New to SGN? Take a quick tour

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THE BASICS

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NAVIGATING THE HOME PAGE

Every day we sift through news reports, press releases and notes from our frequent interviews with industry insiders to provide the most important trends and news analysis.  We don’t bring you all the news, we bring you the news that matters most – and we tell you why it matters. You'll find all of this on our blog-style home page, which is updated daily through the work week with the freshest content from the SGN staff and our expert columnists at the top.

When you turn on your TV, if you feel like watching sports, chances are you surf straight to a sports channel.  If you want news, you go to a news channel. Our site works the same way. We have more than 50 channels – each devoted to a specific topic within the smart grid ecosystem. You'll find the channels by hovering your mouse over the category tabs that appear at the top of every page. For example, by hovering over the Technologies tab as shown below, you'll have one-click access to our Communications, Demand Response and other assorted channels associated with that category.

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You can also scan our reader favorites and most popular channels using the Express Menu located in the right sidebar.

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CHANGING CHANNELS

Each of our topic channels has a purpose – which is to give you not only the latest news analysis and commentary regarding that topic, but also relevant in-depth resources in the form of white papers, case studies, research reports, guest columns and even videos.  When you click on a channel, you will get a landing page that features all of those materials in one place, starting with a brief summary of what's covered in that channel. The example below shows the Metering channel with just a few of the hundreds of resources located there, starting with the most recent. Simply scroll down to find what you're looking for.

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USING SEARCH AND ADVANCED SEARCH

If you want to zero in on a specific topic quickly, you may prefer to use the Search box that appears at the top of every page. Advanced search options are also available.

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SPECIAL FEATURES

FINDING SMART GRID CONFERENCES

We have one of the most comprehensive calendars of smart grid conferences you'll find – and no surprise it is one of the most-visited pages on our site. You can get to it from the Extra! Tab at the top of the page, or in the Express Menu in the right sidebar.

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STAYING CONNECTED WITH SGN

If you'd like to know when we post new content to the site, you have several options. Perhaps the most efficient is subscribing to our free newsletter digest, which sends highlights of what's new on the site (and links) directly to your inbox. An even faster method is signing up for our RSS feed, which alerts you to new content as soon as it is posted. You can also follow SGN on Twitter, join our Facebook page or connect on LinkedIn. Use the signup box and links at the top of the page to get started.

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ADDING YOUR COMMENTS VIA TALK BACK

We enthusiastically promote and engage with our readers via Talk Back, discussion forums, quick polls, contests and webinars. Your participation in our website makes it better – and that's why we value and encourage it with a variety of interactive features.

·         Talk Back – At the bottom of nearly every piece published on SGN you'll find a comment form you can use to "Talk Back" – perhaps adding a different perspective or new information. All of the Talk Back entered for a particular article appears at the bottom. If there's an article of particular interest to you, you might want to check back to see what comments others have posted. 

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JOINING A DISCUSSION

·         Smart Grid News Talk: You'll find lively discussions on a wide variety of topics important to the smart grid community in our discussion forums. Each week we promote a specific discussion in our Tuesday Topic forum, but registered participants (it's free and painless) are welcome to start their own threads.

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TUNING INTO A WEBINAR

·         Lessons from the Real World webinars: In concert with leading vendors, Smart Grid News frequently hosts free webinars that provide an opportunity to hear experts discuss "real world' technology deployments and lessons learned. We post webinar replays and presentation materials from these webinars; they can be found under the Videos tab.

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WATCHING SMART GRID VIDEOS

·         Videos – Our smart grid version of the movie channel has a wide assortment of videos highlighting cutting-edge smart grid technologies, R&D projects and interviews with industry movers and shakers, including a series by SGN founding editor and chief analyst Jesse Berst.

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WEIGHING IN ON QUICK POLLS

·         Quick polls: Wonder if everyone else sees an issue the same way you do? Our Quick Polls provide an instant gauge of reader opinion on a topic we've written about. These polls are unscientific, but often add an interesting perspective to an issue. You can find our Quick Poll Archives under the Extra! Tab at the top of the page.

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UTILIZING ADVERTISER RESOURCES

·         Advertiser resources: Smart Grid News has some of the most forward-thinking companies in the industry as advertisers – and that's good news for you. Our ad model is unique in that not only do we run the traditional banner ad, we also offer our advertisers a companion "resource box" which they often use to offer tangible value-adds for our readers, for instance white papers and on-demand webinars. Be sure to check them out.

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GETTING RESEARCH RECOMMENDATIONS

·         Recommended research: When you need specific, detailed information, it can be difficult to decide which research reports are worth your time and money. SGN offers help by highlighting staff-recommended research, both free and fee-based, in several critical topic areas.

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So there you have a quick look at the Smart Grid News site. We hope it will be a little easier to find what you're looking for. But if you ever have questions or suggestions, please feel free to contact us at info@smartgridnews.com.