Town Planner Brian Henshaw made developing a Web site a priority when he came to Stephens City in December 2006.
"We wanted people to be able to find us online," he said. "We wanted [the site] to be very user-friendly. We also wanted to create a new identity for the town."
In July, council approved a contract with Virginia.gov, an agency designing government Web sites, for $10,000.
The contract allows the town’s Web site to have a maximum of 50 pages, including links to the town’s history, calendar, and online bill pay.
The site now has about 20 pages.
"I think it went well," said Sheri S. Wood, project manager with Virginia.gov. "We went by what [Henshaw] wanted. Our priority was to go by his suggestion."
Virginia.gov has worked with 40 municipalities statewide in designing Web sites. Stephens City is the first in the Northern Shenandoah Valley.
The City of Winchester has used Visual Link for its hosting services since the Web site was created in 1997. The site’s address is www.winchesterva.gov.
"We design our own content. We do our own Web programming; we have a Web master," said Tom Lloyd, interactive technologies director for Winchester. "Visual Link hosts the site for free as a public service."
Lloyd was unable to provide a specific cost for the city to maintain the Web site. The Web master position had been vacant for some time and hardware and other materials were donated by Visual Link.
Because Stephens City has a full-time staff of four in its town office, Henshaw will be doing the bulk of the site’s design outline and maintenance.
Henshaw gave Wood a flow chart showing what information he wanted on the Web site and how it should be grouped.
"We wanted people to be able to find us online," he said. "We wanted [the site] to be very user-friendly. We also wanted to create a new identity for the town."
In July, council approved a contract with Virginia.gov, an agency designing government Web sites, for $10,000.
The contract allows the town’s Web site to have a maximum of 50 pages, including links to the town’s history, calendar, and online bill pay.
The site now has about 20 pages.
"I think it went well," said Sheri S. Wood, project manager with Virginia.gov. "We went by what [Henshaw] wanted. Our priority was to go by his suggestion."
Virginia.gov has worked with 40 municipalities statewide in designing Web sites. Stephens City is the first in the Northern Shenandoah Valley.
The City of Winchester has used Visual Link for its hosting services since the Web site was created in 1997. The site’s address is www.winchesterva.gov.
"We design our own content. We do our own Web programming; we have a Web master," said Tom Lloyd, interactive technologies director for Winchester. "Visual Link hosts the site for free as a public service."
Lloyd was unable to provide a specific cost for the city to maintain the Web site. The Web master position had been vacant for some time and hardware and other materials were donated by Visual Link.
Because Stephens City has a full-time staff of four in its town office, Henshaw will be doing the bulk of the site’s design outline and maintenance.
Henshaw gave Wood a flow chart showing what information he wanted on the Web site and how it should be grouped.
The chart emphasized giving each element on the town its own place on the Web site and presenting it in an accessible format.
"We came up with the content and [Virginia.gov] did the design," Henshaw said. "We wanted to create a Web site that would fit in with today’s standards."
Besides basic information, the site is set up to allow viewers to e-mail council and Planning Commission members and pay their bills online.
Both features are expected to be up and running by the end of the month.
"We wanted Stephens City to be up-to-date," Wood said. "It just makes sense for people to use the Web site to pay their utility bills."
Wood added that she was waiting on Bank of America to establish an account before the system could be put into place.
The city’s Web site has gradually added interactive features in the past decade.
"When it first started out, it was just the basic information," said Lloyd. "Starting in 2000, we started getting all the different departments on it. We just added online bill pay a few months ago."
Lloyd has noted some pages on the site are more popular than others. He estimated that the Winchester Parks and Recreation Department page is frequently visited.
Stephens City administrators are hopeful a partnership with Frederick County’s Web site, www.co.frederick.va.us, will create a surge of visitors to the new site.
The county’s site will offer Geographic Information Systems specifically for Stephens City and link to the town’s Web site.
All the GIS additions are scheduled to be in place by March.
With its place on the Internet being established, Henshaw hopes the site reflects the town’s values.
"We want people to know this is a town that values its heritage, and is a town that gets it, and is developing on its own terms."
"We came up with the content and [Virginia.gov] did the design," Henshaw said. "We wanted to create a Web site that would fit in with today’s standards."
Besides basic information, the site is set up to allow viewers to e-mail council and Planning Commission members and pay their bills online.
Both features are expected to be up and running by the end of the month.
"We wanted Stephens City to be up-to-date," Wood said. "It just makes sense for people to use the Web site to pay their utility bills."
Wood added that she was waiting on Bank of America to establish an account before the system could be put into place.
The city’s Web site has gradually added interactive features in the past decade.
"When it first started out, it was just the basic information," said Lloyd. "Starting in 2000, we started getting all the different departments on it. We just added online bill pay a few months ago."
Lloyd has noted some pages on the site are more popular than others. He estimated that the Winchester Parks and Recreation Department page is frequently visited.
Stephens City administrators are hopeful a partnership with Frederick County’s Web site, www.co.frederick.va.us, will create a surge of visitors to the new site.
The county’s site will offer Geographic Information Systems specifically for Stephens City and link to the town’s Web site.
All the GIS additions are scheduled to be in place by March.
With its place on the Internet being established, Henshaw hopes the site reflects the town’s values.
"We want people to know this is a town that values its heritage, and is a town that gets it, and is developing on its own terms."
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