The West Virginia Standard : 2006 – 2008 (contract)
Designed and developed a series of newspaper websites for counties in West Virginia. Provided ongoing maintenance and on- site training, user account management, site updates, installation of Flash applications, audio and video functionality, and content management system integration.
Jeremy was hired in 2006 to design and develop an online newspaper system that would service a large swath of West Virginia. The paper was based around the idea that small, local papers with a focus on local news, rather than a single large paper servicing a large area as is common in many markets, would attract a larger viewership, and over time become very profitable. The client wanted to start with a online presence, The Lincoln Standard, and then move into more markets and allow it to become the basis for a print version with heavy advertising.
Jeremy hired and worked with 1up Software, a service in Indiana that specialized in online newspapers, to serve as the hosting company for the Standard properties. Jeremy provided the architecture for the newspaper, the design of the site, and all UI and graphical elements. He assisted in building the site, and integrating it into a dynamic, flash-based gateway that uses RSS feeds from the actual papers that he designed and built.
The client has specifically focused on the simplicity of the design of the site as a major reason for the paper's ongoing success, as the printed version matches closely the architecture Jeremy designed and developed, and which diverges significantly from the cluttered and link-heavy displays of the vast majority of online publications.
Jeremy implemented a Classifieds section that was integrated into all of the numerous papers under the WV Standard banner; a "global intranet" that allows for the sharing of content between different paper offices; a dynamic, rss-integrated home page that allows for users to easily find local and county news; a game section with online flash-based games directed towards a West Virginia audience; worked with local TV stations to add dynamic proprietary content into the WV Standard sites; and integrated third-party software applets into the site to allow for streaming audio and video.
The WV Standard quickly developed into a company with over 100 employees.