On March 24, 1996, Charlotte.com was born. Then-publisher Rolfe Neill wrote: "We're launching an on-line news and information service called charlotte.com. It's pronounced charlotte-dot-com and you'll find it on the worldwide computer network known as the Internet. Through charlotte.com, you'll get The Observer Online, which will offer nearly all the news and features from each day's editions, as well as updated news throughout the day."

A month later, the Daily Horoscope was the most popular item. That's changed. Slideshows, databases, live chats, blogs, niche sites and more are CharlotteObserver.com staples, and we don't always know what readers will view most often in a given day.

Feeding the beast

Programming a news site is like feeding an insatiable hunger. Readers want all the news, and they want it now.

We begin our online publishing day at 6 a.m., sometimes earlier if news, such as bad weather, is breaking. Local news reporter Steve Lyttle begins reporting stories from overnight news and anything that's breaking, such as a bad wreck that may impact readers' commutes. Our goal is to get the site completely updated by 8 a.m., when our traffic begins to spike.

Throughout the day, we post a mix of news, blog updates, live chats, slideshows, databases and more. We strive to have something for sports fans, arts fans, national news junkies, really just about everyone. It's like putting together a new puzzle hourly.

Traffic spikes again around noon, likely when workers break for lunch and catch the news. That's also a good time for live chats. We often feature our sports writers, but it's not uncommon to have chats with local lawmakers, such as Mecklenburg County commissioners Jennifer Roberts and Bill James, and organizer Will Miller about the Democratic National Convention coming to Charlotte.

Special features, such as Phuzzle and Party Pix, are published at roughly the same time each week, so fans know when they can find them, and believe us, they let us know when we're late getting them posted.

Our online day is long - you'll find us posting as late as 2 a.m. or even 3 a.m. on Friday nights when high school football lights the stadiums.

We've learned that if you post it, readers will come, so the long days continue on weekends. Though local breaking news is our staple, on Saturdays, readers may be more interested in things to do - searching our events database for movie times, festivals, concerts, gallery crawls, etc., or getting sports news. On Sunday, readers come to us for what the newspaper also offers: investigative and enterprise stories and weekend sports news.

Staying connected with us

A highly local website like ours draws half its viewers from outside the Charlotte area. And though national news is not a high priority for our readers, the top news stories, and yes, weird news, provide water-cooler fodder. One of our highest-viewed stories last year: "Report: Woman eating pig's feet in bed cuts friend." Now that's weird.

Our readers engage. They have shared with us photos from their travels, wildlife in their backyards, moms and daughters, prom attire, snow-day fun or havoc, Halloween costumes and more. We have more than 30 active blogs where readers interact with writers, 20-plus Facebook pages and 30-something Twitter accounts.

Traffic from mobile devices, such as smartphones and iPads, is rapidly growing. More than 13,000 of you have downloaded our iPhone app, and we have a Droid app on the way.

All of this makes multitasking an art for the online producers. In addition to CharlotteObserver.com, we have ThatsRacin.com, MomsCharlotte.com, four community sites and four magazine sites.

So connect with us on CharlotteObserver.com and see what's new. We'll be there.