Moving to a new municipal website without losing documents and meeting archives

A municipal website migration should preserve the content residents need, the relationships between records and useful routes from old links. Inventory documents and meeting archives before the move, map changed addresses and verify the new website before retiring the old arrangement.

A redesigned homepage can look complete while an older packet is missing. Make archive coverage part of acceptance, with staff who know the records checking the result.

What should be inventoried before the move?

List pages, documents and meeting collections, including files that are linked only from older pages. Record the public body's name, meeting dates and document types where those details organize the archive.

Identify external services separately. A payment portal or hosted application may stay where it is while the website link changes. Confirm who controls the domain, website export and connected accounts through the authorized organizational process.

Keep a copy of the inventory and available exports in the organization's approved storage. Ask the new provider to identify missing access or unsupported exports early, while there is time to resolve them.

What happens to old website links?

Map old addresses to the most relevant new destinations. Where a page or document moves, use an appropriate permanent redirect when possible. Do not send every old link to the homepage and expect residents to start their search again.

Google's site-move guidance (opens in a new tab) recommends URL mapping and relevant redirects. The same work helps residents following bookmarks or links in previously published notices.

Keep the domain stable when that fits the project, but do not assume an unchanged domain means every address remains unchanged. A new content system can alter document paths and meeting URLs beneath the same domain name.

How should the archive be checked?

Compare the migrated inventory with the original by board, year and document type. Investigate count differences rather than assuming that matching totals prove every file is correct.

Open records from different periods and test useful retrieval tasks. Find a meeting by date, open its packet and follow the related minutes link. Search for a phrase inside a document known to contain readable text.

The meeting archive guide covers organization, while the PDF search guide explains indexing limitations. A moved file still needs usable labels and appropriate accessibility review.

What belongs in the launch check?

Check representative old links directly. Verify the main public services, staff editing access and the ability to publish a correction. Confirm the process for reporting missing content discovered after launch.

Agree on when the old hosting arrangement can end and who retains the approved exports. Avoid canceling access before the organization has verified the content and any required transition work.

Muniway's website service includes moving content and meeting archives, with domain and content ownership retained by the organization. Discuss the actual collection and access arrangements so the migration plan reflects what needs to move.

A successful transition gives residents a clearer website while preserving the public information they already rely on. The inventory, old-link checks and staff acceptance provide evidence that the move is complete beyond the homepage.