NATCHEZ —Welcome to our new design!

Natchezdemocrat.com readers will notice a new look and feel of the website today.

The new design is the site’s first major overhaul in nearly four years.

“Technology changes so quickly that even though the site seems relatively young, in computer years, it was getting old,” Democrat publisher Kevin Cooper said. “We needed to update the server software so it was a logical time to revamp the look of the site slightly, too.”

The conversion, completed midday Friday, should not for the most part affect most users.

“Existing users will need to re-register on the site in order to post comments,” Cooper said. “Old logins will not work once the conversion is made. Although it’s a slight inconvenience to users, the old system and new system could not be merged and in the end, we hope the new site’s new features will make it worthwhile.”

All of the newspaper’s online archives, which date to 1999, are still accessible on the site.

The new site features several new items, including a revamped commenting system, a reader barometer (which admittedly is still in a work in progress) and much better connections with social media sites.

Natchezdemocrat.com receives more than 1.6 million page views each month, read by more than 9,000 readers daily.

The new technology can also offer online advertisers better features too, including geotargeting — when an ad is only shown to viewers living in a certain area — and day-parting — when different ads are only shown during certain parts of the day.

“We’re almost certain that it will take us a few days to get the site optimized to perform at its best,” Cooper said. “We encourage online readers to be patient if something doesn’t immediately work properly.”

Readers are asked to report any problems or concerns with the site to: webmaster@natchezdemocrat.com.