BERNARDSTON — The town launched a new website earlier this month, replacing its 7-year-old site with something fresh.

Lou Bordeaux, who served as town coordinator until his retirement on Nov. 11, said he built the town’s new website after noticing how “tired looking” the old site was.

“It took me a couple of months to get it done,” he said. “If you didn’t know what you were looking for in the past, now it’s much easier to find.”

Back in 2016, Bordeaux helped build the previous site using the content management system Joomla. For the new site, Bordeaux opted to use WordPress instead, which he said offers “better graphics, more graphics” and “is a lot more extensive and adaptable than Joomla.”

The new website is meant to be more user-friendly, Bordeaux said, with fewer links in the top menu that relay users to the pages for different departments, boards and committees. A link to Bernardston-Northfield Community Television’s coverage of government meetings can also be found in the menu section.

On the right side of the main page there are links to emergency services, town bylaws, the Council on Aging, an event calendar and a page detailing Bernardston’s history and characteristics.

“We’re at a point now where websites have become a dynamic ingredient to a town, and because the previous version of the town’s website had kind of a stale look to it, this freshens things up,” Bordeaux said. “It may encourage people to come to the website. There’s still a lot more content that’s going to come on there.”

One example of what’s to come is for each town department to have its own webpage rather than the current layout that only provides the department’s contact details.

Although Bordeaux handed over his town coordinator responsibilities to Karen Kelly, an office assistant who will take on the new role in an interim capacity, Bordeaux said he wants to continue to serve as the town’s web developer.

“I’m excited,” Bordeaux said about the new website. “I was excited to get it delivered to the town. It’s going to continue to improve over time.”

Bernardston’s website can be found at townofbernardston.org.