What can we say about the year 2015 at The Weekly? We at The Weekly soldiered on and tried our best to keep up with all the news and, in turn, keep our dear subscribers informed. As well, we strove to keep our readers, and therefore our communities, in touch with each other.
The biggest news for The Weekly itself was our newly redesigned website – same address (www.ukrweekly.com), new look and functionality – that was unveiled in June. This was accomplished thanks to the truly Herculean efforts of our webmaster and tech guru, Ihor Pylypchuk. He noted these advantages of the new design: it is mobile-ready for handheld devices (smartphones, tablets, iPhones, iPads); all the articles are presented as separate full-text stories that can be easily printed, with high-quality photos included; navigation is intuitive, and related articles are categorized by topics.
For those online subscribers accustomed to reading each week’s issue in PDF – which retains the original layout of the newspaper – that option remains available. Just click on the image of the latest front page of The Weekly that appears on the top right of our webpage and, voila, you will be taken to the section of our website labeled “Latest issues in PDF.” There you will find all the issues published in the current year. A little hint: you can also download the issue you’d like to read and then read it at your leisure whether or not you have an Internet connection.
The new online Weekly has sections, as befits a newspaper: Ukraine, Community, Opinion, U.S., Canada, Culture/Arts, Sports, Community Events, as well as subsections, for example: Columnists and Editorials under Opinion, and Community Chronicle and Generation Uke under Community. In addition, highlighted are special issues: The Years in Review, Debutante Balls, A Ukrainian Summer. Most of the current content provided on the new website is “premium” and, therefore, available on a regular basis to subscribers only. Online access to premium content is on a metered basis; thus, readers who visit more than four times a month are asked to subscribe to gain further access.
The Ukrainian Weekly’s fascinating archives also moved to the new website. To peruse them, go the to “Archives” link that appears in the bar atop the webpage. That’s how you will find PDFs of all our issues published since 1933. The Archives (which do not include the current year’s issues) are open to all, subscribers and non-subscribers.
We were pleased to note a significant increase in the number of subscribers to our online edition after we unveiled the “new and improved” online edition of The Weekly.
The Ukrainian Weekly’s online presence is enhanced by its Facebook page, which has functioned since July 10, 2012. The number of “Likes” for our page has now surpassed 4,300 and continues to grow. What we do on Facebook differs greatly from what we offer on the pages of our newspaper. On Facebook, The Weekly gives regular updates from our editorial offices, including previews of what to expect in upcoming issues; lets our friends know when a new issue becomes available online; allows visitors to take a look at our latest front page; and shares interesting stories from a variety of sources. What is new this year is that on our newspaper’s newly redesigned website, on the right-hand side of the page, visitors will also see a box labeled “Find us on Facebook,” where they can quickly take a look at the latest posts on The Weekly’s Facebook page.