New site features multimedia and interactivity
Editor's Note: Thanks to everyone who has shared their feedback. We hope to quickly resolve issues related to finding stories from the archive, links from the old site, and the Associated Press wire feeds.
(Jan. 10, 2008) Welcome to the Las Vegas Sun’s new Web site.
After months of planning and building, we recently moved into our new online digs.
But just as when you move into a new building, home or apartment, you find a few problems here and there. For example, a faucet is broken, a door doesn’t shut right or a light switch won’t turn on.
So if you find a few glitches in our first few days of operation, let us know and we’ll fix them as soon as possible. We’re in the midst of significant renovations and hope your feedback will help the site evolve quickly.
We’re still going to bring you the same top quality news and analysis you’ve come to expect from our print publication, only more of it. Here’s a quick rundown of what you’ll find:
Constant updates. You’ll want to bookmark this site and come back several times a day. Sun writers will provide online-only breaking news in blogs ranging from politics, gaming and crime to culture and motor sports. We’ll also have big breaking news stories, photos and video when events call on us to tell a major story quickly online. Subscribe to our RSS feeds and you’ll get all the news as we post it, plus all of our stories, multimedia, blogs and reader comments. Sign up for our calendar using standard iCal and you’ll never miss a Las Vegas-based event.
Wonderful widgets. We’ve created state-of-the-art visual storytelling widgets. These tools let us bring you HD video interviews and mini-documentaries, high-resolution photo/audio slideshows, 360-degree audio/visual panoramas and interactive Flash graphics. And you’ll be able to watch our multimedia in full-screen on your computer, iPod or mobile phone — or show it off on the big screen in your living room. It’s your choice.
Interactivity. We want to hear from you. You’ll be able to start or join a conversation by commenting on our stories, blogs and other multimedia elements. Soon we will have live online chats with newsmakers. We’ll also be creating interactive polls and interactive games. And we’re giving you the opportunity to share your own photos and video clips with us and other readers.
Here’s a closer look at our site:
Home Page
Design. The first thing you’ll notice is the layout — our new site grew about 30 percent wider to take advantage of higher definition screens. Pages are designed to help you easily and quickly find what you need. Headlines, stories and visuals exist in a clear hierarchy to guide you through the news.
Easy navigation. Across the top of our front page, you’ll see an animated Vegas weather feature (Watch for the planes!) and a search tool. Directly below the nameplate, you’ll see our main sections for News, A&E, Opinion, Multimedia, Guides, Blogs, Topics and Politics. Click to find the stories and features you want.
Multimedia. Sometimes text isn’t enough. We’re committed to bringing you stories in HD video, high-resolution photo slideshows, 360-degree panoramas and other cutting-edge formats. When viewing video, click the menu to download the piece to your desktop, iPod, iTunes, to an RSS feed, Apple TV or share the URL with others. You can also expand the viewer to full-screen mode. Allow plenty of time to browse. This stuff is cool, and we’re eager to bring you more.
Additional Features. Our Elsewhere blog, compiled by our editors, gives you a digest of stories from other publications we think our readers will find relevant. And the Associated Press News Feed, a must have option for true news junkies, is still easy-to-find on our home page.
More source material. We’ll include documents gathered by our reporters, such as press releases, legislative bills, letters, memos, etc.
Links. We’ll connect you to previous Sun stories or blogs or to links from outside sources, such as government sites, candidate Web pages or other media sites.
Article tools. You can post comments at the bottom of any story, or join in on a conversation already there. And you’ll be able to print, e-mail or share the story via social networking sites such as Facebook, Del.icio.us and digg. And, of course, there are direct links to contact Sun staffers.
Sun Topics. We see these as section pages on steroids. At the top of every Sun Topic page, you’ll find introductory information that will give you a quick snapshot of a specific issue, person or organization. On each page, we’ve aggregated the must-read information on each topic.
We’re starting with the following Sun Topic pages:
Indentured Doctors — See our ongoing series of how foreign physicians are being used by their local sponsors.
Real Estate — Keep up on the latest news — including the subprime mortgage crisis and impending foreclosures— in one of the fastest growing cities in the country.
Yucca Mountain — One of the hottest subjects in Nevada politics is whether the federal government will build a repository for radioactive nuclear waste at Yucca, which is about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
Harry Reid — Information about Nevada’s senior U.S. Senator and his role as Senate Majority Leader.
— Dave Toplikar, New Media Managing Editor
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