Readers respond in favor of new Dailypilot.com

TONY DODERO

We pulled it off. After a long grueling Monday night that crept into

the early hours of Tuesday morning, our new Web editor Paul Anderson

and a team of us completed the new website launch for Dailypilot.com.

That means our news content is now off the old latimes.com webpage

and has moved onto our own individual site.

Anderson has worked hard since to refine the page more and more,

and the reader feedback has been great, with lots of helpful tips.

To date, we are still working out some of the bugs and procedures

with posting photos and advertisements. But this is a good start, and

readers should look for more bells and whistles to come down the

road.

The following are some of the e-mails I received, with answers to

a few of the questions posed.

* “Just looking at the new website for the Daily Pilot. It looks

good! More news than ever before allowed on the L.A. Times site. One

thing missing, or at least I can’t locate it -- a way to get to the

columnists as the Times site had. No button to click on.

“Tell your new webmaster, GOOD JOB.”

That e-mail was from Tuesday, but we now have a columnist button,

and we will refine that with photos and a collection of writing by

columnists such as Joe Bell, Steve Smith, Humberto Caspa, Peter

Buffa, Greer Wylder, Mike Whitehead, B.W. Cook and all the rest in

the near future.

* “Like the new look! I’m sure I’ll be able to navigate through

this site easily once I get used to it. One thing I miss, though, is

the direct link to the columnists who write for the Pilot. I liked

the old method of being able to go to a ‘columnists’ link, then

select from the menu to read the last month’s worth of columns. How

do I find them now?

“Also, how long do you plan to keep commentaries, letters to the

editor, etc. in the active archive? Does the Opinion link replace the

old Forum link? Will we find all commentaries, editorials and letters

at this spot? Will we be able to see any of the wonderful photographs

from the Daily Pilot staff? I’m looking forward to this new, clean

page very much. Keep up the good work.”

The answer to the column button is the same as above, of course,

and I’ll work on getting at least a month’s worth on the site. The

other hope is that we can develop an archive of all stories and

photos for readers in the future.

Yes, Opinion is the new link for Forum and the thinking there from

the Web gurus we consulted was that Opinion is a more familiar title

for commentaries and letters than Forum, when it comes to online

readers.

As for photos, we will continue to work on the photo displays,

which are a bit harder than posting stories, and down the road, look

for a photo gallery of work by our staff of talented shutterbugs.

* “Congratulations on the new website. For several years, I have

visited the Daily Pilot link under the Los Angeles Times website, but

having the new address and attendant new look gives the Daily Pilot

the look and feel of the ‘hometown’ paper that it is.

“As a Newport Beach resident of nearly 35 years, I have watched

the Pilot morph from the regional paper that it was, to the Times

insert that it is today. Despite the changes, however, I identify

with the paper as my link with the local events that are of interest

to me and that affect my life more closely than the Times. While I

think the Los Angeles Times is one of the great newspapers of our

nation, the Pilot meets my needs as an ‘on-site’ chronicler of the

news of Newport Beach and Costa Mesa.

“While on vacation or just out of town for a few days, I rely on

the online edition to keep me informed about the events back home.

Such contact gives me a measure of comfort and a feeling of being

kept in the information loop. Keep up the good work.

“P.S. I suggest adding a search feature on the Pilot page so that

current or archived news can be easily found.”

We’re working on the Search button, so look for that soon.

* “I have nothing but praise for you and your team as a result of

the new web site format of the Daily Pilot. I have been reading the

Pilot online every morning, for many years. Now, I really have a lot

to read.

“I no longer live in the Newport Beach area but like keeping track

of everything. It is such a simple read. I also like to read the

other independent publications online. Now that, too, is simple and

pleasing. Thank you very much for this tremendous improvement. It was

much overdue, as you all recognized. “

And here’s another:

* “When out of town, I’ve always gone to the Daily Pilot via the

internet. I had read your article awhile back of the change coming to

this site. Well, I’ve opened it for the first time and what a change!

It is close to being better than the paper itself. Congratulations to

all of those involved for a job well done!”

Thanks for all the constructive criticisms and suggestions. We’ll

keep working to make the site better. Keep those ideas coming.

*

How many of you out there knew that the 605 Freeway is really the

San Gabriel River Freeway? Or that the 57 is really the Orange

Freeway?

Chances are, most commuters know the freeways around here by their

numbers, not their names.

But for the longest time, we followed Associated Press style,

which called for us to use the name of the freeway, not the number.

We’ve decided to change that, and from now on, readers will see

freeway numbers also. For example, see Costa Mesa (55) Freeway on the

first reference to it in a story and just the 55 Freeway thereafter.

Hope that change makes things more helpful.

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts.