Website Conventions

All local paper website have the same basic conventions (especially if they are made by the same group eg all websites made by the Ackrill media group all follow the same template), they all feature the newspaper banner at the top of the page, this is done with the same colour, font and logo as the newspaper. Next to this is usually a search bar which gives the option to search the website or the whole of the internet. Underneath this will always be the tabs or buttons that link to various sections of the site. They usually vary but there will always be a NEWS link. Others usually link to the other types of news which are human interest, entertainment and sport. The Harrogate advertiser site also has a COMMUNITY link, which gives access to forums, which gives readers a chance to have their say on the news. Also at the top of the page can be links to the jobs, homes, buying selling pages, which are online versions of the adverts usually found inside local papers. A modern inclusion that can be found on The Press website, is the link to the mobile site and RSS feeds, which are up to date ways to view the news. The main part of the home page is taken up by the latest or main headlines, which are accompanyed by photos and a small extract of the story, this encourages people to click and keep reading. There are various other links to the rest of the website, which includes lists to the most popular news, the news in the current newspaper and links to photos and videos. Another eye catching aspect is scrolling images or text, this gives a quick glance at the news, and is alike scrolling news on TV. Just like the newspapers, the local news sites contain an abundance of advertising, most similar to those in the paper but also simple moving .GIF adverts. Other little additions include: subscription pages, competitions that are advertised in the paper and the local weather. Overall these features create an interactive online version of the newspaper that follows the same values as the paper.

http://www.harrogateadvertiser.net/
http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/