(Even) more Qs & A's on the revamped latimes.com

Between comments published on the initial and follow-up posts on this journal about the redesign, and e-mails sent to the readers’ representative office, almost 900 notes have come to praise or heckle the revamped latimes.com, some three-quarters of those responding saying they like the changes.

Meredith Artley, Managing Editor, Online, addressed several often-asked questions last Thursday. Two of those questions have persisted: Why did the “print edition” option disappear, and “where is California news?” More information on those and other questions readers have asked over the last few days is below.

• Where is California news?
That question comes in still, even after Artley answered Thursday to say that “by clicking ‘Local’ in the navigation bar ... you will find continuous coverage there, including our breaking news blog, LA Now, other daily coverage and recent special projects.”

Reader Wayne Dernetz is one who probed more: “But that says nothing about coverage of state political news. Is the L.A. Times cutting back on its Sacramento Bureau?  Egads, I hope not.”  The response from Assistant Managing Editor, California, David Lauter: “You can reassure readers on the state news issue, and particularly the reader who asked about Sacramento: The Times recently added another reporter to our Sacramento bureau, and we have plans to expand the bureau further in the fall as we continue to ensure that we provide our readers -- in print and online -- with the best, timeliest and most authoritative coverage of California government and politics. We've grouped all that coverage as part of "local" because California's local and state institutions are so intertwined.”

• Add more space to the left margin!
Editors say they’ll be adding more space to the left margin.

• Bring back the single-page button.
Readers have asked, editors have answered: The option to read a story on one page is coming back as soon as possible.

• I don’t like having to resize the font every time I change pages.
A number of readers have made this clear; editors are working on possible solutions.

• I’m having trouble finding one place to go to find out what’s in the print edition. Did that link disappear?

The “print edition” option as it existed doesn’t exist anymore, and editors aren’t planning on bringing it back. As online editors put it, it was a form of organizing the news -- by print section -- that doesn’t work as well online.

As the information at www.latimes.com/printedition explains, almost all articles from the print edition of the Los Angeles Times do appear at latimes.com. Subscribers to the print edition are able to sign up for the e-edition for free. (And in any case, the front-page PDF is free, at the link above). You can find more information about the e-edition at http://eedition.latimes.com/newsstand/main.

• Two Sports questions

Please provide a link for major-league soccer.

OK, readers asking for a link to MLS didn't always say "please."

Sports Editor Mike James says that even before the redesign, there wasn’t a separate MLS listing for Sports. Says James: “We have a listing for the Galaxy, one for Chivas USA, and one for Soccer. All of which go to the soccer page, which incorporates those teams, MLS news and international soccer news.”

James says that editors are working on the horizontal navigation bar at the top of the page; space limitations mean editors are juggling what ultimately will end up there. For now, the link to soccer is located in the More Topics box in the right-hand column beneath the scoreboard and ad.

Where is the daily TV sports schedule?
It's been fixed since the question first came in. From Sports editors: “The TV Listing, or daily highlights as we call it, is now in the More Topics box in the right rail, below the Scoreboard and Cube Ad."

• Where can I find Column One?
To get to Column One, click on "Site Map" at the bottom of the homepage. You’ll find the link for Column One in the left column of the Site Map page. Here is a quick link: http://www.latimes.com/news/columnone/
 
• The “My News” feature – where did it go?
It was, relatively speaking, very rarely used, and has been discontinued. (Editors weren’t keeping it updated recently and actually were surprised to hear from a few readers on this feature.)

• Where can I find Fry’s, or garage sales, or other newspaper ads?
Display ads can be found in the print ad section, which is accessible from the site map (a link to which can be found lower right on the homepage,  just above the ink splotch):

http://latimes.p2ionline.com/shoppingchannel/rop/

To search for classified ads (garage sales, pets, etc.), readers should click on “More Classified” at the very top right.  That gets them to the classified search page.

Comments

[Ken Munroe]

The one thing that bugged me about the old version and continues with this version is that the reader must scroll down through an article to find the caption for the photo that appears at the top of the article. Call me old fashioned, but it should be photo, caption under the photo, headline, and then story. Going back and forth to find what I'm looking for within the same photo/story combination is annoying.

[S GALLEGOS]

i will appreciate if editors consider putting colors to headlines(articles titles) everything it's black and white. i think if you add some color it will be more readable and our eyes will see better. to be honest my eyes hurt a little bit. to much with. I'm staring to like the new format of the web page and getting used to it. i also wrote for soccer, galaxy, chivas links. if i didn't say please for the request i'm sorry. can you please considered. also i like the column one section i know it's in the site map. but can you please, be easy on me and others to find it. a link will be easy. i don't want to scroll all the way down to search what i want at the site map link. thank you for considering all our suggestions and i look forward in continuing seeing more improvement on the site. and adding colors to headlines (news articles titles) Thank you for everything and all my request. good luck editors. and thanks again.

[Jim Romenesko]

>> RE INDEX OF STORIES ON ONE PAGE. YOU WRITE: it was a form of organizing the news -- by print section -- that doesn’t work as well online.

You are 100% wrong. The old "Print Edition" was the best way to check LATimes.com . You made a big mistake by eliminating it.

[Linda P.]

The old aesthetic was more more L.A. and less "blog" in Georgia (or similar) font. Why spend all the money to redesign now when you could have tried out new biz models, kept some staff, etc.?

[RB]

Let's say I go out of town for a week and am away from a computer. Previously, when I returned home, I could log on and read each day's worth of LA Times articles from the previous week I missed. Under the print edition option, the articles were organized by newspaper section by date for the previous 7 or 8 days.

How can I do that now? Simple step-by-step instructions would be appreciated.

[Meryl Hyman Harris]

On the obits page, the photo on the top left appears to go with the story on the top right. If you read that story before you scroll down the page, it's a shock to discover you were looking at the wrong person.

I used to love this site. Now I find it unattractive and a chore. I can't tell what you consider the top news of the day, and I can't scan to get a sense of what happened overnight. Is it really time to throw all we've learned about newspaper design out the window? Your old site made the most of print and Web.

[Tassilo]

I find it really hard to focus on the new website. All of the articles are like a big jumble, all over the page. It is just less well-organized and less clearly presented than the former website. I don't have ADD, but I feel like I'm immediately in a firestorm of ADD confusion every time I'm on the new site.

[Uh, Hello...]

I am pleased with the redesign, as are most respondents, when I am reading your site at work or at home on a desktop computer.

However, I frequently also check the news on my iPhone. The redesign has TOTALLY slowed down the load time, and not to mention it is now much more difficult to navigate on a smaller screen. I'm assuming that in the age of smart phones dominating our lives, SOMEONE there is working on the companion mobile application for this site?!? I mean, one only has to look at Time magazine or CNN's mobile addresses to see great examples of how it's done. Even TMZ adjusted their website presentation for my phone!

Please, please fix this immediately. It's an embarrasment for such a large newspaper to not be on top of this. Keep up the good work!

[Alexander Slade]

This redesign has made the web version of the times completely illegible and unusable. Is it some ploy to get me to go out and buy the paper? That is what I did yesterday. If there were another newspaper in town I would have just switched. Most of the comments I read about this were in this vein yet the blog says most of them were positive. Let me be unambiguous about it; I HATE THE NEW WEBSITE!

[Amy]

I like it!

Amy