Welcome Back!

We hope you’ve enjoyed a relaxing summer. Whether you’re a SNO newbie or a SNO pro, SNO Sites is here to welcome you to a new school year. Our staff has been busy over the summer making updates and adding to our platforms. Check out what we’ve been up to below!

SNO Ads

Our SNO Ads platform underwent a complete overhaul not only to improve its look, but also its functionality. Here are a few things you should know:

SNO Ad spaces are no longer rotational. Only one ad will display in a space at a time, ensuring the ad is seen by every site visitor. Because of this, we have increased the SNO Ad listing prices for you by default. We highly recommend visiting the SNO Ads tab in your site’s dashboard to check your ad prices and adjust them if needed.
While you’re there, you’ll notice the SNO Ads interface got a little makeover. Its look is updated, but options to activate ad spaces, set prices, and upload your own filler images remain the same.
SNOAds.com, which is where advertisers can upload ads and purchase available ad spaces, received the bulk of the updates. These include an updated interface, a new Ad Manager portal, and an updated purchasing system.

Learn more about our free SNO Ads program (including how to opt in) here.

Live Coverage

We’ve added a new tool to our SNO Site Booster bundle called Live Coverage. It allows users to cover an event via a story and add live updates to it as they unfold – think game coverage, school board meetings, breaking news, etc.

By default, updates will be added chronologically, but users can pin important updates to the top of the story, as well as add bylines and media to each update and customize its design.

Click here to see a sample of a Live Coverage story in action.

The Live Coverage tool is available with the SNO Site Booster add-on, which includes several other interactive tools like flipbooks, quizzes, infographics, and more. If you don’t currently subscribe but want to join in on the fun, order the Site Booster here.

Announcements

If you have a Marquee (scrolling news ticker) on the top of your site, you likely have set it to display “Breaking News” headlines.

If so, we’ve made a bit of a change. Now, instead of being called “Breaking News,” we’re calling these “Announcements.” The process for adding and updating them is the exact same – just visit the tab labeled “Announcements” in your SNO Dashboard.

If this doesn’t sound familiar to you, but you’d like to add a Marquee to your site, check out this support article to learn more.

ADA Compliance

We regularly check our sites for ADA compliance. As a result of our most recent checks, our developers implemented a handful of necessary changes – mostly small things you probably won’t notice.

While we can make sure the site’s defaults are all ADA compliant, it’s up to you to ensure your content and design choices maintain that compliance. We’ll discuss this more in a future SNO Report, but in the meantime, you can use this tool to check.

Awards

We know some of you are itching to submit to our Best of SNO and Distinguished Sites badge programs, and we promise you won’t have to wait much longer! Best of SNO will open for submissions on Monday, Sept. 16, with the rest of the Distinguished Sites badges set to open on Monday, Oct. 7. We’ll be sure to send out reminders prior to the opening dates.

Webinars

Starting next week, we’ll be hosting free webinars twice daily. Webinar topics will vary weekly and will cover everything involved in using SNO’s suite of services – from content basics to design tools to add-on features.

Click here to sign up for next week’s sessions, and keep an eye on your site’s dashboard for future sessions. Registration is required.