At The Globe and Mail, we know that words matter. Now, our stories are being read on multiple platforms: Print, mobile, web, rss feeds and on custom applications. In the past decade, our digital platforms have given us more ways to tell stories, including video, images and other interactive formats. But what doesn't change that you still read text. Over the coming days, we're rolling out new story pages that celebrate text for the digital age. In this space, we'll explain why and what the changes mean for you.
We wanted to provide a way for our stories to be read with fewer interruptions while keeping the right amount of choices for the busy, scanning reader. Our current story pages have horizontal lines, art and other promotional links that - while brightening the page - can distract readers from reading to the end of a story. Our stories also get sent out to other technology platforms, some of which require us to keep the text 'clean' to ensure easy reading.
That said, we like to think of our new story pages as a front door into more than just a text experience. Our redesigned story page provides a better chance for you to discover related video, photos, polls and interactive graphics.
As part of our new story pages, we are also introducing new photo galleries, video pages and new ways for us to present infographics and other web-embedded content. You'll start to see them on the site as you browse daily.
Top of the story
We know that when you click on a story - from our home page, or from a link that's being shared, or from a feed - you want to get right into the meat of the story, so we've moved the top paragraph higher so you can see it on screen. When we do have a great photo, we'll show it in a larger slot.
Related to this story
We're simplifying what we call 'related' links. In the past, you may have clicked on a business story on the dollar and found other stories about currency or economy all over the page. It can be a disorientating experience. So we have placed other stories and rich media right inside the story area. So expect to find links to other stories about the same news event, with perhaps a selection of picture galleries, video, polls and charts.
- Story links will appear typically after the second paragraph.
- Rich-media links (like photo galleries, videos, polls) will appear on the left side.
Look right
We are also going to use the right side of our story pages more effectively to give you access to the best of The Globe and Mail's articles from around the site.
Today's Must Reads is a constantly changing lineup of stories selected by our editors. They can range from the best from other sections or just the best stories that don't qualify as 'breaking news'.
More from The Globe and Mail is another selection of stories from still more areas of globeandmail.com. As you might already know, our site covers a wide array of topics and content: In this area you can expect to see special programming that changes throughout the day.
Most popular stories remains the most read stories on the site or section you are visiting. This is a popular feature currently found on our home page that we know our users read daily to keep up with the ever-changing content on our site. (See screenshot example below, or look to the right of this post)
What about comments? Look below.
We're proud to introduce the new version of commenting on our site with our new story pages. To view comments or contribute yours, click on the 'Comments' button at the top of the story or at the bottom, where you'll get a linkable page of comments.
At the bottom of every story, you're given few choices before you move on to another page. Where possible, you'll find even more related to the stories in links below the text.
And you'll see a double-bar of items that give you a quick glance of the top stories across our site sections, not to mention our best photo and videos.
We welcome your comments and feedback, feel free to leave them in the comments below.