Star Tribune website redesign launches

Star Tribune: Out with the old, in with the new.

​The Star Tribune finally launched its long-promised website redesign overnight, offering readers something more relaxed and better organized than "All the news that's fit to cram into every last pixel on the homepage."

It's the next stop on a journey that publisher Michael Klingensmith has said will eventually lead to a pay wall for at least some of the Strib's best content.

At first glance on a desktop screen this morning, everything looks cleaner, with less ad clutter, spread across three columns instead of four. Advertising appears more strategically placed, and larger without being a distraction. The homepage and major section fronts--news, politics, sports, entertainment etc.--all greet readers with top story boxes with rotating headlines and photos, and a stack of the top headlines.

On the main section fronts, you scroll down for breakout features, columnists, blogs, and multimedia. The text is now larger and easier to read, with a feature that lets you customize the size. Pages load noticeably faster. All stories now make it easier to share content on Facebook and Twitter. And photos get much bigger.

Here are the before and after shots:

Star Tribune, Monday, April 4.

​

Star Tribune, Tuesday, April 5.

​We haven't looked at the redesign on a tablet yet, but we suspect it will make for an easy read.

To news junkies, the overall effect will feel similar to the new Minnesota Public Radio News site locally, or the Los Angeles Times farther afield.

Star Tribune and MPR redesigns. Separated at birth.

​Klingensmith said in a statement that startribune.com clocked 171 million visits last year--40 percent of all traffic to the Twin Cities. We'll be watching to see if the new look and feel boosts those metrics--and for how readers react.