I would like to begin by sincerely thanking our online newspaper’s readers for enduring a very difficult rollout of our updated version last week.
I apologize for the awkward start, and I want you to know that your grievances were taken seriously. Additionally, we ought to have done a better job of informing readers ahead of time about the changes that would be occurring as well as how they would be handled.
Let me start by reminding you of our three main offerings: OregonLive, the website, and the print and online versions of the Oregonian newspaper.
The first two have sections and pages, just like a regular newspaper. Access to the online newspaper is free for print edition subscribers.
Our online newspaper gained a lot of readers, and they like it.
Our transition to a broadsheet format and the subsequent reorganization or removal of certain puzzles and features made the shift in the online editions even more difficult.
Additionally, let me clarify that readers now reach us via a variety of platforms.
A lot of people use an iPhone or iPad. Some of them use a browser like Safari to read the online newspaper after clicking on the daily email that advertises it.
Our newspaper app has been downloaded by others from Google Play or the App Store for Android smartphones. That offers the greatest reading experience and is by far the recommended path.
However, we are also aware that a large number of our devoted readers click on the email and use a desktop browser, like Chrome, to view it. Many of those people said they had trouble adjusting to the new experience, which began last Tuesday.
You must be fooling me. One frustrated reader exclaimed, “The new format is terrible.” Out of the hundreds of emails we received, the word “horrible” was used in dozens of them.
I’ll go over the main grievances we heard and our plans to address them.
Navigation: The arrows at the bottom of the page caused problems for a lot of browser readers. Readers navigate between pages in this manner. Arrows were placed on the sides of the pages in the previous edition, and such habits are hard to break. (Swiping through pages is still possible for app users.)
Solution: We are collaborating with our provider to make the arrows larger.
Sizing: After clicking into an article, readers prefer larger pages or larger type.
Solution: To switch between single and double page views, browser users simply click on the two-page symbol at the bottom. After that, they can enlarge the page using the slider. After that, the system will always use that page size by default. (Users using the app can still zoom and pinch.)
Additionally, we have requested that our vendor enlarge the type that appears when users tap into the content.
Printing the puzzles: A lot of readers encountered issues printing the Sudoku and crossword problems.
Solution: Readers can choose clip by clicking on the printer button in the lower right corner of the puzzle page. A box with a print button ought to appear when they have cut out or outlined the puzzle they want to print. In order for theoregonian.com to function properly, any popup or ad blockers must be turned off. (As before, app users tap the puzzle, choose Share, and then print.)
Pesky thumbnail: A thumbnail of the page that covered the text prevented some users from reading articles once they clicked on them.
Solution: We are looking into ways to solve this. The problem is that the thumbnail is too big for browser users on smaller screens, like those found on Kindles or iPads, making it difficult to read the content. But we understand your frustration.
Download edition: A lot of readers had developed the practice of saving the complete edition to their device in PDF format for subsequent reading.
Solution: We’re thinking about our choices. We’ll need to check with the vendor who supplies the online newspaper to see whether it’s possible to restore this functionality for readers, as it was obviously significant to some. If you have a strong enough signal when you originally started the app, you should be able to read the edition offline later. However, this does not produce a PDF version.
Regarding the newspaper’s content modifications, the main grievance I’ve heard is that Scrabblegrams have taken the place of the Wonderword puzzle. While there are more puzzles for readers of the online edition overall, Wonderword, Teleword, and a few crosswords have been replaced.
Some readers find it frustrating that the television grid has switched to an online newspaper. Instead of starting at 6 p.m., the grid now starts at 8 p.m. The page’s allusion to Eastern time has left some readers perplexed. To view the Pacific time grid, proceed to the following page. Our developers are attempting to resolve this perplexing problem.
Your subscription money supports vital news, and we appreciate our devoted readers. We expect to have upgrades in place shortly and want this new online newspaper to function for you.
