City borrows newspaper tool
- By Brian Robinson
- Sep 03, 2001
The California city of San Carlos is one of the first jurisdictions to use
software originally developed for newspapers and other publishing enterprises
to boost the manageability of Web site content.
The content management software, Vignette Corp.'s StoryServer, enables
users to make changes to multiple Web pages with just one edit and enter
new information without knowing HTML. It also uses run dates so pages can
be automatically removed from a site on a given date.
San Carlos Assistant City Manager Brian Moura said that before StoryServer,
each Web page had to be designed by hand and the person who did it needed
to know HTML. That meant that all content for the Web site had to go through
the Webmaster.
"Most of the people in our city government just don't have that skill,"
Moura said. "Plus, we wanted to find a way to re-use the content so that
when it was put into the database, it would be a simple thing to just update
it and use it again."
Building the new Web site using StoryServer cost from $200,000 to $300,000,
Moura said a big jump from the $50 a month the city paid previously for
Web space. But the advantage is that the Web effort has become an enterprise
effort, with content creation distributed throughout the city government.
That, in turn, has led to far more information being posted and at a far
faster pace, he said.
About the Author
Brian Robinson is a freelance writer based in Portland, Ore.