WaPo.com Launches ‘Local’ Beta Homepage

Posted by Tom in DC Life on 09 30th, 2009 | no responses

Click on over to www.washingtonpost.com/local to take a look at the new Washingtonpost.com ‘Local’ homepage, which launched in Beta at 4 p.m. this afternoon. Surprisingly enough, the design actually does look significantly different from the regular home page , a far cry from previous WaPo attempts to differentiate between the local and national editions of the paper by offering minor, barely noticeable differences for online readers with local IP addresses. Among the new features are the ability to customize which headlines and weather forecasts you see based on zip code. The site also offers a feature that should make local bloggers (us included) happy: finally, the Post’s web site is aggregating local web content in a meaningful way, offering a little “Web Buzz” box with links to six or seven interesting local blog posts selected by Post editors. I’m not sure how much I like the layout and some of the choices made here, however. Actual news stories

are severely minimized, in a tiny font down the page in a narrow middle column, in favor of prominent placement for lots more flashy, interactive features and lifestyle guides up top. Does the Post think local readers don’t want the major headlines? It is helpful, though, to finally have obvious, easy to find links on the home page to Post offerings like the Going Out Guide event planner and the Get There blog. It’s also nice to see that Posties are finally embracing a Beta launch like this, actually encouraging users to test it out and offer feedback instead of just putting out a finished product without going through a public testing phase. And you don’t have to choose to go with this homepage: if you prefer the regular site, just don’t bother changing your preferences. What do you think of the Beta site?