The New AFCity.org

Some time last November, the City launched a "soft" opening of its new Web site, AFCity.org. On February 10, the Web site was formally presented to the City Council. I reproduce here remarks made on that date by Rachel Parrish of ThinkBox Design Marketing, the firm which created the Web site.

American Fork is a city dedicated to providing friendly quality service, big city opportunities and small town goodness. Reflective of the depth of American Fork quality, in November the city unveiled the re-designed American Fork city Web site. The Web site has been designed by ThinkBox Design Marketing with consultation from the city and an executive committee of city officials, department heads and administration. This dynamic Web site was designed to communicate effectively with the target audience of current and prospective businesses, residents, developers, and visitors.

The Web site is fully functional and user friendly. It provides online functions that reduce the amount of time city staff spend on mundane tasks such as making phone calls, transcribing information, processing forms, updating the site, and so on. The Web site provides a variety of online services to current and prospective residents, businesses, and visitors. The site utilizes extensive content management tools and a database related architecture to provide a consistent user-friendly interface. All this takes place through a secure environment.

The branding of the Web site was based on the American Fork logo design and layout of the Economic Development press kit. The design of the Web site will allow visitors to easily and quickly navigate the site to find desired information. Top and side navigation bars have been utilized, including a list of quick links for the most frequently asked topics. Due to the varied thought processes of visitors to the site, there are numerous ways to find a particular page or piece of information. For example, one can find the Library from the For Residents link, a quick link, or through departments. Careful planning has strategically placed similar information in numerous areas of the site. Information on the numerous facets of life in American Fork can now be found in one place. Questions ranging from housing permits, recycling, and a search for an American Fork ancestor can all be answered.

The core of the American Fork City Web site is built with ASP.NET technology and a combination of Java script, Ajax and flash. The content management system is driven by a MSSQL database with 244 tables with a size of 0.5 GB and growing. The file system contains 817 Folders and 7209 Files for a total of 1.6 GB and growing.

The website now includes:

• Home Page


• An About the City page which includes the history and the benefits of living and doing business in American Fork


• Contact Us with easy access to a map and department information


• An interactive Calendar of Events including color-coded events from all departments. This calendar can be updated in real time by department heads and is an excellent avenue for informing residents of upcoming events.


• Department News/Minutes and Agendas. Each department is able to update their own web pages through the Content Management System.


• Numerous Business Visitors can find answers to questions on Building Permits, Economic Development, Planning, and American Fork Chamber of Commerce opportunities.


• Residents can find information on Fitness and Recreation, the Arts Council, Yard Sales and fun events within the city for the whole family.


• Visitors to American Fork can find highlights of the Points of Interest within the city and includes photos of historic areas and scenic parks.


• The site includes a search feature allowing visitors to enter a topic and receive a list of related links on the site.


• The site allows for a variety of forms to be available which can be filled out and submitted online. Potential forms include: utility services sign up, business license renewal, records request, fence permit, building permit, etc.


• The site continues to offer online utility bill payments and account information.


• Parks can now be reserved from the Web site.


• A visitor to the Web site can sign up for the city newsletter. This enables visitors to be informed of city announcements and events.


• A Weather link has been added to the site showing the current temperature and link to the extended forecast for American Fork City.

Since its launch the site has received over 86,482 visitors. Currently the site receives around 12,000 visitors a month, up to 2,800 visitors a day, 50% of which are new visitors every month. Visitors ranging from as far away as Germany and Russia have visited the site.

My thanks to Rachel and her colleagues at ThinkBox for their artful and arduous work.

Personally, I'm willing to concede that the site lacks the glitz and functionality of, say, Amazon.com or WhiteHouse.gov, but it also lacks their generous budgets, funded as it is on a local taxpayer's shoestring. On the whole, therefore, I'm pleased to recommend the new Web site to you. It is the latest in the City's efforts to improve communication with residents -- a goal which has been a personal focus for me during my term of service.