MarsNews.com has been completely redesigned, and many new features have been added. Read this guide to understand the changes and how to make full use of all the new features and capabilities.

New Website Features

Mission Status Center
The Mission Status Center is a one-stop location for the latest information about current missions to Mars. Coverage for each of the five current missions includes mission status reports, the most recent news articles, and links to the mission overviews provided by MarsNews.com.

NewsWire Database
Tailored for news junkies, the NewsWire Database is made up of links to over four thousand news articles (from 1996 to the present) the NewsWire Database. The articles are organized into categories representing major topics for Mars exploration as well as individual missions. The article information includes a brief description of the article, and a direct link to the complete article on the original publisher's website.

Mars Weather Center
Using data provided by NASA/Ames's Mars Atmospheric Modelling Group, the Mars Weather Center provides daily updates on the temperature, amount of water vapor, and current position of Mars in relation to the Earth. An additional link is provided to access weekly dust abundance reports from the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, provided by Malin Space Science Systems.

Articles by MarsNews.com
Articles published by MarsNews.com are now featured in a separate section of site. Readers can comment on individual articles, and the section provides a new publishing capability for MarsNews.com.

Event Calendar
Get the details on upcoming Mars-related events, such as mission, news, and entertainment happenings. Readers can also submit their own events.

Upgraded Features

New Website Backend
We have upgraded MarsNews.com to utilize the powerful and award-winning Movable Type weblogging technology. This will provide increased speed and reliablity, and offers many advantages over the original Perl-based backend, which powered the site during the first five years of operation.

Updated Focus Sections and Mission Overviews
All Focus Sections and Mission Overviews have been updated and some have been expanded. There is also new coverage of past missions, such as the Viking and Mariner programs.

Inline Commenting & Trackbacks
Readers can now comment on individual news entries, including every article in the NewsWire Database. "Trackbacks" (a feature provided by the Movable Type engine) allow other weblogs to link directly to individual entries on MarsNews.com, and a transitive link is created between the two websites.

RSS 2.0 Newsfeeds
Really Simple Syndication (RSS) newsfeeds allow other websites to publish our NewsWire content. RSS feeds are provided for each category of the NewsWire, as well as the Event Calendar, recent comments, and the latest articles from the front page. End-users can also read our RSS news feeds with alternative programs and devices.

We hope you enjoy all that the new website has to offer. Additional features will be developed over the next few weeks and months. If you have any suggestions for further improvements we can make to the site, please let us know by contacting us.

After all, MarsNews.com is YOUR website!

Posted by jburk at March 5, 2004 12:00 AM | TrackBack