design

If you haven't seen the absolutely splendid redesign of the New York Observer's website, you should go there right now. It's so good that it might just lift the Observer out of its position in the marginalia of New York City media.

The site is almost completely based on Drupal, the open-source CMS platform we're using for BlufftonToday.com, SavannahNow.com and community blogging/social networking installations at all the other Morris newspapers.

We've rolled out a new design for BlufftonToday.com, visually aligning the website more effectively with the printed newspaper and fixing some usability issues that were identified in the site's first year of operation and through formal testing.

The changes include a number of new functions and features, particularly in the social networking area. User profile pages now include buddylist avatars and guestbooks.

I haven't been blogging much lately because I've been busy on a project. I can't disclose the details yet, but here are some of the issues:

Participation. It's been clear all along that the Internet is a network, not a broadcast channel or a hierarchy, that everyone can participate, and that eventually everyone will participate. Some things that didn't work 10 years ago are now possible because we have the critical mass online to make them work. Hyperlocal community networking would be just one of those things.