If you’ve been to the KingsportTN.gov page recently, don’t refresh the page – the City of Kingsport has launched its new website. It contains useful and up-to-date information, provides a better resource to gain information about the city and is easier to navigate for residents.
The city is excited to launch its new website. Planning for the new site began in mid-April, with the goal of being practical and user friendly. TheNet360 gathered content from the old site and helped to shape the new site with current technology and creative design. Visitors will notice new content, new photos, better navigation and even new features.
The MyKingsport function, located on the homepage, is one that will serve to answer many common questions that residents may have. For example, the city public works department receives many calls regarding garbage pick-up. When a resident types in their address in the MyKingsport search bar, predictive search will filter out addresses until the resident sees their current address. Once the current address is found, the information displayed will be when their trash, recycle and brush pickup days are, closest emergency services (police, fire, ems), what neighborhood they’re located in and which school district.
The homepage is clean and simple, and houses the smartest feature of the new website. When visitors don’t want to have to search for the information they’re after, they will simply have to type it into the predictive search bar. Backed by artificial intelligence, this search bar relies on key words provided from each department to help visitors get to their needed information even quicker. For example, if you search for ‘pay,’ the search bar gives you two options, ‘pay my water (utility) bill and ‘pay my red light citation.’ Each of the link options, for any given search term, takes the visitor to the respective page.
YourGov is a reporting system that stems from the Cartegraph program used by the city. It will allow residents to report non-emergency issues, such as a tree down, minor water leak, water hydrant issue or a pothole. If the YourGov app is downloaded onto a smart phone, users have the ability to take a picture of the issue and submit that along with the relevant information.
Earlier this year, the City of Kingsport Public Works Department received an efficiency award from Cartegraph. Public Works uses the data gathered from app submissions to help guide and plan department projects. The YourGov reporting system will automatically input the data from residents into the Cartegraph system.
To download the YourGov app, visit kingsporttn.gov and click on the YourGov icon. In that tab, you’ll find a link to the App Store for iPhones and a link to Google Market for android phones.
While residents could pay their water bill online with the old website, the new site makes accessing the payment portal much easier. Located on the homepage, residents are able to click on one of three options – pay utility bill, pay red light citation, pay other receivables – and will be redirected to the correct payment portal. Over time, the hope is that residents could pay more city bills online, such as property taxes.
Many residents are interested in the Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BMA) meetings, but are unable to attend or watch the meetings on TV. With the new website, the city is proud to launch livestreaming starting October 18. On the evenings of BMA meetings, viewers can click on the TV icon in the top right corner of the homepage to open livestreaming.
Visual aspects of a website are incredibly important. Not only does the site have a more visual appeal, but local photographers such as Jay Huron, Jeffrey Stoner, Matt Hale and Chris Alley, agreed to allow their images to be used within the site. We encouraged local photography to showcase how great Kingsport is. Our hope is that more local photographers will want to share their images with the city and have them displayed on the site. If you’re interested in having your photos used on the site, please contact Adrienne Batara at 423-343-9791 or email adriennebatara@kingsporttn.gov.
It’s no surprise that the majority of websites are visited via the screen of a smart phone. The previous city website was not mobile friendly. The new site, however, is built to be mobile responsive. This means that no matter what size screen you view the site on, such as a smart phone, tablet, or mini iPad, the site content adjusts to fit to the screen size.
Site visitors will also find other useful information, such as current city news, open job positions and the Board of Mayor and Alderman. For individuals who are interested in starting a business in Kingsport, the ‘Businesses’ tab holds all related information from the Kingsport Profile to the different applications and requirements.
As with any new website, it is always evolving and will be continuously improved. We’ll be adding more content weekly and have exciting plans for the continued growth of the site. We envision this becoming a “city hub” for information for residents and visitors alike — the first stop for anyone interested in learning more about our great community.
