Dear all,

As some of you have spotted, we - that is, The Local - have recently begun publishing Switzerland's news in English at thelocal.ch.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with The Local, we run two other news sites, one in Sweden and one in Germany, for English speaking readers with an international background.

What you see today at thelocal.ch is just the beginning. Over the coming months we'll be increasing the amount of news coverage, features and services that we offer, to bring the site up to the same pace as thelocal.se and thelocal.de.

One of the reasons these sites have become popular is the steady stream of constructive feedback that we've had from readers - feedback which, of course, we do our best to act on. Similarly, we hope that your comments will help us to build the best English-language news site in Switzerland - to complement the best English-language forum in Switzerland.

Please feel free to have a rummage around thelocal.ch and to post questions and suggestions about the site here.

In the meantime, we'll try and anticipate a few questions and answer them right away.

Will EF get absorbed into The Local?
No. In Germany we run The Local and Toytown separately and that's exactly what we'll do in Switzerland. EF has such a strong reputation and is just so damned good that it would be madness to do anything else. Of course, there will be links between EF and The Local, but hopefully that will be to the benefit of both sites.

Will EFers still be able to post links to competing news outlets?
Yes. We have never prevented anyone referring to other news outlets on any of our sites. Not really what the internet is all about.

Will EF usernames and passwords work on The Local - and vice versa?
Not for the time being. But if it looks like that would be a useful thing to do, we'll work on it.

Can I get a job writing news articles?
We'd love to hear from English-language journalists in Switzerland. Please drop us a line at news@thelocal.ch.

Kind regards,

The Local

Several members have posted on EF seeking information if Spain, Italy, the US and other countries will have their versions of "thelocal.xx" as well as a discussion forum. Would you be able to elaborate on that prospect ?

We are looking at the possibility of publishing in other countries but nothing is set in stone yet. (If anyone has specific suggestions, or if you would like to work with us on setting up a new country, then please feel free to contact us.)

Thank you for the response.

BTW, I just noticed the visual changes today.

Not much gets past you does it.

I hope that the Swiss News will be different to other available media and not just a copy of SwissInfo, 20 Mins etc.

There used to be feed from SwissInfo here and it didn't seem to serve any purpose. Another expat forum for Switzerland had news feed added and that seemed to be about all that was there.

May we at this juncture seek a reassurance from you that EF will forever remain free, and that this thread ( no, not the last few posts in there but the first ) will forever remain a joke ?

That nice new little link at the top...

It would be nice if if were integrated within the style and design of EF, rather than just pushing you out to their site... It seems alien...

Nice site though. Maybe it should be an advert rather than an EF function/feature.

Ever subtle

Perhaps remove it instead?

I like it. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out how to get back out of it once I'm in. Is there a button on the page or do I resign myself to using the little arrow on the top left hand corner of my screen?

So did The Local "purchase" EF or have they become our "main" sponsor or what?

And how long til that red NEW goes away? It is distracting...

This is the thread you seek:

EF Partners with "The Local", Transfer of Ownership

I didn't realize they (ie-Editor Bob) worked for "The Local"--sorry... I just thought he (himself) owned it.

So if they have been behind the scenes for two years now, why do they only now advertise it? Do they want some sort of credit for how cool the forum is or something? We all know I love the forum, I am just curious about the new advertisement(s)...

+1

or that it tells you that you are leaving EF.

A return button would be useful. Rather than using the 'Back' button, it is easier if you 'right-click' and open new page/tab. You can then just close it when you've had enough.

Yes. It should open into a new window or tab rather than navigating away from EF.

Fixed.

And just in case, there is a link back to EF under Full Index.

Just my two rappens worth - the headlines in the left common are way too big.

Otherwise I really like it.

Congratulations and thank you - looks to be a very useful and informative resource presented in a clearly navigable way.

May I congratulate whoever selects the illustrative pictures.