1. The Recommended Standard: OHT PDF Export Preset

For the most reliable results, we provide a standardized Adobe PDF Preset (.joboptions). This file automatically configures all technical requirements, including compatibility modes, font embedding, and transparency flattening.

Installation Instructions:

1. Download: Save the OHT-PDF-Export.zip file to your workstation.
2. Extract: Locate the ZIP file on your computer and double-click (or right-click and select “Extract”) to reveal the OHT-PDF-Export.joboptions file inside.
3. Load: In Adobe InDesign, navigate to File > Adobe PDF Presets > Define…
4. Import: Click Load, select the downloaded file, and click Done.

Usage: When exporting your final layout, go to File > Export, select Adobe PDF (Print), and choose “OHT PDF Export” from the Adobe PDF Preset dropdown menu.

2. Manual Configuration & Audit Guidelines

If you are incorporating our requirements into an existing custom workflow, please audit your settings to ensure they match the following specifications:

General Specifications

• Compatibility: Must be set to Acrobat 4 (PDF 1.3).
  • Technical Note: This legacy standard ensures that text layers remain accessible to our extraction tools without being obscured by modern transparency containers.
• Export Layers: Set to Visible Layers. This prevents non-printing “slug” or “pasteboard” content from interfering with the extraction of the text elements.

Compression & Image Handling

• Compression: Use Bicubic Downsampling to 300 ppi with Maximum JPEG Quality.
• Crop Image Data to Frames: (Default: Checked)
  • The Full-Extraction Option: By default, our preset is configured to crop image data to the frame to keep file sizes manageable. However, if you prefer that we extract the full, uncropped source photo for use on your website, simply uncheck this box. This allows our system to access the entire original photograph even if it is tightly cropped in your print layout.

Font & Transparency Integrity

• Font Subsetting: Set to 0%.
  • Requirement: This forces the embedding of the complete character set, eliminating the risk of “garbled” text or missing glyphs during the conversion to web content.
• Transparency Flattener: Set to High Resolution.
  • Requirement: Since Acrobat 4 does not support live transparency, this setting ensures that text overlapping transparent elements remains “Live” and searchable rather than being rasterized into an image.

3. Content Integrity: Best Practices

To maintain the highest data quality, please observe the following “Do Not” rules during your production process:

• Do Not Convert Text to Outlines: Our extraction engine requires “Live” font data. Converting text to paths/outlines renders the content unreadable by our system.
• Minimize Hidden Layers: Ensure that “ghost” text boxes or old versions of stories are deleted rather than simply hidden behind other objects. Our tools may still attempt to extract data from overlapping hidden elements.

4. Managing External Advertising Assets

Display advertisements provided by third-party agencies often contain complex nested PDF data or non-standard fonts that can disrupt the extraction of surrounding editorial content.

• The Rasterization Standard: If a specific advertisement consistently causes PDF errors or contains “invisible” OCR text, we recommend opening the ad in Photoshop at 300 dpi (CMYK) and saving it as a High-Quality TIFF or JPG.
• The Result: Placing this flattened image into your InDesign layout removes all problematic background code while preserving print and web quality.

Technical Support — If you require assistance installing the OHT PDF Export preset or would like a member of our team to review your current export settings, please contact our production support department at ops@our-hometown.com.

The post PDF Export Guide: Optimizing for Our-Hometown Web Publishing first appeared on Our-Hometown.

It was a great solution for its time, but the digital landscape has changed dramatically.

In 2026, publishers are no longer competing only with social media or aggregator sites. They are competing with AI systems capable of scraping, repackaging, and redistributing content at scale. And unfortunately, metered paywalls are uniquely vulnerable to this new reality.

Why Metered Paywalls Worked — Until They Didn’t

The metered model was built on a the assumption that users behave like individuals. A single reader typically uses just one browser, a small number of devices, a limited number of IP addresses, and cookies that track article views.

Metered paywalls track article counts via cookies and IP logging. When the limit is reached, access is restricted. For human readers, this works reasonably well, but for AI-driven scraping systems, it doesn’t offer the same kind of content protection.

