Why'd you do it?

Honestly, the site needed an update. The last time we redid the layout was 2008, and prior to that was around 2003. Interestingly, we wrote a similar FAQ back then and some of the same points come up.

The goals for the new version was to make things faster; more people were telling us that they are browsing on phones and tablets and the old site suuuucked for them. Not only did it load slowly, but a lot of the site's features simply couldn't be used (comments, ratings, searching, user profiles, favorites, etc.)

The other big thing was usability and trying to figure out what people actually did on the site and figure out how to make that easier to get to. The last thing was to simplify the number of ads on the site. We need a few because it's expensive to run a server and all, but we're not trying to compete with big companies so as long as we cover costs and can do a few hardware upgrades, we're all pretty happy.

The last thing to remember is that we're not really done with changing things and we want to hear from everyone about what they like/hate/need so we can add things back. There is no ego in the final layout and if you've watched from last night till tonight, you can already see that we've changed some things in response to what people have been telling us. So please share whatever concerns you have below. < p>

Comments

This is probably the biggest change. We've swapped in the Disqus commenting system in place of our homemade one. This was done for a few reasons, some technical but some regarding the community. From a technical standpoint it's one less wheel we need to reinvent and maintain. From a community perspective it's absolutely a shakeup, and sometimes that's necessary. We're interested to see what comes of it.

Now there's a few notes on the way we're using Disqus. We're using a feature called Single Sign On. That means if you log into Punknews using your Punknews user account, you'll be automatically assigned a Punknews-generated Disqus account that's solely associated with Punknews. It can't be used elsewhere on the web. If you're worried about not wanting to associate your comments elsewhere on the web with what you do on Punknews, just sign in and use that account. It's not tied to the rest of your life.

If you DO want to just use the same Disqus account you use for commenting on other websites, go right ahead. We are aware of an issue right now that's preventing you from doing both things, that is, log into Punknews but also be logged into your non-Punknews Disqus account. We're working on that.

As for how much we'll police Disqus, that's really up to you guys. Some features that are turned on (comment up / down voting, image embeds) are going to remain on until we have reason to turn them off. Enjoy the toys but, hey, try and treat each other like human beings.

Layout

The layout changes are likely the most jarring for people, but it's also the thing we're going to most actively tweak in the coming weeks. Some of the rough edges or funny margins you might see on oddball screen widths are going to be dealt with.

Our intent is to give text and images more room to breathe on the site, and it's going to take us who write the stories a bit of time to get into that mode. We'll be swapping out a lot of band images for bigger images and we're encouraging our people to write longer stories and use more media. The new layout will benefit style more than the boxes and borders of the 'Org of old did. That stuff should all read better on mobile devices and tablets as well.

Give us some time with this, as we're absolutely going to be tweaking. This is a spare time project for everyone so we couldn't exactly pull the Punknews corporate QA department in for rigorous testing. That's you.

My News

This is a new section we're trying out. If you're logged into Punknews you can choose to "Follow" any band that has a band page. The My News section will show you any stories in which bands you follow were mentioned in one way or the other. (IE, I might follow The Cure and if so, I'd see the recent story about Blacklist Royals releasing a Cure covers EP). If you had a Punknews account prior to the switchover we've built your initial following list based on your band ratings in the past.

Our Sinister Motives

One thing we saw in the comments was that we've made these changes at the behest of some external partner. That's not the case. Punknews is independently owned by Aubin Paul and it's his blood, sweat and tears that go into making changes like this.

The one big misconception to mention is any involvement by BuzzMedia (which was renamed SpinMedia a while ago, but whatever). While once upon a time we had an advertising partnership with that company, we don't anymore and haven't for some time. By all means blame us for what we do, not some external boogeyman.

How to Help

Punknews is an always has been just a bunch of otherwise employed people trying to do something of value for the music we love after hours. We get better when more people contribute. We get worse when the herd thins and we rely too heavily on a few people to do everything. Complacency kills, and this is as much a shakeup for us as it is for you. As always, if you want to help in any capacity, get in touch.

If you have specific bugs you find on the site, be they cosmetic or functional, hit the "Tips" button in the menu bar and shoot us an email using the Contact Form. We'll be turning those comments into a work list so we can start making regular improvements. Also, you could complain in the comment section below. While less effective, it's super cathartic.