Good morning, and welcome to the renovated LA Kings Insider!

Though we’ve been pumping the tires on the new site for much of the summer, it’s really not that different from the old site. The changes that were made have improved the site’s aesthetics and layout, mobile design and commenting system.

We did this because:

1) We wanted to keep stories evergreen.

-During periods of quickly breaking news and multiple updates, too often interesting stories would get pushed down into the depths of the page. With the new layout that features multiple stories and information boxes easily accessible from the front of the page (and with minimal scrolling), more eyes will find their way onto more articles.

2) The site was overdue for an aesthetic redesign.

-This isn’t quite as important, as one of the strengths of LAKI has always been the ease and simplicity of obtaining news – as well as the forum for the frequent expression of opinion – BUT LOOK AT THE BACKGROUND! LOOK AT ALL THE PRETTY PICTURES! MY GOODNESS, THE BANNERS! This new redesign improves the overall sleekness of the site and meshes well with the photos, videos and multimedia that I often post.

3) We needed a mobile site that was easier to read.

-The new LAKI is much easier to read from mobile devices and tablets. The font is now at a size that is actually legible! Enter in LAKingsInsider.com into an iPhone, iPad, or other smart device, and celebrate the infinite possibilities of accessing the site away from your home without having to put on your reading glasses/monocle/telescope.

4) You had requested improvements in the commenting procedures.

-I’m most excited about the new possibilities of this site as provided by Disqus. I’ll get to the ins and outs of this in a moment, but you’ll now be able to edit your posts. You’ll be notified if someone responds to your posts – and will have the option to turn this function off. You can create your own profile and upload your avatar easily. If signing up for a Disqus account (which takes 45 seconds) is something that doesn’t interest you, you can still post on the site the same way as before – by simply providing an email address. We did this because you requested it! We read all of your emails and comments, shared them with our friends at Sanborn Media Factory, and the result should be an improvement over the previous basic commenting procedures without complicating the process or making it a headache.

Another aspect of the site that you may notice is that there are two advertisement bars – one on the right side of the page, and one at the bottom of the page. I know. BOO ADS. We had to have ads, because the costs of the site increased after switching hosts from AEG Digital (free) to Smartycloud (not free). The ads are minimal and situated so that they do not detract from LAKI’s overall visual appeal or experience.

Be patient during these first few days, as minor issues may potentially spring up in the infancy of the redesign. Experiencing a glitch? Email me at jonnyrosen-at-gmail-dot-com, and I’ll forward it on to the appropriate targets. Have any questions? Email me, and I’ll do my best to answer it. In the transformation of the site, some archived posts were difficult to transfer over to the new site, and some stories may be missing. Sanborn Media Factory has done a thorough job of transferring your comments over to the new site, but comments for certain stories may be missing as well. If you have any questions or concerns over the posts, give me a shout.

The Disqus Community

The most frequent commenting requests we received while in the process of upgrading the site surrounded the ability to edit your comments and to have instant notification when someone replied to your comments. These features are now available. I strongly recommend all users of the site to set up a free account through Disqus – you’ll remain logged in through LAKI, and in a layout similar to Twitter, you’ll have a variety of settings and options at your fingertips. If you wish to avoid email notifications of when other commenters are responding to you, click on the “gear” drop-down tab at the top of each page’s commenting area, and select “Edit Settings”. This will bring you to your account settings; click on “Notifications” on the left side of the window, and adjust your preferences accordingly. This is also where you’ll be able to edit your profile and easily add an avatar.

Fan Shots

Have you taken excellent photos at practice or at games? I’d love to use them – with your permission, of course. As long as they’re a minimum of 640×400 pixels, not blurry and don’t depict anything inappropriate or illegal, send them over to jonnyrosen-at-gmail-dot-com! I’ll gladly give photo credit.

Today

Enjoy the podcast! Click around on the site! Test out the new commenting features! Send me emails! I’m looking forward to hearing back from you. I’ll have new content throughout the day, the weekend and beyond, and look forward to continuing the Kings conversation on LA Kings Insider.