As those who have heard me speak publicly about what I do at The Charlotte Observer know, I defer all editorial discussion to our newsroom — in this case, the editor of thatsracin.com, Bob Henry. He will have his own notes about the journalistic mission/direction for the product.

This post is about the total product, more from a high-level perspective… some of it is how we present our content, some of it is advertising-related, but mostly the notes are how what we’re doing should help our users consume more of what we create.

In short, this post is the public version of our release notes for thatsracin.com, version 3.0.

Below you’ll find high-level screenshots and details on the biggest changes. I also should state more changes are coming; in more of the spirit of this relatively new division, we normally believe in more frequent, smaller releases but have had to do many big releases in the last year to get us to this point. One such example of change upcoming: we had a last-minute hiccup that prevents us from displaying recent forum topics on the home page. That’s coming as soon as we can do it safely.

We also have direction coming directly from users that may or may affect the “news well” on the home page… we will, as we hope to do across all products, give our readers what they’re asking for as best we can. Please continue to give us feedback!

Now, on to those changes…

Overall Changes

• Much more interactivity. Comments, for example, are now active on all stories. No more reaching only into the forum for discussions about articles. Recommend an article in one click to other users. Add details to your persona.
• Integration between forum and comment usernames and your site username. No more multiple logins.
• A new, cleaner palette and layout. The pages are longer to give the content room to breathe.
• Better access to galleries and videos.
• No more content pop-ups. If you want to see videos or photos, we give them to you in line with the page.

An Updated Home Page

Version 2.0 [former] Home Page (clicking opens large image):

Version 3.0 [new] Home Page (clicking opens large image):

Some of the Changes

• No more tabs! We heard you loud and clear.
• More information out front. Again, a user-focused change.
• News-like presentation. Our newsroom wanted more ability to surface what was previously behind the tabs. We want to update this in the future with larger image possibilities, too.
• A media bar. This is taken from our work on charlotteobserver.com, which allows readers to see the latest multimedia elements in a scrolling presentation.
• Easy access to your account, which is also persona-based. Customize your image and participate around the site!
• Better content search. The directories are gone, perhaps temporarily, but the content search is more relevant.
• Stats on the home page. You asked for it, you got it.
• Weather and info regarding the next NASCAR racetrack.

Updated Slideshows

Version 2.0 [former] Slideshows (clicking opens large image):

Version 3.0 [new] Slideshows (clicking opens large image):

Some of the Changes

• No more pop-ups.
• Much faster loading times. Try the next/prev buttons…
• Larger numbers of images and galleries.
• Links to other galleries much more easily accessible.

Updated Article Pages

Version 2.0 [former] Article Page (clicking opens large image):

Version 3.0 [new] Article Page (clicking opens large image):

Some of the Changes

• Comments and recommendations.
• In-line slideshows that link to larger ones, where applicable.
• Better sharing tools.
• Easier-to-read text.

Updated Video Pages

Version 2.0 [former] Video Pages (clicking opens large image):

Version 3.0 [new] Video Pages (clicking opens large image):

Some of the Changes

• No more pop-ups.
• Larger no. of videos.
• Links to other videos much more easily accessible.

Updated Track Pages

Version 2.0 [former] Slideshows (clicking opens large image):

Version 3.0 [new] Slideshows (clicking opens large image):

Some of the Changes

• Better graphics and presentation.
• Comment and make recommendations on your favorite tracks.

Miscellaneous

• New blogger page that aggregates all writers.
• New e-mail to a friend feature.
• More… just look around.

Please feel free to leave us comments here, on the site, or e-mail us.

Thanks for reading.
-Jason