2012.02.26
Welcome to RefreshRT
Hello world! The Roanoke Times is launching this blog because we are undergoing exciting changes and we want to share them with you and invite you to share your thoughts about them.
One of the biggest projects we’re undertaking this year is the redesign of The Roanoke Times’ website, roanoke.com. This is more than a makeover of the site – this is like a tear-down and rebuild – from changing our internal process of how stories populate both the website and the newspaper to how you can share stories and photos.
We want you to be a part of the redesign. Tell us what you like about roanoke.com and what features from other websites that you’d like us to research and possibly incorporate.
Beyond the redesign, we are also rolling out other digital products to better deliver news and information on various devices – whether it’s on your mobile phone or tablet.
In fact, we have recently launched two new products to our print subscribers – The Roanoke eTimes and Print Replica iPad app. These products are exact copies of our printed newspaper but accessible from any computer or iPad. Right now, these products are available to those who subscribe to The Roanoke Times at no additional cost. Learn more here. In the coming weeks, we will offer digital subscriptions to those who prefer to access the newspaper digitally. Sign up here to be notified when they are available. If you can’t wait, subscribe to the print edition and get immediate access to these new products.
These two products are just a sampling of what is ahead. Check back with this blog often, as many teams at The Roanoke Times are creating new products or tweaking our current ones. We will also be tweeting, so follow us on Twitter at @RefreshRT. We look forward to hearing from you.
I would really like to see more applicable film reviews. I believe you just import stock reviews from Zap2It. It seems detached and not specific for the area. Films like “Joyful Noise” and “Country Strong” maybe generally disliked by critics, but are pretty apropos to audiences in this area. Not to mention, those reviews only highlight the mainstream films that will show primarily at the Regal or Carmike theatre. We are fortunate to have two wonderful local theatres that offer artistic and foreign films that don’t get quite as much accessibility as the main fare, and I worry people miss out on some truly magnificent cinematic experiences. I mention this because I do feel it is a need and not at all because I think I’m uniquely qualified to write those reviews and would totally do so for free!
Comment by Adam Minor — February 27, 2012 @ 11:49 am
Adam,
This is Courtney, responding for the RefreshRT team. Thanks for being the first to post!
How about I add reader-submitted movie reviews to the list we are compiling?
Let us know if you think of anything else.
Comment by Courtney Cutright — February 27, 2012 @ 12:19 pm
You should include a feature like the AJC.com’s the Vent.
Comment by Catherine Carter — February 27, 2012 @ 12:19 pm
Way fewer buttons please. The site is far too confusion, the type is too small, and it is generally unorganized. I like it, but would use it more if it were easier to use.
Comment by Mack — February 27, 2012 @ 12:31 pm
Thanks, Catherine, for the idea about a place to for reader comments.
Here’s a link to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s The Vent: http://projects.ajc.com/vent/metro/
I especially like the “unvent” feature.
Comment by Courtney Cutright — February 27, 2012 @ 12:31 pm
We definitely want our site to be user-friendly. Thanks, Mack!
Comment by Courtney Cutright — February 27, 2012 @ 12:36 pm
My husband is a big twitter guy and gets annoyed that we have no simple way of tweeting an article. Also, I attempted to use the email this story form this weekend on my ipad and it never sent the link, but kept reloading the form I had filled out when I hit submit. Please get rid of the sharing features no one uses, and make twitter, google+ and email easier to share to.
Comment by Alison O — February 27, 2012 @ 2:12 pm
I would like to see a blog on downtown living in Roanoke. I think the general public would be interested to see a perspective on housing, food and entertainment from someone that actually lives downtown.
Comment by Greg — February 27, 2012 @ 2:27 pm
Any chance of having the on-line subscriptions available through Amazon for viewing on the Kindle? The Virginian-Pilot has that currently.
Comment by Ed Rooney — February 27, 2012 @ 2:28 pm
Hi again from RefreshRT team member Courtney.
Alison, I just checked out the e-mail share tool on the iPad app and it seems to be working today. If you keep having that problem, please report it to customer@roanoke.com. That’s a cool feature I didn’t even realize the app had.
Great blog idea. Thanks, Greg!
Ed, I checked with editor Carole Tarrant. She said we have explored the Kindle option but we don’t have plans to offer it at this time.
Comment by Courtney Cutright — February 27, 2012 @ 2:49 pm
I think some type of forum to discuss the issues of our community would be good too. I know that could be a lot of work as it requires moderators and such, but it would be a good chance for people to debate the issues!
