1. WGBH:
“SNOWMAGEDDON”
TEMPLATE PROTOTYPE

2. WHAT IS SNOWMAGEDDON?
Snowmageddon is a breaking news and
event template prototype that serves as a
landing page for all of your coverage.
It’s meant to be easy and quick to setup
and update as the event changes.
The template pulls in content from you as
well as user generated content.

3. THE
TEMPLATE
Desktop

4. THE
TEMPLATE
Mobile

5. HOW IT WORKS

6. HOW IT WORKS
 Hosted on the DS servers
 Able to handle a larger number of requests.
 Page auto-refreshes so users are up to date.
 Lightweight:
 Site includes HTML, CSS, Config file and JS files.
 Easy to use:
 Config file allows you to change branding, event information
and content on the page.
 You’re given access to the DS servers to send updates to the
file.

7. HOW IT WORKS
 Config file controls:
 Slider Images
 Station Name
 Event Name
 Listen Live Link
 Support/Donate Link
 Breaking News Label
 Breaking News Content
 Support Email
 Google Analytics ID
 API Updated Story
 Instagram Feeds

8. HOW IT WORKS
 Staf f updates the following:
 Before event:
 Config File
 Branding
 Event name
 Map
 Instagram #hashtags
 Story IDs
 Picasa ID
 Picasa (to pre-fill the slideshow)
 During event:
 Core Publisher stories
 Main story
 Breaking news bar
 Config File
 Instagram #hashtags
 Event name (if needed)
 Picasa

9. FEATURES

10. BRANDING
Built-In
 Logo & Favicon
 Colors
Config Changes
 Station name
 Event name
 Support email
 Listen live button link
 Support button link

11. IMAGES
 Station Generated
 Picasa slideshow
 API driven
 UGC
 Instagram images based
on #hashtags related to
the event
 EX: #Boston, #WBGHSnow

12. CONTENT
 Main story and breaking
news ticker are backed
by the NPR API.
 Drop the story IDs and
API key into the config
file then the story and
ticker will appear on the
template.
 Staf f updates story and
breaking news section
in Core Publisher.
 Page auto-refreshes for
the most recent version.

13. MAPS
 Live Radar
 Update config file with
URL for your location
from
wunderground.com
 Traffic
 Update config file with
URL for your location
from mapquest.com

14. MORE CONTENT
Twitter
 Create a Twitter List
of resources that
you’d like your
readers to have and
we’ll add the widget
to the page.

15. MORE CONTENT
RSS
 We’ll build the feed into
the page.
 Ask yourself: What else
do your readers need to
know? What do you
want to highlight?
 MTBA updates
 School closures

16. MOBILE FEATURES
Mobile Weather
 Created so that your
mobile users have
quicker access to
weather besides the map.
 Update the RSS link in
the config file to change
to your location.

17. MOBILE FEATURES
Mobile Support Feature
 Because the mobile
button
disappears, we’ve
created an additional
button at the bottom of
the page.

18. QUESTIONS & ANSWERS