I believe everyone who frequents Uprise RI can agree that Steve is a journalist like no other – no matter where the event is, he is there reporting what happened, snapping photos, and recording valuable video clips. But it was always frustrating to me, and I am sure to many of you, that Steve’s great content and reporting fell out of visibility so quickly due to the “blog-roll” style layout of the website and the rapid pace in which he often posts.

The decision to redesign UpriseRI.com came many months ago and we are so glad to launch today in time for the busy news season (aka the General Assembly being back in session). Our primary focus was a better reader experience – we looked at everything from the topics our readers want to see to fonts that make articles easier to read. The end result is what you see here, sort of…. we’re not finished. Over the next week, we will continue to make adjustments and improve small stuff based on reader feedback and our own testing. There are so many improvements, some which you may not even notice, so here’s a quick overview:

• We have a logo!
• Our latest 4 articles are now shown well above the “fold” at the very top of the page, so you can skim the latest headlines without having to scroll down.
• We have sections! We thought long and hard about the most important topics our readers look for in our coverage and gave them their own corner of the homepage. We then created a Hot Issues section that covers trending topics that we’ve been covering more lately. You can click on any of the sub-topics to filter just stories about a specific issue. The topics covered in Hot Issues section will change over time depending on where our coverage leads us.
• All-new article layout. This was one of our favorite updates, with every article now featuring a large prominent image with the title overlaid on top. You’ll notice a new article view count and an easier to read byline. We made the social sharing buttons more sleek, and added breadcrumbs at the very top so you can find your way back to the category the article originated from.
• Fonts – We fell in love with the Muli font for article titles. It accomplishes our goal of looking friendly but taken seriously. Our new article text font, Georgia, closely resembles the serif font we used on the old site but since it is a built-in Windows/Mac system font, it doesn’t need to be downloaded upon your first visit, so pages load faster.
• Search is vastly improved. Not only does it bring up far more relevant articles, it does it instantly in real-time as you type. Try it! It is located at the top right of every page.
• Popular Stories. The all-new Popular This Week section displays the hottest 8 articles on Uprise RI over the past 7 days.
• Editorial & Opinion now is its own section. Previously, news and opinion was all thrown together. We would typically print the author’s name first for opinion pieces to make it clear, but now you can find them all in their own spot, separate from the “news” sections. Our latest posts, regardless of whether news or opinion, will always appear at the top section of the homepage.
• Lastly, the Investigations section. Ah yes. We wouldn’t have created this section if we didn’t have a few more in the pipe. Stay tuned.

Thank you to everyone who has read our content over the years, donated to Steve, and shared our stories. We hope you love the changes and welcome your feedback.