Comment by Adam — February 27, 2012 @ 2:51 pm
Thanks Courtney, I wasn’t on the ipad app, I was on a breaking News story, on my safari browser on the ipad, on the full-site, not mobile of roanoke.com. No worries, I have the IT department looking into it since I work here too! Thanks
Comment by Alison O — February 27, 2012 @ 4:46 pm
Some comments…one…I am a long time follower/commenter on Kevin’s weather blog…the “downtime” is ridiculous for a serious news source…I hope desperately that you are upgrading your servers/service as a priority within the upgrade.
Second, I would like it if you had a Facebook side…look at http://www.facebook.com/insidenova for a great example of how relevant you could become.
Remember there are Android users out here too!
My mother was a newpaperwoman…I wished she would have lived to see this evolve…she would have had a blast!
Comment by Betsy — February 27, 2012 @ 5:33 pm
Betsy, we appreciate your comments. The Roanoke Times | roanoke.com does have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/roanoketimes. Please “like” us!
Comment by Courtney Cutright — February 27, 2012 @ 5:38 pm
You need comments and you need to encourage them. Reader response is a big part of a decent website. You can be like the NYT and not have comments for every article, but they need to be there most of the time.
Right now your comment system seems to be the same set of about half a dozen anonymous cranks on Dan Casey’s blog, and the weather geeks on Kevin Myatt’s blog. The universe is too small
Anonymity leads to incivility (and often worse things), and comment approval that is time consuming for editor and writer. The best way to get around this is facebook comments.
From the standpoint of web design, the best newspaper site I have ever seen is the Boston Globe. Load that up, grab a corner of your browser and resize it. Amazing– no more need for a “mobile” site.
Thanks for listening.
Comment by Mark Cathey — February 28, 2012 @ 10:15 am
Please make your columns narrower. New York Times has a column width of about 580 pixels, yours is about 700. the ideal width of a column of text is 66 characters (counting spaces) – your column is about 100 characters. This is especially odd considering that the newspaper industry is the bastion of skinny little columns of text, but on your website your text is down right too wide to read easily. And I’m a relatively young reader, I imagine many cantankerous old fogies aren’t reading my disparaging comment about them because they are frustrated with how hard it is to read the stories online, even though they might not be aware that typography is the cause. New web design tools are giving us so much more valuable control over typography online. Please work this into your redesign.
Comment by William Alexander — February 28, 2012 @ 11:38 am
Here’s a great link you might find valuable:
http://webtypography.net/Rhythm_and_Proportion/Horizontal_Motion/2.1.2/
Comment by William Alexander — February 28, 2012 @ 11:39 am
This is Kathy Lu, responding for the RefreshRT team.
Thanks Mark and William for your comments and links. BTW, here is the link to the Globe’s site: http://bostonglobe.com/
Mark: The commenting feature is one we’ll be talking about more in the future. So stay tuned.
Betsy: Could you explain “downtime” a little more?
Comment by Kathy Lu — February 28, 2012 @ 12:49 pm
What I don’t like: repetition of stories on main “Headlines” page and “Other News” page; sometimes “Other News” link doesn’t work and shunts me to “unknown site”–why isn’t there a preogram for this? Some political news I think is important is taken from feeds and is inadequate in explanation, especially considering that many readers get their information from the Times and local news programs that seem to take their news from the same source! What I like: Dan Smith’s columns–a breath of fresh air!
Comment by Betsy Day — February 28, 2012 @ 1:32 pm
The calendar/event search is terrible. The date range never works when doing a search
Comment by anon — February 28, 2012 @ 1:34 pm
The mobile site won’t allow you to look at much – access stories other than those considered “most read” – I like when mobile sites also have an option to go to “full site”
Comment by Natasha — February 28, 2012 @ 1:48 pm
Natasha,
This is Kyle Draper for the Refresh RT team, and thanks for your comment. I totally agree with the “full site” option. When we initially launched our latest rendition of the mobile site, we offered this option. However, there was a glitch that trapped the reader in a loop when he/she tried to choose that option. Since we couldn’t fix this glitch, we removed the option. I’m sure this is something that will be considered as we move forward. Thanks again for the comment.
Comment by kyledraper — February 28, 2012 @ 2:00 pm
Ihate that there’s not a link on The Burgs to return to the roanoke.com home page. Or maybe there is one and I can’t find it.
