Stability issues forced early website launch

A new website is active.

It came along a bit faster than expected.

The Commercial Review’s new website launched Tuesday afternoon in order to ensure continued service to subscribers.

Ray Cooney, editor and publisher for The Graphic Printing Company, explained that plans have been in the works for a new website for months but it was not expected to go live this week. The change was part of a shift to ePublishing’s platform after it bought out former web hosting service 1up! Software, which was based in Kokomo.

A launch date had not yet been set as The Commercial Review’s staff worked through the final steps in the transition process.

That changed Tuesday afternoon when ePublishing notified Cooney that the 1up! hosting systems were experiencing stability issues, which was leaving the website in danger of crashing. In order to avoid losing data, the decision was made to shift to the new website early.

In order to ensure that subscribers would have access to content, the paywall to the website has been temporarily removed. 

The paywall will remain down until The CR’s staff is able to work with ePublishing and share information with subscribers regarding how to log in to the new site.

“Tuesday’s launch of the new website was a surprise,” said Cooney, noting that the launch happened within a matter of hours of being notified of the 1up! stability issues. “It was hectic, especially during the height of Jay County Fair week, and there have been glitches, but ultimately the goal was to make sure the website stayed live and our subscribers had access to the newspaper online.”