Both the print edition and the Internet edition of The Salt Lake Tribune will look different beginning Tuesday.

Why? So readers can find the news they want to read more easily.

These redesigned editions represent months of imagining and planning on the part of our Web site staff and our design staff.

The last time that www.sltrib.com was redesigned was 2003, when most newspaper Web sites closely resembled the print editions. But times have changed, according to Tony Semerad, new-media editor, and Manny Mellor, online editor. The new look is "easier to use, more visually appealing and faster to load," Semerad said.

"We streamlined the code" in order to achieve faster loading, Mellor said.

And, this should make Web surfers happy: "Now we refuse those ads that play music, blink or ask readers to do things like punch the monkey," Mellor said.

Kim McDaniel, senior Web developer, said fewer ads on the page allows for more content - always a reader plus.

The new home page is wider and has no side navigation, according to Mellor. "The navigation bars are across the top and they drop down. Now every page is available from every other page on the site."

And, the content changes will show, as Semerad puts it, "the Web is no longer an edition; it's a stream of news that is updated throughout the 24-hour day."

Also, there are photos and content that never appear in the print edition, because we do not have enough space. Space in cyberspace is infinite.

Those people looking for a story that appeared a week or two weeks ago will be happy to know that Tribune-produced Web content is now stored for 30 days, meaning readers only have to use the search function to find that pesky story.

It will be easier to e-mail stories to friends, and readers will find the most-viewed list that is generated during the day.

More financial information - such as a Utah stocks index - will be available.

The Web staff also will invite reader comment on the new look. But surfers should also understand that the online edition is a work in progress, Semerad said.

The new Web pages will reflect "our aggressive strategy about continual updates," Semerad said. Many stories that are set to be printed in the next day's print product will go online immediately.

Josh Awtry, assistant managing editor for presentation, explained that Tuesday's premiere reflects some redesign that has been taking place since The Tribune went to a slimmer profile in the spring. "These new presses that we have are the first ones installed anywhere in the world, so we are not yet sure what they can do," Awtry said. "Readers will see more and more color in the coming months as we understand the press capabilities better."

The new look of The Tribune is not so much a redesign, Awtry explained, as "a brush-up and standardization of some of the things we have done over the past several years." For instance, some features have been added in Living and Sports, but "there was no written documentation on the whole design of the paper." Now there will be. Starting Tuesday, all designers and copy editors should be following a codified style in laying out pages.

Indicative of the overall changes are the two inside pages in the Sunday Utah section that provide a week in review and a look at some of the activities coming up.

The one thing that will not change (I can hear the sighs now) is the size of the body type in the printed Tribune. It will stay the same, despite some of the jazzy new features.

Number of people upset about too much polygamy coverage

47

Number of people upset about too many stories on conjoined twins

26

Number of people asking about circulation problems

39

Number of people unhappy about mother's milk story

11

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The Reader Advocate's phone number is 801-257-8782. Write to the Reader Advocate, The Salt Lake Tribune, 90 S. 400 West, Suite 700, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101. reader.advocate@sltrib.com