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Sometimes they joke with me around here that I look like Doc Brown in Back to the Future.

I kind of like the image.

I’ve definitely got some history after all these years, but what I enjoy about working at Civil Beat is that we spend our time looking to the future.

In case you missed it, Civil Beat celebrated its first birthday this week with all kinds of special offers, including discounted subscriptions. We shared some of what we’ve learned so far. (Here’s what I wrote on the occasion and here’s an article on the impact Civil Beat’s journalism has had. We also have a video about Civil Beat where Publisher Pierre Omidyar and the rest of the team tell our story.)

Today I’d like to look ahead.

Sometimes I think we move so fast that we don’t do a good enough job of letting you know about the changes we make at Civil Beat. We’re a start-up, and there’s more to do than we have hands to do it. I’ll try to do better in the coming year. Among the changes I hope you’re aware of:

• Lots of Free Samples. Occasional visitors can now come to the site and get a lot of free samples. Civil Beat is free for occasional readers. (We hope you’ll let your friends in on the secret, so they can enjoy the journalism you’ve already discovered.) If you’re still hungry for more stories, just register and you’ll get even more free samples. If you’re asked to pay, well, you should know why — you’re reading us all the time and we love that.

• Mobile. Want to read Civil Beat on the go? We have a mobile-friendly version of the site — http://m.civilbeat.com. Our iPhone and iPad apps are coming soon as well.

• PayPal Not Required. We accept traditional credit card payments, payment by check, and PayPal.

You can expect a lot more changes in the year to come.

In our first year, Civil Beat has become part of the community conversation. Nearly 500,000 people have visited Civil Beat. Of course, our desired impact goes far beyond numbers. But we are extremely encouraged to know that Civil Beat has reached so many people in such a short period of time.

I won’t pretend that we’re not a bit worn done from covering the 2011 legislative session — and all the work that goes into building a start-up. But we’re also energized by our future and ready to continue our journey forward. We know that success doesn’t happen in short order. It takes time to build something great. And the team is committed to making it happen.

What’s Next: Here’s a Small Sampling

One thing we want to do is continue with our fact checks. But we want to increase our focus on fact checking things that go beyond politics. Things that affect your everyday life.

This is one place where you can help us. We’re always asking the questions we think you’d want answered, but we’d like to step it up a notch. What questions are we missing?

It could be anything from why is nothing ever done about that pothole you keep hitting on your drive to work or about that derelict building that’s a blight in your neighborhood to why does a government agency make you file paperwork a certain way. You tell us what’s on your mind.

Finally, we want to redouble our focus on the community in two ways.

First, by seeking more community voices for the Civil Beat site. If you’re interested in writing something for Civil Beat on an important issue that will move the ball forward, please email us at news@civilbeat.com.

Second, we want to pick a community project to participate in and want your help! You can help by either voting for the project or better yet, by joining us when we roll up our sleeves. It will be a great opportunity to meet other Civil Beat members, make a positive impact and have fun!

We do that most days at Civil Beat.

There’s no need for us to go back to the future. It’s looking pretty bright.