SAPO tries new homepage

(Updated) SAPO put online today the preliminary version of the new Homepage that has been worked on in the last months and where the emphasis is on news and access to thematic areas. The final version is expected to be released in the coming weeks.

The renovation of the image of the portals ‘homepage is a constant work, which seeks to adapt the presentation of the contents to the evolution of the users’ interests. Since its creation 14 years ago, SAPO has undergone several image changes on a regular basis, the last major change being dated 2007, with some minor renovations already in 2008.

SAPO source told TeK that the objective remains to “add the best content in Portugal available on the Internet”, keeping the focus on the news content that has made SAPO “a reference among Portuguese portals”, but also opening space for others entertainment and community content, which gain more importance.

“One of our concerns is to give more visibility to the contents of so many and such good partners that we have at SAPO”, explains the same source, stressing that in this area a great leap has been made that could allow the continued growth of the portal, which is already close to 90 million pageviews and with 900 thousand visitors per day.

Users are now invited to leave their opinion on the changes and the feedback “has been very positive”. “We are very sure, also due to the reaction of users, that this is clearly a qualitative leap”, says a source from SAPO who guarantees that, if the dynamics continues, in the next two to three weeks the final version of the new homepage will go online.

This preliminary version is the result of several usability studies, eyetracking and surveys to different groups of users, and is now open to comments from a wider audience, similar to what SAPO has been doing in recent years.

The new area of ​​news highlights, with more space for photos and images, and choices of tabs that will remain on the next visit, and the focus on major thematic areas are some of the changes, including the introduction of a space for the Technology on the Homepage.

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Behind the changes are significant technical changes that result from the use of new web standards, such as HTML5 and microformats. The widgets they also gain a new space, with greater prominence in SAPO International.

Editor’s Note: As readers know, TeK is a SAPO brand, being Casa dos Bits’ editorial responsibility. [18:22] The news was updated with more information and statements from a company source.