Gadgets & Gear: July 2009

You may have noticed a few changes here on the www.healthandleisureonline.com website. No, we didn’t lose weight (we help you do that). No, we didn’t get a haircut. No, that isn’t a new dress we are wearing (well I guess it kind of is). OK, I’ll let you in on a not so well kept secret… we redesigned the whole thing! We are to web redesigns what Joan Rivers is to plastic surgery! We did everything!

So why did we do it? It wasn’t for ourselves, we were quite happy with our functional yet slightly plain website. No dear readers, we did it for you! Our previous website did exactly what we needed it to, serve as a place where people could find out about us and download copies of the magazine in .pdf format. Nowadays though, people are looking for a little more from their websites, like being able to read the articles right then and there, comment on and discuss articles, and being able to search for topics that interest them. We listened and spent the last seven months pulling it all together.

The site has actually been active since the middle of June and judging from the traffic we have already received, it looks like you all really dig the new site (we get more hits per DAY now than we got in entire MONTHS with the old site).

So, other than just looking a whole lot prettier, what can you expect from the new Health & Leisure Online? Well, now you have access to our first two years of print articles directly instead of having to download a copy of the whole magazine and look for it yourself. You can now search our archives for articles that interest you, authors you might like, favorite columns (*cough* Gadgets & Gear *cough*), or any old topic you can think of. Our whole collection of over 200 articles from over the last two years is already online waiting for you and we are adding new content every week.

You can print out the article if you like it or you can share it using any one of several social networking sites such as Facebook or through plain old email. Speaking of Facebook, be sure to click on the link on the right side of the page and become a fan and recommend us to any of your friends that you think would also enjoy our publication.

We have also grabbed that whole ‘rich-media’ thing by the horns and have videos online already (courtesy of the DMC) and have the ability to bring you podcasts, audio, and photo galleries, which we will be doing soon. You can now communicate with us and our contributors directly via our new comments system, making the whole thing even more interactive for you.

We also have new ways for you to ‘subscribe’ and make sure you keep up-to-date with all the latest articles. You can either click on the ‘News Feed’ button at the very top right-hand corner of the page and it will take you to a web page with all the latest articles summarized on one page. You can then ‘Bookmark’ this page and add it to your favorites, and it will let you know when you have something new there. The best way though, is to use the subscription box below video player and sign up for our email updates. You’ll get a nice email from us with all the latest updates as soon as we make them, and don’t worry, we won’t give your email away to ANYONE, period.

The print version of the magazine may be gone, but the new version is much more dynamic and can now be found anywhere you have an Internet connection. So let us know what you think. You can either email me at jeff@healthandleisureonline.com or you can comment directly on the site, but either way, speak up! We did this for you, and want to hear about what you like, what you don’t, and what you would like to see in future updates. Also, be sure to subscribe to the site and become a fan on Facebook if you have an account there. Thanks for reading and being such great supporters of the magazine for the last two and a half years. We look forward to many more years as your ONLINE source of information on how to live healthy, active lives here in Michigan.