The website – www.carletonplace.ca - was developed by locally-based Tomahawk Technologies Inc. and first went live in the fall of 2004. Since that time, it has become the place to go for anyone looking for town events and activities, as well as for general information on the community or local government.

Originally the site was launched with a number of dynamic elements, according to Tomahawk’s VP, Business Operation, Michael Freeman. One of these components was the event calendars which allowed users to post events that were going on in the community. The site administrator had the ability to edit these postings and publish them on the site.  Document management was also possible, allowing the site administrator to post PDF documents of town meetings, bylaws, etc. The administrator also had the ability to decide under which category these documents should be posted on the site.

Freeman notes that previously the site administrator was able to manage the content of the site’s homepage as well as the first page of each section of the site. Users of the site were able to upload pictures of an event or scenic photography and the administrator was able to view or edit the photographs before they were made live on the site.

“The rest of the site was static, meaning they (town) provided the content and we (Tomahawk) put it up on the site. What this meant was every time content changed, they (town) would have to contact us to have it updated,” Freeman explains.

But, all this has changed thanks to the new upgrades to the Town of Carleton Place website.

“The administrator is now able to add pages to each of the five main sections as well as edit all the existing pages. They (town) have total control over every word on the website now,” Freeman states. “They no longer need to contact us to update or add to their content. This cuts down on real-time delays for updates as well as overall costs for them (town).”

Another new feature for the town’s website is the e-postcards on the photo album portion of the site. Users are now able to send an electronic postcard of any photograph in the town’s photo album. These new upgrades as well as the existing functionality make the town’s site a fully dynamic site with a secured administration suite.

The upgrades to the website have been welcome by Town of Carleton Place staff who work with the site. While CAO Paul Knowles is the key individual when it comes to changes or decisions regarding the website, Rebecca Taylor, the town’s GIS/Planning Technician and Economic Promotions Coordinator Manda Blakeley, are two individuals who do most of the site management.

“It is certainly a lot handier for us now that we have the capability to update the site,” Knowles states.

He adds there are “a few little things” the town would like to add to its site and now that it has the capability to control the site, making changes is much more realistic and convenient.

“It’s working very well for us,” Taylor says of the website upgrades. “If we want to fix errors or update pages, we can do it instantly.”

Tomahawk Technologies Inc. is a privately held and profitable high-tech firm that creates advanced web solutions for companies across North America and is active in local events, charities and organizations. ParkAdmin, a web-enabled solution for administrators of parking and security management, was created by Tomahawk in 2001 specifically for a local university and is now installed in campuses across North America.
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For more information on the Town of Carleton Place website, visit www.carletonplace.ca or contact CAO Paul Knowles at 257-6207 or Rebecca Taylor/Manda Blakeley at 257-3822.

For more information on Tomahawk Technologies Inc. contact:
Michael Freeman
VP, Business Operations
1-613-257-4141, ext. 268
or at michael.freeman@tomahawk.ca
or visit the website at www.tomahawk.ca