Hey all!
So we've been hard at work de-constructing the backend of this site, and so far so good. We've addressed a couple of the major issues (ads stalling pages, bad CMS) and the site will be in a state that we can modify it.
Unless plans change drastically, its looking like we're going to shoot to launch round #1 of changes on Wednesday. It will likely be around noon EST, but I'll keep you up to date with a more exact time.
Now, we've done a couple of things to the site, which I want to show you before we launch so you don't get too shocked.
#1 - Removed the CMS. Currently there's two sites here, ridemonkey.com and content.ridemonkey.com. This has caused an immeasurable amount of heartache, and the integration jsut didn't work. We'll do everything we can to port over the data (there wasn't much) but there is a chance we're going to lose some/all of it. The good part is, this is what was causing a lot of problems on the site. This should address a bunch of them.
#2 - Changed the ad loading. Currently the ads load before the content on the page. This can cause page loads in excess of 10 seconds and as I've been posting I have almost smashed my computer with a hammer on more than one occasion.
#3 - Changed the skin. This is the one that might cause a few of you to do a double take. RM has had a very basic vBulletin skin for quite some time, and we felt that it was time to give a more current, fresh and sleek look. We're not going to adjust the layout drastically, just make all the graphics prettier. Won't affect performance or anything. Note that we can adjust this as time goes on, but please go into this with an open mind. Once you poke around it, I promise you'll start to like the look.
Screen capture:
An updated skin will not only make the site look better, but it will also help us attract advertisers. Companies love a pretty looking site, and in order for Ridemonkey to continue to grow, we need to increase the ad dollars coming in the door.
The biggest thing to remember out of all of this, is that we're a different team than the guys you've seen modifying the site over the last 8 months. We give a **** what you think, and are more than willing to make tweaks based on suggestions.
After this round of updates, we'll have full control of the site's codebase, so we can start making tweaks everywhere we want. The goal is to move this site forwards based on both what the community wants, and what will be good for the business side of it. We need a balance, and know that we've been building that balance on www.newschoolers.com for years. There's always some hard times, some quirks, hiccups and total disasters, but the key is that we're here to work it all out with you.
Please, don't hesitate to post feedback at any time. Don't hesitate to give it to me straight either, I'm well-experienced on taking negative feedback on the internet.
Just do your best to give everything we try a fair chance, and then we'll work on perfecting it together.
So we've been hard at work de-constructing the backend of this site, and so far so good. We've addressed a couple of the major issues (ads stalling pages, bad CMS) and the site will be in a state that we can modify it.
Unless plans change drastically, its looking like we're going to shoot to launch round #1 of changes on Wednesday. It will likely be around noon EST, but I'll keep you up to date with a more exact time.
Now, we've done a couple of things to the site, which I want to show you before we launch so you don't get too shocked.
#1 - Removed the CMS. Currently there's two sites here, ridemonkey.com and content.ridemonkey.com. This has caused an immeasurable amount of heartache, and the integration jsut didn't work. We'll do everything we can to port over the data (there wasn't much) but there is a chance we're going to lose some/all of it. The good part is, this is what was causing a lot of problems on the site. This should address a bunch of them.
#2 - Changed the ad loading. Currently the ads load before the content on the page. This can cause page loads in excess of 10 seconds and as I've been posting I have almost smashed my computer with a hammer on more than one occasion.
#3 - Changed the skin. This is the one that might cause a few of you to do a double take. RM has had a very basic vBulletin skin for quite some time, and we felt that it was time to give a more current, fresh and sleek look. We're not going to adjust the layout drastically, just make all the graphics prettier. Won't affect performance or anything. Note that we can adjust this as time goes on, but please go into this with an open mind. Once you poke around it, I promise you'll start to like the look.
Screen capture:
An updated skin will not only make the site look better, but it will also help us attract advertisers. Companies love a pretty looking site, and in order for Ridemonkey to continue to grow, we need to increase the ad dollars coming in the door.
The biggest thing to remember out of all of this, is that we're a different team than the guys you've seen modifying the site over the last 8 months. We give a **** what you think, and are more than willing to make tweaks based on suggestions.
After this round of updates, we'll have full control of the site's codebase, so we can start making tweaks everywhere we want. The goal is to move this site forwards based on both what the community wants, and what will be good for the business side of it. We need a balance, and know that we've been building that balance on www.newschoolers.com for years. There's always some hard times, some quirks, hiccups and total disasters, but the key is that we're here to work it all out with you.
Please, don't hesitate to post feedback at any time. Don't hesitate to give it to me straight either, I'm well-experienced on taking negative feedback on the internet.
Just do your best to give everything we try a fair chance, and then we'll work on perfecting it together.
