HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006 09 11 Informational 503 IS new Website September 15
COMMISSION AGENDA
ITEM 503
Informational
September 11. 2006
Regular Meeting
Authorization
REQUEST:
Information Services wishes to inform The Commission of
upcoming launch of our new Winter Springs website on
September 15th, 2006.
PURPOSE:
To inform The Commission of upcoming launch of the new Winter
Springs web site on September 15t\ 2006.
CONSIDERATIONS:
The new Winter Springs web site will solve several issues with the current site. These
issues are as follows:
. Homepage Layout
The current web site has no consistent method of placing information on the
homepage. The current homepage is cluttered and important information is
hard to locate. The new website solves this issue by providing a simplistic look
and feel. Current information that is found on the homepage of the website will
still be accessible from the new site but will be placed in a menu on the left side
of the page. News articles are limited to a small number on the homepage. These
news articles will then be archived by calendar year into a different section of
the website. Additional information included on the front page of the website
will be demographics of the city such as the population, households, parks,
schools, etc.
CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS
CITY COMMISSION
REGULAR MEETING - SEPTEMBER I I, 2006
INFORMATIONAL AGENDA ITEM "503"
PAGE 2 0F 3
. Sub Page Layout
The current website has no consistent layout through the sub pages. While on
one department's sub page you may find navigation links on the left side;
another department's sub page you may find the navigation links on the right
side or in the middle of the page. This issue has been corrected with the new
web site. All sub page navigation links will be on the left side of the pages. The
navigation menu will also move with the user as they navigate to different pages
within the department.
. Navigation
The current website has no consistent style of navigation. Some links to sections
of the site are hard for the citizens to find. The new website will solve this issue
by having a consistent style of navigation. There will be a main navigation bar
across the top of the page along with subsection navigation on the left side of
every page. Once you are in a department's subsection you will see all links
related to this department. The new site is built to allow several different routes
to arrive at the same page. At the top of each page there is a "breadcrumb" bar
that will show the shortest route to get to the current page.
. User Friendliness
To make the new website more user-friendly we have added more images to each
page. This will allow the user's visit to our site more enjoyable. We have also
created a new menu system. Both the top and side menu utilizes the latest
technology in CSS and JavaScript programming. This will allow faster load
times on all pages. On the Forms and Publications page we have changed over
from using department names to categorize documents to using common names.
For example if you are looking for an Arbor Permit Application, some users may
not know this falls under Community Development, therefore we have placed it
under a category named Trees and Beautification category.
. Up-To-Date Content
In order to keep the content up-to-date we have implemented a Content
Management System. This system will allow certain non-technical staff to edit
pre-designated pages in a Microsoft Word like interface and upload them for
approval. This will greatly reduce the time needed to update content to the
website. This will allow our web site to have new content daily for our citizens to
view, increasing our interaction with the citizens.
During this upgrade process on September 15, 2006, citizens may experience
intermittent delays to the city website.
CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS
CITY COMMISSION
REGULAR MEETING - SEPTEMBER 11, 2006
INFORMATIONAL AGENDA ITEM "503"
PAGE 3 0F 3
FUNDING:
Not applicable
RECOMMENDATIONS: None
ATTACHMENTS:
None
COMMISSION ACTION: