The Grand Island (Nebraska) Independent used new live blogging tool CovertItLive in a new way – to launch the redesign of its Web site using input from readers, Journalism.co.uk reported Monday.

Following the site's relaunch, the paper began using the blogging tool to start a live question and answer session between readers and the Web staff last week.

The feature, advertised in the print edition, was so popular it was kept open for an extra two days, Journalism.co.uk reported.

Problems with the redesign were more quickly discovered and fixed, thanks to feedback from readers, Stephanie Romanski, web editor of the Independent, told Journalism.co.uk.

“I thought the readers might have a lot of questions. So I wanted to give them a place to go for immediate help. It just seemed fitting to try the tool out with a Q&A,” Romanski told Journalism.co.uk.

Using online tools like CoverItLive, are perfect to supplement online content and will continue to be a part of the Independent's online strategy. Newspapers embracing these tools, which are often free, “will be the newspapers that make it through the current slump the industry is experiencing and will thrive in the future,” she said.