By Judy Clabes
NKyTribune editor/publisher
After months of planning and plotting and meetings (and blood, sweat, and tears), we are ready to launch our updated and redesigned NKyTribune on Wednesday.
The process began last fall with a lengthy transfer of our deep database to a new hosting platform managed by the terrific tech people at Global Business Solutions in Newport. We needed deeper cybersecurity protections and a tech partner who could manage a database we have accumulated since our inception in 2015. We also needed a refresh — a new, more modern look, the ability for ease of updating the backend of our site, and — really — more nimbleness and ease of editing and posting.
There were a LOT of techy things that I can’t even begin to explain because I don’t understand them all myself, which is why we need the kind of tech support that GBS can provide, and why Jacob Clabes, our resident tech guru, had to do most of the talking (and incessant explaining to me.)
Basically, I just want things to work when I push the right buttons. And I want our readers to be able to access our news and features, have the ability to search deep into our archives, and be able to do that with ease.
So, after choosing a theme, the real work began. And after “playing” with the test site for a few months, working out as many “bugs” as we could find, asking our test group to take a look and make suggestions, and so on and so on, we are finally ready to push the activate button.
We can’t thank the GBS team enough for their patience and their expertise.
And we can’t thank our readers and supporters enough for the growth of our news site that made this necessary and important.
We hope you’ve noticed that we have also redesigned our daily e-newsletter and switched to a more reliable delivery system. That was also part of our redesign project. If you haven’t signed up for the daily headline service, delivered (free) to your email every day, please do that here.
We also hope things go forward smoothly with no hitches and that the NKyTribune you read on Wednesday will be even more pleasant and more appealing. Please let me know at judy@nkytribune.com if you find anything that doesn’t work quite right or you catch something we’ve missed. The devil is in the details.
We are — and will forever be — a work in progress. Change is part of life and the NKyTribune is an important part of our community’s life. We are always looking for ways to make it better.
The Tribune continues to be a free, nonprofit public service “newspaper” serving the Northern Kentucky Region, a place we love and are proud to serve.