The new edition of The Daily Home’s Web site was launched today and is designed to meet the changing needs of our readers. The old site will remain up for two weeks while the transition is made, and reader comments and suggestions about the new Web site are welcome.
For the next two weeks, the newspaper will have parallel sites — the current site with which users are familiar is at www.dailyhome.com and a beta test site, with the new design, may be found at www.dailyhome.uber.matchbin.net.
“We are putting the test site up to allow readers to give us feedback about the new site so that we can tailor it to fit their needs,” said Editor and Publisher Carol Pappas. “We want to know what you like about it and what you don’t like about it. Give us suggestions. This is your site, and we want to hear from you.”
A feedback section is just a click away, located at the top left of the site.
Among the features of the site are the top three stories of the day, which may be replaced by breaking news as the day and evening progress. “We want to be a 24/7 newspaper online, and we will have regular updates of our news — giving the site a different look and feel throughout the day,” Pappas said.
Other stories and headlines will be available on the site, but for the full newspaper online, readers must use the digital edition, which is the entire newspaper — stories, photos and advertising. “The digital edition, which is a component of our Web site, has already become a popular feature for our readers. Special applications, like an audio version of every story, translating into a foreign language or downloading the paper to a mobile device are only a click away.”
Online only subscriptions are available for the digital edition, and print subscribers already have free access to the digital edition once they register online. Readers can even purchase a paper online for a single day without a subscription, just like they can with the print version.
The new Daily Home beta site has a calendar that allows readers to submit their own events, and there is a special multimedia section for slideshows, videos and magazines produced by the newspaper.
The new site is interactive with readers able to comment on stories and opinion pieces as well as in a newly created forum section for each community we cover. “We want our readers to talk to us and talk to each other about the issues facing these communities, and this is the perfect venue to do just that,” Pappas said.
The Daily Home is also unveiling two new sites designed for area residents. BamaScenes is a hobby photography site for novice and veteran photographers alike who want to network with others who have a similar interest. Photos can be posted there, users can blog about the latest trends in photography and equipment, and it’s a place where hobby photographers can share information.
To view the new site, go to: http://bamascenes.ning.com.
BamaGamers is another local site for video game enthusiasts. It is located at http://bamagamers.ning.com. Whether you own an XBOX 360, PS2 or 3, or a Wii, this is the site where video gamers in East Alabama can meet, form teams for online play, and sound off about their favorite games and consoles.
Both BamaScenes and BamaGamers are free to view and join.
“We are a multimedia company,” Pappas said, “and as such, our mission is to deliver information in a variety of ways to our reading public. Our emphasis has always been centered on local news and information, and we are creating local, interactive communities just like these on our Web sites.
“BamaMoms, one such community created by our company, has just reached a milestone of 1,000 registered members. Our 1,000th member was Melissa Parker from Riverside, and she joins more than 1,000 mothers and grandmothers who use the site to network with one another.”
“More than 20 groups of mothers have been formed on the site, and more than 2,000 photos have been posted by our members,” she said. BamaMoms is a tab on the newspaper site, or you may go directly to: www.bamamoms.com.
The site contains forums, blogs, contests, calendars and bargain information as well as being a resource for mothers.
“All of these features are aimed at keeping pace with technology and delivering our news and information in new and exciting ways,” Pappas said. “We hope you like the changes. Let us know what you think.”
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