Slate Fare

The Best of the Rest

A new way to read other Web sites.

Today we’re unveiling a new feature on Slate. Actually, it’s an old feature—”Slate Links,” our compilation of links to news sites, gossip columns, TV transcripts, and such. But we’ve tricked it out with enough new gizmos that we decided it deserves a new name: “On Other Web Sites.”

Plenty of other Web sites offer long lists of links. What makes ours different is that you can click all you like without losing the list. No more jumping back and forth between some page of links and the articles you want to read. On Other Web Sites keeps everything on one page (well, almost everything—more on that in a minute).

To get started, click On Other Web Sites on the Slate home page. The tabs at the top of the page list different subject areas, like Columnists, TV Pundits, and Critics. Click a tab, and you’ll see a list of links running down the left side of the page. (Be sure to scroll down—some of the lists are long.) Under Columnists, for instance, you’ll find U.S. News’ Michael Barone, the WSJ’s Robert Bartley, and more than 40 others. Click one of those links, and the site you picked will open on the right side of the page, while the list of links stays on the left. You can click around to different sites, but the list of links is still there, on the left side of the page. To get to a different topic, just pick one of the other tabs at the top of the page.

If you’re short on time and just want the highlights, be sure to check out the Today’s Picks tab. That’s where we’ll list a handful of the day’s most provocative articles (not counting Slate’s, of course), from op-ed screeds to architecture write-ups and CD reviews. And if you were a regular reader of our old “Mezine Central” column, you can now use the Mezines tab to keep up with Mickey Kaus’ kausfiles.com, Virginia Postrel’s dynamist.com, and many other commentators’ sites.

One important note: Some sites, such as washingtonpost.com, open a new browser window when you click them. Not to worry. Just close the new window once you’re finished reading, and you’ll see On Other Web Sites again.

And a technical note: On Other Web Sites uses “frames.” Don’t worry if you don’t know what that means. If you’re using at least Internet Explorer 4 or Netscape 4.7, your browser can handle frames. Opera 5 works too. If your software isn’t up to snuff, you’ll get an error message and won’t be able to use On Other Web Sites.