Presenting – the new Global Voices web site!

If you’ve visited the Global Voices web site before, you may notice that we look a little different. If this is your first time, you'll be happy to know that you’re looking at our new site design, which was launched on Monday 9 April, 2007.

We’ve worked hard to create a new streamlined, simplified and enhanced version of the site to make the reporting we do that much easier to follow and understand. We have removed the less necessary parts and fine-tuned confusing features. Even more exciting, we've developed new tools to help you sort through the vast quantity of material posted daily by our authors and editors. Here's an overview of our new features:

The Shelf

Those who remember the old design may recall the large country and topic clouds in green and blue boxes at the top of the page. These no longer occupy the whole top of the page, but they’re still easily accessible from what we call the “shelf,” an animated navigation tool at the very top of the page. Click any of the links and the shelf will roll down instantly, offering you all possible countries, topics, authors and search options – all without having to reload the page. Try it yourself! (Use the black and white arrow to hide the panel when you’re done.)

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Share us!

At the bottom of each post, just above the comments, we've added a “share this” link. Click on the link to send the article instantly to your favorite social bookmarking site (e.g. del.icio.us, Digg), or email it to a friend.

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Navigation by Media and Region

At GV we try to showcase the widest array of citizen media possible: our articles often include photos, embedded video and audio. Clicking on any of the new media icons will take you directly to a list of posts including either video, audio or photographic content. Each media page has its own RSS feed.

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Next to the media icons are our new contextual navigation pull-down menus, which allow you to narrow down your Global Voices search to a specific region or topic.

Translation Listings

Lingua

With the advent of our “Lingua” sites, Global Voices content is now being translated by our Lingua volunteers into six languages (and counting!). Entries on the main GV site are now accompanied by a list of the languages they've been translated into, allowing you to switch to your preferred language (if it's available) or simply to brush up on your French or Bangla while visiting the site.

The Map

Our shiniest new toy, the map, offers a geographical perspective and looking glass for the international content on GV. On each page you'll see the map of a country or region relevant to what you're looking at. By rolling your mouse over the image you'll see actual maps of that country and be able to see the names of surrounding countries by rolling over their dots. Click on a country's dot and you'll find yourself on the GV page for that country. Get lost on the other side of the planet or just check out your neighbors. We hope you have as much fun with this thing as we do!

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