Provo launches new city Web site

PROVO — It's like having City Hall online.

At least that's the claim of the company that created Provo's new Web site, www.provo.org, which launched last week.

"Anything you can do in the physical location, you can do on the Web site," said Loretta Gale, president of Infobytes, a Salt Lake City-based Internet design firm. "I don't think there's another city Web site quite like it."

It's been five years since Provo updated the site, which was touted as top-rate when it debuted. But in the digital world, things change fast.

"My experience with Web sites is the technology moves a lot faster than our ability to keep up," said Wayne Parker, Provo's chief administrative officer. "It was just time to update it."

For one thing, the new site features an extensive list of searchable options in the "City Services A-Z" section.

"It you are looking for trash pickup, we used to list that under 'sanitation,' " Parker said. "Now, you can find it under 'trash pick-up,' 'solid waste,' 'garbage' and 'sanitation.' We've tried to look at what people can use."

And the new site is easier on the eye. The previous site was developed for a standard 16- to 20-inch computer screen. The new one is designed to adapt to a wider screen, as well as a Web-enabled cell phone.

Gone are the drop-down menus.

"Five years ago, they were very cool," Parker said. "Now, people lose the menus as they scroll down the page, so we tried to go away from those."

Provo residents can use the Web site to pay a utility bill or parking ticket, sign up a child for a soccer league or renew a business license, among other things.

The change comes at virtually no additional cost to Provo, which pays Infobytes a monthly fee of about $2,000 for support and maintenance, including upgrades, said Helen Anderson, spokeswoman for the mayor's office.

The city has 53 employees assigned to their departments as Web editors, along with their other duties, to keep the Web content fresh for each department.

Parker said the content should satisfy Provo residents, who perennially rank high in lists of most-wired communities.

"We think our (residents) are very tech savvy, and we think they'll be happy with the product," he said.

e-mail: mhaddock@desnews.com