SNEWS launches new look and features

As you’ve certainly noticed by now, SNEWS has a new look. We felt it was high time we delivered an easier-to-use interface that allowed you, our valued subscribers, more control over your account and how you access and use the news and information we provide.

Since you’re reading this, we assume you’ve made it past the first hurdle — logging in successfully with your temporary password and username. If you have not taken the time to update your account (and you’ll know that if the friendly reminder, “You have not updated your account,” is in the upper right corner of your screen on the navigation bar), then take a moment now by clicking on the “Manage Account” button, also on the right navigation bar.

In the “Manage Account” area, you can change your password and your username, find out what kind of subscription plan you have and when it expires, update all your contact information, and send us an email if you are having difficulties. You’ll also be able to renew your subscription easily from this screen.

Rather than have you stumble around and try to discover what we’ve changed, added, or improved, we thought you’d appreciate a quick guide to using the new SNEWS:

1. You’ll still receive by email your weekly SNEWS News Digest announcement with headlines, the one you’ve become accustomed to. (When you updated your account information in the “Manage Account” area, you were able to select whether you want to receive our emails in HTML format or text only.) From the link in your weekly email, you will be taken directly to that week’s news. Get ready, here is where it gets really different: Each headline is a link that will jump you directly to the story in the Digest. In addition, our printed version is now a PDF document using a program specially created by InfoGears, the team that designed our site’s appearance and backend, as well as that of our affiliated site, GearTrends.com.
2. Our main headlines page has not changed much. However, instead of linking to one single long page with all the current SNEWS stories, each story link goes only to that single story the headline applies to. Once on the story page, you can print the story (again using the PDF program), email the story to a friend (he or she will see the headline and a quick summary with links and information about SNEWS), and see related stories using the links at the bottom of the page.
3. In the Outdoor and Fitness pages — accessed by clicking on the respective links on the top of each page — you will find the headlines again, but this time only those headlines specific to that category. In addition, you will be able to read quick summaries of each article.
4. We have added a Calendar of Events, where you can self-register events. If you have an industry event you wish to list, simply click on the Calendar link in the left navigation bar and fill out the information.… It’s a FREE service we’re providing.
5. Classifieds continue to be a strong feature with many companies using SNEWS to reach the eyes of folks wanting jobs or positions in either the Outdoor or Fitness industries. Again, this will be a self-registering process, including the payment process. Click on the Classifieds link at the top of each page.
6. We’ll be reviewing more products and books in the weeks to come as we step up our efforts to provide a service our readers tell us is one of their favorite features in SNEWS. Like the Classifieds pages, we don’t restrict access to our reviews so you can be sure they’re being widely read by all, including non-subscribers. We’d be interested in hearing from you about your products that should be considered for review by our team.
7. Searching SNEWS has gotten much easier, too. For articles and information in SNEWS after Nov. 1, 2002 (when we launched the new site), there are various options for narrowing and focusing searches. For articles published before Nov. 1, 2002, in the older version of SNEWS, there is a link there too with content-based searching only which is better than we had before, we promise.
8. Be sure to check out our Business Nerve Center, too. We’ll be adding articles in there over the next few months that will challenge the industries and help folks grow their businesses. For now, while we build that area, that’s the place to access our SNEWS Stock Report, which is updated every 15 minutes for up-to-the-minute research.

Whew! The last several months have been wild ones getting this ready for you. We hope you like it. As always, we want to hear from you. If there are things you would like us to do differently or you have suggestions for any features or additions, don’t hesitate to let us know. And, of course, we’d like to know if you like what we’ve done, too.