How AI Exploits Metered Systems

Modern scraping systems do not operate like traditional bots from a single IP address. Instead, they use:

• Rotating IP address pools
• Distributed cloud infrastructure
• Headless browsers that mimic human behavior
• Cookie resets and session spoofing
• Residential proxy networks

In other words, an AI system can access your content as if it were thousands of different “first-time readers.” Every request looks legitimate, and every session appears new; so the Meter never ticks down.

This means that AI systems can summarize and redistribute your content, republishing it on aggregator sites, using it to train AI models, or even sharing it freely to individuals via AI chat tools.

The Solution: The Hard Paywall

Although our platform engineers are frequently blocking bots and AI crawlers, it is virtually impossible to block them all and eliminate any risk of AI stealing your content. The most effective way of preventing this is to implement the age old “hard paywall.”

A hard paywall removes the “preview” model entirely and forces a user to purchase a paid subscription in order to access any content. Under this model, automated scraping by AI becomes significantly more difficult and costly. While no system is invulnerable, hard paywalls dramatically raise the barrier.

Of course, this change is not about punishing or limiting readers, but rather about protecting journalism. Metered paywalls were designed in an era where the biggest threat was casual sharing. Today, the threat is automated content scraping at industrial scale.

If you’re currently using a Metered Paywall and have concerns about your content being scraped or stolen, you may want to consider switching to a Hard Paywall model. Our team can help you make this change at any time. Just email our support team at ops@our-hometown.com to get started!

The post The Metered Paywall Problem in the Age of AI first appeared on Our-Hometown.

The three pillars of accountability established by the Government in the Sunshine Act include the distribution of public notices, FOIA, and open access to public meetings. Serving as a neutral entity that is both free from outside influence and publicly accessible, newspapers have held the distinction of being a community’s primary source for public notices. These notices, in turn, have provided papers with a consistent revenue source that has helped maintain their operations.

As news coverage across the country shrinks, many communities have been left without a consistent source of local news. The UNC Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media defines these “news deserts” as “a community, either rural or urban, with limited access to the sort of credible and comprehensive news and information that feeds democracy at the grassroots level.” 

Based on 2025 reports by Northwestern MEDILL, the number of communities without a reliable local news source has hit a record high in the past year. 136 newspapers have closed in the past year, leading to 213 counties being considered “news deserts,” and an additional 1,524 counties only having one active newspaper.

There is some hope, though, as many publishers and local governments are taking steps to adapt to the modern media environment. In 2025, 80% of local news startups in the past five years have been digital publications. With new publications adopting a more digital-focused and cost-effective model, state and local legislators are revising many of their guidelines around public notices.

The past year has seen the passage of at least nine pieces of legislation directly referencing the lack of newspapers in specific communities, which now allows public notices to be published either on a digital news website or within a newspaper adjacent to or related to the region without a dedicated publication of its own. These laws span across multiple states, including Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, South Dakota, and Texas.

While some may see this loosening of guidelines around public notice publication as a step towards reducing the role newspapers play in community accountability, it is preferable to the move towards removing newspaper publication requirements entirely, as some states have begun passing. 

The main takeaway from this development is that digital news publications can now be seen as equally valid as print newspapers. This is further enforced by the number of states that have moved within the past year to begin developing digital databases exclusively dedicated to public notices. 

As these trends continue, companies like Our-Hometown are developing paths forward to both help legacy papers increase their digital publication capabilities through programs like the Digital Initiative and increase coverage areas to combat news deserts through their Public Meetings tools.

The post How News Deserts Impact Public Notice Legislation first appeared on Our-Hometown.

Some state governments have recently begun attempting to implement new laws to mandate a digital-first publishing policy for public notices. Citing the waning relevance of print media, these institutions argue that digital notice publication would increase the accessibility of this information to the wider public.

Beyond the negative impact this change would have on their financial viability, many newspapers argue that digital-only public information would actually reduce the trustworthiness of this information. With government-controlled public information dissemination, facts can be skewed or omitted that otherwise wouldn’t be if published by an independent institution. Digital records are also much easier to change or outright remove than information that is physically printed and preserved.

This debate has prompted many states to come to a compromise where all records that are required to be published in a Newspaper of Public Record must also be made available on that publication’s website or within a statewide directory of notices. Currently, 20 states have outlined guidelines and requirements for the digital publication of public notices in partnership with newspapers. 

