If you have been on the Red County home page in the last 12 hours, you have noticed some cosmetic changes. They are the result of user feedback and a suggestion by one of our editors. As I have mentioned a thousand times, feedback for improvements are always welcome.

As common frustration expressed to us was the large amount of seemingly unrelated content on the home page. With more than 25 blogs and lots of new users, there was a randomness for first time visitor to the home page.

To solve that problem, we have taken a traditional approach used by larger blogs and media outlets. The model can be seen on everything from the Wall Street Journal, the Huffington Post, and Yahoo News. The goal is to make sure the home page is logical and intuitive, while also appealing to the broadest possible audience.

This is what we have done:

Above the fold is a module called "Editor's Picks". the first section in this module is called "Spotlight Commentary". This will be used to feature articles and content from guest writers and regulars columnist to this section. It will be updated daily.

Below that is "Featured Posts". These are last four posts that have been checked "FEATURED". Again, we want them to appeal to a slightly broader audience and be slightly more special than a typical post. Use your discretion as you currently do.

The next module is called "Get Local" and displays the last eight posts from across the Red County network. We are currently working on functionality that will allow users to select your blog as their "local" blog. When the user returns, this module will be populated with the most recent eight post from their "local" blog. This is similar to the functionality used by Craig's List.

The next module is called, "One-on-One" and is used to display the last seven posts checked with the "ONE-ONE-ONE" category. This can be used by your and your contributors for interviews with leading opinion makers.

The next module is called, "National: Recent Post". The content is self explanatory. Every editorial contributor can post to the National Politics blog. When writing about National Politics, just use your discretion about whether you want it posted on your local blog or you think it appeals to the broader audience of the National Politics blog.

Finally, the sidebar navigation system was expanded on the home page. The purpose was two-fold. First, we wanted to make the blogs within the network more visible to visitors and hopefully drive more traffic to your sites. We also wanted to demonstrate visually that we are growing. You will notice some of the sub-text under the blog names still say, "Descriptive text goes here". If you have a brief line you want us to put in that space, please email to (mail@redcounty.com).

Our goal is nothing short of becoming the Huffington Post (except more rational and respectful) of the political right.

Feedback welcome...