We’d like to invite you to try out what we’re calling ‘version 1’ of new.shropshire.gov.uk. We have completed around 70% of the site and will be adding loads of new features over the coming days and weeks.
What we’ve been up to
We have created a new look and feel for Shropshire.gov.uk which you will hopefully see works just as well on mobile devices and tablets as it does on a traditional desktop PC.
We have changed and developed the way we write content, adopting a much more task-orientated approach, and will continue to do so.
We have implemented Umbraco as a basis for a new content management system (CMS) to create a more flexible environment for our developers, designers and editors, as well as scrapping the aging search engine and replacing it with Google Search.
What’s next?
We will continue to run this as a working prototype alongside the current library web pages until we are happy for those pages to be replaced.
We need to get as much feedback as possible, so we’re going on tour to test the site with real customers at libraries across the county.
We’ve got a stack of work to do before we’re confident this new approach works and can be used to replace the current Shropshire.gov.uk website.
At the moment the prototype is limited to Libraries, but we will be announcing another service area for the prototype shortly.
Feedback
We really want to know what you think about what we’ve got so far, whether it is good, bad or indifferent. Nothing is final and we will use the feedback we are given to keep improving.
If you would like to give us feedback, we would prefer you to use Get Satisfaction so that other people can see what you’ve written and our response, but we know that this may not be everyone’s preference, so you can also send us an email, tweet us @projectwip or use our contact form.
I’d like to finish by thanking everyone who’s helped out with this project over the past few weeks, with a special thanks to the staff at Shropshire Libraries who have approached this project with real enthusiasm and been open to changing not only their website but the way in which they work.