Starting a community website , need...

User 1886497 Photo


Registered User
148 posts

Hi everyone.

So I am going to start a website up for my village, town and would like to know what would you like to see if you had one or have one. The forum, chat room thing will not work as facebook is the main thing for chatting right now. So what would make you continue to come back to a local town website.

I seem to have a mental block right now, Ive added news and phone a taxi section at the moment but want to expand it.

Thanks to anyone who responds. :)
Karl Williams.
www.karlwilliams.co.uk
User 38401 Photo


Senior Advisor
10,951 posts

Hiya Styling,

Hmm let's see, what would I look for... Most definitely:

Vacation info, Tourist info, Chamber of Commerce, Attractions nearby or in town

Town Statistics like:
Size, Population, Crime Rates, Industries, etc.

Commerce locations for major things like Malls

Library Info

Pretty much anything that a person might be looking for if they were to be looking into possibly moving to the area. Hope that helps :)
User 122279 Photo


Senior Advisor
14,656 posts

Local cinema and theatre playing list.
Opening hours for various places, entrance fees.
Schools in the area, kindergardens.
Churches
Local hospitals, doctors, dentists: phone numbers and opening hours
Communications (buss, train etc)
Local weather
Properties for sale or rent
Town's history
Photos from various things, lots of them
Famous people in/from the place
News section: what is happening in this place
Various polls
Links to relevant info (websites of clubs, associations, communities etc)
Find something of interest to all generations, also the children.

Just some ideas off the top of my head...
Ha en riktig god dag!
Inger, Norway

My work in progress:
Components for Site Designer and the HTML Editor: https://mock-up.coffeecup.com


User 131437 Photo


Ambassador
151 posts

Here is a list of required content for a small town that I recently consulted with on an initial RFP but ultimately lost the final contract to a (much lower bidder):
* History of the community including list of historic places in the town and surrounding area
* Event calendar
* downloadable government forms for things such as permits, and running for local office
* City codes and ordinances
* Pages for the different departments such as water/sewage, parks and rec, roads, Fire department, Police Department, Mayors office Each department wanted a way for citizens to electronically contact department heads with complaints, questions, etc. i.e. webform
* information about or links to Cemetaries, Hotels, major employers, the local chamber of commerce, real estates information, local newspapers, Electric Utility company, Telephone provider, Internet Provider
* video of council meetings (YouTube is cheap)
* contact information for important city officials such as the mayor, treasurer
* general information regarding hours of city services
* subscription to community alerts via email, and/or SMS text messagingsuch as school closings, etc. (Twitter is cheap)
* online bill payment for city services like library, Water
* information about the local public and private schools in the area (only the good stuff)
* interactive map of the city with POI's, Government Buildings, Police, Fire, Churches (Google Maps, or ESRI online are both good choices).

I would suggest looking up the websites for cities and towns in the surrounding area this will give you a good idea of what they at least thought was of value. Good Luck! Governments are always so fun to work with! :lol:
Visit <a href="http://leviabbott.com" target="_blank">LeviAbbott.com</a>!
User 1886497 Photo


Registered User
148 posts

Thank you to everyone who replied, this has helped me a lot and given me loads of ideas.

Many Thanks

Karl :)
Karl Williams.
www.karlwilliams.co.uk
User 364143 Photo


Guest
5,410 posts

Usually, small town villages don't need a website. Just ask any old biddy a question and you will have the whole town history and gossip at your disposal. :)
CoffeeCup... Yeah, they are the best!
User 1886497 Photo


Registered User
148 posts

We have a village which is very active, fishing, golf, football, darts, cricket, rugby, shooting, which all need timetables and scoreboards, it also has local information such as developments and events. We also have 4 pubs 1 school 1 community centre 1 shop 1 Library which most need to be on-line for visitors or people checking out the area, community centre has flower arranging, dance classes and cinema night which need listings and teacher information. We may have a small village but a whole lot of stuff goes on here. If I asked the old biddy Magret about any gossip or news I would find out Mildred one on the bingo the other night ;)
Karl Williams.
www.karlwilliams.co.uk
User 38401 Photo


Senior Advisor
10,951 posts

Here's a good example of all kinds of things you can put on your site. This site has not only basic info for most things, but also has a separate little page or 2 for many of it's little businesses, community organizations, library etc. These pages are done by those particular services and submitted to the web developer for the main site to be added. Hope that helps :)

http://www.cityofbayminette.org
User 1886497 Photo


Registered User
148 posts

Great link Jo Ann, thank you :)
Karl Williams.
www.karlwilliams.co.uk
User 2028484 Photo


Registered User
94 posts

Installing some free forum software is a great way to increase site activity and bring the city closer together.


You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.

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