Those who are subscribers to our online edition already know this, but for most of our readers this will be news: The Ukrainian Weekly has a newly redesigned website. The web address (www.ukrweekly.com) is the same, but the look and functionality are entirely different.
For the last few weeks, via our regular weekly e-mails to our subscribers, we had announced the upcoming new website. Last week, all online subscribers were automatically sent an e-mail from our new third-party subscription system, Tinypass, informing them that The Ukrainian Weekly had granted them access to “premium content” via a temporarily password. They were also given instructions on how to obtain a permanent new password. By now, online subscribers should have their new passwords giving them access to all parts of our news website.
Now, for those online subscribers who have become 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 have 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 through 2014. Also handy is the table of contents for each individual issue. The Archives, we should note, are open to all, subscribers and non-subscribers.
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. (Just in case you’re wondering, our Facebook page does not contain the news we publish in our newspaper. It is meant to be used to share interesting items from other news sources, as well as to alert our Facebook friends about what’s in the latest issue of The Weekly.)
This redesign of The Ukrainian Weekly online has been completed thanks to the truly Herculean efforts of our webmaster and tech guru, Ihor Pylypchuk. He notes 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. And, Mr. Pylypczuk promises, “We will be constantly improving user experience.”
If you have a problem or a question: click on the Webmaster link on the bottom left of the webpage, under the list of Contacts.
To conclude, we invite you to visit us at www.ukrweekly.com and explore! We hope you enjoy your experience and join the growing ranks of our online subscribers. (PS: You can subscribe via our website.)