MONROE - Beginning today, visitors to The Monroe Times' Web site, www.themonroetimes.com, have much more to look at - and participate in.
The Monroe Times' online product has been redesigned and features a new look and a number of new features. It is the culmination of more than a year of planning and preparation.
"This is an extremely exciting time for The Monroe Times," General Manager Carl Hearing said. "We are introducing a product online that will involve members of our community in ways they could not have been involved before."
"The really intriguing thing," Editor Jeff Rogers said, "is that while the new site is an extreme improvement over our previous Web site, there's much more we plan to add in the very near future."
The new Web site includes most of the news and sports stories featured in the daily Monroe Times newspaper, but includes a number of new features not previously available. They include:
Searchable Archives
"One of the most common complaints we received about our old Web site was that there were no archived stories," Rogers said. "Stories just basically disappeared after three days."
Now, Times stories will remain on live pages for seven days, then become available through an archives search on the site. All archived stories are accessible free of charge.
Rogers noted that it will, however, be a number of weeks before story files from the past few years are available through Web archives. The uploading of thousands of stories from recent years will begin soon after today's live launch.
"Once we have all of our past articles loaded into the system, we will, of course, let our readers and Web users know about it," Rogers said.
Photo Galleries
Certain news, sports and feature events that are photographed by Monroe Times staffers will be included in the Web site's new "Photo Gallery." This will give users the opportunities to see photographs that were not published in the Times newspaper.
Times Blogs
Three new Web logs, or "blogs" have been set up by Times staffers.
One, called "From the Editor's Desk," will be a daily conversation between Editor Jeff Rogers and readers about procedures and decisions in the Times newsroom.
Another, called "Sports Talk" will include thoughts on local, state and national sports by Times Sports Editor Christopher Heimerman and Sports Writer John McNally.
A third, called "Mixed Media," will be a discussion about a variety of media - from books to movies to music - from a number of Times staffers.
Because they are blogs, readers will have the opportunity to participate in the discussion.
Reader Comments
At the bottom of most Times stories, Web users will have the ability to post their comments about the issue or event that is written about. Visitors also will be able to read the comments of others, as well as e-mail stories to a friend or print a hard copy.
Updated and
Breaking News
The new Times Web site will take advantage of the medium's immediacy by posting breaking news and sports stories as they happen and by updating previous stories with current developments.
Reader Polls
Visitors to www.themonroetimes.com will have the opportunity to weigh in on weekly news and sports polls. The news poll is located on the home page, while the sports poll is located on the Local Sports home page. Updated results can be found online immediately, and final tallies will be published in The Monroe Times.
This week's news poll asks visitors what kind of impact they think a Wal-Mart Supercenter and a Menards megastore will have on Monroe's economy. The sports questions asks visitors whether they think the Green Bay Packers will win the NFL Super Bowl.
News Forums
A Guestbook feature on the new Web site allows readers to answer news questions posed by The Monroe Times. The current News Forum question is "Should sidewalk repairs in Monroe be paid for by city government or by property owners?"
Online Order Forms
The new Web site also has forms for readers to order reprints of Times photographs and to order a subscription to the daily newspaper.
And Much More To Come
In the coming months, there are plans to add to the Monroe Times Web site:
• The ability for citizens to create their own blogs and post to the Times site.
• Photo slideshows
• Podcasts
• Video news reports
• E-mail news alerts
• Interactive community calendars
• Updated school closings and event cancellations
• Reader contests and competitions.
"I do think it's important for Web visitors to know that themonroetimes.com is a work on progress," Rogers said. "There is so much more to the site than there was a day ago, but there will be so much more a year from now."
The Monroe Times' online product has been redesigned and features a new look and a number of new features. It is the culmination of more than a year of planning and preparation.
"This is an extremely exciting time for The Monroe Times," General Manager Carl Hearing said. "We are introducing a product online that will involve members of our community in ways they could not have been involved before."
"The really intriguing thing," Editor Jeff Rogers said, "is that while the new site is an extreme improvement over our previous Web site, there's much more we plan to add in the very near future."
The new Web site includes most of the news and sports stories featured in the daily Monroe Times newspaper, but includes a number of new features not previously available. They include:
Searchable Archives
"One of the most common complaints we received about our old Web site was that there were no archived stories," Rogers said. "Stories just basically disappeared after three days."
Now, Times stories will remain on live pages for seven days, then become available through an archives search on the site. All archived stories are accessible free of charge.
Rogers noted that it will, however, be a number of weeks before story files from the past few years are available through Web archives. The uploading of thousands of stories from recent years will begin soon after today's live launch.
"Once we have all of our past articles loaded into the system, we will, of course, let our readers and Web users know about it," Rogers said.
Photo Galleries
Certain news, sports and feature events that are photographed by Monroe Times staffers will be included in the Web site's new "Photo Gallery." This will give users the opportunities to see photographs that were not published in the Times newspaper.
Times Blogs
Three new Web logs, or "blogs" have been set up by Times staffers.
One, called "From the Editor's Desk," will be a daily conversation between Editor Jeff Rogers and readers about procedures and decisions in the Times newsroom.
Another, called "Sports Talk" will include thoughts on local, state and national sports by Times Sports Editor Christopher Heimerman and Sports Writer John McNally.
A third, called "Mixed Media," will be a discussion about a variety of media - from books to movies to music - from a number of Times staffers.
Because they are blogs, readers will have the opportunity to participate in the discussion.
Reader Comments
At the bottom of most Times stories, Web users will have the ability to post their comments about the issue or event that is written about. Visitors also will be able to read the comments of others, as well as e-mail stories to a friend or print a hard copy.
Updated and
Breaking News
The new Times Web site will take advantage of the medium's immediacy by posting breaking news and sports stories as they happen and by updating previous stories with current developments.
Reader Polls
Visitors to www.themonroetimes.com will have the opportunity to weigh in on weekly news and sports polls. The news poll is located on the home page, while the sports poll is located on the Local Sports home page. Updated results can be found online immediately, and final tallies will be published in The Monroe Times.
This week's news poll asks visitors what kind of impact they think a Wal-Mart Supercenter and a Menards megastore will have on Monroe's economy. The sports questions asks visitors whether they think the Green Bay Packers will win the NFL Super Bowl.
News Forums
A Guestbook feature on the new Web site allows readers to answer news questions posed by The Monroe Times. The current News Forum question is "Should sidewalk repairs in Monroe be paid for by city government or by property owners?"
Online Order Forms
The new Web site also has forms for readers to order reprints of Times photographs and to order a subscription to the daily newspaper.
And Much More To Come
In the coming months, there are plans to add to the Monroe Times Web site:
• The ability for citizens to create their own blogs and post to the Times site.
• Photo slideshows
• Podcasts
• Video news reports
• E-mail news alerts
• Interactive community calendars
• Updated school closings and event cancellations
• Reader contests and competitions.
"I do think it's important for Web visitors to know that themonroetimes.com is a work on progress," Rogers said. "There is so much more to the site than there was a day ago, but there will be so much more a year from now."