MINNEAPOLIS – With FLWOutdoors.com’s latest Web site redesign, everything you need to know about competitive fishing is only one click away.
You want to read coverage about the world’s best bass pros at the latest Wal-Mart FLW Tour event? Scroll and click. Last week’s Wal-Mart Kingfish Series event? Scroll and click.
The priority entry deadline is fast approaching for a Wal-Mart BFL event and you just found your guaranteed co-angler? Accessing online registration is a single click away.
Need to know the standings of pros competing on the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour? Scroll and click.
This ease of operation and site navigation comes to you courtesy of the latest step up the evolutionary ladder for the official Web site of FLW Outdoors, the world’s premier tournament fishing organization.
A new home
The first thing visitors are likely to notice about the redesign is a dramatic change in the look of all the home pages. But the change isn’t just a fresh coat of paint; it signals a radical shift in content organization, aimed at providing a better Web experience for fishing fans.
On the FLW Outdoors main page – still at URL FLWOutdoors.com, of course – six of the most compelling and recent articles will share top billing as they rotate through the lead story slot. Each rotation gives viewers some time to survey the news at hand, complete with headlines, lead photo and a descriptive teaser before moving on to the next story in line.
But if you want to pick and choose which of the top six stories you’d like to survey at your own pace, simply scroll over the six thumbnail images in the bar below the lead story slot. When you do, you’ll enlarge the thumbnail and the story’s headline will appear below. Click on the thumbnail to move that story into the lead slot. If you like what you see and want to learn more, simply click on the story’s headline or the “Full Story” link to get to the article in its entirety.
This same format for organizing top stories is used across all of the home pages for each of FLW Outdoors’ 12 circuits. To the right of the lead story’s slot on each page, you’ll also find articles in line-item format under the heading “Latest News.” Simply click on a headline to read the article. Next to the “Latest News” button near the top of each home page, you’ll also have the option of surveying either “Recent Stories” – older than “Latest News” – or “Sponsor Stories.”
Angler profiles are still available and accessible as a link at the top of each page or from a jump point under each circuit’s scrollover navigation. The same holds for accessing online tournament registration.
Departments on the block
On the FLW Outdoors home page, you’ll find a neat compartmentalization of all FLWOutdoors.com’s exclusive content – from “Tips & Techniques” to “Ask the Pro” to “Performance Psychology.”
A few of the latest entries for each category will appear as links in each compartment. Click on the one you want to read, and that article will appear along with links to that section’s archives at the right.
In this same area you’ll find other important content like what’s coming up on television for “FLW Outdoors” on FSN, intriguing feature articles and a sampler of FLW Outdoors Magazine content, just to name some of the building blocks that comprise the middle section of the FLW Outdoors home page.
Below this area, FLWOutdoors.com offers visitors a weekly poll question, news and photos from our readers, and a container to inform about what’s on the immediate horizon in terms of special programs offered by FLW Outdoors’ official Web site.
And near the middle of the main home page, you’ll find graphic links to many of FLWOutdoors.com’s favorite promotions, programs or features – from the popular FLW Outdoors Fantasy Fishing Challenge to solunar tables.
How do I find different circuits?
One of the significant changes to FLWOutdoors.com is the ease of navigation. From the Web site’s main home page, you can get almost anyplace you need to go with one click of your computer mouse.
Near the top of the home page, FLW Outdoors’ circuits are grouped under three areas: bass tours, walleye tours and saltwater tours. Scroll over any of the three and the various circuits within that category will appear. From there, scroll over the circuit of your choice and either click on it to jump straight to its home page or hold on the circuit for a more specific option. From FLWOutdoors.com’s home page, you can jump specifically to, for example, a circuit’s latest news or standings or rules with a simple scroll-and-click maneuver.
If you don’t find what you’re looking for under the three categories of circuits, try scrolling over the “More” link near the top and see what options are available. And just like with the main home page, each circuit’s home page also has various other important links near the top.
Land fishing news on your desktop
A brand-new feature of the new FLWOutdoors.com allows you to get news delivered directly to your computer desktop or a variety of hand-held computing devices. Subscribe to FLWOutdoors.com’s RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds to activate this function. The RSS link appears above the “Latest News” section of each home page. Click on the link to learn more about this feature and how to subscribe.
RSS is an XML-based format for sharing and distributing Web content such as news headlines. Using an RSS reader, you can view data feeds from various news sources, such as FLWOutdoors.com, including headlines, summaries and links to full stories.
We hope you enjoy all the new features at FLWOutdoors.com as well as the ones you have grown familiar with over the years.