I received a ton of e-mails about the new format for Coverage Opinions. I’m happy to say that much of it was positive. But there was plenty of negative too. Please allow me to explain what led to the new format, some readers’ dissatisfaction and my solution to the problem.

For the past year I received e-mails from readers telling me that they did not like the fact that, to read Coverage Opinions, it was necessary to download a large file – usually 10-12MB. I received complaints that it took too long to download or, worse, could not be downloaded at all. [Computer systems can react differently when it comes to speed of downloading a file.] Thus, as much as I liked the appearance of the newsletter/download format, I decided to make the change to a format where each article is a separate link to a webpage. This allows each article to be instantly accessed with one click. This is the same format that many very well done commercial e-mail newsletters use – so I assumed that I was on the right track. There are other advantages to this format as well: much easier production and ability to forward or post a single article. I really thought this had solved the download problem – and it did.

However, from the e-mails that I received after the inaugural new format, I simply underestimated how many people really liked the download concept. [Where were you guys over the past year when others were telling me how much they disliked it!?] It enabled the entire newsletter to be continuously read on the screen or printed with just one click. I learned that easy printing was a very popular feature for people who wanted to read it on the train or, in another, more private place where things get read.

So, I went back to my web designer/production guru and we discussed a way to keep the separate links feature, as well as offering the ability to print the entire issue, with one click, but without requiring downloading.

Problem solved. There is now a link that enables the entire issue of Coverage Opinions to appear on your screen so it can be read and printed all at once. One drawback. The font may be small when it prints. This is a common problem caused by a printer reducing the size of a web page so it can all fit on the printed page. I hope to have this fixed.

I appreciate all of you that sent me comments about the new format – even the negative ones. I listened. The huge response told me that people are reading Coverage Opinions and like it enough to voice their opinions. Thank you.