As Soon As Publishable — That’s how quickly you’ll be able to read the latest news at The Seraph Online. The goal is to eventually post new articles online every Friday, as soon as they are finished. This means you’ll no longer have to wait for a new issue to be printed and distributed to learn what’s going on at the Prep.

The Seraph Online will feature the same departments (News, Sports, Features, International Perspectives, Arts & Entertainment, Poetry) — brought to you by the same writers, editors, photographers and artists who produce the award-winning Seraph on paper that you are accustomed to. But unlike the paper version, which is often printed in black-and-white or with limited color, The Seraph Online is in full color. Of course, the print version is not going away — it will still be published, approximately four times a year, and it will continue to be of the same high quality.

Online publishing refers to more than the articles posted on the Prep website. The Seraph Online has been designed to also serve as an online tool for the Seraph staff.

Writers submit their stories online, and can insert graphics directly from their own computers. Editors review and edit stories online, and can send them back to the writers if changes are needed. The photo and art editors browse the submitted articles to identify graphic needs. The editor-in-chief and moderator can read articles as they are submitted, make suggestions and give final approvals. When the article is finished, the moderator “pushes the button” to make the article available to anyone in the world with an Internet connection. All of this is done through any web browser — no special software or hardware is required, and compatibility issues have been eliminated.

Mr. Hessel, Prep's webmaster, conceived of the idea and designed the system. "Every newspaper has an online edition. I'm so used to reading news online that I thought The Seraph should have an online version, too. The Seraph should be as modern as any other paper," he explains. Prep is the only Catholic high school around with this type of web-based newspaper, he believes. The Seraph Online is part of Prep’s new and improved website, sfponline.org, joining such features as MySFP and Parent Connect.

Three students deserve special recognition for writing the first Seraph articles to be published online: Deborah Daniszewski ’05, Andrea Roshore ’06, and Kevin Choe ’08.

If you’re reading this in the print edition, check out the latest news and features at http://sfponline.org/seraph/index.asp