With the launch today of three new community-focused Web sites, The Honolulu Advertiser now has 13 online neighborhood sites covering more than half the residential areas on O'ahu.

If you live in Kaimuki/Palolo, in Wahiawa/Schofield or in La'ie/Kahuku, you now have a Web site with news and photos concentrating on your area.

The neighborhood sites, at www.myAdvertiser.com, contain community-specific breaking news, local articles written by Advertiser reporters and staff from our community newspapers, and most importantly, reports written by residents themselves.

The new Web sites, along with the existing sites for Kailua, Hawai'i Kai, Kapolei, 'Ewa, Mililani/Mililani Mauka, Kane'ohe, Waipahu, Manoa, Wai'anae and Pearl City/'Aiea, are part of our effort to provide neighborhood news and photos not available anywhere else.

In Manoa, the community group Malama O Manoa has been using the site to increase attendance at events and publicize the group's activities.

"It's a wonderful way to get community members to bond together. I think it's great," said John Kim, director of Malama O Manoa.

The Advertiser will continue to build a network of these community sites until the entire island of O'ahu is covered this summer and will then look to the Neighbor Islands.

"Community by community, we are reaching out to residents to help them talk to each other and publicize their events," said James Gonser, community news editor at The Advertiser. "Residents and groups can submit anything from calendar items to public meetings. These sites provide a venue for community connections never available before."

Using a computer tool called Get Published!, readers can submit their own news articles and photos. The stories can be on anything from local school concerts and craft fairs to paddling results or scholarships being offered by civic clubs. Submitting stories is free and they are published directly on the Web sites.

Other features of the site include a comprehensive community calendar, complete school information, breaking news specific to the area, traffic and weather reports — and an unusual feature: the wish list.

The wish list is a place where teachers, clubs and community groups can ask for help — volunteers needed for a cleanup, a sixth-grade class in need of textbooks or a soccer league needing umpires. Anything that could benefit a community group with limited resources can be on the wish list.

We also are looking for residents who want to become bloggers on the community sites to stimulate discussions and thought about life in your community.

For more information, call Gonser at 535-2431 or send an e-mail to myadvertiser@honoluluadvertiser.com.