As part of the transition of the Homer News to new owner Sound Publishing, the Homer News moved its website to a new platform last Friday.

The new format and look offers a cleaner, fresher appearance, with simpler navigation tools.

In May, Seattle-based Sound Publishing Inc. purchased the Homer News, Peninsula Clarion and Juneau Empire from GateHouse Media.

The papers had previously been owned by Morris Publishing Group. Sound Publishing uses a WordPress platform for its websites, and the conversion to the new platform makes the Alaska papers consistent with other Sound publications for internet technology purposes.

“Elements on the WordPress website also can be organized with our news management software,” said Homer News editor Michael Armstrong. “That makes it easier for us to organize stories and photos, and change story order for things like breaking news or periodic web updates.”

The Homer News is the first of the Alaska Sound Publishing papers to move to the new web platform.

The switch came after several weeks of tinkering and training, and some fine tuning is anticipated.

Though the web platform has changed, the address remains the same: www.homernews.com.