Welcome to the new www.vita.mn

The paint is still drying and a couple kinks are still being worked out, but it's here. Yes, after nearly 300 weekly issues of Vita.mn in print, this week we finally got what we’ve always wanted — a true companion website.

It’s true! We’ve completely nuked the old Vita.mn and rolled out radical new changes and improvements to keep the site as innovative and useful as the original site was when it debuted in 2006. Here are some major changes that we think you’ll like:

More content, easier to find. The new site is designed as a close companion to Vita.mn in print, with all the content from the print version organized efficiently, and fully searchable. All the best coverage of Twin Cities music and nightlife, restaurants and bars, fashion and arts finally gets the spotlight it deserves.

More breaking news and reviews. The Crawl department in print is a centerpiece of the new homepage — a dynamic blog with daily breaking entertainment news and reviews, updated daily, early and often, from Vita.mn’s stable of reporters, freelancers and superusers.

More events. A vastly improved calendar search on the right has more daily picks, and recommended events are highlighted more effectively. Vita.mn’s own great events, promotions and contests now live in the new On Tap section.

Social integration with a little site called “Facebook.” Probably the biggest change for longtime Vita.mn users: Now you’ll comment, list, share and interact via your Facebook account. Yep, our Vita.mn accounts are a thing of the past. Not on FB? You don’t need it to read, but you’ll need it to participate.

More music: On the Music page, the Look+Listen area features new video and audio clips that we’re listening to right now. And in the Ticket Alert, get up-to-the-minute concert news and announcements via @mn_live. It’s a big injection of what we like to call “music-y.”

More fashion: A more beautiful, dynamic display of our street style features, fashion spreads and blogs on our all-new Fashion page.

Lists 2.0. Vita.mn’s signature reader-driven Top 10 lists are starting over with new software and simplified functionality. They’re part of our new Best Of section, along with all of Vita.mn’s franchise coverage of the best stuff in the Twin Cities.

At long last, a mobile site. Finally you can conveniently access Vita.mn on your phone.

Please check out the new Vita.mn, test the new features and let us know what you think.