Online Help: How to Use the Paperboy


General Help
How to Find Newspapers
Getting in Touch
Advertising on the Paperboy
Becoming a Member

Help for Paperboy Members
Write a "Letter to the Editor"
Translate a Newspaper
Overcoming Common Translation Problems
Customise Your Front Page
Bookmark Newspapers
Cancel Your Subscription
Finding a Newspaper

So you want to find your home town paper. In my case that is the West Australian, published in Perth, Australia. Here are the two ways you can go about finding it.

Method 1: Browse Country/State Listings
Bottom Navigation Frame
Dropdown Menus at Base of Screen

The frame that runs along the bottom of the screen (members version) or in the middle of the left hand column, contains dropdown menus that allows you to browse available "US Newspapers by State" and "Newspapers by Country". Simply select the state/country you wish to view from the menu to see all the available papers for that region. The number of title available is displayed in brackets next to the state/country name.

So to find the West Australian, I would select Australia from the "Newspapers by Country" menu. A list of available Australian newspapers, sorted alphabetically by name, is then displayed. To visit the West I would scan down the list and click on the relevant link. A new window then opens in which the online newspaper is displayed. You can also sort the list of newspapers in various ways (by state, by city, by language) just by clicking on the "Sort by.." links at the top of each column.

Note: only 40 newspapers are displayed per page - to view the next listings click on either the "==> Show More Papers" or "Show All Papers" links at the bottom of the screen.

Method 2: Use the Newspaper Search Feature
Search Box
The "Newspaper Search" box is located at the top of the left column on the front page or you can also find it here. This powerful search feature is the quickest way to track down the paper you're hunting for and is especially good for states/countries with a large number of listings or in cases where you're not sure where the newspaper originates. You can search by Paper Name, City, Country and Language.

You don't need to enter the whole search term, you can just enter the first few letters in any of the fields. For example, if I wanted to find the West Australian, I could just enter "West" in the Paper Name field and a list of all the papers with the word "west" anywhere in their name would be returned. Alternatively I could enter "Perth" in the City field and see all newspapers in the database from Perth. Click on the appropriate newspaper name in the list of search results to visit the site.



Contacting the Paperboy

It's easy to get in touch with me. You will find contact links that allow you to "Email Me", "Add a Paper" or report a "Broken Link" at the top of the front page and at the base of most other pages. You can also email me directly at iand@thepaperboy.com. If your message requires a response I generally respond within 1-2 days.



Advertise on the Paperboy

If you are interested in advertising on this web site you can find out more information by viewing our online media kit



Become a Paperboy Member

Some features such as the "Letter to the Editor" and "Translate a Newspaper" features are only available to members. Membership also allows you to customise your front page by selecting your own "Top Paper Picks" and headline feeds and provides the ability to bookmark up to 10 of your favourite newspapers. Interested? Visit the membership signup page.


Help for Paperboy Members


Letters to the Editor

Looking to voice an opinion? The Paperboy lets you easily write letters to the "Letter to the Editor" section of hundreds of different publications. From September 2001, this feature is only available to Paperboy Members

This feature is available for all publications which have a small envelope icon Envelope alongside their name. Just click on the envelope and you will be taken to a form from where you can type and send your letter. You can send as many letters as you like but you have to do it one newspapers at a time.

Please don't use the letters feature to send out promotional material - it's for expressing opinions on topical issues only.



How to Translate Newspapers

Using the Paperboy to translate foreign newspapers into a language you can understand is really, quite simple. But for those of you who haven't tried it here's how it's done. Just follow the steps below.

On state/country listing pages you'll notice that in the far right "language" column many listings have a small translate link alongside the name of the language. Clicking on the "translate" link opens a small window that contains the Google Translate box. Confirm that the selected language pair is the one you want then hit the "Translate" button. Another window will open and after a few moments the translated newspaper should appear.

Supported languages are English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Korean, Japanese and Chinese. Translations are generally far from perfect and often produce some comical results but in general, considering the complexities involved, the technology works well and allows you to gain some interesting world perspectives that you otherwise couldn't access. You should also note that only the front page of your selected newspaper will be translated.

Overcoming Common Translation Problems

Quite often when you are presented with the Google translation page, the translated text of the selected newspaper does not appear in the window where it should. The most common cause of this problem is that the actual address of the front page of the newspaper does not match the address automatically pre-filled by the Paperboy in the Translate box. For example, the web address of Paris' Le Parisen newspaper is http://www.leparisien.fr, but when you type in that address you are automatically forwarded to http://www.leparisien.fr/home/index.htm. This unfortunately confuses the translation application.

To work around this, first open the newspaper you are trying to translate in its original language and make a note of the address of its home page in the address bar of your browser. Copy it, then when you click on the "Translate" link and the translate box pops up, paste this copied address into the address box. Now click on the "Translate" button, and the translated text of the paper should appear.



Customise Your Front Page

It's easy to give your Paperboy front page a personal touch and have all your favourite news resources at your finger tips. Once you have logged in to the Members area, click on the [Personalise Your Page Settings] link at the top of the front page. This takes you to the customisation screen from where you can select the Search Panel and headline feed you want. You can also choose up to 5 Top Paper Picks whose mastheads you want to appear on your front page and add up to 5 of your own frequently used links.

Tip: If after visiting the customisation page your updated preferences do not appear, try refreshing your browser (F5).



Bookmark Your Favourite Papers

This nifty feature allows you to bookmark up to 10 of your favourite newspapers and have their links appear both on your front page and at the top of the "Top Paper Picks" dropdown menu at the base of the screen. On any state/country listings page just click on the [bookmark] link that appears alongside the name of each publication and confirm your selection on the following page.

Tip: If after bookmarking a paper it doesn't appear on your front page or in the "Top Drawer" list, try refreshing your browser (F5).



Cancel Your Subscription

If for some reason you would like to discontinue your membership just click on the "Unsubscribe" link at the top of your members front page and fill out the unsubscribe form.
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