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Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Change is coming to KUSports.com

By KUSports.com staff reports

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On a normal day, the homepage will still give you access to the latest stories, but you'll now have easier access to staff blogs, fan blogs, photo galleries, videos and the most popular items on the site.

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On a game day, you'll be able to get the latest scores, updates and photos right on the homepage. You'll still be able to leave your own thoughts by clicking through to our story.

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On a game day, the new site takes on a blue motif, as displayed on this KU football homepage. You'll also notice each section now includes a selection of our photos, videos, podcasts and audio clips - all sorted by sport.

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Story pages have been totally redesigned to give you a more visual, easy-to-navigate experience.

It's been in the works for a while, and it's nearly ready: Our newest version of KUSports.com. We wanted to give you, our readers, a brief heads up.

Here's some of what you'll find:

¢ Your own fan blog, which will let you take your place beside our columnists, writers and other Jayhawk bloggers. Think of it this way: You now have your own KUSports.com soap box. Let the world know what you think.

¢ A front-page video player where you'll find all of our great video, including our GameDay Cram Session before each KU game, as well as segments of The Drive Show. Look for more web-only video features in the future.

¢ A stream-of-content list on the front page, so you're always up-to-date on the latest KU sports developments.

¢ New homepages for the three biggest sports at KU: Football, men's basketball and women's basketball, in addition to a new homepage for Big 12 sports.

¢ Easy access to the most active discussions on the site.

¢ Quick access to photo galleries, staff blogs, videos, podcasts and other goodies on a per-sport basis.

Here's what won't change:

¢ You'll still get the most Rock for your Chalk.

¢ Our top-notch, award-winning coverage.

¢ The best columnists and sports writers in the business.

¢ Daily football and basketball e-mail editions, bringing the best of KUsports.com to your inbox every morning.

Until then, here's just a little preview of what's to come. All the pictures of the site are still in development, so there may be changes between what you see here and what goes live soon.

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Comments

Rivethead (anonymous) says...

Looks good. Thank you!

November 11, 2008 at 4:58 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

97jhawk (anonymous) says...

You said that this won't change:"¢ The best columnists and sports writers in the business."So, you must've brought back Team Ryan (a.k.a. Ryan Greene & Ryan Wood) and got rid of the Mizzou biased Dugan. Seriously, why would you ever hire a MU grad to report on KU sports?

November 11, 2008 at 5:03 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

gutter (anonymous) says...

Nice work! Of course a few of us may take a while to adjust but it looks like some great improvements. I am looking forward to the changes.

November 11, 2008 at 5:04 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jkealing (Jonathan Kealing) says...

gutter-That's part of the reason for the preview. We want to start the adjustment process before the site even changes.Jonathan KealingOnline editorLawrence Journal-World / 6News

November 11, 2008 at 5:08 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

gutter (anonymous) says...

Jonathan - You and Jessie are doing a fine job regardless of what other people care to bitch about. In a perfect world all of us would be perfect. Some of us must be living in a perfect world.

November 11, 2008 at 5:24 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

halogenlamps (anonymous) says...

Well, I gotta agree that Dugan is the weak link on the kusports.com staff, and it's not because he is a Mizzou grad. I just think he is a weak writer, and kusports could have found a much better writer.

November 11, 2008 at 6:10 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

sdoyel (anonymous) says...

Looks great!

November 11, 2008 at 6:51 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

HawkDigestCom (anonymous) says...

Looks good -- fire it up!

November 11, 2008 at 8:09 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

sho_tyme21 (anonymous) says...

Hey LJW staff you need to get rid of Dugan and hire another "D" and that it Deters

November 11, 2008 at 9:39 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

delo (anonymous) says...

An easy place to see big 12 standings on the site would be nice. It seems easier to go to big12sports.com for stats and standings.

November 11, 2008 at 10:35 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

stupidmichael (anonymous) says...

This is B.A. I cannot wait.

November 11, 2008 at 11:06 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

ColdCoffee (anonymous) says...

Nice changes! What's the overall layout width going to be now? This is running on Ellington/Django, I'm taking it ... Does the old site run this too?Also, what about the forum? Any change on those (what it's running)? I'm guessing that would be a chore.Finally, what about my suggestion a few years back of a live chat feature during games - rather than the forum?

