Editor's Notebook: Web wonders

Four new awards plaques hang on a wall in the Appeal-Democrat newsroom. The hardware recognizes the excellent work provided to our readers, as judged in the annual Better Newspapers Contest sponsored by the California Newspaper Publishers Association.

Headed down to Universal City for the CNPA press summit and awards ceremony, I knew the newspaper was up for top prizes in three print categories — the A-D took home the first-place award for local breaking news coverage — but winning best Web site honors was unexpected; there was no advance notice as with the other awards. The award for newspapers with circulation of 75,000 and under was the second prize bestowed upon the A-D's Web site in two years.

Judges representing non-California newspapers "graded" the A-D Web site and 26 others in the same circulation category by conducting random visits and judging the newspapers on five criteria: usefulness of site to reader; quality and quantity of community content; ease of navigation and design; special features such as links and interaction; and advertising.

All humility aside, I already knew the A-D Web site was a winner: a number of talented people here work very hard to meet the needs of our online readership. Newspapers are transforming into news and information centers, and the Appeal-Democrat is leading the way.

We're excited here about what the newspaper plans to deliver Tuesday on the Web, including a special Election Day liveblog starting at 4 p.m. Tuesday, and election results all day long at www.appeal-democrat.com

In the liveblog, I'll be joined by interactive content producer Robert LaHue and other A-D staffers to provide comments and insight on national, state and local races. Users will be invited to submit comments and questions and participate in polls during the liveblog. No software downloading or registration is required to participate in the liveblog.

The site will also offer real-time election results from local, state and national races provided by The Associated Press and updated every two minutes.