Parish council website guide
Getting your council online shouldn’t feel like hard work—HugoFox keeps everything simple, secure and cost-free. This guide walks you through building, launching and running a professional parish-council website, plus the tools that keep it compliant and community-friendly.
1 Create your HugoFox account
Click Build your website in the top-right corner of hugofox.com to open the Create account form. Choose Parish Council as your account type, add your email address and a strong password, then tick the box to accept the terms and conditions.
HugoFox emails you a single-use Activate account button—click it and you’ll receive a second confirmation email letting you know your account is ready to use.
2 Complete your profile and branding
Fill in your council’s name, location and full postal address, along with a contact name, phone number(s) and email address. If you already own a domain, enter it now so we can connect it for you.
Add a logo and header image to give your site instant personality; placeholders sit in until you upload your own graphics.
Tip: Square images (at least 500 × 500 px) work best for logos, while header images look sharp at 1500 × 400 px.
Lastly, tick the marketing-emails box if you’d like handy tips and service offers from HugoFox.
3 Request your free .gov.uk domain and optional emails
HugoFox is fully certified with Nominet, the Government Digital Service (GDS) and Cyber Essentials, and is even recommended by the GDS - click this link to see the official guidance.
What you get for free
A .gov.uk domain included in every HugoFox subscription—purchase, setup, compliance and renewal all covered.
Optional .gov.uk emails
After your domain is issued, you can order between 1 and 25 .gov.uk email accounts in My account › Payment. Each mailbox has 15 GB storage and 24/7 support.
Important: Emails are billed separately - current pricing is shown in the .gov.uk emails article.
How to apply for the domain
The clerk completes a quick online form - click this link - and the whole process takes under five minutes. Domains arrive in 3–6 weeks from the GDS. For full details see the .gov.uk domains article.
4 Build and manage pages
Your first task is the Homepage. Type a welcome message, then add content blocks such as text, images, maps or document downloads. The built-in editor makes creating sub-pages, uploading documents and posting news, events, jobs and offers a matter of clicks.
You can log in any time to refresh content or add new sections—changes are instant and unlimited, so your website always reflects current council business.
5 Set up payment and launch
Every new site starts with a 30-day free trial. Within that period choose a plan and payment method—monthly card, monthly Direct Debit or annual Direct Debit.
Note: The Direct Debit flow supports two authorised signatories, meeting standard parish-council finance rules.
When you’re happy with the site (and your .gov.uk domain is ready), open the Website page, click Activate website and confirm. Your site goes live straight away and the public URL begins working within minutes.
6 Manage documents the smart way
Upload Agendas, Minutes, finance reports and policies as accessible PDFs. Use the Attach content block to keep sensitive files in the members’ area so only logged-in users can view them.
Note: The members’ area is optional and available only on Silver and Gold parish-council packages.
Give files clear names—e.g. Minutes-2025-06-12.pdf—so visitors can tell what they’re opening.
Archive older documents to an Archive sub-page, keeping current records front and centre.
Delegate updates by adding colleagues as Content editors and ticking the pages they may manage [Users & roles guide].
7 Publish news and events
Open Dashboard › News and choose Add news to share announcements, consultations or council decisions. Keep titles punchy, text concise and include keywords to boost search visibility.
For meetings and community activities go to Dashboard › Events and select Add event. Events remove themselves once the date passes, keeping pages tidy; recurring meetings are a breeze with the Clone button. Always double-check times, locations and contact details before publishing.
8 Stay compliant and accessible
HugoFox’s platform automatically meets the latest UK web-accessibility and .gov.uk standards, but you’re responsible for the content you upload. Follow our accessibility article for guidance on alt text, readable PDFs and plain-language copy. Avoid publishing personal data in documents or news posts, and keep your privacy notice current. For guidance on creating an accessibility statement see our accessibility statement article.
Important: While HugoFox provides an automated cookie banner and opt-in email alerts, ultimate GDPR responsibility rests with the council.
9 Use the planning tracker
Available on Silver and Gold packages, the Planning tracker pulls live planning-application data for your parish. Enter a postcode, set a time range and filter results by the colour-coded status:
Orange – Pending consideration
Green – Application granted
Red – Application refused
Purple – Application withdrawn
Blue – Application appealed
Each entry links to maps, key dates and outcome updates—no manual data entry needed.
Conclusion
Building a parish-council website with HugoFox is a straightforward process that puts everything—from compliance to community engagement—at your fingertips.
Need a hand? Our support team is here 24/7:
Email us at team@hugofox.com
Use the contact page
Silver or Gold customer? Call us on 01635 888 442