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It's been a while since we've added anything totally new to the website, we've been busy developing custom applications to streamline internal processes here at city hall, look forward to seeing a new HR application to be unveiled soon.
What's new? Google Custom Search is! Google now released their custom search to government entities for free, and without ads. This lets us now harvest the google spidering energy to provide the best possible search results to our site, without any cost. The next best thing about it is that it allows us to configure it for more all of our websites. For example searching for the word "theater" or "library" gives you results from www.cityoftemecula.org, www.temeculatheater.org, tickets.temeculatheater.org, and www.temeculalibrary.org.
Another great feature is Google's ability to sense misspelled words and suggest the correct spelling for you. It's like having a billion dollar search company working inside City Hall.
It's great, let's all welcome Google Custom Search to our family!
Today we finished the conversion of all our pages to a CSS version.
Again to quote Wikipedia,
"CSS is used by both the authors and readers of web pages to define colors, fonts, layout, and other aspects of document presentation. It is designed primarily to enable the separation of document content (written in HTML or a similar markup language) from document presentation (written in CSS). This separation can improve content accessibility, provide more flexibility and control in the specification of presentational characteristics, and reduce complexity and repetition in the structural content. CSS can also allow the same markup page to be presented in different styles for different rendering methods, such as on-screen, and in print." In the past when you would print any page on the site, because of the way the site was originally created, the right side would get cut off. Now we are able to create a printing template for the site, allowing us to correctly set margins, increase the font size, remove unnecessary elements when printing like the header photo and left sub navigation menu.
The move to CSS also enhances our cross-browser compatibility and accessibility. Now the site looks and behaves the same in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari. Now anyone on any platform or browser can view the sites content the way it was intended.
Today we launched the newest section of our website, the Media Room. The Media Room is now a one stop shop for all press releases, videos, and links to articles written in local newspapers about our city.
 This project also marks the first project to include an RSS feed. To borrow the definition from Wikipedia, RSS (which, in its latest format, stands for "Really Simple Syndication") is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines or podcasts. An RSS document, which is called a "feed", "web feed", or "channel", contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text.
What this means for us, is that people can start subscribing to our RSS feed onto their homepage, able to see updates to our site without having to check it manually.
Check out the Media Room here.
Problem: Lots of important information needs to be given to the citizens. Problem: Citizen's are not just going to browse the website blindly hoping to stumble on important event information. Problem: There is only so much information you can display on the front page. Solution: Front Page Slideshow. The slideshow fades through several website "ads" which direct visitors to new and important information without cluttering up the front page with hundreds of links. 4th of July information? Bam! Right on the front page. City of Temecula Youth Masterplan Questionnaire? Bam! Right on the front page. Need a place to cool down? Bam! Right on the front page.
 Recently we revisited the design and content we posted on the entry page to our website. In the past we grouped "Quick Links" and "Other Sites of Interest" in one "Quick Links" category which didn't fully describe the use of those links. Also in reviewing the front page we noticed the absence of our eGovernment links, which is a huge push for us since the site redesign less than a year ago. The new page provides us with three columns that better describe the links and their purpose. The page also provides us a better and easier way to promote major upcoming events.
Improvements:
- Promotes “Contact City Staff” and “eSubscriptions”, both big internet initiatives.
- Separates "Other sites of Interest" from Quick Links (as they are not quick links)
- Showcases our top eGovernment services. This section is key to a virtual City Hall, 24/7 access promoted on the front page.
- Major events image changes as new events come down the line, like 4th of July, Car show, Easter Egg Hunt, Winter Holiday Information, etc.
- Eliminates excess whitespace and condenses information into a smaller area, allowing visitors to see more information on the entry to our website.
- Next 10 events will continue to scroll on the header image.
 The new City of Temecula website now has eSubscriptions and Alerts available for sign up!!! Visitors to the site can sign up for eSubscriptions to receive updated information from City Staff and the City Council. They can sign up for Alerts to receive notices when Agendas, Bids and RFP/RFQs are added to the City’s website.
We at the City decided to utilize the services of Constant Contact, a company that provides easy tools to manage email lists and bounced mail and provides spam protection.
To sign up for eSubscriptions and Alerts, click here.
