Welcome to the new New Glarus 360 website.

This launch has been more than two months in the making and represents a major milestone in a project that is still less than five months old. In that short span of time, New Glarus 360 has published more than 500 articles, added over 3,800 followers on Facebook, and reached more than 4.8 million views. That includes nearly 400,000 engagements in the form of reactions, comments, clicks, shares and saves.

For a community of this size, those numbers are extraordinary.

From the beginning, the belief was simple: New Glarus needed consistent, local, timely community-focused news. The response from readers has confirmed that belief, while also making it clear there was more work to do.

Communities everywhere today are fragmented. Gone are the days when a single newspaper could reach nearly everyone through one platform. Boomers, Gen X, Millennials and Zoomers all gather information from different places and through different tools. That fragmentation has made it harder for neighbors to stay informed, harder for institutions to be understood and, at times, harder for a community to feel connected.

This is where the website comes in.

The New Glarus 360 website is designed to reach readers beyond Facebook and to serve as a central home for local news. Stories published on the site can be shared across multiple platforms, while email newsletters such as weekly roundups, weekend “what to do” guides and alumni updates will help residents and alumni stay informed about what is happening and when it is happening.

The website also improves how the news itself is produced. Formatting and publishing stories on Facebook alone is time-consuming and can lead to errors. Searching for past stories there is also a pain. The platform powering this site was built by journalists, for journalists, and allows for better writing, editing and proofreading. Over the past month and a half, stories have been published simultaneously to Facebook and the website behind the scenes, not only to learn the system but to ensure that when readers arrived, there was already a meaningful archive in place.

Not everything is finished though. At launch, stories from December through today are available on the site. Articles dating back to Sept. 1, 2025, will be imported over the next two months, and additional features will be turned on gradually as the site continues to grow.

As part of that growth, New Glarus 360 will begin monetizing the website through subscriptions and advertising. This is not about taking something away from readers. It is about adding value and ensuring local journalism in New Glarus has a stable future.

There will be a price point for everyone, and everything on the site will remain free until after the spring elections. When subscriptions begin, readers will be able to try the full experience for 14 days without obligation. Even then, headlines, featured photos and the opening paragraphs of stories will remain accessible to all readers. Announcements, the calendar, classifieds, all newsletters, the marketplace and public notices will continue to be open to everyone, as will stories involving public safety. Those stories will always be free.

New Glarus 360 takes this mission seriously. An application has been submitted to join the Wisconsin Newspaper Association (WNA), and additional resources will be added over time to ensure this outlet is here for the long haul.

One more thing. The New Glarus 360 Facebook Groups page is not going away. Facebook will continue to play an important role in sharing stories, photos and community conversation. Over time, the relationship between Facebook and the website will become clearer, with each platform supporting the other.

In the days ahead, New Glarus 360 will spend more time explaining what has been built, what features are still coming and how readers can make the most of them. This is just the beginning. The goal remains the same as it was on day one: to inform, connect and serve the New Glarus community with care, accuracy and commitment. We hope you enjoy the ride.

– Explore the new website, sign up for newsletters, and follow along as New Glarus 360 continues to grow with the community.