Town website redesign

Every time it came up newest first

1. Wed, Sep 23 · Municipal Technology Committee

   Municipal IT operations and website upgrade update

   The town technology staff reported that a townwide phone system upgrade kicked off and will take a couple of months to complete. The town is also upgrading outdated firewalls using Fortigate equipment. Ongoing issues with conference room meeting systems freezing during hybrid Select Board and Community Preservation Committee meetings are under investigation. Contract and module discussions for the town website upgrade with CivicPlus are expected to begin around November with implementation aimed for early 2027.

   • Townwide phone system upgrade kicked off with completion expected over the next two months.
   • Firewalls are being upgraded to Fortigates, taking advantage of trade-in discounts over Cisco alternatives.
   • System freeze issues during Zoom meetings in town meeting rooms are being investigated with vendor support.
   • Discussions with CivicPlus for website module options and renewals are slated to begin in November.

   Outcome: Discussion only; updates will continue at future meetings.

   Watch at 0:50 · See the whole meeting

2. Tue, Jul 28 · Municipal Technology Committee

   Town website redesign and municipal communications strategy

   Members examined the need for dedicated communications expertise to guide the planned overhaul of the municipal website. Discussion addressed using web analytics to understand resident user journeys and participating in a regional public engagement study grant.

   • Insights from a Massachusetts Municipal Association webinar highlighted that successful municipal website redesigns require dedicated communications staff alongside technical staff.
   • The town currently lacks a designated communications officer to manage outward content and ensure message consistency across departments.
   • The committee plans to examine CivicPlus Google Analytics to track user journeys across town web properties.
   • Southborough is participating with three neighboring towns in a state-funded MetroWest Regional Collaborative engagement study on citizen communication.

   Outcome: The chair will contact the assistant town administrator regarding the regional engagement study and review available web analytics.

   Watch at 30:00 · See the whole meeting

3. Mon, Jun 22 · Municipal Technology Committee

   Town website refresh and site consolidation

   The committee reviewed website feedback and prepared for an upcoming website redesign with vendor CivicPlus. Members discussed consolidating standalone departmental websites back into the main municipal platform.

   • A regular three-year website redesign and refresh cycle with CivicPlus is scheduled to begin in October 2026.
   • Select Board member Andrew Dennington is participating in website goal-setting.
   • The Senior Center website is being migrated into CivicPlus after its independent webmaster retired.
   • The committee will explore whether the Recreation Department's third-party software (MyRec) can eventually be integrated or compared with CivicPlus recreation modules.

   Outcome: Town IT staff will hold a kickoff meeting with CivicPlus in October 2026.

   Watch at 19:00 · See the whole meeting

4. Mon, May 11 · Municipal Technology Committee

   Town website feedback and analytics

   The committee noted that no resident feedback submissions on town services have been received through the website pop-up widget since March. Members discussed investigating landing page analytics and SurveyMonkey settings to ensure the widget is appearing properly to visitors.

   • No resident service feedback received through the website prompt since March.
   • Members questioned whether cookies prevent repeat pop-ups or if internal pages display the prompt.
   • The chair agreed to check if landing page impressions can be recorded.

   Outcome: The chair will investigate tracking stats for survey impressions.

   Watch at 1:41 · See the whole meeting