Iron String Press Launches New AllOtsego.com

COOPERSTOWN

This week, AllOtsego.com’s much-needed facelift goes live. The online home of “The Freeman’s Journal” and “Hometown Oneonta” since 2009, AllOtsego.com also provides breaking news coverage and exclusive web content to subscribers. Slow response time due to ever-increasing archival materials and an outdated layout have prompted parent company Iron String Press to revamp the site, resulting in a much more responsive and graphically pleasing online platform.

“Since I came on board at the end of last September, we have been working on a number of changes and improvements here at Iron String Press, and people are beginning to take notice,” said General Manager/Senior Editor Darla M. Youngs. “Chief among our goals was a new, more user-friendly website. Months of weekly meetings have resulted in a site that will be easy to access on any device, is pleasing to the eye and offers a multitude of new advertising opportunities.”

AllOtsego.com is a subscription-based news site, currently averaging 35,000 unique visitors and 80,000 page views each month. Subscribers to “The Freeman’s Journal” receive complimentary access to AllOtsego.com in addition to their hard-copy newspaper.

“Even during this restructuring period, we continue to attract new subscribers to both TFJ and AllOtsego. In celebration of our fantastic new site, we’re dropping the paywall for two weeks so folks can navigate the redesigned website for free at their leisure,” Youngs said.

When the paywall is reactivated, new readers can subscribe to AllOtsego.com at special introductory rates: $3.99 for one month, $3.39 per month for six months and $2.99 per month for an annual subscription.

“The annual subscription is by far the most economical choice, at 25 percent off the open rate,” Youngs added. “Subscribers will have access to all the weekly content of ‘The Freeman’s Journal’ and ‘Hometown Oneonta,’ as well as to breaking news and exclusive web content.”

According to Xander Moffat, who was tasked with the redesign, “The new and improved site includes many upgrades to both the underlying technology and the overall design, structure, and layout. It’s built on a new server designed to offer major improvements to the site’s performance, especially page loading times,” Moffat explained.

“We’ve updated the homepage layout to make the site easier and more enjoyable to navigate,” added Iron String Press Publisher/Advertising Director Tara Barnwell. “Xander has done a tremendous job with the redesign.”

The new homepage includes sections for each of the main content categories (news, opinion, briefs, in memoriam and calendar of events sections). Each section provides previews of the most recent articles and postings, and users will be able to navigate from there to the main category pages, where they can browse all articles for that category. All of the archived content from the old allotsego.com will still be available, as well.

According to Moffat, the process of migrating existing subscriber accounts to the new site is still underway.

“The paywall will not be immediately activated, which means everyone will be able to access the site’s content while we get the subscriptions migrated,” he said.

The new website is built in such a way that will allow staff to continue making updates and improvements over time.

“We look forward to seeing and hearing how visitors are using the site and discovering how we can continue to innovate and improve their experience,” Barnwell said.

“In addition to all of the above providing a better user experience, these much needed improvements are a crucial part of our ongoing efforts to ensure that our publications continue to find success in the current media landscape,” added Youngs.

“Local news connects community members, fosters debate, can instigate major social change and encourages regional economic growth and development. The ways in which we deliver the news may be changing, but our purpose and our role as a valuable resource remain the same,” Youngs said.

“The process with AllOtsego has revolved around figuring out the best ways to update our technology and design to offer readers and visitors a fast, reliable, and enjoyable browsing experience. We’ve also had to ensure that what we came up with would be sustainable and fit within the bandwidth of the busy newsroom,” Moffat recounted.

According to Moffat, digital strategy plays an important role in how modern publications adapt to a constantly changing ecosystem.

“’The Freeman’s Journal’ and ‘Hometown Oneonta’ have always felt like really critical parts of the community in multiple ways, and I’m really glad I had the opportunity to make a contribution,” Moffat said.

Moffat, a filmmaker and freelance digital media consultant, works with organizations to help them develop and refine their creative and technical strategies in support of their mission. He studied film and continues to work on screenplays and short films in addition to collaborating with other filmmakers as an independent producer. Moffat is also involved locally with Glimmerglass Film Days, for which he serves as technical director and contributes to the programming team.

“We cannot thank Xander enough for all his hard work, for the excellent results, and for making this experience an enjoyable one on the back end of things,” praised Youngs.