In order to maintain this compromise, it is more vital than ever for newspapers to establish an online presence. A thriving digital news website proves that a publication has the relevance required to justify its designation as a Newspaper of Record and that it is the best possible outlet for disseminating public information. 

Many statewide press associations have taken on a critical role in preserving the connection between public notices and newspapers. Part of their strategy in working with lawmakers to strengthen this connection has been ensuring as many members as possible are publishing digitally. As Betsy Edwards, Executive Director of the Virginia Press Association, explains: “We would not want those legislators to drill too deep and find out that there were a dozen newspapers that were VPA members that didn’t have a website because that kind of like ruins our argument quite honestly.”

Forty-five states, including Virginia, have also created digital repositories of public notices that are linked to each newspaper’s website in the state. , This removes some of the administrative burden of publishing notices online for individual papers while keeping them separated from government institutions. 

While public notices are just one element of a publication’s responsibility and business model, they serve a critical role in maintaining the public utility of each region’s newspaper. Adding digital public and legal notices not only helps to strengthen this connection but also opens these local institutions up to wider visibility and revenue opportunities.

The post The Fight to Save Public Notices Relies on Digital Publishing first appeared on Our-Hometown.

Blue Host

1. Log in to your Bluehost Account Manager: Access your account through the Bluehost website. 
2. Navigate to Accounts & Users: Click on the profile icon (top right) and select “Accounts & Users”. 
3. Manage the Account: Locate the account you want to manage and click the “MANAGE” button. 
4. Add a User: Scroll down to the “User Roles & Permissions” section and click the “+ ADD USER” button. 
5. Enter User Details: Input the new user’s name (Our-Hometown) and email address (ops@our-hometown.com). Choose the appropriate “Administrator” role from the dropdown menu. 
6. Send Invitation: Click “INVITE” to send an email invitation to the user.

GoDaddy

1. Go to your GoDaddy Delegate Access page. You might be prompted to sign in.
2. In the People who can access my account section, select Invite to Access.
   
3. Enter the Name (Our-Hometown) and Email address (ops@our-hometown.com).
   
4. Select the “Domains Only” access level.
   
5. Select Invite.

Host Gator

1. Log in to your HostGator Customer Portal: Go to the HostGator website and log in to your account. 
2. Access User Roles & Permissions: Navigate to the “Account & Users” section, select your account, and then find the “User Roles & Permissions” section. 
3. Add a New User: Click the “+ Add User” button. 
4. Enter User Details: Provide the user’s name (Our-Hometown) and email address (ops@our-hometown.com). 
5. Assign the Administrator Role: Select “Admin” as the user’s role, granting them full access to your account except for updating the primary and WHOIS registrant information. 
6. Send the Invitation: Click the “Invite” button to send an email invitation to the user. 

Name Cheap

1.  Sign in to your Namecheap account (The Sign In option is available in the header of the page).
2. Select Domain List from the left sidebar and click on the Manage option in front of the domain name you would like to share access for:
   
3. Choose the Sharing & Transfer tab from the top menu and find the Share Access section. Simply input the new manager’s email address (ops@our-hometown.com) into the New Manager field and click Add:
   
4. Enter your account password in the appropriate field to confirm that you wish to share access to these settings with your new domain manager:
   

Network Solutions

Please add “admin@our-hometown.com” to your Network Solutions account with the role of “Technical” following the instructions below:

Accessing Users & Roles/Accounts & Users

1. Log in to your Network Solutions® account via https://www.networksolutions.com/my-account/login.
2. Click the drop-down arrow next to your name on the upper right corner of your Account Manager’s Main Dashboard.
3. Select Users & Roles or Accounts & Users.
   
   Note: Customers with a single account will see Users & Roles under My Profile, while customers with multiple accounts will see Accounts & Users.

Sending Account User Invite

Once you have accessed the Users & Roles or Accounts & Users page, please follow the steps below:

1. Click the +ADD USER button under User Roles & Permissions.
2. Once a pop-up window appears, please enter the Name and Email of the user you would like to invite.
3. Select the user’s role, then click INVITE.
   

