We’re online with print editions, daily Jewish news with more to come ...

It’s official! We’re online live with digital and online versions of the by-mail, print editions of the Jewish Press of Tampa and Jewish Press of Pinellas County, plus some features — with more yet to come — available only online.

First off, let us assure you that you will still receive the print version of your Jewish Press by mail.

As we have talked about going online in recent years, that has been the frequent concern expressed by readers. The online Jewish Press is not meant to replace the print versions, but to supplement them.

In fact, it’s important to us that readers not cancel their by mail, print Jewish Press. The reason is simple: Numbers. In the newspaper world, what drives a paper’s ability to attract advertisers is provable readership, i.e. circulation, the total number of readers.

Online “clicks”, “hits” and “views” are now beginning to figure in the mix for online newspapers.

As time passes we will be building up our

“view” history, but we do not plan to make reader/viewers subscribe to the online Jewish Press. So why go online?

1. Readers will be able to actually see the actual print Jewish Press online almost immediately after publication. It was important to us in designing the website and choosing our host service that you be able to actually see the print edition and the photos in digital form, and even print out items. Provided we know about the event in time in the first place, no longer will some readers miss events because their Jewish Press are delivered after the fact — due to variable postal delivery time.

2. Going online also gives us the ability to report “emergency news” immediately. As time and resources permit, we intend to expand our online presence with more “breaking news” and with features exclusive to the online Jewish Press. We have installed a Feedback option for readers to make comments or suggestions, even suggest stories.

3. Already you can sign onto our website for a current daily summary of national and international Jewish news, Today in the Jewish World, from our JTA news service.

4. Also on the website is a new online Jewish Press-originated opinion poll — with results tabulated and posted instantly. (Editor’s note: You can only vote once.)

5. Online you can now search our website or archives of past Jewish Press editions. Eventually, we will have all 24 years of Jewish Presses archived, making us the most indepth source of information about the Tampa Bay Jewish Community in the last two-plus decades.

6. Going online offers advertisers an added value and readers more information about the advertisers.

Go to www.jewishpresstampabay. com, choose your publication, and you will see ads from the latest print edition in the right hand column. These ads will periodically rotate to give each advertiser different positions. As a thank you for their support, we are giving the additional placement on the online Jewish Press to advertisers free for January and February. After that a nominal surcharge will be added (See “Advertise” on our website). Naturally the ads also appear in the digital online version of the print editions.

An entire line of specialty online ads – even video — will be available later in the year.

7. A last “biggie” to include in this preview affects just about everyone. Any website or email address in news copy or ads will be “live.”

These are features made possible by Our-Hometown, a well-respected national newspaper website hosting and news conversion firm that specializes in making the web affordable for smaller papers.

Plus, in our case, Our-Hometown allowed us to design our own website, as much as was possible within their parameters.

That’s enough explanation. Now it’s time to experience the Jewish Press online by signing onto www. jewishpresstampabay.com. We hope you find it useful.

For more information, call us at 813-871-2332 or 727-535-4400.