Over the next month or so, we intend to make a major change to the web. While 99% will be “under the hood” and thus not visible to readers, the 1% that is visible is how folks will see and use the web site so it is not a small thing to pick the right “look and feel” for Talk of the Sound.
We use software called Drupal to present the site to readers, we are currently using version 6.
When we last made this sort of change about 3 years ago we heard some grumbling and thought this time we would invite readers to make suggestions.
The main motivation is that by upgrading from the current system based on Drupal 6 to Drupal 7 I can add a “mobile-responsive” theme. You may not have heard this term in this context but you likely know that when you visit some web sites on your smartphone or tablet that it renders differently than the regular web site so that it is easier to read.
Talk of the Sound’s mobile traffic was about 10% in 2011; that figure has now skyrocketed to more like 60%. Folks want to access Talk of the Sound on their phones and we aim to give them a better reading experience.
I am currently considering two “mobile-responsive” Drupal 7 themes:
Pressblog
http://demo.morethanthemes.com/pressblog/default/
Newsplus
http://demo.morethanthemes.com/newsplus/default/
You are welcome to poke around other web sites that offer these sorts of themes and recommend alternatives if you like — here are some Google search results for Drupal 7 Mobile-Responsive Themes for you to consider as well.
While the current theme suited our purposes at the time it was installed, we have fairly well stretched it to the limits of what it can do. This is evident because we have ads sticking out the side of the right column and all the text link on the home page (really a way to allow readers on smart phones to skim down the list of links). This all got a bit patchwork over time and we aim to tear down the site and build it back up from scratch (of course, all the exisitng content will remain on the site but be presented better).
Some things that we have considered in choosing a new theme.
1. We want to make more use of photos and so ruled out themes that did not feature photos, and looked for themes that made good use of them to tell a story and draw attention to stories using appropriate visual cues.
2. We want to leverage the categorization of stories we do on every story so that readers can access articles of primary interest — sports, politics, weather, business, etc.
3. We want to give comments more prominence, especially to drive readers attention to stories that are generating buzz on the site. The site is called “Talk” of the Sound for a reason.
4. We wanted a clean look and one that would support the placement of advertisements including “native ads” or sponsored content so we can generate revenue to support the site.
5. Achieve better integration with Twitter. While we are aware the most readers are more likely to use Facebook there are many limitation to Facebook (especially that it is a walled garden that wants everything to occur within Facebook) whereas Twitter is ideal for news-gathering by readers. We have already had folks becoming contributors to Talk of the Sound via Twitter and we want more of that, especially photos from events, breaking news or to show problems especially quality of life issues.
We are open to suggestions on things you would like to see more of or less in terms of presentation. If you have ideas on content we will take those too but that is not the focus of our current efforts. If you want get more involved in helping us gather news, especially mobile-phone images and video, or to become a contributor or commenter, let us know (robertcox@talkofthesound.com)