The Daily Orange launched its new website Sunday night, a long-awaited move that shifted the site from the College Publisher system to one based on WordPress.

The website still has the web address of dailyorange.com. The switch has been in the works since summer 2011 and talks with Upstatement, a Boston-based firm that designed the new website, began in February.

“This is a website that definitely takes us more into present day in terms of where technology is,” Editor in Chief Mark Cooper said.

The College Publisher site, which the newspaper used for the past decade, got the job done in the past, Cooper said. But the new site features larger photo galleries and makes it easier for The D.O. staff to post stories online and make changes as they see fit ― something that was more difficult with the closed-system College Publisher. It also helps the business side of the paper, as the site better reflects the paper’s print edition and triples the number of online banner ads.

“It gives us total control over it,” Cooper said.

Another one of the top features is the responsive design of the website, meaning it will automatically resize to electronic devices and eliminate scrolling from side to side, Cooper said.

The website also has kickers, one or two-word identifiers that classify certain articles, just as the print edition does.

The site’s home page has five tabs at the top of the page under the familiar D.O. nameplate. There is also a section on the right side of the page where the most recent stories can be found. A live Twitter feed and print-edition PDFs are also on the home page.

There are also sections for classifieds, coupons and menu pages for local restaurants near the bottom of the home page.

Pete Waack, general manager of The D.O., said there were only two banner ad spots on the old website. There are six spots on the new site ― a welcome change considering The D.O. was at its maximum number of ads online at the end of last year, he said.

With the new website now unveiled, Waack expects positive feedback and high interest from advertisers.

John Boilard, lead designer on The D.O. site, said it’s similar to The Boston Globe’s new website, which Upstatement also designed.

“They both look like web versions of the print editions. That was the No. 1 priority,” said Boilard, adding that the previous D.O. website lacked that feel.

Jared Novack, development director at Upstatement, said the firm was in constant contact with The D.O. during the summer. This allowed the firm, especially Boilard, to respond to the laundry list of specifications the newspaper wanted on its new website

“It will live on Daily Orange servers,” Novack said. “So if an editor has an idea, they’re free to pursue it.”

College Publisher had to be contacted to carry out any changes on the old site.

Novack knows College Publisher well, as he worked at The D.O. from 2002 to 2006 in positions such as online editor, managing editor and editor in chief.

“We used College Publisher when I was there and, unfortunately, it hasn’t changed much,” he said.

Dara McBride, editor in chief of the newspaper in fall 2011 and spring 2012, and Amrita Mainthia, managing editor in fall 2011, started talking about a new website last summer and came up with tentative ideas for it in the fall.

“We didn’t feel like we had enough freedom with what we wanted to do with the site,” McBride said.

That led to talks with Upstatement in February and at D.O. Palooza, The D.O.’s alumni weekend, in March. Shortly after, the idea was presented to The D.O. Board of Directors.

And Sunday, the website ― more than a year in the making ― was launched.

“It’s definitely an improvement over the old site and I hope the readers will be happy with it,” McBride said.

Published on August 27, 2012 at 1:55 am

Contact Jon: jdharr04@syr.edu