The post Domain Transfer Guide first appeared on Our-Hometown.

Our-Hometown invites you to join us for a LIVE WEBINAR highlighting our Digital Initiative program on September 4th at 1PM Eastern!

We are honored to be joined by special guest Betsy Edwards, the Executive Director of the Virginia Press Association (VPA), who will share her perspective on how the program has helped news publishers in Virginia, as well as answer questions from the audience.

The Digital Initiative program aims to assist newspaper publications nationwide by offering affordable web solutions and revenue opportunities through a partnership with local press associations and independent publishers.

Key benefits of the program are listed below:

• Offer members a high-value digital solution with no setup costs
• “Digital Initiative” discount for your members
  • 100% off setup costs for basic website
  • 50% off monthly costs first year
  • 10% “Association Discount” continues after first year indefinitely
• White-label or co-branded initiative puts your association front and center
• Easy onboarding for any size newspaper
• Trackable results and ongoing tech support

Newspapers who enroll in the program are entitled to a modern, mobile-friendly website designed on Our-Hometown’s WordPress Platform and equipped with a variety of features and plugins to help grow your audience and introduce additional revenue streams.

This webinar is free to attend. Please fill out the form below to register, or click the button below to join on the day of the webinar!

The post Register for a LIVE WEBINAR on Our-Hometown’s Digital Initiative on September 4th first appeared on Our-Hometown.

We understand the importance of a seamless user experience for your audience. Our goal with this update was to empower your readers with a cleaner, more efficient way to interact with their accounts, ultimately leading to greater satisfaction and engagement.

Key Benefits of the New Dashboard for Your Readers (and Your Site):

• Improved User Experience: The new dashboard boasts a clean, modern design that makes finding account-related information quicker and easier. A smoother experience means happier readers and fewer support inquiries for common tasks.
• Intuitive Navigation: We’ve organized the most frequently used features with clear icons and labels. Whether your readers are updating their profile, managing subscriptions, or changing their password, the process is now more straightforward.
• Dedicated, Clear Sections: The dashboard is now logically structured into distinct sections, making it effortless for readers to:
  • Edit Profile: Update personal information and preferences.
  • Manage Subscriptions: Easily control active subscriptions and payment methods.
  • Email Newsletters: Customize newsletter preferences from one convenient location.
  • Change Password: A prominent and clear section for secure password updates.
  • Logout: A simple option to log out of their account.
• Modern and Responsive Design: The new dashboard adapts seamlessly to any device – desktop, tablet, or smartphone – ensuring an optimal experience for all your readers, regardless of how they access your site.
• Reduced Friction: By simplifying the account management process, we aim to reduce any friction points for your subscribers, encouraging continued engagement and renewals.

This enhanced Account Management Dashboard represents our ongoing commitment to providing state-of-the-art tools and features for your publications. We believe this improvement will directly benefit your readers by offering a superior online experience, which in turn strengthens their connection to your brand.

We encourage you to explore this new dashboard on your own website. If you have any questions or require further assistance, please reach out to your dedicated Our-Hometown support team at ops@our-hometown.com.

Thank you for being a valued partner!

The Our-Hometown Team

The post Announcing an Enhanced Account Management Dashboard for Your Readers first appeared on Our-Hometown.

At Our-Hometown, we’re constantly working to enhance the usability and efficiency of your platform. This new checkout experience is all about making purchases faster, smoother, and more convenient than ever before, ultimately leading to better conversion rates for your site.

What’s New & Why It’s So Convenient

The core of this enhancement lies in its seamless integration with popular payment solutions, transforming the way your readers complete their purchases:

Effortless Auto-Fill with Google Pay & Apple Pay: Imagine your customers Browse, finding something they love, and completing their purchase with just a tap! With our new system, if they choose to pay using Google Pay or Apple Pay, all their billing and shipping information will be automatically pre-filled. This means:

• No More Typing: Say goodbye to fumbling with credit card numbers and addresses on a tiny keyboard or even a full-sized one.
• Lightning Speed: Transactions are completed in seconds, reducing friction and abandonment.
• Built-in Security: Leveraging the inherent security features of these payment platforms (like Face ID or Touch ID on mobile, or Touch ID on compatible desktop Macs) for peace of mind.

