Over the last several years, Voice of OC has established itself as the go-to news source for investigative and public policy news in Orange County.
Given the essential role the web plays in how readers access our content, it’s important we make our website experience as seamless as possible.
We’re excited to announce that we’ll be launching a new website in the coming days, which we expect will provide a more engaging experience for our readers.
The new site – our first redesign since launching in 2010 – will be easier to read and will enhance your ability to share our content with others.
It will also work well on mobile devices, which is an increasingly popular way to access news.
And it will give us much greater creative options, like incorporating more visuals and interactive content, along with clearer opportunities for readers to support our mission by donating.
We expect the new site to go live sometime Monday or Tuesday, though some readers could still be seeing the current site for up to 48 hours after that.
We plan to keep both sites updated so your access to our content isn’t interrupted.
After months of prep work, we’re hoping for a transition that is as smooth as possible. But with complex web projects like this, there will likely be some kinks to work out.
If you see any problems with the site, please contact our Engagement Editor Nick Gerda at ngerda@gmail.com. We’ll work to fix any issues as soon as possible.
And if you have general feedback or comments on the new site, feel free to let Nick know about those as well.
Lastly, the transition to the new website is expected to cost us about $20,000.
The bulk of that cost was to ensure that the roughly 4,000 articles, 1,500 photos and 400 documents we’ve published are properly transferred from a proprietary system to an open-source platform that gives us far greater flexibility.
To help us defray the cost of our website, you can donate by clicking here.
We got a great deal on the whole package, thanks to our friends at Cornershop Creative, an organization that specializes in mission-driven nonprofits like ourselves looking to build stable, cost-effective publishing platforms and content management systems for stories, photos and videos.
Thanks are also due to the Investigative News Network and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation for the grants that created the platform we are moving to, which is called Largo and largely free.
Thanks as always for your support, and we wish you and your family, Happy Holidays.
Sincerely,
Norberto Santana, Editor-in-Chief
David Washburn, Managing Editor
Voice of OC