“We now offer over a billion page-views to the on-line marketplace, are collectively accessed by 30.5 million unique U.S. users, and, as of April, were the 11th largest entity on the Web,” the memo signed by Nisenholtz, NYT Co. Chairman Arthur Sultzberger and Times’ Publisher Janet Robinson said.

Whether to seek payment for on-line content has been question of debate for print publishers for at least a decade. The problem is that once a portion of a site requires a fee for access, readership of that section drops dramatically, which in turn drops the overall total readership of the site, hurting the publisher’s ability to charge for advertising on the site. Conversely, if the amount recouped by the content charge is in excess of what the advertising income would have been, well, then the publisher is considered brilliant.

Also, many consumers already believe they are “paying” for the Internet, when in fact all they’re doing is buying the ability to dial into the network. Further, the Internet was started as a Utopian ideal of sharing information and in the early 1990s you couldn’t charge for anything according to the rules you had to sign to gain access.

But this is the Internet and things change rapidly in Internet time.

The Times Co. — and its semi-rival, Dow Jones & Co. Inc. — may have hit upon an interesting idea. Have two kinds sites: one free (the NYTimes.com and The Times Co.’s newly bought About.com and DJ’s recent purchase, MarketWatch.com) and the other fee (TimesSelect and WSJ.com, respectively).

The free sites bring the large number of readers that advertisers want, while the fee sites bring in not only ad dollars, but subscription dollars as well.

And multiple revenue streams are what publishing is all about.

— dmc

Smart updates wing their way to users
Nothing is worse than having a great application add-on that works with a great application but falls behind in its updates. Adobe Systems Inc. has kept a fairly regular update schedule of its new page layout application, InDesign, but not all the plug-in developers can keep pace.

Fortunately, WoodWing can, and has. The company recently announced that its plug-ins and editorial system are now compatible with Adobe’s brand new, very slick Creative Suite 2 product. As the world continues to migrate to InDesign, this is the one company that keeps in step with Adobe’s upgrades and pass on the utility to the user.

WoodWing was one of the first providers of solid plug-ins for InDesign and InCopy. But WoodWing is now much more than just a company offering plug-ins — the Netherlands-based company which has U.S. offices in Detroit, now offers a full-fledged editorial system.

This is a little company that has gone from a one-person, standing-only booth at Nexpo to the most recent turnout in Dallas with a full-size booth complete with a giant flat screen. But it’s not about the looks, it’s about the product and that is exactly how WoodWing interested users and continues to impress others.

WoodWing’s editorial product, called Smart Connection Enterprise, provides newspapers with a flexible editorial system built around Adobe InDesign and InCopy. InDesign drives the pagination and InCopy drives the text input. The entire system is database driven and derives its power from the queries used in the workflow.

The company just announced its product capability with the newest release of Adobe Creative Suite 2. The Smart Connection line is available in both Windows and Macintosh flavors. The Albuquerque Publishing Co. just announced it would install the Smart Connection Enterprise in order to take advantage of the power of InDesign. The publishing company owns the Albuquerque Journal and the Albuquerque Tribune.

WoodWing began working with InDesign in 1997. It developed the plug-ins Smart Layout and Smart Styles that allow users to layout a publication much easier. Smart Layout brings what the company calls the “article concept” to InDesign. The plug-in adds a tool to the palette window that looks like box with columns for text and columns for headlines. The tool is used to construct boxes that text can be applied to quickly and easily. The Smart Layout tool allows for easy resizing, which is based on the column and the gutter automatically resizes to match the columns. In addition, all the elements within the Smart Layout box will resize at the same time. That means that headlines, sub heads and captions will all change proportionally.

All of the Smart Layout items that a user preconfigures can also be stored within InDesign’s library for faster automated page layout. InDesign’s library allows for convenient storage of preferred page components and styles.

Speaking of styles, WoodWing’s Smart Styles allows users to create component formatting that can be stored and applied to future layouts. The types of styles a user can create are only limited by the user’s imagination. Styles can be text wrap, insets, transparency or even drop shadows. One of the cooler features is the Table Styles. Table Styles takes formatting to the best level and works great for those challenged by creating sports agate.

Both of these products can be purchased separately and greatly enhance the newspaper use of InDesign, but WoodWing also offers a full editorial system — Smart Connection Enterprise.

The beauty of this system is that it’s Open Source based. It is database-driven, using the MySQL database, and clients can run on Windows or Macintosh. It is a straightforward InDesign and InCopy setup: The user simply saves pages to the database and calls out for text and page elements such as graphics and photos. You couldn’t ask for a simpler setup. In addition to the full-fledged system, WoodWing also offers some scaled-down versions called Smart Connection Light and Smart Connection Pro CS.

Also, keeping in line with Adobe’s development, WoodWing provides XML support in its products. In Smart Layout, users can label the various pieces of page furniture, such as headlines and captions. The labels can be used as tags so that copy can flow from InCopy into the text box of InDesign automatically. By using XML tags, pages and components can be set up to transfer from printed product to on-line product in one easy flow.

However, no matter what version might sound appealing, anyone using InDesign is missing out on exploiting the full potential of the product by not using the plug-ins Smart Styles or Smart Layout. InDesign is the application to be using, and WoodWing’s products give it the boost.

Even though WoodWing calls the various products “Smart,” they indeed are smart and make for a more efficient workflow.

WoodWing USA, (313) 962-0542, usa@woodwing.com.

— Jason Zappe

Picture-perfect classified ads
Any chance to generate new revenue for a newspaper is bound to get some attention. Such is the case with the newest evolution of iPIX AdMission’s Classifeds 2.0. The recently release of this savvy system has added even more e-commerce capabilities than before.

