Christopher Winders -

Embrace the Block Editor: Accelerating Your Digital News Production

Embrace the Block Editor: Accelerating Your Digital News Production

The WordPress Block Editor (Gutenberg) represents a significant evolution in content creation, offering particular advantages for newspaper publishers looking to streamline their digital operations. At a time when publishing speed and visual presentation are paramount, the Block Editor provides tools that can transform your newsroom’s productivity and content quality. Our newspaper clients who have made the switch are reporting remarkable improvements in their publishing workflows and reader engagement metrics. The […]

OHT Dashboard Screen Options — A Refresher

OHT Dashboard Screen Options — A Refresher

An often overlooked item on the admin dashboard is the Screen Options tab that appears at the top right of several pages. It allows the user to toggle the visibility of individual items in the interface. For instance you may want to hide unused columns in a table listing or infrequently used panels in the Article editor. Let’s take a look at where the Screen Options are available and what […]

Front-End Optimizations and Speed Improvements on the OHT Platform

Front-End Optimizations and Speed Improvements on the OHT Platform

New Front-End Optimization Features Improve Site Performance Our engineering team has been hard at work on a new performance enhancement to the Our-Hometown publishing platform that will help your website load faster and run more efficiently. This update focuses on smart plugin management and improved front-end optimization. What’s New? We’ve implemented intelligent plugin loading that activates features only where they’re needed. This means your website will load faster because it’s […]

Block Editor Updates — New Layout Features

Block Editor Updates — New Layout Features

In this post we’ll take a look at often-used Layout blocks and some of the new feature and interface updates. Layout Blocks Group Block The Group block brings together other blocks inside one container so that you can set a background color, adjust spacing, and organize different page sections. In addition to being able to choose between the four different Group layouts when you initially add a Group block, you can also […]

Block Editor Updates — New Features for Handling Text

Block Editor Updates — New Features for Handling Text

Text Blocks There are several new options in the right sidebar for styling and handling typography in text-containing blocks: Each panel in the right sidebar now has a 3-dot menu allowing you to toggle additional controls for that particular text block: Table Block Table creation has been limited to the tools in the Classic Paragraph block (similar to the classic article editor itself), however we now have a dedicated Table […]

Platform Updates and New Block Editor Features

Platform Updates and New Block Editor Features

Text Blocks There are several new options in the right sidebar for styling and handling typography in text-containing blocks: Each panel in the right sidebar now has a 3-dot menu allowing you to toggle additional controls for that particular text block: Table Block Table creation has been limited to the tools in the Classic Paragraph block (similar to the classic article editor itself), however we now have a dedicated Table […]

How to get API keys for AI services

How to get API keys for AI services

Getting API keys from major AI service providers is essential for integrating their powerful models into your projects. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to obtain API keys from the most popular providers: OpenAI (ChatGPT) and Anthropic (the Claude series).

AI Tools to Summarize Public Meetings — LIVE Webinar Replay

AI Tools to Summarize Public Meetings — LIVE Webinar Replay

On February 6, 2025, Our-Hometown hosted a webinar demonstrating their new AI-powered tools designed to help journalists and publishers efficiently summarize and report on public meetings. The presentation focused on showing how their technology can transform lengthy YouTube videos of government meetings into structured, time-stamped summaries with key discussion points and decisions. Led by Matt (President/CEO) and Christopher (Marketing/AI Development), with attendance from Scott of the Gaffney Ledger, the webinar […]

Subscriptions in 2024: The FTC’s ‘Negative Option’ Rule Update

Subscriptions in 2024: The FTC’s ‘Negative Option’ Rule Update

In a move that’s sending ripples through the subscription-based industry, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is re-releasing its proposal to update the “negative option” rule for subscriptions. As of August 2024, this development is causing quite a stir in the publishing world, particularly for newspaper publishers who rely heavily on subscription models. At Our Hometown Web Publishing, we’re committed to keeping our clients informed about regulatory changes that could impact […]

Google’s $250M California News Deal: Boosting Journalism or Sidestepping Regulation?

Google’s $250M California News Deal: Boosting Journalism or Sidestepping Regulation?

In an era where digital platforms dominate information dissemination, the relationship between tech giants and traditional news publishers has been fraught with tension. Recently, a groundbreaking deal between Google and California news publishers has captured headlines, promising a $250 million investment in journalism over five years. This agreement, which replaces proposed legislation, aims to support journalism jobs and fund AI research. But what does this mean for the future of […]

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