Hi all,
I just want to take a few moments to announce our new mega portal. This is not the official announcement, just for lebgeeks :)

This has been an on going project for quite some time.
The outcome is a small step for us as it is much much more, and this is just the first item on the list.

Our old http://www.nowlebanon.com has changed, just click the link :)

Platform:
- The platform currently used is similar to any newspaper.
The workflow can be configured and changed interally to fit the needs of all the teams [and sections].

- We developed an online proprietary "Tool" whereby any article can actually have a "brief" for designers.
Designers use the online tool from the backend to do live design and preview of the articles.
This tool is unique in performance and output. It supports adding columns, grid alignments, flash, overlaying items [images,texts], etc.

Some examples of articles
flash
https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/specialreports/honeymooners_in_northern_italy
https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/specialreports/electoral_laws_side_by_side1

Magazine like articles:
https://now.mmedia.me/lb/ar/%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%87%D8%AF%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%83%D9%85/%D9%85%D8%B5%D9%88%D8%B1_%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%A8_%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%86%D8%B3%D9%8A_%D9%8A%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%A6%D9%85_%D8%AD%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%A8_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%83%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AF_%D9%88%D9%81%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AA_%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%B1%D9%86_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%B9_%D8%B9%D8%B4%D8%B11

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/10questions/10_questions_for_reem_acra

- Other than the tool, we support several built-in templates and the tool can also be used to create more and more templates.

- Ads [targetted]

- Internal analytics, performance logs and reports.

- Mobile edition

- iPad [submitted]

- Will be followed by several platforms in the coming months.

Technology
The platform is built on .Net 4.0.
All the team (desgners/developers) is internal.
All of old nowlebanon.com archive (over 300 000 articles) migrated with their comments.
Search optimization [to handle the huge load of searching over 300k articles]

Content
Over 30 editors in teams ranging from writers to senior editors collaborate to give the best pieces of information about and in the middle east.

if you need more technical info, I will be glad to share :)