Welcome!
If you’re reading this, then you’ve successfully arrived at Wild‘s new website. It’s been a few months in the making, and while there’s plenty more work to be done, I wanted to take the opportunity to reveal some of the new features of our site.
Our last website had been in place without any significant changes for quite a number of years and it had become evident that the technology that it was built upon would no longer meet the needs of our readers. More importantly, we recognise that the industry and our readership have also changed significantly since that website first arrived on the scene. Today, more people are reading online content via mobile and tablet devices, more people discover that content via search and social technologies – these are just a few of things that we wanted to improve on.
We also saw that much of the content that people love from Wild in print wasn’t translating well into digital; in fact, in many cases it wasn’t appearing on our website at all. The ‘departments’ that we have become renowned for, such as the ‘Profile‘, ‘Wishlist‘ and ‘Wild Shots‘ sections simply weren’t available via our website. The good news? Now they are.
What’s New
So what can you expect from this new website? Firstly, we’ve designed it so that it will adapt itself to meet your chosen device’s screen size. That means whether you’re reading us on iPhone, Android, PC or whatever else you might happen to be using, our website should be easily readable and user-friendly (although there will always be an occasional exception – read on if you’re having difficulties with any part of the website).
From the homepage we’ve included all the navigation you require to discover the information you’re looking for. Have a browse around the categories in our menu to see what’s available, or use the search bar to search a specific term. If there’s something specific that doesn’t appear to be available yet, please contact us directly so that we can rectify the issue as soon as possible.
At this point I’d like to highlight the Gear category, which also contains the first ever digitised Wishlist – a staple for the magazine that aims at providing an overview of the latest outdoor adventure gear available to the market. Check back from time to time as we update this list with new items, and click a product you’re interested in to discover more about it (in some cases clicking a product will direct you to a supplier or retailer website, unless we have a Tried & Tested review available).
In our sidebar, you’ll find a field where you’re able to easily subscribe to our free e-newsletter, the Wild Update, but if you want to instantly view any recent news snippets, we’ve also included an ‘Updates‘ list that reveals breaking stories, warnings and severe weather updates where relevant.
On that note: You may wish to update your eNewsletter subscriber details. This will allow us to ensure we’re delivering you with the most relevant, interesting information on a weekly basis.
As you scroll down the homepage you’ll see the latest News, Gear and Opinion articles we’ve published online. Opinion is a new category for Wild, which provides space for voices within the outdoor and conservation community to be heard on relevant issues.
For the first time, Wild articles also include the ability to leave a comment. A ‘Comments’ field should appear at the bottom of each article we publish, allowing you to give your two cents’ worth. However, to prevent spam or abuse of the comments, each comment will be held for moderation prior to being published online. Please allow 24 hours for us to publish your comments.
Where’s the ‘Wild Index’?
Many of our readers found our previous website to be a brilliant resource for searching for articles within our magazines. Whether it was to organise their own collection, discover more information for an upcoming trip, or even buy a specific issue, the ‘Wild Index‘ acted as the ultimate catalogue for all features and track notes that have ever appeared in print.
Sadly, sometime last year the Index crashed, since that time it has been completely unavailable.
The good news is that we are working to rebuild the Index as soon as possible, as we want to ensure the full Wild experience is made available to our online readers, so that even when a full article isn’t available online at least the issue it belongs to can be located and, if available, purchased and shipped. We ask all our readers to bear with us on this note, and we will update you all once the Index lives once again.
When Things Go Wrong
Inevitably, a new website will always have more teething issues than normal. Not only will we be busy placing as much backdated content on the site as possible in the coming weeks and months, we’ll be trying to enhance the experience still further at the same time. There’s more to come from Wild in the coming months, so we thank you in advance for your patience.
However, should you come across something that isn’t working, doesn’t look right or is just plain annoying, please send in your feedback immediately to web@primecreative.com.au.
From both the editorial and digital team at Wild, we sincerely hope you enjoy our new website.