The new design of the World Socialist Web Site incorporates a host of new features intended to improve the site in both form and content. These changes include not only the visual look of the site, but also the technologies used to create pages, categorize articles, and present related content.
The new front page of the WSWS now has two columns for daily postings. The left column remains the bedrock of the WSWS—our daily news and analysis of developments throughout the world in many different languages.
The second column includes a new daily feature—"Perspective"—that will present the position of the WSWS on a wide range of political, theoretical, and historical issues. The first Perspective, from WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North, explains the central political and theoretical conceptions that have guided us in the new design.
The second column also provides additional space for videos and other media, as well as arts reviews, philosophical and historical analyses, polemics, and other material.
On the third column, which is visible on every page in the site, the WSWS highlights events and campaigns sponsored by the International Committee of the Fourth International and its national sections, the Socialist Equality Parties.
The current day's postings are visible on the front page, but previous versions of the front page will be available through the "Recent Days" feature on the top of the left-hand column. All of our content, going back over 10 years, will continue to be available in the new format in our Archive. As always, this wealth of content is available to our readers free of charge, without the annoying advertisements and pop-up windows that proliferate on other sites.
A few of the additional features include:
• A new search engine that allows you to easily and effectively browse our archive.
• An advanced search option allows you to search by keyword or author, or specify the date range, site area, and language of your search.
• On each article page, related content is presented in the second column. These related articles are automatically generated according to the basic categories to which the article belongs. These boxes will point readers to new content in a particular category, even if they are viewing an article that is many years old.
• A new video and images box on the front page allows the WSWS to provide a voice for workers throughout the world. In the coming months, we will also begin providing regular video commentary from WSWS writers, including video arts reviews and political discussion.
• A new section, ICFI/Marxist Library, will be continually developed and will include key works in the history of the international socialist movement. We also have specially designed category pages—such as Arts Review, Philosophy, and Workers Struggles—that present past and present material in an easily accessible and visually interesting format.
• At the top of each article you will find tools for emailing the article and providing feedback to the WSWS, along with a new "share" function that allows you to easily post any of our articles on a wide array of news aggregators and social networking sites.
The new site is a work in progress. The transition was a huge task. In its more than 10 years of daily posting, the WSWS has produced, in English alone, nearly 25,000 articles! All of these articles had to be converted to the new format to insure we did not lose any content in the transition.
Due to the very complex character of this project, some areas of the site remain to be developed and will be implemented in the coming weeks. We ask for the patience and understanding of our readers as we proceed. For example, languages other than English and German remain in the old format. They will be transferred soon.
After an extensive period of testing, we are confident that the major features perform as they should. Given the enormous size of the WSWS, however, there will no doubt be errors. If you encounter something that does not look right, please let us know.
Please tell us what you think. What do you like or dislike, find helpful or not helpful? What would you like to see developed? How can we improve your daily interaction with the World Socialist Web Site? Write to us if you would like to volunteer to write for the WSWS or help us in the technological development of the site.
We have great ambitions for the WSWS. We want to develop a site with greater interactivity, one that is capable of rapidly exploiting new technologies as they develop, while maintaining the speed and clarity of design for which the site is well known. We want to significantly increase the quantity and quality of the material we produce on a daily basis, incorporating new writers and correspondents in every country and in every language.
Help support our efforts. The WSWS has no corporate sponsors or advertisements. We depend on contributions from our readers. The new design will consume significantly greater resources, and we cannot implement the features we are planning without more funds.