Comment by Pearl — February 28, 2012 @ 2:12 pm
Karenna here from the Refresh RT team. Yes, we know searching for events with our calendar is often frustrating, but we are soon launching a new calendar that should make it much easier to find events around town. Look for it soon. We’ll post on the blog when it’s live. Thanks for your feedback.
Comment by karennag — February 28, 2012 @ 2:13 pm
Also, that’s true what Alison O. said about Twitter.
Comment by Pearl — February 28, 2012 @ 2:13 pm
@Pearl, this is Kathy again.
There is a link to roanoke.com at the top right-hand corner of The Burgs page. It’s in small gray font, above the search box.
Hope this helps!
Comment by Kathy Lu — February 28, 2012 @ 2:22 pm
Please, I don’t have any suggestions to improve the site, but I am pleased to hear this site will be redesigned…whatever is done will likely be an improvement. I am not trying to be the typical internet troll, but I read about 5 or 6 “paper’s” online each day, and the Roanoke Times’ site is by far the worst designed and navigable site out there…hands down. I’m looking forward to the new site!
Comment by will — February 28, 2012 @ 3:13 pm
Hopefully the redesign will take into account performance as well as style and features. The current site is, by far, the slowest loading and most unreliable, of any website I visit.
Comment by M — February 28, 2012 @ 3:48 pm
Will — This is Karenna from the Refresh RT team. Thanks for your comment. Tell us more about what other newspaper sites you check out and which have great navigation. That’s part of our process here — to better understand what other sites are doing well and what features we can incorporate into roanoke.com. Please share your favorite sites and tell us why you like them.
Comment by karennag — February 28, 2012 @ 3:57 pm
Please don’t get rid of the daily puzzles!
Comment by Brian — February 28, 2012 @ 4:23 pm
I check your site daily. Have to – I have family in Roanoke. Like the site but it loads too slowly. You need either more bandwidth or a possible re-engineered site to accommodate speed. BTW – I am on the web all day, use multiple sites so speed issue is not at my end.
Comment by Robert — February 28, 2012 @ 4:35 pm
One thing I like about the current design is the ease of access to the Events Calendar. Other newspaper sites I’ve seen force you to search through menus or site maps to find it; yours is right there at the top of the main page.
Comment by Mark — February 28, 2012 @ 4:35 pm
I actually like the fact that there aren’t a bunch of inflammatory comments at the bottom of every story. The news should stand as it does without a bunch of comments for people to spout their various fervor.
If people have comments about stories or want to post spam or just troll in general, there are forums for that out there. I think it detracts from major new sites.
Comment by Jesse — February 28, 2012 @ 4:55 pm
Get rid of links that were posted far too long ago, and duplicate links on your news and sports. I have seen the same link three times on the same page. Worst designed website I have ever seen.
Comment by Ron — February 28, 2012 @ 5:07 pm
Hi, Ron. This is Courtney from the RefreshRT blog. Can you explain to me more about these links or post a URL as an example?
Comment by Courtney Cutright — February 28, 2012 @ 5:13 pm
The best page on the current website is the opinion page. I love that there is a way to post your own views on the day’s published editorials. The point/counter point is also a great addition.
One of the worst pages is the political page. I love the blue ridge blog, but the political page itself is very outdated. There are headlines that have been on the page since summer (ie: the congressional news section).
Comment by A Beasley — February 28, 2012 @ 5:50 pm
It would be great that the website start out with the front page of todays newspaper. A replica of newspaper as the home page. You click on the article and it takes you to the story. The bottom of the website should have big arrows to turn the page. I realize that the website can get slow with so many changes so perhaps just add articles in the form of a newspaper would be cool. Add RSS feeds, a live twitter feed of tweets in the area, BIG buttons that stand out to link the story to social networks.
Comment by Mike — February 28, 2012 @ 8:56 pm
Robert, this is Karenna from the RefreshRT team. Thanks for your comment; it’s good to hear that roanoke.com keeps you connected to the area. As for bandwidth, that is a part of the redesign. We will be rebuilding the site infrastructure, and we are making investments in both hardware, software and additional bandwidth. There should be a noticeable improvement in performance with the new site.
Comment by karennag — February 29, 2012 @ 9:40 am
[...] As we go, we hope you’ll continue to provide feedback – a conversation we began a year ago on the RefreshRT blog. [...]
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