Lincolnshire County Council is offering free web development and content management services to its 460 local parish councils.
Lincolnshire is offering software, professional website design and technical training to any of the parish councils in the area - with no setup or ongoing maintenance costs, according to head of web and information services Peter Barton.
The content management system is being provided by Abacus e-Media's Webstructure system, which the county council has used for several years.
While the sites will have similar formats, each parish will be offered a choice of colours, templates, sections and navigation to allow them to keep a personalised feel.
Despite many of the users having few technical skills, parish council members will be trained to update the sites themselves. So far, after about an hour of training, parish council members have been able to use the Webstructure system for basic publishing like adding text, sending email alerts and inserting images.
"Everyone we have trained, without exception, has been amazed by the clarity of the software and delighted by the ease with which they can use it," Barton said in a statement.
Maria Brown of Scotter Parish Council said she is now able to update her council's new site without needing to ask for help. "I am a natural luddite when it comes to websites and was initially concerned that I would find the management and upkeep of the site very difficult. Quite the reverse," she said.
Prior to the launch, just 20 parishes in the county had their own websites. So far, 17 have gone live while another 55 are in development.