Improved PayPal Integration: For those who prefer PayPal, we’ve also refined its integration to ensure a smoother and more reliable transaction process, whether they’re on a desktop or their mobile device.

The Benefits for Your Audience:

• Unmatched Speed: Your mobile customers will experience lightning-fast transactions, getting them from product to purchase in record time.
• Effortless Convenience: Whether they’re on the bus, in line, or simply browsing from their couch, purchasing is now simpler than ever.
• Reduced Cart Abandonment: Minimizing typing and maximizing one-tap options dramatically lowers the chances of users giving up on their purchase due to a cumbersome process.

How it works

When a reader hits the prompt to subscribe:

1. They will be asked to login by either providing their email and setting up a password OR they can tap on the “Login with Google,” which will allow them to login with just a tap and a confirmation.
2. Once the account has been authorized from Google or created anew, the user will be presented with payment options:
   • Via credit card (this works as before, requiring manual entry or relying on browser autofill).
   • Via Apple/Google payments (depending on the device), which will auto-fill all the required information directly from your payment account. This includes billing and shipping information needed for print subscription delivery.
   • Via PayPal, offering another seamless and secure payment method.
3. Once the purchase is complete, the user’s MemberPress account (either created earlier or during checkout) will be populated with all of the contact information from the transaction.

This update is a testament to our ongoing commitment to providing you and your readers with the most modern and efficient tools available. We believe this mobile-first approach to checkout will significantly improve the purchasing journey on your site, leading to a better experience for your customers and increased conversions for you.

If you would like your readers to experience this new checkout process, reach out to us at ops@our-hometown.com so we can assist with setting up your subscriptions to use the new plugin.

As always, thank you for being a valued partner. We look forward to continuing to innovate and support your publishing success.

The post Streamlined Subscriptions: Introducing Our Enhanced Checkout Experience first appeared on Our-Hometown.

One of the most powerful aspects of the Block Editor is the ability to use multiple different types of blocks together to create a more dynamic final product without the need to learn how to code or design pages in photoshop. All of the tools you need are available right in the Block Editor!

Follow along as our host walks the audience through various different ways to format and present text in the Block Editor, as well as how to combine these elements effectively to create more compelling page layouts using Grids, Groups and other container blocks.

As always, this webinar is available to Our-Hometown customers at no cost! Just fill out the form below to register and keep an eye on your email for a link to join the webinar on the morning of June 13th!

The post Block Editor Overview: More Text, Plus Grids and Groups on June 13th, 11AM EST first appeared on Our-Hometown.

Readers can always control what notifications are being sent, plus a history of all notifications for reference.

Notifications do require the user to allow for browser notifications, and will be prompted when enabling the feature to accept the permissions update for the website. This will need to be done for each browser a reader may use, but once done the settings will persist until disable notifications or revoke the site permissions.

The appearance of the notifications is determined by the operating system and the browser being used, with some also offering an audible alert as well as the text alert.

News Notifications Dashboard

The Notifications Dashboard page in the Admin section of the website provides analytics on how many notifications have been sent as well as the click-through rate so you can assess the engagement of your readers.

Notification Settings

The Notification Settings page provides options for enabling notifications per category, each with it’s own schedule, plus the settings for Breaking News alerts.

Let’s take a look at these settings in detail.

Category Display

The first setting is whether you would like all category alerts to be grouped on the Notifications panel. If grouped the reader can subscribe to a “News Alerts” channel which will sign them up for all the category notifications (with individual schedules) that you have set up. Other wise with this setting toggled OFF, the reader can then subscribe to each category channel individually.

Select Categories

Tick the box next to any categories you would like to include in the Notifications Panel and you will be presented with scheduling options for each:

• Send instantly (on publication of new content)
• Send at Specific Times: Add as many time slots as you would like for notifications from this particular category. Click the Add Time button to specify additional notification times.

Breaking News

This feature provides the same scheduling options as categories, but for any article set to Breaking News when published, regardless of category.

Reach out to us at ops@our-hometown.com today, so we can assist you in getting this feature set up and increase reader engagement for your website!

The post News Notifications Now Available For Your Readers first appeared on Our-Hometown.