A few words about our new look online ...

From David Mele, General Manager, Pilot Interactive

We’ve given our websites a bit of a facelift — and I wanted to explain what’s different and what hasn’t changed. The biggest change is that we’ve modified the navigation at the top of our sites, hoping to help our users find what they’re looking for more easily and present our sites in a brighter, more updated style.

As with any change, we imagine the reactions might range from “You changed? I hadn’t even noticed,” to “The sites look awesome! You just made the best sites in Hampton Roads even better,” to “This is horrible and now I can’t find anything I’m looking for.”

So let’s start with what’s different:

The navigation has changed. For our users who visit our homepages as a portal to The Virginian-Pilot electronic edition, known as ePilot, the links have moved to a convenient position at the top left corner of the page. This is also where users can subscribe to our print edition and manage their subscriptions. We’ve also placed a link at the top for the Pilot Store, where users can purchase photos, reprints, books, special editions, merchandise and more.

The site search box and login links have moved to the top right corner of the page. This has become a standard position across many websites and we figured it was time we adopted the convention.

The sites are brighter, with more white space and cleaner presentation of the site identity. In our previous design, we had the identities of PilotOnline.com and HamptonRoads.com side by side. Now each site gets a clearer identity, and the navigation links are specific to the site. So PilotOnline.com has our most popular news channels - News, Opinion, Business, Military, Sports, Weather, Traffic and Obits; while HamptonRoads.com has our most popular entertainment channels - Entertainment, Movies, Music, Dining, Events, Life, Community and Guides.

We’ve also added a new feature to the drop-down menus for most of these channel links which will present the Top Story on each channel.

Users looking for Jobs, Autos, Homes and Rentals will now find those sites in the top right section of the page under the Classifieds tab. And we’ve added quick links to our Deals, Search Local business directory, Shopping and Coupons next to the Classifieds section under the Marketplace tab.

We’ve also cleaned up the footer at the bottom of our pages. In our previous design we had a five-inch deep collection of links. We’ve now simplified that into a single line of links.

And now, what hasn’t changed. We will continue to post more breaking news and information online than any sites in Hampton Roads — looking to increase our lead as the largest, most visited sites in the region. In 2011 we generated 155,000,000 total pageviews for the year and averaged more than 3.6 million visits per month. If each pageview had been a mile, our views would have circled the globe 6,225 times. If each pageview had been a music fan, our views would have filled the Virginia Beach amphitheater 7,750 times. If each pageview had been a sports fan, our views would have filled ODU’s Foreman Field 7,820 times ....

Ok, I’ll stop. But I do want to assure you that we will continue to deliver more and more digital content to you, ranging from breaking news, crime/public safety, government, weather, traffic and investigative reports to the area’s most extensive events calendar, entertainment options, food and dining guides, movie listings and reviews, and great deals to save money on the best places to go and things to do in Hampton Roads. And we’ll be expanding the ways that you can connect with us, with new mobile offerings and increased social media connections.

We’d like to hear from you about how we’re doing. If you have any questions, ideas, recommendations or other feedback, please email me at david.mele@pilotonline.com or post a comment below.

-- David Mele

Coming in the Sunday Pilot

FIND THE 'BOOM BOX': One million containers come through the port of Hampton Roads each year, and customs officers are on the lookout for any that might be trouble.

Also on Sunday:

Get ready for the Super Bowl with Game Day information about both teams in Sports.

And in The Daily Break, games of a different sort for those who aren't interested in football.

-- Maria Carrillo, managing editor

From the newsroom

Starting Sunday, The Pilot looks at the day care dilemma and how for parents, that often means a leap of faith. Over three days, we’ll explore day care choices, the limited regulation over providers and how severe the consequences can be when mistakes are made. Also, we’ll have a guide to help parents make the best decision. -- Maria Carrillo, managing editor

Starting Sunday

The Pilot begins a four-day series with portraits and stories of survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The series will run through Wednesday, Dec. 7th, the 70th anniversary. Go online as well for videos of the men recounting the events of that day. -- Maria Carrillo, managing editor

From the newsroom

Coming Sunday, we'll have a poster inside the print edition commemorating the 50th anniversary of the aircraft carrier Enterprise. Also, in our city tabs and online, we'll focus on the salaries of area school employees. And we'll have extensive coverage of the big game between NSU and ODU. -- Maria Carrillo, managing editor

Coming Sunday: Operation Blessing in Haiti

We traveled to Haiti with Operation Blessing to give you a close look at what has become the country's sixth-largest international charity. Check online for a video presentation as well.

-- Maria Carrillo, managing editor

Voter guide coming

From the newsroom: In Sunday's paper, we'll have a voter guide for Tuesday's election. If you want to be prepared, pick up a copy. -- Maria Carrillo, managing editor

New online calendar goes live Tuesday

On Tuesday, Nov. 1, we will have a whole new online events database. You won't notice much change in design - except that it will be more intuitive and much easier to navigate. The biggest change comes in how you submit events.

You'll be happy to know that the items you submit online will go live automatically and also will be considered for The Virginian-Pilot's print publications. For many of you, this means you no longer have to add an event online and then submit the same event to the print calendar desk. It's a streamlined process. Submit once, and you're done. You will lose the ability to edit your items. However, you will be able to request changes be made to your event using this form.

Sadly, we're going to lose a lot of events that have been submitted to the online calendar over the past year. However, all items running in print publications will appear online. Therefore, if you submitted your info to both online and print, you're in the clear. If not, you are more than welcome to resubmit your event when the calendar goes live Tuesday. The link will be http://hamptonroads.com/event/submit.

We're sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, but we believe our new calendar and process will far outweigh any negatives that will occur in the initial stages. In the meantime, if you have any questions or suggestions, please email listings@pilotonline.com.

Thank you,
HamptonRoads.com and The Virginian-Pilot calendar desks

Help a reporter: Have you defaulted on a student loan?

Have you been forced to default on a student loan? Or have you attended one of these colleges: Tidewater Tech, Aviation Institute of Maintenance, Everest College or Centura College? If so, reporter Elisabeth Hulette would like to hear about your experience.

Contact Elisabeth at 757-222-5216 or elisabeth.hulette@pilotonline.com.

Help a reporter: Did you use school choice?

Did your public school district offer school choice when your neighborhood school underperformed? If you were notified and exercised your right to send your child to a different school, Virginian-Pilot education writer Steve Vegh would like to hear about your experience.

Contact Steve at steven.vegh@pilotonline.com or 446-2417.