The Parks and Recreation Department‘s website has received a long-awaited makeover.
Cleaner, more streamlined and easier to navigate, the site was renovated completely in-house by Wilton’s information services director John Savarese, after feedback from first selectman Lynne Vanderslice and outgoing Parks & Recreation Commission chair Sarah Gioffre.
The department information is still the same, but the user interface and site navigation is much more streamlined and cleaner. A top, drop-down menu navigation bar has replaced the previous system and even the colors and photography have been updated
Rather than pay an outside vendor to do the changes, the town saved money by asking Savarese to take on the project. He completed it outside of work hours, working on it at night and on weekends.
Vanderslice says the updated, renovated website now matches the updated, renovated Comstock Community Center, home of the Parks & Rec department.
“The website was tired. It now better reflects the fresh, new feeling of the facility, and it sends a positive message to residents, prospective residents and future renters of the facility.”
The site will again get another improvement in late summer, when the online registration system becomes even more streamlined. That’s when the town’s agreement with its current online registration vendor expires, allowing it to migrate to a new registration service. That, says Vanderslice, will allow for a better user experience and cost the town less in fees compared to what Wilton would pay to renew with the current provider.
When that vendor switch happens, the online registration platform the department uses now–requiring users to know both an assigned login ID number and ‘family PIN’ ahead of time–will be dropped for a much more user-friendly option. That new registration effort is being overseen by the Parks & Rec staff and commissioners.
