We've recently launched calendar.2theadvocate.com, a new web site to complement 2theadvocate.com that will feature local events, restaurants, movie showtimes and more. Not only does this new site make it easy to find all the information you need to know about upcoming events and venues in our area, it also allows local organizations and even 2theadvocate.com readers to submit their own events for online publication. We plan to grow this new site into a robust, community-driven repository of everything you need to know about what's going on around town. So how can you submit your event to us? Watch as Rise Robino, our Events Content Editor, demonstrates just how easy it is:

Be sure to stay tuned to calendar.2theadvocate.com in the coming months as we begin to add events, including those published in Advocate calendars, at a greater frequency. Also, don't hesitate to begin submitting your events to us right away—we look forward to seeing what you've got going on!

Cheers,
Nick

2theadvocate.com
Lead Web Developer
nscheurich@theadvocate.com

At 2theadvocate.com, we know your time is precious to you.

Sometimes you just don't want to wait for our site to load with of the news, sports, weather and other important information on our homepage.

Some users are just looking for specific video or story, others just don't want to see the clutter of our standard homepage. 

For all of you who love 2theadvocate.com but want something a lttle differnt we give you the 2theadvocate simple search page.  

The simple search page is built in the mode of the Google homepage.

It is a clean, no frills side door to all of the 2theadvocate.com content you have grown to know and love from the Advocate and WBRZ.

It is our hope that this stripped down interface will let our users get to the content they want when they want fast

All you have to do is search!

http://www.2theadvocate.com/2asearch

After several months 2theadvocate.com has decided to revert the style of our News Section hub page to its previous form.

We have done this for several reasons with the primary ones being that we want to keep the site easy to use and navigate for our users.

All Advocate and WBRZ news content as well as any updates will appear both on the homepage throughout the day and on the news section hub page all day.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me directly or respond below.

We've made some interesting, important, and hopefully helpful changes to the website recently. In addition to releasing a new version of the site footer, we've also created a new way for stories to be read and interacted with. I've created a couple of instructional videos that should help familiarize you with these new features. These types of videos will likely become coincidental with new site feature launches, so let us know what you think in the comments!

Cheers,
Nick Scheurich
Web Developer
2theadvocate.com
nscheurich@theadvocate.com

New Site Footer:

New Story Pages & Tools:

Thanks to all of the loyal reader and chefs who pointed out the problems with the "Print This" function in the Recipes section in Food. (http://www.2theadvocate.com/features/food/recipes)

Individulal recipes in the section were printing out with about 20 lines of extra code beneath each item.

We were alerted to the problem last week and with the development staff here at 2theadvocate.com zeroed in on and fixed the problem this morning.

Again, thanks to all of our loyal Advocate, 2theadvocate.com and WBRZ readers and viewers, and as always if you find a problem don;t hesitate to let us know.

Everyone has an opinion, and 2theadvocate.com wants to hear yours. That’s why we’ve added a new feature to our entertainment stories -- a link for our readers to include their comments on movies, music, books, art and travel articles.

Our writers and reviewers are great at expressing their thoughts on these matters, but you may not agree with those opinions. If you don’t agree and would like to provide an opposing viewpoint or you do agree and would like to tell everyone why, simply click on the link provided at the end of the article to include your own take on the book or movie or band.

Our new comments feature will help us provide a full spectrum of opinions on entertainment issues to our readers.

So, come on -- let us know what you think about it.

 

Nov. 5, 2006 8:45 p.m.

Posted by Freda Yarbrough, New Media Director

2theadvocate.com is getting a new look on Monday, Nov. 6 — a larger size, a new color palette and larger photographs in stories are some of the changes users will notice, plus the ability to increase the type size of stories for easier reading.

If you have bookmarked pages, don't worry, those links should stay the same.  Plus, 2theadvocate.com automatically refreshes every five minutes, which should clear any problems you have in seeing the new version of the site.

This redesign is the culmination of months of study and development of the interests, needs and desires of WBRZ Channel 2 viewers, Advocate readers and those who rely on 2theadvocate.com as their information source.

The Look

One of the first changes viewers will notice is the size of the Web site pages themselves. They will be wider — 960 pixels as opposed to the current 744 pixels (that’s about an increase of 3 inches from 10 to 13 inches wide).

This new wider format will allow 2theadvocate.com to increase its homepage content, allowing more stories and headlines to be displayed and more news sections than currently appear on the homepage.

The Web site will feature an orderly design created not only to facilitate navigation of the site, but to also be easier to read and to put less strain on the eyes. Plus, the new site is easier to open on mobile devices such as PDAs, BlackBerrys and some cell phones.

This is accomplished through the use of a white background and softer colors, a text format ideal for easy readability and larger photographs. Readers will also have the option of adjusting the text size to their preference.

The Content
Longer stories and better photographs are but two of the many benefits 2theadvocate.com will provide to its readers.

Information on stocks and money markets will be expanded and updated throughout the day by the Associated Press in a new online section called Money and Markets at Money and Markets

Breaking news stories, emergency information, weather alerts and sports updates will be featured more prominently than with the present layout, occupying a highly visible spot on the homepage.

Perhaps one of the most notable technological upgrades is the addition of RSS feeds for all sections on the site. RSS (for Rich Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary) feeds will allow users with RSS readers to receive notification when new content is posted to the site. Some users refer to this as Really Simple Syndication because it allows the user to set up feeds of favorite sections and writers.  

To find out more about RSS, go to  http://www.2theadvocate.com/help/3412486.html

In the world of the Internet, change is the only constant, so continue to watch for new features in 2007.

For comments or questions, email comments@theadvocate.com

Do you sudoku? 

Now you can play it daily in the newspaper online on www.2theadvocate.com! 

This logic-based number placement puzzle has three different skill levels to challenge beginners to experts. 

Not sure what sudoku is?

Sudoku | a number puzzle in which the numbers 1 through 9 must be placed into a grid of cells so that each row or column contains only one of each number.

Click here to play sudoku now!

The server problem that cause videos to be unavailable on the site for several hours today was fixed at approximately 5 p.m. CDT.

We would like to thanks all of the viewers, readers and viewers who brought the problem to our attention.

We would encourage everyone who visits the site to report any problems that they might see to us as soon as humanly possible.

We here at the 2theadvocate.com strive to make this website a stable easy place find Baton Rouge and Louisiana news of the day.

Anything we can do to make the experience of our users better is something we want to hear!

Again thank you for you patience.