After nearly a year in development, Alachua County Today is launching a new online edition.The new AlachuaCountyToday.com has a sleeker and more interactive design, said Alachua County Today Managing Editor Bryan Boukari. It’s easier to navigate and packed with features.
Alachua County Today was one of the first newspapers in the region to publish on the Web when it launched the original site in 2003. Now, the site is getting a facelift.
“The new site is not just about a sleeker look, it’s about creating an online community that allows our visitors to interact,” Boukari said.
New Features
New features will make that online community a possibility, Boukari said. These features include a more open and immediate discussion section, a fuller more functional community events calendar and citizen blogs.
Unlike the old discussion system, the new site allows reader comments to show up immediately, giving contributors an opportunity to more effectively discuss articles and issues of the day.
The site is also taking advantage of social media like Twitter and Facebook. Boukari said he plans to use the sites to cross-promote and conduct contests where readers can win prizes.
“The new features are exciting, but it’s up to the readers to make the online community a reality,” Boukari said.
The site isn’t a replacement for the paper edition. Rather, it serves as a complement, Boukari said. The print edition still offers a broad array of stories for a diverse audience, but the online edition offers features the print edition can’t, such as videos, photo galleries, an up-to-the-minute headline ticker, stocks, weather, interactive content and breaking news.
Navigation
Navigating the site is straightforward. At the top of the screen are tabs for the various sections: front page, news, crime, voices and opinions, life and style, and classifieds.
Boukari said the site has all the same news as the old one but in a way that is more efficiently organized.
“Our goal is to create a user-friendly site with enough value to keep you coming back,” Boukari said.
The latest news is displayed just below the section tabs. Below the latest news, readers can browse through the different sections. Users can move the sections up or down depending on what order they prefer.
On the right side, the site has the sections for videos and photos. Just below those sections are tabs for readers to jump straight to the most read or most recent stories.
Boukari said he encourages readers of the print edition to give the new site a test drive and send him any feedback they have at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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