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A new site to behold

After a year of planning, development and tweaking, the Town of Athabasca has a brand new online face. On Jan. 31, the town officially launched its new website at athabasca.ca, replacing the old site that had existed for more than four years.
The Town of Athabasca launched its new website on Jan. 31.
The Town of Athabasca launched its new website on Jan. 31.

After a year of planning, development and tweaking, the Town of Athabasca has a brand new online face.

On Jan. 31, the town officially launched its new website at athabasca.ca, replacing the old site that had existed for more than four years.

“It’s definitely more user friendly than the last one,” said Coun. Shelly Gurba. “That thing was evil.”

Former CAO Josh Pyrcz originally asked town council for input into the features for a new website at a council meeting on Dec. 15, 2016. Gurba says the old site had not been serving the community’s needs for years, and council agreed a change should be made.

“We on council realized that it was not an efficient website and we need to make it more user friendly and that people in the community needed something they could access if they needed to find information really quickly,” she said.

With a simpler, cleaner layout that is easier to navigate, the new site has garnered positive early reviews from the town’s administration.

“This website is far more user friendly than the old one, that’s probably the biggest thing,” said interim CAO Doug Topinka. “Things are easier to find compared to the old site. The staff like it.”

Topinka said it was difficult to find basic council documents like minutes and agendas on the old site because the layout was not very efficient.

“You went in one place and then you were transferred to another site and then you had to go looking for them there,” he said. “On this one, you just hit minutes and agendas and they’re right there.”

Gurba said while the new site is a big improvement, there are still a few tweaks that need to be made to optimize its functionality. Some of the issues are minor, like fixing links that are broken or placing a search bar on the homepage allowing a user to find items quickly without having to dig into the site.

“It’s like with any website,” she said. “When it’s first new and it looks really good to start with and then you say OK we need to do some final finishing touches to it.”

Gurba also said she would like to see content added to the site – such as possible accommodations, attractions and restaurants – that would introduce Athabasca to visitors and show what the town has to offer.

“Typically, if I’m going to a community I’m going to that city’s site to see what they have to offer,” she said. “So this is their first option to see what Athabasca can provide for them.”

Feedback on the new can be emailed to [email protected]

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