November 11, 2008 at 11:06 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

JBurtin (anonymous) says...

"Well, I gotta agree that Dugan is the weak link on the kusports.com staff, and it's not because he is a Mizzou grad. I just think he is a weak writer, and kusports could have found a much better writer."Sorry, but I find it a little hard to believe that you would make a statement like this if you didn't know he was from Mizzou.It does seem like a strange choice to hire somebody from the arch rival, but he's had some really good stories of late, and has a sense of humor. The only reason I'm pissed is I hate it when a Missouri grad also happens to be a nice guy. Kind of screws up the whole hating everything about them thing. ;)

November 11, 2008 at 11:09 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jkealing (Jonathan Kealing) says...

Some more answers:1) Yes, the new site (and the old site) run on Ellington and Django. However the old site was built before Ellington was launched, so it didn't really take advantage of all its powers. The new one will.2) Forums won't be changing in function - some appearance changes though. There's not a good way to move them into Ellington.3) I'll put Big 12 standings on the list of things to try and add.4) We're trying to do more with stats, but there's some hurdles we're still working with.5) As for live game coverage, we're tweaking that in the near future. Minor changes for launch, some other tweaks after, but no process yet for live chat. Still possible though.I appreciate the feedback. Keep it coming once the new site launches.Jonathan KealingOnline editorLawrence Journal-World / 6News

November 11, 2008 at 11:37 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

RckChalkJeff (anonymous) says...

Yeaaa!!!! Now Jaybate can blog his 20,000 word posts instead of making us all suffer in here!

November 12, 2008 at 8:45 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

kevbo (anonymous) says...

I am a fan of the changes. Maybe a little facebook-esque, but it looks like I'll be able to find everything pretty easily, so I will not complain. Good work, gentlemen.

November 12, 2008 at 9:11 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

JayCeph (anonymous) says...

KUSports... always setting the bar high. Keep up the good work. I look forward to these new tweaks.

November 12, 2008 at 10:32 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

TaCityHawkFan (anonymous) says...

I wasn't expecting to like the changes, but I am actually quite impressed. Great Work!One suggestion... you may consider implementing a Mobile version of the site. My BB does not like the site at all.

November 12, 2008 at 10:55 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jkealing (Jonathan Kealing) says...

Ta-Mobile is a huge priority for us. We have a tolerable - but not excellent - mobile version at m.kusports.com. We'll be redesigning that in the future as well.Jonathan KealingOnline editorLawrence Journal-World / 6News

November 12, 2008 at 10:57 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

yovoy (anonymous) says...

lookin' good....glad to hear about the mobile version, though both my smartphones play fairly nice with the current one. congrats, and we should all be looking forward to the updates.thank you.

November 12, 2008 at 12:59 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

mlleona (anonymous) says...

Will the video still require quicktime? The company I work for does not allow quicktime. Not that I would watch video of KUSports at work.....

November 12, 2008 at 2:04 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jkealing (Jonathan Kealing) says...

mlleona-The new video player will present video using a flash-based player. It's the same type of program that powers YouTube and Google Video. Our research shows somewhere well north of 90 percent of our users will be able to access this video format.Jonathan KealingOnline editorLawrence Journal-World / 6News

November 12, 2008 at 3:28 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

topekahawk (anonymous) says...

In the 3rd quarter of 2008, there were more iPhones sold than Blackberries. Will you create a KUSports application for iPhone like ESPN has?

November 12, 2008 at 9:44 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

mushhawk (anonymous) says...

when will this change take place?

November 13, 2008 at 11:14 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jkealing (Jonathan Kealing) says...

Mushhawk-We can't really pin down an exact date because there are some technical hurdles. I expect, however, that it'll be done no later than the end of next week.Jonathan KealingOnline editorLawrence Journal-World / 6News

November 13, 2008 at 11:26 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

burntpuma (anonymous) says...

You should try and have things such as leading heisman candidates and big 12 leaders in stats and all that good stuff! You should also add Big 12 team stats and how they compare.

November 13, 2008 at 11:35 a.m. ( | suggest removal )