Lebanon Daily News, June 13

Lebanon Daily News gets newsier looking Web site

By BEN HACKMAN
Staff Writer

Where were you on the morning of Tuesday, June 10, at 11 o'clock?

If you were online, perhaps you noticed that the Lebanon Daily News' Web site, www.LDNews.com, looked nothing like it did moments before.

That's because the site was revamped this week to give Web surfers more news through a more accessible layout.

One major change was that the Web site was widened, explained Keith Hartman, regional interactive technical manager for the York Daily Record/Sunday News. The Lebanon Daily News and the York papers are owned by MediaNews Group Inc.

"We did a little bit of research ... and realized one of the big things LDNews.com was lacking was the size, the width," Hartman said.

LDNews.com previously was 800 pixels wide (a pixel is the basic unit of an image on a screen, arranged in rows of tiny dots). The site now measures 1,024 pixels in width, which allows for larger ads and more enriched content, such as national stories from The Associated Press, news updates and breaking-news videos, Hartman said.

Lebanon Daily News Publisher David L. Smith said LDNews.com launched in 1998 and underwent its last major redesign about four years ago.

"It's really a dramatic change," Smith said of the redesigned site. "I think it's far more readable because of the layout. By making it wider, we can put more columns in the thing. We're getting some really great comments on it so far, and it's only been up for a few days."

Smith noted LDNews.com now has more news from The Associated Press and offers local, state and national news as it breaks.

"If something major happens, it's on our Web site before it ever hits the paper," he said.

And more new features are on the way.

By next week, LDNews.com will offer a health section. The section's content will be generated by TauMed and will feature health-related videos, an area to share comments or experiences about medecine, and community blogs that focus on health issues.

"It will add a lot more enriched content and a forum for discussion about the latest issues dealing with health," Hartman said.

LDNews.com will also offer more games in its entertainment section.

But despite changes to the Web site's form and content, not everything at LDNews.com is new. Readers can still discuss articles using the Topix comment box located at the bottom of each story; check listings for local activities using the Zvents calendar; search real-estate, jobs and classifieds listings; and check weather conditions and forecasts provided by AccuWeather.

Hartman also pointed out that readers can register at LDNews.com to receive text-message news updates on their cell phones.

"It's a newsy looking page now," Smith said. "Before it had all the information, but it really didn't look like a newspaper. Now it's got a newspaper feel ... and it'll keep evolving. We're going to keep on going with it. This is a constant work in progress."

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