6f0258a40a9faf0ede69fcf5731c83ec3857bb92
lrnassar
  Fri Apr 3 10:06:26 2026 -0700
Adding newsarch and indexNews entries for new heatmap display mode documentation. refs #36176

diff --git src/hg/htdocs/goldenPath/newsarch.html src/hg/htdocs/goldenPath/newsarch.html
index 7fec4879967..84dc1b69b22 100755
--- src/hg/htdocs/goldenPath/newsarch.html
+++ src/hg/htdocs/goldenPath/newsarch.html
@@ -48,33 +48,78 @@
     </div>
   </div> 
 </div>
 
 <p>You can sign-up to get these announcements via our 
 <a target=_blank href="https://groups.google.com/a/soe.ucsc.edu/g/genome-announce?hl=en">Genome-announce</a>
 email list. We send around one short announcement email every two weeks.</p>
 
 <p>Smaller software changes are not announced here.  A summary of the three-weekly release changes can be 
 found <a target=_blank href="https://genecats.gi.ucsc.edu/builds/versions.html">here</a>. 
 For the full list of our daily code changes head to our <a
 href="https://github.com/ucscGenomeBrowser/kent/commits/master"
 target=_blank>GitHub page</a>. Lastly, see our <a href="credits.html" target="_blank">
 credits page</a> for acknowledgments of the data we host.</p>
 
-<!-- ============= 2025 archived news ============= -->
+<!-- ============= 2026 archived news ============= -->
+
 <a name="2026"></a>
 
+<a name="040326"></a>
+<h2>Apr. 3, 2026 &nbsp;&nbsp; New heatmap display mode for bigBed tracks</h2>
+<p>
+We are pleased to announce a new
+<a href="/goldenPath/help/heatmap.html" target="_blank"><b>heatmap</b> display
+mode</a> for the Genome Browser.</p>
+<p>
+Heatmaps replace the standard block-and-line gene
+display with a color-coded grid: each block position along the item (e.g., an exon)
+becomes a column, each row represents a sample or condition, and cells are colored
+by score using a customizable gradient. This makes it easy to spot patterns in
+multi-sample quantitative data&mdash;such as variant effects, gene expression, or
+methylation levels&mdash;directly in their genomic context.
+</p>
+<div class="text-center">
+  <a href="https://genome.ucsc.edu/s/view/heatmap_example" target="_blank">
+  <img src="/images/heatmap_example.png" alt="Heatmap track showing a color-coded grid
+  of variant effect scores across genomic positions, with rows for each amino acid
+  substitution and colors ranging from blue (low) through silver to red (high)"
+  width='90%'></a>
+</div>
+<p>
+The heatmap display is already in use on our
+<a href="/cgi-bin/hgTrackUi?db=hg38&g=mavedb_maps" target="_blank">MaveDB Experiment
+Heatmaps</a> track, which presents the results of multiplexed assays of variant
+effects across gene transcripts. In the example above, each row is an amino acid
+substitution and each column is a position along the transcript, with
+<span style="color: #FF0000; font-weight: bold;">red</span> cells indicating
+higher functional scores and
+<span style="color: #0000FF; font-weight: bold;">blue</span> cells indicating lower
+scores.</p>
+<p>
+To create your own heatmap tracks, add
+<code>style heatmap</code> to a bigBed track&rsquo;s trackDb entry along with extra
+fields for row labels, color bounds, and score arrays. Our new
+<a href="/goldenPath/help/heatmap.html" target="_blank">heatmap documentation page</a>
+walks through the entire process step by step, from preparing your data to loading it
+in a track hub.
+</p>
+<p>
+For more information on bigBed and other supported data formats, see our
+<a href="/FAQ/FAQformat.html" target="_blank">data file formats FAQ</a>.
+</p>
+
 <a name="040126"></a>
 <h2>Apr. 1, 2026 &nbsp;&nbsp; Genome Defense</h2>
 <p>
 The Science League desperately needs your assistance to defend the Genome
 from the forces of the traitorous XRRA1.
 <a href="../goldenPath/extras/april_1_2026.html">Board your ship and join the battle now!</a>
 </p>
 
 <a name="032826"></a>
 <h2>Mar. 28, 2026 &nbsp;&nbsp; New UCSC Genome Browser glossary page</h2>
 <p>
 Have you ever wondered what we mean by &quot;track&quot; or what the difference is
 between &quot;haplotype&quot; and &quot;fix&quot; sequences? We are pleased to
 announce the release of a new <a href="/docs/genomeBrowserGlossary.html"
 target="_blank">Genome Browser Glossary</a> page. It provides a guide to the