A new-look website for both The Herald and Sunday Herald newspapers is about to officially launched.

www.heraldscotland.com goes live on Monday after what is being described as "a successful beta trial".

Says the newspapers' editor-in-chief, Donald Martin, in a memo to staff: "We have huge hopes for this site, along with eveningtimes.co.uk, which will be redesigned and relaunched later this year, in fulfilling our ambitions to grow digital audience and complement our print titles."

The new site will replace the current Herald and Sunday Herald offerings.

Continues Martin: "The launch reflects many months of hard work by the editorial, technical and marketing teams to ensure the site design reflects best practice and builds on our £1 million investment in the Atex editorial production system and I am grateful to them. The site aims to become the most competitive destination on the web for breaking news from and about Scotland, a hub for reader debate about topical issues, and a magnet for increasingly important user-generated content which can complement staff reporting."

He adds: "Digital news on this scale presents new opportunities and challenges for editorial. Editors will be working over the coming days to ensure our operation is nimble and smart to ensure our print and web requirements are met from 6 am to midnight without overburdening the
team."

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