New look for the blogs

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Well, if we did our job, you may notice that things look a little different today. In an effort to continue pushing full speed ahead into the blogosphere, we at The Daily Pennsylvanian have just completed the first major overhaul of the DP's blogs since their introduction more than a year ago.

Our blogs have come a long way in only a year. Four blogs are now frequently updated, becoming the DP's major source of original online-only content. But as the blogs have grown, so too has the demand for additional features, creating the need for today's overhaul. Some of the changes are internal, making the site easier to manage and post to. But many, many more of the changes are external, seeking to improve your experience and expand the interactive capabilities of the blogs.

For starters, there has been a subtle reshaping of the blog site's design, as can be seen in the photos above. The blog logo has been merged with the rest of the page, and a number of new features have been added to the site's sidebar. First and foremost, we have added an "About this blog" box to every DP blog. These boxes will help convey the purpose and aim of each blog, which wasn't always clear with the old design. Contact information has also been added, where appropriate, to allow you to communicate better with blog editors.

Other new boxes have been added as well. Some blogs now feature a "Recent comments" box, a common feature on many modern blogs. This will allow runnings conversations, even on old posts, to remain near the top of the page. It will also allow frequent commenters an easier way to view comments. A similar "Recent posts" box has also been added to allow users to quickly see the most five most recent posts on their current blog, without having to scroll down the page.

Another common feature of many modern blogs is a "blogroll," or list of links, to other blogs and Web sites around the Internet. StreetEats' links will help hungry blog readers find the best dining guides in Philly and the best recipes on the Internet. If you can't find the sports news you're looking for on The Buzz (which is doubtful), you are sure to find it on of the sites it links to.

Last of the major changes, we have made it easier for you to find an author's old stories. Now, when you click on a headcut, you will be taken to the story author's bio page, which contains his e-mail address, brief bio and every blog post written by that author.

It's all a work in progress, to be sure. But we've been working long and hard on these changes, and we hope they improve your experience on the DP's blogs and keep you coming back. Keep in mind, there is just not one, but four great blogs to keep up with: The Buzz, The Spin, Emmy Watches and Street Eats. Most important, please let us know of any suggestions you have for additional ways to improve the blogs, as well as any buys you run into. Simply leave a comment on this post or send an e-mail.