promotional pages. Look in your email tomorrow for more details about the Promotional page dashboard.
➥ Read the email for more information.
Jan. 27, 2020
⚠ Jan. 27, 9:58 a.m. — We are looking forward to the User Group Meeting being held at 2 p.m. this afternoon. If you are attending in person, we will see you there. Remember, today's meeting is being held on the 8th floor at 1 Ashburton Place.
➥ Read the email for more information.
Jan. 24, 2020
⚠ Jan. 24, 1:52 p.m. — The next Mass.gov User Group Meeting is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 27, from 2-3:30 p.m. on the 8th floor of the McCormack Building. This is a change in location, please make a note of it. This meeting will be an opportunity for Mass.gov authors and editors to come together to ask questions and share best practices about our newest content type, the Promotional page. Be sure to register and save your spot today.
➥ Read the email for more information.
Jan. 21, 2020
⚠ Jan. 17, 12:55 p.m. - Tonight, Governor Charlie Baker will give the State of the Commonwealth address before a joint session of the Massachusetts House and Senate assembled in the House Chamber. Watch along with constituents across the Commonwealth as we livestream the event on the Mass.gov homepage beginning at 6:30 p.m
➥ Read the email for more information.
Jan. 17, 2020
⚠ Jan. 17, 2:08 p.m. - On Tuesday, Jan. 21, Governor Charlie Baker will give the State of the Commonwealth address before a joint session of the Massachusetts House and Senate assembled in the House Chamber. Watch along with constituents across the Commonwealth as we livestream the event on the Mass.gov homepage beginning at 6:30 p.m
➥ Read the email for more information.
⚠ Jan. 17, 8:22 a.m. Our next User Group Meeting is a little more than a week away. Have you saved your spot yet? More than 30 people have already registered. If you haven’t reserved your spot yet, register soon. As a reminder, there are two ways you can attend, in person or online, to accommodate everyone who wants to take part in the event.
➥ Read the email for more information.
⚠ Jan. 16, 2:56 p.m. Tomorrow, Jan. 17, page revisions older than 14 months will be removed from the CMS. This removal process will happen on a monthly basis.
➥ Read the email for more information.
⚠ Jan. 16, 2:56 p.m. Tomorrow, Jan. 17, page revisions older than 14 months will be removed from the CMS. This removal process will happen on a monthly basis.
➥ Read the email for more information.
Jan. 16, 2020
⚠ Jan. 16, 2:56 p.m. Tomorrow, Jan. 17, page revisions older than 14 months will be removed from the CMS. This removal process will happen on a monthly basis.
➥ Read the email for more information.
Jan. 8, 2020
⚠ Jan. 8, 1:15 p.m. — You are cordially invited to attend the next Mass.gov User Group meeting scheduled for Monday, Jan. 27, from 2-3:30 p.m. on the 21st floor of the McCormack Building. This meeting will be an opportunity for Mass.gov authors and editors to come together to ask questions and share best practices about our newest content type, the Promotional page.
➥ Read the email for more information.
Jan. 3, 2020
⚠ Jan. 3, 10:25 a.m. — The next Mass.gov User Group Meeting is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 27, from 2-3:30 p.m. on the 21st floor of the McCormack Building. This meeting will be an opportunity for Mass.gov authors and editors to come together to ask questions and share best practices about our newest content type, the Promotional page. We'll be sharing a formal invite with an agenda soon.
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