Exonian Launches Revamped Website
The fourth Web Board of The Exonian released its new website for "the oldest preparatory school newspaper," which aims to provide readers with a more streamlined experience.
Exonian Editor in Chief Victor Wang said that the paper’s website was in need of a revamp, citing the growing importance of social media in journalism. "Our new website will provide readers with a much improved online experience, and hopefully the community will begin to actively go to the website for news around campus," he said. "We also hope to improve on all fronts of social media, including Facebook, Twitter and an app."
Customizability and flexibility
Users can expect the new website to have an unprecedented level of customizability and interactive features as The Exonian continues to stay in line with the evolution of journalism that is happening throughout the world.
The new website comes with increased multimedia capabilities that allow for articles to support an infinite number of high-quality photos and videos, and the ability to insert different types of media directly into an article, according to Technical Director lower Brandon Wang. Wang added that the variations among story pages are also aspects of the new website.
"Many news websites are simply a plain textual display of the articles, including the Phillipian, but we've created an attractive website that is interactive," Web Editor upper Tyler Weitzman said. "We've taken advantage of features that we would not be able to implement in a physical newspaper."
Weitzman also highlighted the versatility of the website’s design. "The new website looks pretty and professional, more than the existing website. It has a flexible layout that we can customize differently for every issue," he said. "It also works on a new framework that will allow us to upload articles more easily, as well as provides new options for how to display photos and videos."
A student-run future
In the past, The Exonian has worked with a private consultant for the aesthetical design that comes with creating an online version of a newspaper. However, this time, the efforts were fully student-run with the new Web Board working tirelessly to get the website programmed, designed and approved.
The Exonian adviser Erica Plouffe Lazure said the reasons and motivations behind the creation of a new website for the paper. "My understanding is that, while the first website brought The Exonian into the 21st century, there was still work that needed to be done in terms of accessibility to our online newspaper," she said. "Our web board's efforts will be far more streamlined, and allow for more creativity and flexibility in how they post the news articles."
Despite the lack of external professional input, Lazure said that the website "feels more user-friendly and is more in line with what people come to expect when they visit news websites."
Brandon Wang designed the website to be an "all-new experience with modern aesthetic" to match the common themes associated with other modern news sites such as news tickers, featured story and breaking news. The home page boasts one-click flexibility to support several different styles it can switch between. Wang said, "So, if there’s a breaking news story, we can have it up within an hour. And it is really fast."
"The new website will constantly be updated, and there are more ambitious goals the site can achieve," Wang said. "Because the digital media branch loses its tight bond with the newspaper and The Exonian begins to evolve into a journalistic organization, huge doors are opened in terms of expansion and of providing for the needs of the next generation of Exonians."