The value of building on the Web
Three student websites combine design and content to shine on the ‘net
by Gary Clites
Originally published in the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund's Adviser Update, Fall 2001
As the World Wide Web grew to be a part of our lives in the mid-nineties, it became clear to many communications educators that the ‘net offered an easy and inexpensive way for our students to reach an audience far beyond that available within the school community. Some staffs jumped on the new medium, creating fully functional websites to accompany their print publications and were rewarded by wider readerships than had ever previously been possible.
In recent years much of the fervor for website creation by publication staffs has cooled. Since Highwired (www.highwired.com) came onto the scene a few years ago, many schools have chosen to subscribe to that service and to drop their own stand-alone sites. But while Highwired offered scholastic journalists a simple, free place to put some content onto the ‘net, it robbed students of the experience of building and maintaining their own full-service web presence online.
With the recent death of Highwired (visit www.highschooljournalism.org/editors/news/2001highwired.htm for more information), it’s likely more students will gain the experience of creating solid electronic versions of their publications on the ‘net. There are some student-built sites online already that show how good a student designed and operated website can be.
One of the best of the current crop is Claremont High School’s The Wolfpacket Online (www.cusd.claremont.edu/www/clubs/wolfpacket/) from Claremont, California. Combining attractive design, an easy, user-friendly interface and solid well-written content, the site has everything one expects in a professionally created online newspaper. The home page is loosely framed, with headlines, photos and story digests in white on the left and an attractive, functional menu on the left. This includes not only site links, but an automated online pole (asking readers opinions on California testing in the May, 2001 edition) and an e-mail registration link offering readers the chance to be updated via e-mail when a new issue goes online. Very slick.
Clicking on the headlines takes you to attractive, boxed articles, some (though not enough) with good, color illustrations. Of course, the site also includes the kinds of special features that aren’t possible on Highwired, including an archive of five years of past issues; a CGI-driven automatic feedback page; a page offering hard-copy subscriptions; a small page of links and an online illustrated staff box. The excellent design combined with terrific reporting and editing makes Wolfpacket Online the kind of site all of us should emulate.
The Sidwell Friends School Horizon Online (www.sidwell.edu/horizon/) produced by a top private school in Washington, D.C. is often cited as a terrific example of a student newspaper website. Kept constantly updated, the home page has the look and feel of a print front page combined with an excellent interface. A menu in school burgundy falls down the left of the screen under a traditional print masthead offering story links to the current issue. The site has adopted the small-print menus that have become standard all over the Internet in recent years. Filling most of the screen is the lead story, generally illustrated with well-sized color photos and graphic art.
In fact, it is in the area of illustration that Horizon really shines. While most student sites are thin on photos, Sidwell Friends’ is filled with bright, sharp pics that make you want to come back month after month. The September 4, 2001 issue, for example, included story after story brightened by good color pictures, including a gorgeous photo essay about a student trip to China including 13 great shots. You’ll still be able to find it in their extensive archive, and will also like the “Special Projects” section containing information about and links to all the school’s groups, plans and events.
Another well-illustrated site is the West High Beak ‘n Eye Online (www.beakneye.org/) from Davenport, Iowa. The site’s home page is a retro-looking frame in red across the top and down the left of the screen, with issue section links emerging in ovals from the frame. Like Horizon, Beak ‘n Eye fills the rest of the screen with a front page story well-illustrated by bright color pics. Each section is topped by a somewhat dull page of headlines with capsules of stories, but clicking on a link jumps you to a solidly written article invariably brightened by a well-composed color photo.
The site also includes an online poll in a pop-up window; an archive of past issues; and a calendar of school events.
With bright, inviting graphics, reliable content and smooth, user-friendly interfaces, all three of these sites would serve as solid examples for any staff working to design an online publication that will rival professional electronic newspapers.
© Gary Clites, 2001
