Widgets, Newsletters And Free Classifieds Can Help Smyrna-Vinings Patch Visitors

Want headlines from Smyrna-Vinings Patch delivered directly to your blog or website? Now you can stream all the latest Smyrna-Vinings news or just certain categories for you and your visitors.

That was one of several recent changes to Smyrna Patch, including free classified ads and the top headlines from nearby Patch sites.

Our new widget feature allows you to create a box you can easily insert into Web pages. It’s customizable by topic, so if you just want sports, you can limit the feed to sports, or if you just want school news, you get school news.

Scroll down to the bottom of the main page and click on "Widgets" to get the directions for inserting the news feed, or click here.

What’s a widget? Here’s how the wizards behind the design of our Patch pages explain it: “A widget is a self-contained piece of HTML code that you can embed into your site to add a cool new feature. All you have to do is paste the code into your website. Patch's first widget offering is a news feed, but there are all sorts of widgets out there, including clock widgets, countdown widgets and lots of other fun features.”

If you'd rather leave the work to us, or you don't want to put a widget on your site, then you can get the Patch newsletter in your email daily and/or weekly, and even sing up for breaking news alerts. Those breaking news alerts can even be sent to your cellphone, if you choose.

We've recently made a few design changes to the Patch, including some grass "planted" around our articles and home page. What do you think of it? What's your favorite part of the site?

In addition to our news widget, you might have noticed the News Nearby feature at the bottom of the home page, because we know your lives extend beyond Smyrna and Vinings.

Do you need a classified ad? We've had them from the start, but they’re completely free. To place a classified, click on the "Marketplace" tab at the top of the site or here.

As always, we want to hear from you. Let us know what you think about our changes or about what you would like to see on the site. Feel free to reach out by commenting on our stories, posting in our shout box, or e-mailing me ideas, complaints or just to say hi.