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CMS Forms future development

Last updated on November 22, 2024

CMS Forms is continuously developed to align with government's business and technical needs.

On this page:

Planning and delivery

CMS Forms is being managed and developed within business and technical contexts that make it difficult to plan specific activities across a scheduled timeline. Instead, we maintain a list of development themes and objectives and work towards a state of readiness to be able to make progress whenever dependencies are resolved or opportunities arrive. We refer to this list as our development intent.

Business context

Ministries do a good job of managing their web content using CMS Lite. CMS Lite has benefitted from established policies and standards, as well as the time to mature the product, services and ministry capabilities. Part of our development efforts are to accelerate CMS Forms' maturation so that ministries can manage their forms as easily and well at their content.

Technical context

CMS Forms consists of an Orbeon implementation integrated into our larger Content Management Framework. Development activities may involve multiple teams outside of the one managing the framework. Coordination is required across these teams based on their availability, capacity and priorities.

Intended development

CMS Forms is more than just an application. It's a combination of tools, supports and services. Development will occur in many themes and involve a variety of steps and checkpoints. Below are most of these themes in alphabetical order with their high-level activities.

Analytics and performance

We want to provide ministries with the data to understand how their forms are being used and what the experience may be like.

  • Finalize the Forms Metadata Standard
  • Develop dashboards, analysis and reporting tools
  • Integrate analytics into the CMS Forms interfaces

Business services

We want to provide ministries with optional services to support their business needs and goals.

  • Forms transition and transformation services
  • Forms monitoring and management services
  • PDF design and support services

CMS Lite integration improvements

We want to improve available options and ease for using forms with CMS Lite.

  • Make it easier to distinguish forms from content in the content lists
  • Design automated and form-specific architecture for the site
  • Provide options to embed forms within content pages or service journeys

Data storage and processing

We want to provide ministries with access to the storage and processing ("workflow") capabilities.

  • Confirm requirements and acquire approvals
  • Implement any application or infrastructure changes needed
  • Develop related supports for default or common workflows

Deployment capabilities

We want to provide ministries with access to the many form deployment options available.

  • Change the core way forms are currently deployed for the website
  • Add the ability to deploy forms to the intranet
  • Document how forms can and should be deployed elsewhere

Design support

We want to make it easier for ministries to quickly design forms that align with government and citizen needs.

  • Integrate the new Design System into CMS Forms
  • Create a library of common reusable design patterns
  • Automate ministry- and program-specific templates for generated PDFs

Governance and standards

We want ministries to have the business guidance they need to succeed.

  • Expand the visibility, membership and role of the Inter-Ministry Forms Committee (IMFC)
  • Develop form policy, standards, guidelines and similar business supports
  • Develop standard job profiles for talent management and development

Issues monitoring and accommodation

We want ministries to be aware of and take appropriate action for existing and emerging issues that affect forms.

  • Identify and collate existing standards, such as gender and sex data collection
  • Develop solutions for emerging issues, such as Indigenous names and identity
  • Establish effective communication methods for ministries and their users

Inventory and tracking

We want ministries to be able to track all their forms, and data about them, regardless of the media or platform used.

  • Gather requirements and develop a suitable data model
  • Develop a "corporate" forms management database system
  • Develop automations and integrations for the database

Multilingual forms support

We want ministries to be able to build and manage forms that support B.C.'s primary languages.

  • Translate all system messages and interface components
  • Translate all reusable design patterns developed
  • Develop and document good practices for translating new or revised forms

Orbeon development management

We'll continue to work with Orbeon's own developers to create and improve the application for our needs.

  • Create features that improve capability, options, usability or experiences
  • Increase the number of things authors can control directly without requesting support
  • Expand system tools to support more or simpler automations and integrations

User training and support

We want ministry users to have the training and support options that suit their needs and preferences.

  • Continually collect information about user needs, areas of difficulty, and subjects of interest
  • Identify, develop and test appropriate solutions to address user requirements and requests
  • Incorporate continuous improvement and update into operations and maintenance activities

Your input is welcome

You're welcome to reach out to us with a general inquiry ticket if you want to:

  • Learn more about any of these themes from a technical or business perspective
  • Identify one or more as being of particular interest or usefulness to your ministry
  • Request participation in design or suggest additional requirements or themes
  • Share expertise, information or other resources that could help with meeting goals

Your input will help us guage interest and determine priorities.