The CL ScooPP!

September 25, 2006

Hello all!

We're very pleased to announce that we're freshening up some key pages: the new iVillage homepage and channel homepages will launch Wednesday, 9/27. The following day, we're planning to launch new message board central pages (these are the pages that list all the boards for each channel).

Here's some info about the upcoming changes.

iVillage homepage and channel pages: What's in store:

First -- good news for you -- the new iVillage homepage will feature a special area for Daily Essentials. Now you'll be able to get your local weather, news headlines, your daily horoscope and gossip fix right here on iVillage.
Second -- good news for all of us -- the new homepage and channel homepages highlight interactive community features like message boards, blogs and photo galleries right in the center of the page.
Because video is becoming an ever-more important part of life online, iVillage videos are prominently featured on the new homepage and channel pages
The new pages are very open and inviting. The new look is even prettier than before!

Message Board Central pages: The old MBC pages had some big problems. The new designs make it easier for our visitors to find boards and to see just how many boards we have.

Main Message Board Central:

· The new main Message Board Central page lists "featured boards" at the top, and then lists each channel's message board topics. If you mouse-over a topic, you see the list of boards in that topic. For example, one of the topics under Pregnancy & Parenting is "Expecting Clubs". If you mouse over the Expecting Club topic, you'll see a "flyout" with a clickable list of all the Expecting Clubs. When visitors stop by the main Message Board Central page, they will be able to see just how many boards we really have.

· In addition, we're adding live feeds from boards to the Message Board Central page so visitors get a taste of the great conversations that take place on our boards.

Channel MBCs:

· On Channel MBC's, all boards will now be listed on one page. Now users will be able to use Ctrl F, type a word like "toddler" into the find box, and see a list of all our toddler boards -- without having to tab through multiple pages.

· The new designs make it easier to find boards. Each Message Board Central page features a "Find a board about…" search box at the top of the page. To move from one channel's board message board list to another channel's list, visitors can either choose from a dropdown box at the top ("Jump to message boards on…") or from a navigation bar on the right hand side of the page.

The new MBC designs are a change, and change isn't always easy. But if you had a board that was buried on pg 2 (or pg 8!) of the old message board central pages, you'll probably be very happy to hear that you're now front page news.

This topic is being discussed now on the P&P Team Board. We’d love to hear your thoughts - http://messageboards.ivillage.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=iv-ivparenting&msg=5242.1

Yours,

Susan
Senior Community Moderator
Pregnancy & parenting
iVillage.com