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Major Site Design Change Coming Very Soon

Posted by TYRONE STEELS II, Site Administrator in At TMV.
May 28th, 2009 | Comments

NOTE: THERE ARE UPDATES TO THIS POST AT THE END. PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO THEM IF YOU’VE ALREADY READ THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION.

Hello Readers.

Those who are regular or semi-regular visitors to The Moderate Voice know very well that we have gone through various site design changes. The current design (spearheaded by myself, TMV Managing Editor Pete Abel, and Nicasio, LLC.) has worked well but is outdated in many respects. It doesn’t allow for additional, newer content to be added easily and slows down at times due to sizable graphical and content elements. The decision has been made to try a more current design that will allow TMV to become more current and allow for additional, relevant content to be added (all for your reading and viewing pleasure or displeasure, if you’re so inclined).

The Moderate Voice needs and will grow with this redesign. But we aren’t straying away from original writing and reporting in the slightest. We are enhancing that original content with relevant additions. Currently this new design is being “stress tested” (non-bank style) and being fully vetted. Note, we aren’t scrapping this design for good. The beauty of Wordpress is that it allows you to switch very easily between designs. If the new design utterly blows up (not likely but you can’t be too careful), we have a backup.

Stay tuned for more information since this design change will most likely happen before the end of the month…

———-

UPDATE (05/25/09): There will be work done on the site today (05/25/09) from 9:30p to 10:30p EST to prepare for the new look. You will see a maintenance screen during that time.

UPDATE (05/28/09): The new design for TMV will be rolled out later tonight. So far, the “stress test” of it has passed with flying colors. Due to some issues with the current design and Disqus comments responsiveness, this roll out needs to happen sooner rather than later. It is a BIG departure from the current TMV design but for the better in my opinion. There will be a posts explaining all the differences and additions once the new design is up.

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GeorgeSorwell

Will the reader comments be lost as a result of this change?

T-Steel

No. All comments will stay. Another advantage of having comments hosted outside of this site.

GeorgeSorwell

Thanks.

casualobserver

TS, as long as this thread is administrative, where can I locate the instructions for typing in italics, quote font, etc? The standard "Ctrl + " commands don't work in these Wordpress posting boxes.____Thanks.

T-Steel

CO, that's part of what will be added in the new design. Right now, we've been limited in what can be displayed in the comments section. So this week you will have a much easier time adding HTML type stuff.

kathykattenburg

"Anticipation, Anticipaaation, is making me late, it's keeping me waaaaiting."

jwest

T,

It’s great that you’ve worked so hard to update the site. Keep it up, we all appreciate it.

Let’s hope that someday the content will also undergo an update to achieve some semblance of balance.

GeorgeSorwell

Thanks for all the work.

Break a leg!

AustinRoth

Anything that speeds up DISQUS is a good thing! :)

archangel

much appreciation Tyrone... thank you for all the updates. I know you have little kids, a family, a demanding day job, and your own writing, and just 'life' in general... I join others, both expressive and silently appreciative of you.... that we so all are knocked out by your skills, your time and love you give to TMV.... and therefor to support for the word. Thank you T-man!

dr.e

GreenDreams

"Let’s hope that someday the content will also undergo an update to achieve some semblance of balance."

You mean censoring your comments so the rabid right content matches the <25% your views represent among the public? Nah, we don't want to censor even the wackos.

jwest

T,

Perhaps the new version of the website could incorporate a counter that would keep track of the number of articles on one subject. Here’s an example:

Sotomayor’s Teeth Just As White As Anglo Justices (87th)

It could serve as a reminder that every possible aspect of a certain subject has been covered and it’s time to move on – maybe even to things not normally found at TMV – like:

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs...

T-Steel

Darn politics! They find their way into everything. Even site design! :-P

tidbits

Thanks for your hard work. Looking forward to he new design.

GreenDreams

me too T-S. Think i got a brief glimpse when commenting a few days ago, alternate comments were color coded (though not like the memeorandum widget, which would be interesting.)

GreenDreams

mildly interesting link, jwest. You probably linked to that before the latest update that pretty much trashes the argument, made in the article, that somehow the White House itself is shutting down GOP owned Chrysler dealers as payback for donating to republicans. As it turns out, car dealers are mostly Republicans, 88% according to analysis by 538. 92% of dealers to be shut down are GOP donors, not a significant difference. BTW, over 85% of those to be kept are republican donors, too.

Nice try. BTW, I doubt you or any Republican ever quibbled with Chryslers' decisions about who GETS dealerships, did you?

AustinRoth

GS - even without the current development, that story didn't make sense.

Suppose for a moment that Barack and others DID decide to protect a few favored, big, well-connected donors (as I think they did - hey, that is politics). Having done that, would anyone other than say Blagojevich then go out and make it obvious that any favoritism was being done? And by closing only Republican dealerships?

I may have differences with Obama, but I do not think he is stupid. And that would have been beyond stupid.

GeorgeSorwell

Austin Roth--

Did you mean to direct the comment about auto dealers to Jwest?

HemmD

Looking forward to new format.

Maybe I'LL finally be able to get an personal icon up instead of the square headed generic. I never could find the docs for uploading one, and any I selected within my profile never showed...

Thanks for all your hard work on the upgrade.

AustinRoth

I was added and agreeing with GS's comments to jwest, but to GS, and so indirectly to jwest.

GeorgeSorwell

AR--

I think you mean GD instead of GS.

Which is a massive relief to me! Please feel free to give me the credit for everything GreenDreams writes! ; )

AustinRoth

Duh. Yep.

T-Steel

I can't take all the credit for the new design upcoming. But more on that later.

kathykattenburg

Let’s hope that someday the content will also undergo an update to achieve some semblance of balance.

What a sad sack you are, jwest. You could have left out the above sentence and let the first one stand on its own, and everyone here would have complimented you for one classy, appreciative comment.

jwest

Kathy,

That’s the difference between conservatives and liberals.

We speak truth to power (T-Steel and Joe) in an effort to improve the world around us. Liberals pander seeking popularity and acceptance, ignoring the long-term harm caused by their short term thinking.

jwest

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