Jweekly.com has a new look

If you’ve been to j.’s Web site recently, you may have noticed a few changes.

At Jweekly.com you’ll find a brand-new look with a ton of user-friendly features. Besides the usual Jewish Bay Area news, you’ll see breaking news stories from Israel and the rest of the Jewish world, with our news ticker featuring up-to-the-minute headlines from JTA and Ynetnews.com.

You can watch the latest news from Jerusalem Online in our video section. We hope to add more video and audio features in the future.

Another major change is the addition of blogs. All your favorite j. writers are blogging regularly. You can read what they are currently thinking, reading and doing, and then comment on every entry. Three of our most unusual blogs deal with Jewish arts, celebrities and athletes. But you’ll also find more traditional blogs on news, politics and Jewish life.

To keep up with your favorite blogs, simply bookmark them, or add them to your RSS reader. They’ll be updated frequently, so be sure to check back often.

Among other new features on our Web site is a recipe exchange. We have recipes there written by our weekly cooking columnists dating back to 1995. But you’ll also be able to submit your own favorite recipes, and with our new search function and recipes organized by category, it’s easy to find the perfect dish for any occasion.

We’ve also added a photo gallery with pictures of Israel and local Jewish events, institutions and personalities. You also can upload your own photos to j.’s site using our new Flickr group.

One thing that hasn’t changed from our old Web site is the ability to read every story that appears in our weekly printed edition. In fact, our search engine will allow you to find every story we’ve run in the newspaper since 1995, when we launched our first Web site.

The only difference now is that you have the ability to comment on each and every story, and your comments will be available for the world to see. If you like a story, tell us. If you don’t like it, we want to hear about that, too.

You can stay up to date with all the changes we make on our site by subscribing to our free e-mail newsletter. By reading the newsletter and registering to comment on our stories, you will have a chance to win theater tickets and other prizes, as we introduce periodic giveaways for our dedicated readers.

We also have a new Facebook group, where you can get periodic updates from j. and see each week’s cover. To join, go to Facebook and search for “j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California.”

The new Web site was designed by j. art director Cathleen Maclearie, with input from j. staff, and programmed by Dominic Bruno.

If you have any questions or comments about the new site, please feel free to contact us using the contact form on our Web site. We hope you enjoy the new look and feel of Jweekly.com!