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Introducing new look, features and pricing for GazetteNET

By JIM FOUDYGazette Publisher

Monday, September 24, 2012
(Published in print: Tuesday, September 25, 2012)

Welcome to the new GazetteNET.com.

The Daily Hampshire Gazette’s online service has a fresh look, new features and services, and more advertising opportunities along with all of our local news, sports and feature content.

It is now available on smartphones, iPads and other tablets. In a few weeks there will be an electronic edition that reproduces the actual pages of the daily paper.

The changes are the result of a new state-of-the-art content management system built by Digital Technology International, a leader in publishing systems. It represents a significant investment in the future of the Gazette and reflects our belief in the importance and value of community journalism in print and online.

With these expanded digital offerings the Gazette will also change its online subscription plan.

For now the new GazetteNET.com is open and free to all visitors.

What’s new

The heart of the site remains our staff-produced local news, sports and feature content, the most complete and in-depth in the region. The new website includes a live-news headline feed pulling in wire service reports and tweets from staff members and trusted sources. There will be more photos posted with every story and more video.

A new online calendar will allow for easy searches for coming events, by community and by subject.

There will be a daily opinion poll, an improved TalkBack section for commenting, photo galleries, and easy access to special sections such as Valley Almanac, Live Well and the Restaurant Guide. The site is built so it will be easy to receive and post photos, video and community news from readers.

The expanded website also creates an exciting new marketplace for our advertisers.

New pricing

The Gazette started charging for online access to local stories in 2004. Today we are changing the pay structure to what is called a metered system, which means that readers who are not subscribers will be asked to register in order to view up to five local stories for free each month. It is a system being adopted by many news organizations.

The home page can still be scanned at no cost, but all local content will require a subscription with the exception of the live-news feed, wire service stories, obituaries, advertising, business directories, calendar listings, community blogs and special sections.

Producing and delivering a daily newspaper that offers news, features, photography and commentary, and also serves as a marketplace for advertisers to reach their customers, requires a trained professional staff and resources. For more than 225 years the Gazette has been central to the life of our communities. Subscriptions help provide the financial support to carry on our work.

All-Access

With the Gazette All-Access plan, print subscribers will continue to enjoy home delivery of their newspapers as well as full access to all of our digital offerings (Web, mobile, e-edition).

Print subscribers pay $3.30 a week for six-day home delivery (compared to a newsstand price of $4.75 a week).

Digital Only

Beginning Oct. 8, online readers who are not print subscribers will be asked to choose one of our Digital Only subscription plans to enjoy unlimited access to online content.

The Digital Only subscription offers GazetteNET.com on the Web, on mobile devices and through an e-edition for the following prices:

$1 for a day pass

$10.99 for four weeks

$65 for 26 weeks

$125 for 52 weeks

Planned change

The newspaper’s new content management system uses cloud computing technology.

This makes it easier to manage, change and update our website and also gives us the ability to publish the newspaper from a remote site in case of power outages or other plant disruptions.

The planning, installation, testing and training for the new system have taken more than a year.

We encourage feedback as we test drive the new website and make adjustments and improvements. Let us know what you think and what you would like to see on GazetteNET.com. Email me at publisher@gazettenet.com.

Tumbullweed8 wrote:
16/10/2012

Do not like new foremat at all. Why have a map of towns and cities and have to click on each to find the news. Liked old set up. It gave the news without having to searching all over for it.
wrote:
11/10/2012

Even change for the better is sometimes difficult to adapt to, so I have refrained from commenting on the new layout in order to give it a chance. Well, having checked in daily since the change, I'm afraid that the best I can say about the new design is that it is an unmitigated disaster. Not only is it clunky and sluggish, but the visual presentation can only be described as utter clutter. It's time for the Gazette staff to face the reality that this experiment is an abysmal failure. And raising the subscription rate by 30% for this train wreck is an absolute deal breaker.
nslator- wrote:
29/09/2012

OK now I'm really mad. Now only one person can be read the paper under my username at a time? If I bought a paper copy I could share it with my family but I can't share my online paper? It was bad enough when you limited searches to only the last two weeks. It's like you're trying to make online subscriptions less and less attractive. Doesn't it save you money when you don't have to print it out and deliver it to me? Why are you treating online subscribers like second-class citizens?
gopher wrote:
28/09/2012

Hate the new layout! Takes much too long to download and is too busy graphically. Wading through a bunch of tweets at the beginning is annoying - I READ a newspaper for complete stories - if I want "sound bite news" I'll turn on the tv. Highly unlikley I'll pay for a subscription to this mess...
nslator- wrote:
27/09/2012

Going to $65 for half a year from $49.99 is a pretty steep hike.
kmal227 wrote:
27/09/2012

I don't like the new layout. It's too loud with too much in one space. What is the reason for posting tweets? Do that many people really care to see them? I would rather see all the local news all on one page and national news on another (or at the bottom of the page)
hampgirl wrote:
26/09/2012

I sort of like the new lay out but do I really need to see who is tweeting what first? The first half is confusing then you see the real news.
hampgirl wrote:
10/10/2012

ok, I changed my mind. I can't stand this new layout. Gives me a fricken headache! Way too busy, can't find anything with all the pop up businesses on here flashing. I have been reading this on line since it started on line and now it's just all over the place. This is as bad as watching the Today show or Good Morning America - feels like commercials are running it. (like the ad in the middle of this article)
mtravis wrote:
24/09/2012

It's good to see the new website up and running.
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