The AdMission Classified system allows newspapers to enhance their classified sections by giving customers the ability to upload and enhance photos, combining a seamless Internet connection between the newspaper’s print classified section and its web site.

The San Ramon, Calif.-based company announced shortly before this year’s Nexpo that the new features found in version 2.0 of AdMission Classifieds would include enhanced e-commerce functionality that allows the newspaper to easily take advantage of folks shopping on-line.

AdMission gives the on-line customer much more user functionality, including a “buy now” button for advertisers who have fixed prices and are set up to allow on-line purchasing.

There simply is no greater ease of use for the reader than being able to purchase directly from the newspaper’s own on-line classified section. This is something the reader will continue to return for more products.

Readers can also select the “make an offer,” option for sales that allow bargaining. The gain for newspapers is that the customer stays longer on the newspaper’s site and because of the software’s ease of use, will be much more likely to return.

The new release also contains more e-mail or contact capability. There’s a “Send to a Friend” option that lets readers share advertisements and they can also e-mail the advertiser or seller for increased communication. This provides the customer with more purchasing power. Newspapers that provide such an options give the reader/visitor/customer a more satisfying experience.

The AdMission system easily integrates with a newspaper’s existing classified section or Web site. The system contains templates to create the ads with plenty of preview options. The photos can be accompanied by captions and can also contain additional Web links.

The initial goal of AdMission Classifieds was to provide a way for newspapers to “visually enhance” the look of on-line classifieds by providing an easier method to put color photos into the on-line classified section.

The product had been a business unit of iPIX Inc., also of San Ramon, and recently spun off into its own company, AdMission Corp.

AdMission Classifieds also includes interactive features such as pre-publication reviews of the ad and automated batch processing with presets on file size, color space and resolution. Photos on the site can be viewed in a window that keeps the visitor on the same page, the ability to view a slide show and expanded descriptions that display when the user’s mouse hovers over the item.

Once a site visitor clicks on the ad, a larger view of the ad with increased content appears in a new window keeping the reader on the same classified page. In the viewer window, the reader will see more detailed information and a list of options on how to purchase the item or contact the seller.

This type of interactivity could be considered priceless.

For items that are negotiable, the buyer has the option to make a bid, similar to the on-line auction site Ebay.com. Newspapers can tie in a variety of on-line payment options that make it even easier for the buyer to have a pleasant experience on the newspaper’s classified site. PayPal integration is also one of the new offerings in Version 2.0 of AdMission Classifieds.

The slide show feature will be well received in auto classifieds: Potential buyers will be able to view the car from a variety of angles (if the seller has provided them). The newspaper gains through this somewhat unique upsell and the seller gains by being able to further entice the buyer with multiple color photos of the car or vehicle.

Another key attribute is the sold feature. Once an item is purchased and the deal closed, the on-line product will be updated with a sold label allowing potential buyers to easily skip those and not be frustrated by viewing or searching for items no longer for sale.

The fully customizable system can either be hosted or installed and integrated into a publisher’s existing advertising and on-line systems.

The key to increasing revenue is increasing the presence and branding of the newspaper. iPIX AdMission provides the right set of tools to enhance a newspaper’s on-line classified section and also make the reader happy to be able to use such convenient tools.

iPIX AdMission, (925) 242-4021, info@admissioncorp.com.

— J.Z.

Hellbox

Bit bucket ...

“Because of the expense and time involved, we couldn’t have dreamed of digitally preserving our archives, much less afford to make them Internet-accessible.”

— LuJane Nisse, publisher, Moscow, Idaho’s Latah Eagle and
The Boomerang of Palouse, Wash.,
in a May 16, press release detailing her paper’s
affiliation with the new SmallTownPapers.com,
a Seattle company that scans and indexes community newspapers.

Architectural rendering: At The New York Times Co., Ron McCoy has been named chief digital architect for the company’s digital operations; most recently, McCoy was senior vice president of research and operations at Nielsen NetRatings. Before that, McCoy did five years as chief technology officer of About.com and earlier had a three-year gig as chief technology officer of Cox Interactive Media. Between 1993 and 1996, McCoy was technical director of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. ...

Confabs: The 35th World Magazine Congress will be May 22-24 in New York City. Speakers will include Don Logan and Norm Pearlstine of Time Warner magazines, Susan Lyne of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Craig Marks of Blender magazine, Harold McGraw III of The McGraw-Hill Cos., Jonathan Newhouse of Conde Nast Publications Inc. and Mark Whitaker of Newsweek magazine. For more information, e-mail mpaevents@magazine.org or call (212) 872-3700. ... The 58th World Newspaper Congress, held in conjunction with the 12th World Editors Forum and the Info Services Expo 2005, will be May 29-June 1 in Seoul, Korea. Session topics include, “Risky Business — Newspapers in the Fight Against Corruption,” “The Newspaper Renaissance” and “Future Perspectives,” featuring Arthur Sultzberger of the New York Times Co. For more information, visit http://wan-press.org or call {011} (33-1) 47 42 85 00. ... Cross-Platform Media Teams, a seminar from The Media Center of the American Press Institute, will be June 21-24 in Reston, Va. Speakers will include James Brady and Caroline Little of Washingtonpost.com, Neil Chase of NYTimes.com, Jeff Cole (no relation) of Ucla Center for Communication Policy, Bob McCartney of the Washington Post, Susan Mernit of 5ive, Howard Owens of Southern California’s Ventura County Star, Michael Maness of Delawareonline.com, Charles Tillinghast and Dean Wright of Msnbc.com and Jeff Webber and Kinsey Wilson of UsaToday.com. For more information, e-mail cdessauer@mediacenter.org or call (703) 620-3611. ... #

From THE COLE PAPERS, May 18, 2005, Copyright © 2005, All Rights Reserved.