More Than Bells & Whistles: Why enCodePlus Is the Right Choice for Communities That Just Want the Basics
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Scalability: From the Basics to Bells and Whistles
Key Points
- enCodePlus isn’t “too much” for small communities. Its core value lies in making ordinances easier to manage, access, and update—without forcing the use of advanced features you don’t need.
- Moving beyond PDFs improves public service and staff efficiency. Searchable, mobile-friendly, and ADA-compliant ordinances are no longer a luxury—they’re a modern necessity.
- Start simple, grow smart. enCodePlus provides a right-sized solution today, with the flexibility to scale if and when your community’s needs evolve.
When local governments explore digital ordinance management solutions for small communities, they sometimes hesitate. “This looks impressive, but do we really need all these bells and whistles?”
It’s a fair question. The truth is: enCodePlus isn’t about complexity for complexity’s sake. It’s about making ordinances easier to manage, access, and understand.
Whether you’re a city of 1,000 or 100,000, the challenges of outdated PDFs, scattered documents, and inefficient workflows are the same. At its core, enCodePlus solves these problems—without forcing you to use features you don’t need.
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More Than Features: enCodePlus Simplifies What Matters
enCodePlus was built to serve communities of all sizes by providing:
- A clear, centralized ordinance platform
- Simple, intuitive access for staff, officials, and the public
- Efficient management of updates and amendments
It’s not about piling on features. It’s about removing friction. We streamline how you create, manage, and share regulations so that your team—and your residents—can make better decisions with better information.
Case in point: Cities like Basehor, KS; Elk Horn, IA; and Peshtigo, WI use enCodePlus with just the standard features. For them, it’s not about “advanced tools.” It’s about having a modern, user-friendly system that simply works.
Why PDFs No Longer Cut It (Even for Small Projects)
Even basic ordinance management deserves better than a patchwork of PDFs. Here’s why a cloud-based platform like enCodePlus is a smart investment:
- Improved Public Accessibility
- Searchable, mobile-friendly, and ADA-compliant.
- Easier for residents, developers, and officials to find what they need.
- Static PDFs are clunky on mobile devices and frustrating to navigate.
- Real-Time Updates and Version Control
- Instant updates mean no lag between approval and visibility.
- Everyone works from the same, most current document.
- Avoid confusion from outdated PDFs floating around.
- Efficient Search and Cross-Referencing
- Advanced keyword search and cross-references.
- Quickly link between code sections.
- Saves time for staff, legal teams, and citizens.
- Future-Proofing Without Overbuying
- Start simple with a foundation for future integrations (GIS, calculators, interactive maps).
- Only add features when and if they benefit your community.
- No need to switch platforms as your needs grow.
Current State: PDFs |
🗂️ Static & Hard to Search Long PDFs, no search or cross-referencing capabilities. |
📱 Poor Mobile Experience Difficult to navigate on phones and tablets. |
🔄 Manual Updates & Version Confusion Staff spends time reformatting, redistributing PDFs. |
🕰️ Cumbersome for Staff & Public Inefficient for quick lookups, increasing frustration. |
📉 Outdated Public Perception Projects an image of lagging behind. |
Better with enCodePlus |
🔍 Searchable & Interactive Instant keyword search, cross-links between code sections. |
📱 Mobile-Friendly Access ADA-compliant, responsive design for all devices. |
🔄 Real-Time Updates & Version Control Always current, no lag or duplicated efforts. |
⚡ Simplified Ordinance Management Efficient for small teams, intuitive for the public. |
🌐 Modern, Forward-Thinking Platform Positions your community as accessible & proactive. |
Small Community Spotlight: Right-Sized Success
Let’s look at how small towns leverage enCodePlus for big impact:
- Basehor, KS: Focused on making ordinances easily searchable and accessible for staff and the public.
- Elk Horn, IA: Simplified code management with a clean, organized digital interface—no extra frills.
- Peshtigo, WI: Streamlined public access to codes, eliminating the hassle of static documents.
Each of these communities benefits from enCodePlus’ core strengths: clarity, efficiency, and ease of use—without unnecessary complexity.
Planning for Simplicity: The Annotated Outline Approach
For communities starting with basic needs, we begin with a simple approach. As an example, take the annotated outline we created for a small community in Texas as they worked to reorganize their zoning and subdivision ordinances into a Unified Development Code.
This framework grouped similar provisions together, asked essential user-focused questions (e.g., What’s my zoning? What standards apply?), and provided a framework to:
- Guide discussions
- Identify gaps and redundancies
- Ensure logical, user-friendly organization
It served as both a planning tool and a living reference throughout the drafting process—ensuring simplicity and clarity remained the priority.
A Smart Investment with Lasting Value
Choosing enCodePlus isn’t about buying into a complex system. It’s about investing in efficiency, transparency, and accessibility—all of which pay off in:
- Reduced administrative workload
- Better public service
- Fewer headaches managing updates
- A future-ready foundation for digital governance
By transitioning from PDFs to a hosted platform, even small communities align with modern standards, meet evolving public expectations, and position themselves as forward-thinking municipalities.
The Wrap-Up: enCodePlus Is Built for Your Size
Whether your community is ready for advanced integrations or just needs to get out of PDF chaos, enCodePlus meets you where you are. You only use what you need—but you benefit from a system designed to grow with you.
No bells and whistles required. Just better ordinance management.
Ready to simplify your ordinance management? See how enCodePlus can support your community’s needs—big or small. Contact us for a demo today.
About enCodePlus – Intelligent Planning, Zoning and Codification Software
enCodePlus is a unique, web-based technology platform delivering a full suite of planning, zoning and municipal code tools and features, together with full or hybrid code management services. Created by the planning experts at Kendig Keast Collaborative, the platform serves planners and zoning administrators, clerks, attorneys, managers, economic developers, and consultant partners. The cutting-edge software streamlines the rejuvenation of the format and usefulness of plans, studies, codes and ordinances, design guidelines, standards and specifications and the processes to create and publish them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below, we’ve compiled answers to the most common inquiries to assist you in making informed decisions about accesibility.
Isn’t enCodePlus designed for large cities and complex projects?
While enCodePlus includes advanced features that serve large cities well, it’s intentionally built to scale. For smaller communities, the platform offers a streamlined approach that focuses on clarity, efficiency, and accessibility—without requiring the use of more advanced tools. Cities like Basehor, KS; Elk Horn, IA; and Peshtigo, WI successfully use enCodePlus for straightforward ordinance management.
What are the main advantages of moving away from PDFs for a small community?
PDFs are static, difficult to search, and not mobile-friendly, which limits public access and creates inefficiencies for staff. enCodePlus offers real-time updates, powerful search functions, and ADA-compliant, mobile-responsive access, making ordinance information easier to find, manage, and share.
How does enCodePlus help future-proof our ordinance management without overwhelming us today?
enCodePlus is modular. You can start with core functionality—clean, accessible ordinances and efficient update management. Over time, if your needs grow, features like GIS integration and interactive tools are available. You only adopt what makes sense for your community.