With Thursday’s unveiling of the new and improved DAILY LEADEROnline website, computer users have a better way to catch up onnews, sports and other happenings in Brookhaven, Lincoln County andsurrounding areas.

“This is an upgraded version of our current website,” said JohnChance, operations manager for the newspaper.

Chance said the new site, still at dailyleader.com, is moreappealing to the eye and is easier to navigate for users. It alsoincludes new features such as horoscopes and crossword puzzles, headded.

A popular feature, the online opinion poll, has also beenrevised, Chance said.

Chance said the poll will be more reflective of actual votingand will limit “ballot stuffing.” Mentioning one recent questionthat generated over 10,000 votes, he said users could visit thesite keep tabs on results but will be allowed to vote only once onthe question of the week.

“Your results will be updated, but you will not be allowed tovote again,” Chance said.

Visitors looking to research past issues will have an easiertime.

“The archives section will be a lot more user-friendly,” Chancesaid.

Now, users will only have to type in a keyword. Previously,Chance said, they needed to know the newspaper’s edition number tosearch for a story.

Some familiar areas, such top stories, sports, community newsand editorials, will remain. And of course, Chance said, the onlineobituary section will be there for viewers.

“That’s something a lot of people like to do: peruse theobituaries,” Chance said.

Chance invited all local non-profit organizations to utilize thenewspaper’s community website. He said an organization can buildits own website through the newspaper’s page or it can have a linkto a site already in existence.

Since its creation five months ago, the newspaper’s website hasbeen averaging 60,000 page views a month, Chance said. He waslooking for that number to go up with the improved site.

“The Internet is an ever-changing, ever-evolving media,” Chancesaid. “We have to keep up with technology out there, and that’srequires us to update.”