San Marcos Has New Website Coming Soon, Residents Invited To Preview

June 14, 2017

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Residents will have the opportunity to live chat with the City’s communication staff and offer suggestions and comments.

The city’s website, www.sanmarcostx.gov, has received an overhaul and the City’s Communication team is inviting residents to take a closer look during an online preview event.

The San Marcos City Council approved $44,969 on September 6,2016 for the FY17 budget for a website redesign to enhance the online experience for San Marcos residents.

City staff has been working nearly nine months with the City’s new website provider, Civic Plus, to redesign and improve the site.

Civic Plus and has worked with all the City’s departments, and has reviewed more than 1,200 webpages to create an enhanced user experience for San Marcos residents.

New features of the improved website will include a responsive design that allows the site to be easily viewed and navigated from mobile and tablet devices, citizen customization, new and easy to use navigation, and mini sites for departments with a lot of content to help organize information.

“We are living in a mobile age,” said Kristi Wyatt, Director of Communications and Intergovernmental Relations. “People pay bills online, schedule appointments and connect with businesses, all from their mobile phones or tablets. The City’s communication office is striving to create a site that helps citizens connect just as easily with city departments, all with just a few clicks of a mouse, or swipes of the finger.”

The city will host a scavenger hunt for residents to “float the inner tube of civic knowledge” and become more familiar with the new website once it is officially launched. The first five people to successfully complete the challenge will win prize packages. The first clue will be posted on the new home page at sanmarcostx.gov June 23.

The new website will launch on Thursday, June 22 but the City’s communication team will be hosting an online pre-launch preview and web chat on Wednesday, June 21 at 12:30 p.m. on the City’s Facebook page for residents to get an early look at the City’s new website.

The pre-launch preview will include a short presentation on the improvements to the site, a review of some of the website’s functions and ways in which citizens can connect with the City online, as well as a guided tour of the new www.sanmarcostx.gov.

Residents will have the opportunity to live chat with the City’s communication staff and offer suggestions and comments.

The City is also seeking input from residents via a poll that will be featured on the homepage of the website.

“The new site is still a work in progress, and it always will be,” Wyatt said. “We have worked to review all of pages, but we will continue to update the website daily to reflect the most current and relevant information, but we are also looking forward to hearing feedback from residents, and we welcome suggestions and ideas.”

The Communications Department Expenditure Breakdown for Budget FY 2017: