With the September issue of LEDs Magazine, we are launching a new digital edition format that we believe will enrich your experience reading our issue content and ultimately provide you with more convenience when you need to look back through prior issues. The new digital edition, or ezine, makes it easy to share content of interest with colleagues. The ezine is more readable on tablets. And if you need or desire, you can still download PDF copies of issues to your PC.
When the September issue, or subsequent issue, deploys, digital subscribers will get an email with a link to the new ezine. The ezine will also be available from our issue archive web page and from our homepage. The first time you view the ezine, you will have to enter your email address. So long as your system accepts a cookie, you will then have immediate access to the content on subsequent visits.
The new ezine experience is advanced to keep pace with browser and mobile technologies available now and in the future. You will see an issue table of contents along the left side of your screen. Along the top you will find search facilities, a zoom tool to size the image, a content share facility, a print tool, and a download tool that we will specifically discuss shortly. We believe that the user interface is both intuitive and efficient, and hope you agree. There is a help facility at the top right if you need it.
A major change that comes with the new ezine format is handling of archives. In the past, we have allowed password-protected access to PDFs from prior issues and to our previous issues in ezine format. Going forward, the archive situation will change a bit. But you will still get access to our new issues in the format that you desire.
First with regard to our archives that precede the September 2013 issue, the PDFs will remain available to you in the present location. The ezine versions of prior issues will no longer be available.
Going forward, access to our archives will be directly though the ezine edition. Look to the tabs on the left side of the ezine and you will see easy access to both the current issue and to back issues. That back issue tab will not access the content prior to September 2013. But six months from now, for instance, you will have access directly in the ezine to the March 2014 issue and all content going back to September 2013.
Obviously, the ezine access depends on an Internet connection. These days high-speed access is widely available in most settings, including on many air carriers now. We've tested the technology on cellular networks and it works surprisingly well. Our research shows that most readers prefer the ezine format and archival access to other formats such as PDFs.
Still, you can get PDFs of the content if you want, for instance, to keep your own local library of our content or to prepare for a situation in which you will not have Internet access. Simply access the current issue or an ezine-archived issue using the tabs on the left and then click the download button in the upper right of the top navigation bar. You can download the PDF of interest.
Of course, we also post all of our feature articles from issues in HTML format on our website. So you can access our content using a standard browser and search tools such as Google as well. We have more changes in store for you in the coming months including improved web access and a better mobile experience.
If you have any questions or comments about the ezine edition or our content strategy, please email or call Editor-in-Chief Maury Wright (858-748-6785).
