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SPJ’s New Website
So What’s New?

A lot, actually. While certain basic facets of SPJ's website remain in place — your bookmarks, RSS feeds and other connections to the site should still work as they did before — the first stage of SPJ.org's 2010 makeover has brought numerous new ways to get around the site, stay on top of Society news and events, share content with others and even take SPJ with you when you can't be at your computer.

Here's a brief rundown of the changes we want to highlight above all others. (Click on all thumbnails to expand images to full size.)

It all starts, appropriately, on the front page. There's less clutter to sift through, and all of SPJ's most newsworthy items at any moment are easy to identify and explore from the front page (as well as the training, FOI, ethics and other portal pages). Clicking each thumbnail instantly brings more information on each item, with no loading required. On the right, all of SPJ's recent press releases, blog entries and upcoming events are available for easy access. If it's new and noteworthy, it's far easier to find now than it used to be.

The site's main menu, accessible from everywhere and moved from the left rail to the top of the window, also is better organized and easier to navigate. No clicking is even required until you find where you want to go.

Know exactly what you're looking for and want to skip the menu entirely? The search engine now supports common keywords that lead to all of SPJ's major sections. Type a few letters, highlight the right term, click "Search," and you'll skip the search results page entirely and head straight to the area you want. If there's no defined keyword match, the search results page (powered by Google) will still show up to provide assistance.

In the continued interest of making your trip around SPJ.org as fuss-free as possible, a breadcrumb trail near the top of every page allows for an easy way to go back the way you came and browse without ever losing your bearings.

Just surfing around? No matter what page you're on, SPJ's news and events are always immediately available on the right rail via an expandable menu of blog entries, quill articles, upcoming events/deadlines and more. No additional loading (and very little extra clicking) required.

Speaking of the calendar, you now can access it from anywhere. SPJ's events calendar is now powered by Google Calendar, and you can import the calendar into your Outlook, iCal or any mobile device that supports Google Calendar (which is most of them). Set up notifications and alarms, and never miss an entry deadline again.

It's now easier than ever to connect with SPJ beyond just the website, and the Google calendar support is just the beginning. A toolbar at the bottom allows access from anywhere to SPJ's Twitter feed and Facebook fan page...

...as well as an easy way to share SPJ content with your friends on other social networks and instant messaging services.

All IM services are handled through Meebo, a recognized leader in multi-protocol instant messaging services, so you can log into your AIM, Google, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter chats without ever leaving the site. Use the services you already use while browsing the site at your leisure.

Speaking of taking it with you, SPJ.org also is now optimized for mobile devices for easy, fuss-free browsing on the go. The URLs are all the same, so you can send an article to your mobile device for later reading and not have to look for it again. Navigating the mobile site is easy thanks to a drop-down menu, bread crumb trail and at-a-glance links to news, blogs and more on every page.

...But wait, there will be more

The changes you see here are just the first step in a multifaceted effort to make SPJ.org an essential destination for its members. More features and announcements will follow in the months ahead, so stay tuned!