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neil
Forum Owner / Moderator
United Kingdom
2623 Posts |
 Posted - 28 Apr 2009 : 18:56:26
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The Parish Council's new website went live today. The process of revamping the site started about 6 years' ago and there have been a number of false dawns along the way. The new site can be found at www.angmeringparishcouncil.gov.uk
The previous site design that has been in operation for some years was selected because the PC disliked and did not want to use the standard Arun District Council template which a number of parish councils use.
So what have we now got - the same old template that other parish councils use!!! However, to be fair, I don't think the PC has the ability to do anything more adventurous and the ADC template could still work reasonably well for them.
Ah, I hear you say, there must be some improvements. Well yes there are. The navigation process between pages is now vastly improved and hopefully there will be the opportunity of adding additional pages of interest and maintaining historic meeting minutes, etc.
However, one would have thought that, with a brand new website, the opportunity would have been taken of cleaning up existing pages and getting information up to date. In fact, all the old pages have been dumped into the standard ADC navigation framework without any re-formatting. Old layouts (fonts and type sizes, etc) do not now gel with this framework. Even the new Welcome page is unwelcoming with absolutely no thought having gone into it. Many very old items on the "News" page are still there and no attempt has been made to include on the "Councillors" page the four new councillors co-opted last week! If you want to see a much better example, have a look at the East Preston PC's website at www.arun.gov.uk/cgi-bin/buildpage.cgi?mysql=1037
Even the promised historic minutes have not been included. The page could have been developed at this stage to include the future structure. What is even worse is that only half of the minutes of the last PC meeting on 20 April have been uploaded today.
The "Useful Links" page has also been updated today and all the old useful links edited out. However, the name of the Assistant Clerk who retired two months' ago is still included!
If I sound frustrated it is because all the advice I have given to the PC over 7 years - both solicited and unsolicited - has been ignored. Who on earth approved this new website to go live? |
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neil
Forum Owner / Moderator
United Kingdom
2623 Posts |
Posted - 29 Apr 2009 : 11:39:26
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Apologies to the PC. I was wrong in stating that the "Useful Links" have been deleted.  However, the name of the Assistant Clerk who retired at the end of February is still included on the "Contact Us" page, although the PC appears to have updated other aspects of the same page only yesterday!
I note that the News page has also been revised today.
On the navigation bar, the searchbox "Go" button does not work and neither do the links to the translation facility. It is appreciated that these items are the fault of Arun District Council.
One of the new councillors who was co-opted 9 days' ago specialises in website design. It's a pity the PC did not consult him for advice before the new site went live. |
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neil
Forum Owner / Moderator
United Kingdom
2623 Posts |
Posted - 01 May 2009 : 10:32:14
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I note that the PC has now added the names of all the new councillors to their website and updated their "Contact Us" page to include the name of the present Assistant Clerk. This is good, but why does it need pressure from the outside to get this done?
However, for some reason the PC cannot, or does not want to, publish the complete minutes of the PC meeting on 20 April. Could they tell us why? |
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neil
Forum Owner / Moderator
United Kingdom
2623 Posts |
Posted - 05 May 2009 : 12:52:44
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| For the record, the other half of the PC Minutes were uploaded today to their website. |
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neil
Forum Owner / Moderator
United Kingdom
2623 Posts |
Posted - 17 May 2009 : 15:03:38
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Following my original criticisms of the PC's new website, they did subsequently post the following message to their News page: quote:
As many of you would have noticed our website has changed. Working with Arun District Council, our new website is being phased in and we may experience some teething problems over the next few weeks. We hope the finished site will be much improved and more accessible and thank you for your patience whilst these changes are taking place.
I know that the Chairman of the PC was concerned about the matter and it is understood the website was inadvertently launched before it was ready.
However, since the launch there has been steady and welcome improvements to the website and in the published minutes. These can be seen in numerous ways: - News items now have dates (something I suggested to the PC 6 years ago!)
- Historical minutes are being introduced. Hopefully readers will in the future be able to look back through past minutes and not just the current ones).
- Action responsibilities are being added to minutes - a useful and common practice in Industry.
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