Want to alert everyone to an update I should have made a few weeks back - the Library refreshed its web site and as a result the link I had in the sidebar was broken. It is now fixed.
The Library now joins this site, NOC, the Borough, and the Chamber of Commerce who have all refreshed the look and feel of their web sites this year.
I know what an undertaking a web site design or redesign can be and there are many pitfalls. What do you think of the redesigns? Of course I'm sure like me each group is proud of their new online space.
For NOC, I like the portlets in the sidebar where I can plug in weather, recent comments from all the NOC sites, feeds, past articles, in essence I've tried to put everything at a readers fingertips. The search (it is powered by Google) is surprisingly good and I've been using it more than the back-end search when seeking old posts. Look and design is often in the eyes of the beholder, hope I most people find it to be at least tolerable.
The Library most recently changed and their site now has a basic three column format with base contact and hour information on the left, six sections in button form in the middle, and a list on the right of places people might want to visit on the site. It does not have traditional web site tabs across the top or down the left column as many sites do.
For me the most useful pieces, the hours on the left sidebar (I always forget when the library is open), the online catalog where you can search from home and put a hold on a book, and the user account which shows the books you have checked out, on hold, and a history (mine goes back to November 2005).
The Chamber updated the look and feel of the site and implemented some advertising at the bottom and maybe it was a case where I was more acclimated to the old navigation, but I seem to struggle more to find things on the new site. The two things I'd most be interested about when visiting this site are events and members (ie local businesses by type or name). There is no calendar on the home page and when you click on calendar there is static content and links to: Chamber Events (click on this and you are asked to join the chamber), Community Calendar (this is where you want to go but it displays one week at a time and is mostly empty), Sports Calendar (this gives you a welcome to Nazareth message), Things to Do (same message as Sports), and All Events (again the welcome message). My guess is this was a purchased design and in the absence of having custom content in each place some stock copy was dropped in, but it does make navigation and usability a bit frustrating. Again the look and feel is good and needed to be updated.
The Borough also needed an update both in the look and feel as well as the content. Moreover, internal staff needed to be able to make site changes as announcements needed to be made. The look and feel is better and content seems to be updated, though the current practice, for example, of posting meeting minutes and agendas in the page in a never ending stream will soon result in some unmanageably long pages. Uploaded PDF's or a new page for each meeting would be much easier for users. All in all a good job and much needed.
Finally, as some of you may have seen in the comments, an area resident has started a new blog about the Skate Park. While this has been a hot topic, I'm not sure if there is enough for an ongoing blog, but the Borough Park including the Skate Park would be an excellent topic for a blog. Given all the activity there people could learn through posts and see through pictures what is offered from concerts to movies to play areas to events to basketball, tennis, and yes skateboarding. Best wishes on this new venture.
Have you used or visited any of these sites before and/or after the changes? What do you think?
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