A redesign of the city’s Web site at www.GoColumbiaMo.com includes a new header and changes in the way the site is organized.

When the city of Columbia launched its municipal Web site in 1998, the home page warned visitors that the site should be considered a work in progress and could be upgraded often.

Anna Hargis believes those still are words to live by.

A member of the Internet Citizens Advisory Board, she has been working for nearly three years with city staff to help determine how Columbia can best utilize its Web presence.

"Every few years, a Web site needs an upgrade," Hargis said, "to make it look good and do stuff."

A completely redesigned site the city plans to unveil next month should do just that and more, according to city information technology officials who have worked for months on a redesign. The new site will make it easier for visitors to access information and will allow city departments to better deliver services, they said.

Sam Shelby, the city’s e-government coordinator, said the site will retain most of its current content and its address, www.GoColumbiaMo.com. However, the new version will include features not included now on the city’s site such as better resolution and the ability to "read" pages for blind Internet users.

Web sites typically are upgraded every three years for private businesses, Shelby said, to keep content "fresh."

"It is a completely new look," Shelby said of the new design.

Throughout March, the city will test the new site to make sure it is easy to use. Visitors to the current site can access the new site and provide feedback to its designers from a link on the page.

The city’s current Web site features a blue and yellow color scheme with several menu options along the left side of the page. The middle of the page contains links to news releases and other city publications.

The new site keeps intact the menu and the links in the middle of the page but also includes new "headers" at the top of the page that will allow users to pay utility bills, register for city-sponsored activities and report problems to the Public Works Department.

This would be the second redesign since the site was launched in 1998. In 2002, the city paid a consultant about $25,000 to come up with the current design.

City staffers designed the new site.

J. Scott Christianson, a Tribune columnist who also is chairman of the advisory board, said the new site should provide for faster downloads. He said visitors to the city’s site have steadily increased over the years.

"It’s interesting to see how it’s evolved," Christianson said.

Toni Messina, the city’s communications director, said the new site should make it easier for users to access city services through a better arrangement of information on the pages.

Exactly when the site will be unveiled is unclear, though Shelby said he intends to present it to the Columbia City Council by next month.

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