Why did the City create a new website?
Portland.gov was developed to deliver online information that is easy to find, easy to access and easy to understand. Content tends to be shorter and more conversational on the new site, and it’s organized from a community perspective rather than a “bureau” perspective. People shouldn’t have to understand how their City government is organized to find the information they need.
Why are we switching the homepage now?
Portland.gov has been in development for two years. Teams across City bureaus have worked hard to prepare for the transition, and we have met the benchmarks we set to officially launch. We believe that the vast majority of essential content has either been migrated or has a redirect back to the old site.
What if essential content is missing from the new site?
If content is missing, use the feedback form at the bottom of every page. We can either add content or add a redirect to Portland.gov to make sure there is a search result. With other questions, send an email to website@portlandoregon.gov.
After the homepage switch, what will happen if somebody navigates to PortlandOregon.gov?
They will be redirected to the new homepage on Portland.gov.
Where will I find employee-focused content?
Employee-focused content will remain on PortlandOregon.gov until an employee Intranet site is built later this year. There will be an “employee portal” link in our list of top searches and an employees link in the footer that appears on every page of Portland.gov. Some bureaus are also adding a link on their new homepages to point to their bureau-specific employee portals.
What happens if somebody clicks on a link to a page on the old site?
Content that has been migrated the new site, Portland.gov, is typically expired on the old site, PortlandOregon.gov. As a result, clicking on any legacy links to migrated content will redirect to the new content and permanent URL on Portland.gov. For example, if somebody visits a link like https://www.portlandoregon.gov/bts/76184, they will get redirected to https://www.portland.gov/powr.
What will happen to content that has not yet migrated?
It will still appear on PortlandOregon.gov after the homepage switch, but may be a little less easy to access as the Portland.gov search does not index PortlandOregon.gov. We have tried to mitigate this with redirects back to PortlandOregon.gov when possible. The Portland.gov search page also has a prominent link to try the search on PortlandOregon.gov.
What will happen to TrackIT forms and integrated applications that are a part of the old web platform?
They will remain available at PortlandOregon.gov. For example, https://www.portlandoregon.gov/sf or https://www.portlandoregon.gov/apps/mcbit/ will remain on the portlandoregon.gov domain. We are exploring options to replace TrackIT and hope to migrate many of these forms by the end of 2020. Some lesser-used forms may remain in place through 2021. In 2021, we will begin working with application owners to theme their applications to more closely align with the new Portland.gov look and feel.
What other changes should we expect?
The 'beta' designation on Portland.gov will be changed to 'www' just before the switch.