Friday, July 27, 2007
Web Notes
A review of The Star’s online layout
First, my sympathies to all of you who connect to our Web page via a dialup modem. I had to use an old, slow modem while checking out the quality of the sand in North Carolina. It took patience.
I didn’t even try the PDF version. I probably should have. But, more on that in a minute.
The computer setup I took with me had about as slow a modem as you can feasibly have in a current Internet connection. It has a 3,600 BOD rate. I know. I could have walked the distance faster, but it was what I had at the time.
I was able to keep tabs on events back here on the Mid-Shore by reading the stories in the Web version. The pictures took a couple of seconds to materialize. I didn’t find the wait to be inconvenient.
Because of my slow connection speed, it took me a couple of days to find we were having problems with the upload of our PDF version. I join you in the frustration when they don’t work. A few behind-the-scenes phone calls and they were working again.
I occasionally get e-mails from people searching for stories on the Web site. Some ask why we don’t run this or that regular feature found in the print paper. Some syndicated columns require a separate Internet contact that we don’t have. Other missing story issues are more puzzling.
I first must say I post almost all the stories that appear in the online version of the paper. That gives me an inside track when seeking out an article. If it isn’t where I know it should be, it is because I put it in the wrong place. When that happens, I refile the story in the appropriate location.
The Web site is not an exact replication of the print paper. It has more generalized sections. Areas that are separate in the print paper may be grouped together online.
Our primary sections consist of News, Opinion, Sports, Obituaries, Life, Community, Weekend, Classifieds, and Business/Real Estate.
News encompasses material from the regional pages of the print paper, groupings of the regional briefs for each day and some stories from the front page that I don’t put on the online version’s home page.
Opinion is the editorial portion of the paper. It includes the editorials, columnists and letters to the editor. Sometimes a guest comment appears in another portion of the print paper. I move it to the opinion area.
Sports includes all local sports, local scoreboard material, sports briefs and columns by our local sports writers.
Obituaries are the daily compilation of the death notices and obituaries that appear in the paper that day.
Life is the section where the front page of the Wednesday and Sunday life sections are placed. It is also the area where engagements, weddings, births and anniversaries are located. Featured columns by noted local writers like Anne Stinson, Janice K. Colvin and yours truly can also be found there.
The community area is for other material in the C-sections and the daily Eastern Shore Today section of the print paper. This is one area where almost all of the stories are open for all to read. A subscription is not required.
Weekend is where the material from our special section “It’s the Weekend” is located. It includes information about local entertainment and events happening on the Mid-Shore.
Classifieds are just that, the daily upload of our classifieds that are also found in the print paper.
Business/Real Estate is where the local business and real estate news can be found.
The entire paper can be found each day in the PDF version available by clicking on the main navigation bar on top of the home page. That is were national, international and state news that was not in the regional area can be found. Since it is a representation of the print paper, it is also where you can find some of those syndicated columns that are not in the web area.
Next week some thoughts on the iPhone now that it has been released.
I would be interested to receive your thoughts on how we have the Web site arranged. What features would you like us to incorporate? As always, you can reach me at rpolk@chespub.com.
I didn’t even try the PDF version. I probably should have. But, more on that in a minute.
The computer setup I took with me had about as slow a modem as you can feasibly have in a current Internet connection. It has a 3,600 BOD rate. I know. I could have walked the distance faster, but it was what I had at the time.
I was able to keep tabs on events back here on the Mid-Shore by reading the stories in the Web version. The pictures took a couple of seconds to materialize. I didn’t find the wait to be inconvenient.
Because of my slow connection speed, it took me a couple of days to find we were having problems with the upload of our PDF version. I join you in the frustration when they don’t work. A few behind-the-scenes phone calls and they were working again.
I occasionally get e-mails from people searching for stories on the Web site. Some ask why we don’t run this or that regular feature found in the print paper. Some syndicated columns require a separate Internet contact that we don’t have. Other missing story issues are more puzzling.
I first must say I post almost all the stories that appear in the online version of the paper. That gives me an inside track when seeking out an article. If it isn’t where I know it should be, it is because I put it in the wrong place. When that happens, I refile the story in the appropriate location.
The Web site is not an exact replication of the print paper. It has more generalized sections. Areas that are separate in the print paper may be grouped together online.
Our primary sections consist of News, Opinion, Sports, Obituaries, Life, Community, Weekend, Classifieds, and Business/Real Estate.
News encompasses material from the regional pages of the print paper, groupings of the regional briefs for each day and some stories from the front page that I don’t put on the online version’s home page.
Opinion is the editorial portion of the paper. It includes the editorials, columnists and letters to the editor. Sometimes a guest comment appears in another portion of the print paper. I move it to the opinion area.
Sports includes all local sports, local scoreboard material, sports briefs and columns by our local sports writers.
Obituaries are the daily compilation of the death notices and obituaries that appear in the paper that day.
Life is the section where the front page of the Wednesday and Sunday life sections are placed. It is also the area where engagements, weddings, births and anniversaries are located. Featured columns by noted local writers like Anne Stinson, Janice K. Colvin and yours truly can also be found there.
The community area is for other material in the C-sections and the daily Eastern Shore Today section of the print paper. This is one area where almost all of the stories are open for all to read. A subscription is not required.
Weekend is where the material from our special section “It’s the Weekend” is located. It includes information about local entertainment and events happening on the Mid-Shore.
Classifieds are just that, the daily upload of our classifieds that are also found in the print paper.
Business/Real Estate is where the local business and real estate news can be found.
The entire paper can be found each day in the PDF version available by clicking on the main navigation bar on top of the home page. That is were national, international and state news that was not in the regional area can be found. Since it is a representation of the print paper, it is also where you can find some of those syndicated columns that are not in the web area.
Next week some thoughts on the iPhone now that it has been released.
I would be interested to receive your thoughts on how we have the Web site arranged. What features would you like us to incorporate? As always, you can reach me at rpolk@chespub.com.
# posted by Richard Polk @ 9:26 AM 
