AMBOY – When it comes to websites, being user friendly is a top priority.

This is why Amboy High School needed an updated website.

“The older website was just outdated. I felt we needed a current, fresh new look. The previous website was a lot harder to update because it wasn’t very user friendly,” said AHS Tech Media Specialist Amie Wiseman. “This new one gives a lot of flexibility where more people can update like adding photos and adding content.

“We have technical help students. They’re going to be able to help us update the website and keep new information on it also. That’s what’s great about the new website. It’s very user friendly.”

Wiseman, who has been at AHS for 16 years and has a main focus on helping teachers implement technology in the classroom, built the new website with the help of a company.

The website, which will still use amboy.net as the URL, was a major project for Wiseman.

“We worked with a company called SmartSites. They work alongside our ParentSquare, which is our communication to parents,” Wiseman said. “We use them so the two pieces can work, communicate together. They helped me design, but I’d say I did a lot of the design working with them.

“I did have a tech help student, Cooper Whitney, that helped me with the site last year. He’ll help this year also. He’s helped me update the staff on the site.”

The older website, created seven years ago, is being replaced by a more professional site which offers more photo opportunities.

The new website launched the first week in August.

“This is my first website working with the company. They did a majority of the work and switching everything over,” Wiseman said. “I did a lot of, ‘Oh, I don’t think I like that look, let’s switch it.’ I referred to a lot of websites from schools near us like Dixon and Sterling. I looked at their sites and went off what I liked about their sites.

“It was a lot of work. To be honest, I thought SmartSites was going to be doing more of it. But it all worked out. Now I know how to maintain the website since I went through the design process.”