What do you get at the top of the list?
Ulverston Online
Lake District, Tourism and Ulverston information from Ulverston Online - the website of the festival town.
www.ulverston.net/ - 11k - Cached - Similar pages -
Which is great until you click on this link
and get this:-
Closer examination reads:
Which is the message that's been there for approximately six months.
Should you click the link for the new Town Council's new site, you will get this!
What message are we putting across?
Ulverston:
Dull Boring
Expect slow service - a job that should take a week could take a year
Even what we do achieve could be wrong because we don't really care and check out what we do!
Do any of our politicians care?
Even when they've been contacted in different ways and repeatedly!
6 comments:
This is so unfair. I have been banging on about the Council having an up to date website for 5 years. NOW we have one but instead of you aplauding this you come up with a snide comment on an out of date site that is no longer administered by any one. Ok so it's top on google but it's bound to be cause that's how google works. For Gods sake lighten up' Just make an effort and contact the webmaster of Ulverston online and tell them they've got a broken link. What's the point if you don't do something Geoff except snipe from the sidelines.
Col - If the site has been superceded by a newer site, the old one should be 301 redirected to it. This should mean the new one gets all of the link equity of the old ones and will replace it at the top of the Google rankings.
Put a link to it on the rant and you will get loads of hits!!
Col,
You ask me to lighten up which implies that I am always critical and negative.
You know that this is not true from the several times that I have complimented you for your ideas and work with young people and in connection with the grounds of Ford Park. I have also praised Wendy Kolbe for her past work and quite recently for a speech she made Dale Street school.
There are many other Councillors who I praise highly. I try to be frank and straightforward with comments both for and against.
I see my role as a person who asks questions and tries to keep people on their toes, particularly when the result is unsatisfactory. In the particular case of the Ulverston Web Site, I do not see myself as ‘rescuer’.
With one page of a few links, one would expect the writer to check them out to see that they work especially if this in their job description.
We are looking at this from two totally different perspectives.
You as an Ulverston Councillor, me, because of my background, as an Ulverstonian that sees the Town as an important collection of hundreds of small businesses that have been let down by second rate promotion. With a turnover of some hundreds of million pounds, we deserve an excellent representation on the Internet.
We both agreed that something needed doing but because of my business background, I am impatient for a result. It still has not happened.
In 2007 I realised there was something seriously wrong when on a visit to Furness Internet who designed Ulverston.net, they, without realising my connections told the students with me of the difficulties they had with certain customers who they could not control and prevented them doing design work to their own high standard. There example – the Ulverston site.
As you know I have doggedly pursued the goal for a well designed Ulverston Web Site. I am still doing this.
All year I have been fobbed off with assurances that a new web site was on the way.
Imagine my dismay that when it does finally arrive, it is not a site for Ulverston businesses but for Ulverston Councillors. Yes, it looks great but is it promoting Ulverston or its Councillors?
When I try to find about the original site, The Town Clerk twice ignores my request for information on November 13th and 17th.
Finally I find that it is still in the hands of SLDC.
On the 18th I get the following replies:
What its status is?
It is simply a portal to other websites.
When will it be up and running again?
As soon as I have time to talk properly with the site host
What role will it play ie its "mission statement" or something similar?
It is a portal to other sites - UTC, SLDC, CCC Cumbria tourism and others.
Who owns the domain name?
SLDC
How is it being funded?
Website hosting funded by SLDC
Am I satisfied?
No.
Am I giving up?
What do you think?
Only tonight I was knocking on an excellent web site designer’s door:
He was out.
I don't understand where you got the idea that this new website was for Ulverston business. I wanted Ulverston town council to have an up to date presence on the web. This was not being provided by Ulverston.net. To achieve quality council status, which would allow us to take on more responsibilities and have more influence in how our taxes are spent locally we had to have a good website. Not something tagged onto someone elses site. That's why I pushed for this site to be built, it's a site for Ulverston town council, a place where constituents can find out what their council is all about and who their local representative is. It's not supposed to be promoting the town it's simply a portal to your local council. And it's in it's infancy,I'm sure in time it will be better but at least it's better than what we had on Ulverston.net. Oh and thanks for your support for what I do it's much appreciated.
Great, Col. Glad we've got that sorted!
Having a great site for the Council is wonderful - I like it - we can look at the minutes and soon, I understand at the agenda. This will enable us to pop along to the 15 minute public slot and have our say on what is about to be discussed.
Now back to Ulverston.net:
How do we get that up and running the way we both know it can?
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