Ledger’s Web Site to Offer More on Tuesday
By Kyle Kennedy, The Ledger, Lakeland, Fla.
Sep. 4–LAKELAND — The Ledger’s online readers will see a number of changes and improvements when the newspaper’s redesigned Web site launches Tuesday afternoon at www.theledger.com.
The site is being revamped with a focus on navigability, multimedia content and constantly updated news and blogs.
“We’re highlighting multimedia and interactive content that supplements what you read in the print edition in the morning,” said Barry Friedman, The Ledger’s director of online operations. “A lot of our reporting is done in blogs, video, photo galleries and audio slideshows, so a lot of that content will be readily available and easy to find on the new site.”
On the new site, news categories will be arranged horizontally across the top of the page, and readers can easily find more specific content by placing the mouse cursor over each link.
Mousing over “Sports,” for instance, will reveal links to preps, college and NFL coverage, among other options.
A condensed section of regularly updated daily news and sports stories appears at the top of the home page — just above the latest posts from Ledger reporter blogs and Polk Voice, which features reader-generated content.
The Ledger’s latest multimedia packages will be grouped together and displayed higher on the home page, as will photo collections from staff photographers and those submitted by readers.
In addition, a “My Ledger” feature will allow readers to customize content that appears on the home page.
Individual news sections will highlight local columnists as well as multimedia packages specific to each section.
Within each article, readers will have access to a number of tools that will allow them to enlarge the text, discuss the article in a forum (if a discussion has already been started, the number of current posts will be displayed), or share the article on social media sites like Digg and Del.icio.us.
A multimedia player displaying recent Ledger videos also will be available within individual article pages.
Ledger Publisher Jerome Ferson said the new site represents the company’s ongoing efforts to further complement its print coverage.
“The forthcoming iteration of theledger.com represents our desire to present information in ways current with the rapidly developing tastes of our consumers,” he said. “Together, The Ledger and theledger.com comprise the most comprehensive source for timely, in-depth information relevant to Polk County residents.”
Overall, the redesigned site will better organize content and features, improving the experience for online readers, said Skip Perez, The Ledger’s executive editor.
“Almost every day, we are discovering new and better ways to strengthen our Web site as the first choice for readers looking for the best coverage of Polk County news, both in words and visually,” he said. “These changes will make it even easier for our readers to get information they’ve come to rely on.”
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Ledger, Lakeland, Fla.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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