Site Guide (updated 7/2005)

Welcome to the SantaFeNewMexican.com!

Yes, this is the free Web site of The New Mexican, the independent, locally owned newspaper for Santa Fe. FreeNewMexican features a fresh new color palette, a vastly improved search tool, exclusive features, a drastically simplified navigation plan--and a gateway to our second site: an online replica of the print edition, page for page. This article explains the features of both sites.

The first change is you now need to register - for free- to access both sites. If you're having trouble registering or logging in, see this article for troubleshooting help.

Why do I have to register and what will you do with the information?

See our registration and privacy statement for full details, but here's a summary:

SantaFeNewMexican.com's primary goal in collecting personal information is to provide you, the user, with a customized experience on our site. In order to maintain a free site, we display advertisements. By knowing a little about you, SantaFeNewMexican.com is able to deliver more relevant advertisements and content, and hence better service, to you. In our role of delivering targeted advertisements, SantaFeNewMexican.com plays the middleman. Advertisers give us an advertisement and tell us the type of audience they want to reach (for example, males over 35 years old). SantaFeNewMexican.com will shortly be able to take the advertisement and display it to users meeting that criteria. This kind of advertisement targeting can be done with banner ads as well as promotional email. That also means you're less likely to see advertising that's not relevant or useful to you.

In this process, the advertiser never has access to individual account information. Only SantaFeNewMexican.com has access to individuals' accounts. You will only receive special offers via email from SantaFeNewMexican.com if you have indicated in your account preferences that you would like to receive them. You can change your account preferences at any time.

Another reason for registration is to provide better security and online community management for the increasing use of the forums. Our forum community is growing, and registration creates better online behavior and participation.

Our site has two versions - a paid full replica (click here for the demo) and this free site.

The paid site: ENewMexican.com

The paper will be available online in a complete digital replica, page for page, by subscription or single copy. The articles and ads are fully searchable, and the last seven days will be available too. (Print subscribers can add the "E-NewMexican" at no charge).

With a click of the mouse, you can zoom in and enlarge an article or advertisement for easy viewing. The Interactive Product works best with high-speed Internet connections (Cable, DSL, LAN, T1), but works with any kind of connection you have. It is best viewed with Internet Explorer 5 (or later) but works with virtually any browser (except WebTV) and any platform.

You’ll also be able to move easily from page to page or section to section, search for key words, print or e-mail articles, and look back at the last seven days’ editions. And you’ll be able to jump back and forth to the free site, to comment on articles, read updates on breaking stories, etc.

The digital edition is seen through a regular internet browser and requires NO extra software or downloads.

People who have a subscription to the print edition will be able to add the online replica for a surcharge of about a quarter of what they pay for their annual print delivery. People who want only the online edition will pay a little less than they do for print delivery. And it will also be available for purchase one copy at a time.

If you're away from home, a regular visitor, or in a rural area, you can now get the complete Santa Fe New Mexican in a new convenient format! Click here for a preview.

The free site: FreeNewMexican.com

We have completely redesigned the free site, now known as FreeNewMexican.com. It will load faster, be much simpler to navigate and search, and will focus on breaking and other web-only news and features, a more robust reader commenting system, community news and journalism, resource guides for visitors and residents, photo galleries, virtual tours of homes for sale, searchable classifieds and local business directory with maps and driving directions, as well as the top stories from the print edition. However, there will be fewer full articles from the print edition, since the full page-for-page copy of the print edition will be available online.

Some of the new features:

RSS and WAP access We now have RSS feeds for most topics on the site, as well as our content available as a download to your cell phone or PDA - click here for details!

Simpler Navigation We've streamlined the left hand navigation, with no hidden drop-down menus or links - everything on the site can be accessed from this one main navigation, or from our new Search (see below). The very top of the navigation features a scrolling "Must See" message box to highlight important information, while immediately below is a "Find It Fast" section, with links to your favorite sections.

Related Topics The site is now organized by a fluid network of searchable, connected topics. Any article can “belong to” more than one topic—so you can find articles different ways, or explore their connections in different directions. For instance, an article on water usage might be found under the topics environment, water, politics, or Santa Fe. You’ll see the list of associated topics at the top of the article, and can follow those links to other articles of interest. Think of it as a "mini-web".

Search You can now search by keyword or by location (free site or archives) for stories, topics, photos, or even comments. Bylines are searchable too. Keeping up with your favorite columnist just got easier, especially since any search can be bookmarked and will automatically update with any new information the next time you visit.

Photos Articles are no longer limited to just two tiny photos. Each article may now have an unlimited number of photographs, which are displayed in a slide show right in the article. Too small? Click on the “Big Picture” button under the photo to view the same slide show 4x larger.

News is not just read; it's lived!

A continuing hallmark of FreeNewMexican.com is having our readers be an integral part of the news on our site. We encourage all our readers to participate, and there a number of ways:

Comments and Polls: Both articles and general topics can each have comments (Internet Explorer users, you can automatically create hyperlinks in your posts). You'll be able to see the most recent comments, how many posts an article has, and follow links directly to other comments and discussions.

Every story can now have its own poll; readers will be able to see how many people have voted.

Customize your news: A first for any news site - in addition to the daily default arrangement, you may customize the homepage order of stories based on: a) the level of online discussion on each story, b) how much a story is read, or c) the web editor's choices. On occasion, our web editor may change the default to one of these options, but you can always change your settings to fit your preference!

Reader photos: Be our eyes! send us your photos via our easy upload tool, then see what other readers have sent in our reader photo galleries.

Reader Blogs: We will be offering readers their own blog space, integrated with our comment system, at the end of July 2005. Email the web editor for details on getting your own blog, and see our list of area bloggers.

Reader news and stories: Readers have sent us a wide range of news, eyewitness accounts, and personal experiences; read their stories here.

Our “Mothers Uncensored” series is a perfect example: Galvanized by censorship of a "Mothering" magazine cover, women around the world are sharing in a powerful, open way their troubles and triumphs of breast-feeding, offering wisdom and encouragement along the way.

We’re excited about offering you the best of both worlds: a complete version of the printed paper in the e-edition format, and unique interactive features, deep resources and breaking news on the free site.

Enjoy!