We were poised and ready. Months of planning. Preparing. Struggling with delays, I was more than ready to finally put our web site out there for the world to see. Spending more than a few hours with my last minute tweaks and corrections, I was feeling good.
Ready to push the button, doing my final round of checks, I notice something odd with the Agenda Center. It's not working. My heart sinks a bit, knowing we can't launch until whatever anomaly is causing the issue is ferreted out and fixed. Yet another delay.
Cut to this weekend. Problem solved. Poised and ready! Everything is a go! Friday afternoon I close my eyes, cross my fingers, say a quick prayer, and hold my breath. I virtually press the red, shiny, candy-like button that initiates the transition.
It appears to go smoothly, and it is not long before the new site appears. I exhale. Excited, until I note one minor problem.
The missing SSL Certificate.
The temporary security we had planned on during the transition was set up months ago, because the permanent security won't be ready for a few days. Of course, no one considered the 90 day life span of the temporary certificate as the expiration quietly passed at the beginning of the month.
Now instead of our fresh, new web presence, users are greeted with the antiseptic browser security warning page, sending out alarms that our site could potentially and possibly be hacked and / or compromised, to be avoided at all costs.
OR
If you are brave and willing and figure out the cryptic meaning of advanced, you can actually click it, unhiding the next series of warnings, noting that even the link to proceed is pretexted with (unsafe).
Most don't even notice the advanced button, much less consider clicking it. Which means... our site is down. What was to be the first glorious day... a day of celebration... now met with an angry white warning page. And disappointment.
Thankfully, CIvicPlus, the company that created and hosts the program that makes the magic happen, were able to revive the temporary security, and by Monday afternoon, all was well again.
Technology. it's really a love / hate relationship. Even with all the challenges, I wouldn't want to be doing anything else.
So with that... welcome to the new web site!! Finally.
Tim Millard is the Director of IT for the Town of Poughkeepsie.