This is part of the 2007 Temecula Outreach Program, a comprehensive effort focused on providing public information in a timely manner as well as creating opportunities to educate our residents about local government, upcoming projects and services.
Now on the front page of http://www.cityoftemecula.org/, the next 10 events on our City's Website Calendar are now displayed on the front page over the header image. It cycles through the events every few seconds and links to the calendar page. It's just one more step towards getting our citizens more involved in our programs!
 On December 15, 2006 the Temecula Public Library opened it's doors to the public. Funded by the Library Bond Act and $8.5 million dollars in grant funds, the 34,000sq.ft. Temecula Public Library is a partnership between the Riverside County Library System, the Temecula Valley Unified School District, and the City of Temecula. That same day, TemeculaLibrary.org launched, offering patrons and citizens access to the new digital library. Site visitors can use the site to search for books, reserve books, view photos of facilities, register to use a public computer, search and do research on 40+ reference databases offered by the Riverside County Library System. Future plans will allow for payment of fines and ability to check account status. Visit http://www.temeculalibrary.org/ today!
 Business License Database search goes live. One could search for businesses by all or part of the name, address, or business type. Information acquired through this business license search feature is intended to be of public service and is part of the public record as provided by Government Code.
The application was written in C# and pulls the data from the Business License Software database on our SQL Server. The data is as fresh as it is in Business License Software. Changes made in the Business License Software will immediately show up online. This tool is useful for citizens wishing to check whether or not a business is licensed to do business within the City or to find business owner contact information. For that same reason the tool is useful to City Staff out in the field such as Code Enforcement, who can access the search using their wireless tablets.
On July 4, 2006 we debuted a new version of the website. This was a shift from the traditional static HTML pages to a dynamic ASP.Net version. To do this we migrated our website to a Microsoft Content Management Server which allows a collaboration of City staff to update content easier through the use of templates and specific locations to enter information. This technique allows the webmaster to have the time and resources to develop more eGovernment services geared toward providing citizens with the most updated accurate information possible, faster than before. With the update to the new site, we implemented color coded navigation. Each of the four sections, "Visitors", "Residents", "Businesses" and "Government" has separate colors. Doing so creates memory of where information is located on our site.
One other major improvement was the implementation of MondoSearch. This search tool allows the user to retrieve search results from our pages more accurately. Previously we used Google as the search tool which gave us search results on Google's server, using Google's look and feel, and placed Google ads that had nothing to do with the City of Temecula. With MondoSearch, search results are direct and are housed within our site, navigation, and look and feel.
Also with the release of the new version was the release of the Citizen Contact Form. This form allows citizens to contact any department or service within City Hall, asking them specific questions that can lead to quicker responses.
Old page:
 The City of Temecula joined the growing number of cities that are streaming video online to allow citizens to watch meetings live or from an archive, allowing 24/7 access. Since January 10th, 2006, residents have been able to view Council Meetings on both Channel 3, the City of Temecula’s government cable channel, and online! The next day the meetings are available with a list of Council agenda topics, allowing the public to retrieve specific items with a hyperlink feature. This provides residents with a video on demand capability for all future Council Meetings. The high bandwidth video-streaming service is provided by 12MileOut.com
 The City of Temecula website receives its second award from CAPIO, the California Association of Public Information Officials. The award this time for the implementation of the Megan's Law Sex Offender Pin Map which was completed months previously. Congratulations to City Council and City Staff for a job well done.
 Under direction by City Council, City of Temecula Information Systems Department and Geographical Information Systems Department joined forces in utilizing the current web mapping software to provide approximate whereabouts of convicted sexual offenders. Megan's Law is named after seven-year-old Megan Kanka, a New Jersey girl who was raped and killed by a known child molester who had moved across the street from the family without their knowledge. In the wake of the tragedy, the Kankas sought to have local communities warned about sex offenders in the area. With information provided by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, citizens can see visually if a sex offender lives in their area.
 With the constant creation of new content by the Webmaster, The City of Temecula received first place in the category of Web Site for the Public Transportation Options we had on our website. The CityofTemecula.org site was recognized for the amount of useful content that made it easy for a citizen of Temecula to find answers to questions without having to call City Hall. Instead of having a citizen scour the internet looking for information regarding the city, one would only have to visit CityofTemecula.org.
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