zentral+ redesign boosts engagement
In early 2013, zentral+ launched their site with Newscoop, the open source CMS for news. Now, the Swiss news site has introduced a functional new design, with more focus on community interaction and increased flexibility for editorial and content curation.
Local journalism leads design
zentral+ was born out of a need for a local focus on news in Lucerne, Switzerland. The Sourcefabric design and development team put this editorial concern at the forefront of the redesign.
zentral+ also wanted their website to be more dynamic and flexible for their small editorial team. Sourcefabric helped them get more out of every article, giving different media elements within each story the chance to shine.
Short news section teases with bite-sized portions
A new news updater contains teasers for the eight most recent news articles, drawing readers into regional news and announcements.
The short news section delivers eight bite size stories
Newsletter lightbox
Site visitors receive a pop-up gently reminding them to sign up for the zentral+ newsletter, write comments or follow topics. This helps zentral+ grow their readership and helps readers get more out of zentral+.
The newsletter lightbox encourages readers to join the community
Quote and number of the day
Readers get bite-sized chunks of information or quotes from Swiss news makers and other personalities.
The quote of the day on zentral+
They also relay snappy stats, like the number of registered cars in the region and how many of them are electric. Readers love the local focus and engaging, shareable content.
The number of the day on zentral+
Evolving online news stories
When zentral+ updates a story, a flag reading 'Update' lets readers know. This is especially helpful for ongoing coverage of developing stories.
A flagging system updates readers to evolving stories