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Alton to replace town website; migration planned by year's end with staff training
Summary
Town IT contractor Josh demonstrated a redesigned town website to the Selectmen Nov. 25; the board gave consensus to proceed, migration downtime was estimated at 15'30 minutes (DNS changes up to 24'48 hours), and department-head training will be provided.
Josh (S5) presented a redesigned Alton town website he built as a replacement for the 2014 site, describing a modernized back end and a plan to migrate content and add incremental updates over time. He said he built the original site in 2014 and that the new site offers a more organized, user-friendly structure.
On technical timing, Josh said DNS adjustments can sometimes take 24 to 48 hours but that the cutover itself is usually quick and that downtime is typically about "15 to 30 minutes." Board members asked whether a shadow version could run during the switch; Josh said migration is generally a cutover between versions but that he would coordinate timing and provide a banner warning before shut-down. Selectmen asked for a banner or warning period of a week or two before the change and Josh agreed to provide those notifications.
Shea (S4) asked that the new site list all boards and commissions and include, in parentheses after each member name, the year that the individual's term ends. Laura (S6) asked whether Josh would train department heads to update content; Josh said he plans to meet with each department to provide a how-to lesson on the site's back end.
The board expressed unanimous support for proceeding; Heath (S3) and Chair (S1) signaled informal approval and the project will move forward on board consensus rather than a recorded roll-call vote. Josh proposed an open time frame to complete migration by the end of the year and agreed to give advance notice before the switch.
