You probably noticed a couple of changes to the way DCist looks this morning. The most obvious change is the addition of thumbnails to the stories on the right side of the pretty view. We’re hopeful that the addition of these images will reduce the amount of useless white space on the page, and generally make those stories more appealing to you.

Starting today, you’ll also begin seeing a couple of posts every day from other -ist network sites pop up in the right side of the pretty section. (The first one is from Gothamist; it features dressed-up puppies!) The hope is that these syndicated posts will provide you with access to more stories of interest that aren’t necessarily based in the area — think of it as kind of like a running Week Around the Ists. This won’t change what we do on a daily basis, so no need to fret about us going national or anything. Just enjoy the cute little doggies.

As always, feel free to let us know what you think about the changes in the comments; I’ll be hoving around and will try to answer questions as best I can.