This week we reported that NOLA.com would be implementing some new features on their website to make it more community driven.  Those upgrades were put into effect during the wee hours of Saturday morning giving users a treat when they logged onto their NOLA.com account today.  We'll walk you through some of those new features during this website review.

Small Design Changes

Even if you don't use any of the social networking features on the website, you'll notice a few design changes that have made the site better.  Articles seem easier to read with pertinent information in columns to the left and right hand side.  Hyperlink colors and hover overs were changed slightly, along with twitter feeds of authors.

Login Methods

When you sign into your NOLA.com account you'll notice that you can login the usual way but you also have the option to sign in with your AIM or Google account.

NOLA.com Sign In

Get To Know The Writers

When you visit articles, the authors name is now hyperlinked giving you the option to view their public profile and learn more about them.  While reading a Saints article, we visited John DeShazler's profile page and was able to view his posts and stats on his interaction with the website.

Sharing Is Caring

Toward the bottom of each article you'll notice a sprinkle of social media icons to share articles on other websites.  There is also a recommended link, which if clicked will be saved to your NOLA.com account as a recommended article for others to read.  Following in the fashion of most blogging platforms, you'll see a Next Story and Previous Story link with options for tags.

Sharing Is Caring

Profile Pages

The biggest change are new the profile pages that accompany every user account.  Once logged in you have the option to upload your photo, edit your zipcode, put in your personal website, add in your twitter page, and other account information.

NewOrleans Tech.Net Profile Page

The public dashboard is viewable by everyone and it gives a breakdown of your interaction with the NOLA.com website.

Posts: While this featured is not active right now, NOLA.com has told us that this will be available in future rollouts.

Comments: Every comment that a user makes will show up on their profile page for others to see.

Photos & Videos: The amount of photos and videos that you upload will be displayed.

Recommended: Once you recommend an article, it will be saved to your profile page for others to read.

Followers & Following: In a Twitter like fashion, NOLA.com users will be able to have followers and follow others on the website.

Features, Usability, and More

NOLA.com obviously saw the need to transition to a more dynamic website that allowed locals to connect using familiar social media tools.  Hopefully this upgrade will allow for more interaction between people that read the website and give authors a chance to know who their readers are.  But with anything there is also room for improvement, especially making the homepage less overwhelming, giving users the ability to upload photos/videos right from a the profile page instead of having to go to a different area, and having a static area on every page to jump right back into your profile.

As we stated before this is just the first round of changes that will be taking place on NOLA.com.  With more scheduled rollouts coming avid users will appreciate the move into a more community oriented website.