It’s fun to click around a new Web site, just to see what you can come up with.

The new Herald Web site is no different. There are surprises everywhere. Good surprises. So go ahead, click anywhere and everywhere. You can't break it. 

    Most of the “controls” are obvious, but here are a few you won’t want to miss.

• Flip for Free - at the top of the column on the left. Here’s where you can save money by switching to the Online Herald. This is a real money saver for every subscriber, but especially for subscribers out of the local area. Out-of-state subscribers will save $20 a year. No more lost or delayed papers. Instead of getting your news a week later, you’ll have it the day before the print edition hits the streets.

• Ever wish the print in the Herald was bigger, easier to read? Now it can be. That nifty gray box in the upper left-hand corner of each page lets you scroll up, down or sideways, and magnify.

• Click on any ad and it will take you to the advertiser’s web site. You can even call up a map to show you how to get there. (Some don’t have a Web page. Yet.)

• The small ads at the top of the Home page rotate every 10 seconds but if you want to see them all, just click on “View All business Card Ads.” Use the back button to get back to where you were.

 • The small Weather box is just the beginning. Click “Radar and more” and you’ll get a full page of current weather facts and a 5-day forecast, right from the Weather Channel.

 • No more folding up the paper or tearing out the crossword puzzle. Now you can work the puzzle online. It even tells you when you’ve got it right.

 • Video? You bet. You’re still going to read about the game, but now you can also call up video to get a real feel for the action. Video won’t be limited to just sports either. Even more, you can submit your videos, as well as regular photos. 

 • Want a copy of a photo you saw in the Herald? Find it in the H.O.G.S. Photo Gallery Gift Shop. You need to select through the albums and pick out your favorite. Once you have chosen a photo, you can get that favorite photo on a mug, a T-shirt, or track pad even a stretched canvas painting!

• Getting involved is easier than ever. Send in a classified, a wedding photo, an anniversary celebration, meeting news, letter to the editor, Views Line comment, anything. All online.

• Want up-to-the-minute news? Sign up for “Breaking News Alerts” and you’ll get an email as soon we cover a big, breaking story, no matter what day it is.

• Archives: No reason to stack up past issues of your Herald. Just Click Archives to return to earlier editions. Archives will available from March 1, 2010 as that is when the new site started.

You get the idea. The Herald has never been more timely, more vibrant, more a part of our community and your life, and never easier. The Herald used to be something you read. Now it is even more of a two-way communications tool. Check it out.

Alas, there’s always a down side.

What you lose by subscribing to the online Herald.

    • No more birdcage liner or puppy pad

    • No more old newspapers collecting in a corner ready to be carried out, through the snow, to be recycled.

    • No more ink on your fingers or paper dust to make you sneeze.

    • No more of that occasional bleary type or muddy photos.

    • No more postal delays or lost papers.

    • No more calls from Aunt Tilly, reading you this or that. You’ll have already read it.

    • No more wondering where your favorite section is this week. Just do a search.

    • No more feeling guilty about trees cut down for newsprint.