Successful collaboration with the municipality of Koksijde: Innovative websites for the municipality, tourism, and youth
Client: Municipality Koksijde
Project: Koksijde.be, Visitkoksijde.be, Jonginkoksijde.be
Go live: July 2024
Industrie: Local gouvernment
Services: Graphic design, Content migration, Website analysis, Online surveys, Training
Stack: Paddle CMS - Drupal 10, Matomo, Mailchimp, Madiahaven, Mijn burgerprofiel, UitinVlaanderen
Koksijde, a vibrant coastal town in West Flanders, is known for its tourist attractions and active community life. The municipality needed a refreshed online presence for both the municipal website and the tourism page. The goal was to provide accessible and user-friendly information to residents, tourists, and businesses.
Halfway through the project, an additional challenge emerged: the development of a youth page specifically targeted at young people. This required a dynamic and visually appealing design that would attract youth while staying consistent with the other websites.
Extremely satisfied, excellent support from start to finish. Shana was always available with clear, to-the-point answers. Without her, it wouldn’t have been possible. The whole team was in love with her way of working
Ilse Chamon
Municipality of Koksijde
What We Did
- Comprehensive analysis of the existing websites (koksijde.be and visitkoksijde.be)
- Online survey to gather insights
- Graphic design, ensuring visual consistency across the websites
- Content migration and optimization
Web design
For the web design, a clean and contemporary design was chosen, ensuring accessibility for both residents and tourists. The design considered the diverse audience of the municipality, from families to young adults.
The use of Atrament Web on the youth subsite gives the site a playful and youthful appearance, while the more formal fonts on the other sites contribute to a professional look.
The color scheme was tailored to each target audience: calm and reliability for the municipal website, and freshness and energy for the tourism and youth websites.
Training
During the project, several training sessions were organized, both online and offline, to ensure that Koksijde’s communication team, including non-technical staff, could work with the new CMS quickly and efficiently. The training was specifically tailored to the municipality's needs.
Delivered Training:
- Writing for the web
- Paddle CMS for editors and administrators
- Training for web forms
- Managing the company and association directory
The training was highly valuable, especially the session on writing for the web. We had a group of 40-50 people, and the content was excellent. Even staff without extensive training could quickly start using the Paddle CMS.
Technology/Integrations
The project required various technological integrations to meet Koksijde’s specific needs. By connecting with existing systems, many processes were automated, improving the user experience:
- Paddle CMS - Drupal 10
- Matomo for web statistics
- Mailchimp for newsletters
- Mediahaven for multimedia content
- Mijn Burgerprofiel for personalized government services
The integration with Mijn Burgerprofiel enhanced accessibility and efficiency for residents, who now have faster access to their personalized government information.
Modules
- Business Directory / Association Directory: Self-management by local organizations
- Street Map with Points of Interest (POI): A useful map to highlight locations in the city
- News Import via XML for automatic updates
- Web Forms for various municipal services
The street map with Points of Interest was one of the most useful modules for us. It’s very handy for highlighting locations, just as we see in neighboring municipalities. Additionally, we were impressed by the Mijn Burgerprofiel integration, which made everything even more accessible for our residents.
Results + figures
Thanks to close collaboration with the Municipality of Koksijde, three successful websites were launched within a tight deadline. Each website now offers an accessible, user-friendly experience for a broad audience. The implementation of powerful modules, such as the street map with POI and Mijn Burgerprofiel, increased user satisfaction. The training sessions enabled the communication team to quickly operate the Paddle CMS independently, improving efficiency.
