News OnTheWight will be unavailable on Wednesday this week (23rd August).
We usually do what we can to make sure it’s always online, but the work we need to do gives us no option but to make the site unavailable for a while. Quite how long, we’re not sure, but be assured it will be as quickly as we can do it.
By the end of the upgrade we should have a new look to the Website – one we’ve been working on for a while, that we hope will make reading the news an improved experience for you all.
What to expect
The site should generally be running faster than the current version and should feel lighter and easier to read.
At the bottom of each article we’ll be drawing your attention to similar content that you might be interested in and sharing more articles from our archive of 47,000+ published news stories.
Enhanced commenting system
We know how much readers love to comment and read other people’s comments – in fact, News OnTheWight is just short of reaching 200,000 published comments.
You’ll find features on the new site that readers have been asking for – such as an enhanced commenting system where you can vote comments up or down. Within a time limit, you’ll be able to go back to your comment to make edits – a useful feature if you notice a typo after hitting the submit button.
Your views matter
Once the new site is up, we’ll be making a form available so you can provide your feedback. We’ve been living with the current design for ten years, so you all know your way around it, but the site has become slow, outdated and difficult to use.
News OnTheWight will be celebrating its 18th birthday next month and the team hope to bring more advances in the coming weeks: Ensuring you continue to have access to trusted news without distraction.
Thanks in advance for your patience on Wednesday.
Image: markus spiske under CC BY 2.0
