Hopefully you'll have noticed we've had a bit of a redesign.
In this Beta stage, the site is still partly a work in progress, so there may be a few things that aren’t currently up to full functionality, but it should give you a good idea of the new features of the site.
Over the course of the next few weeks we’ll be rolling out a few more features in addition to what you can currently see. For now, here’s a summary of the major changes:
*We’ve drastically improved the navigation of the site, restructuring our existing sections and introducing a few new sections to make finding content as intuative as possible. A breadcrumb now appears at the top left of each page so that you always know where you are.
*As well as a new design and a new layout, each article now has improved capacity for embedded media, such as pictures, audio clips and videos.
*We now have photo galleries and albums, making it easier to cyle through images, and there’s a lightbox feature to see the full sized, full quality images.
*Related content [stories, galleries and videos] will now appear beside articles.
*There is now a comments module at the bottom of each article, to give you the chance to respond and have your say on the latest topics and issues.
*We’ve made it easier to share your favourite stories, videos and galleries across a variety of social media.
*And, we’ve introduced blogs. The new Editors’ blog will sit alongside our daily news feed, providing daily analysis and opinion from Decanter’s team of print and digital editors. Look out too for occasional guest contributors.
That, plus regular quizzes and competitions, book reviews and, of course, wine recommendations, will form the heart of a new, broader content base.
A lot has changed under the bonnet, so to speak. We hope this will translate to a more efficient and rewarding experience for everyone using the site.
As this is currently is our Beta [test] version, we’ll have another few weeks of trialling before we convert full time to the new site, but in the meantime, we’d appreciate if you’d take the time to let us know what you think, via the Decanter beta survey.
Written by John Abbott
