TR Forums

Waco wrote:

I think the main point to draw from this entire thread is that we're complaining about the changes because we view them as harmful to the site and that we clearly care about the site's survival. I'm sure it can be worked out to work with the new CMS, but if you can telegraph that sentiment to the overlords who managed this transition (I think I'm being too kind by even implying there was a plan, though) I think we'd all appreciate it. We're all invested in the site, the community, and the survival of both - I'm just amazed that anyone could see this transition and the timing of it as anything but a negative one.

rechicero wrote:

Waco wrote:

I think the main point to draw from this entire thread is that we're complaining about the changes because we view them as harmful to the site and that we clearly care about the site's survival. I'm sure it can be worked out to work with the new CMS, but if you can telegraph that sentiment to the overlords who managed this transition (I think I'm being too kind by even implying there was a plan, though) I think we'd all appreciate it. We're all invested in the site, the community, and the survival of both - I'm just amazed that anyone could see this transition and the timing of it as anything but a negative one.

THIS.

I stopped visiting other tech sites because of changes like this, but I never wasted even a keystroke complaining. Just stopped visiting them.

I think most of us complaining is, actually, a big compliment to you guys. You do a great job, and your job deserves to be easy and confortable to read. You are not a blog, your are not yet another tech site. You are f**ng TechReport. If we are moaning so much is because we want you to continue your great job. And it's truly amazing as I think not one of the original staff is still in TR (Scott, Cyril etc). You had huge shoes to fill and you did it great.

Al this grumbling is just a bunch of oldtimers trying to help you go in the right direction.

rechicero wrote:

Waco wrote:

I think the main point to draw from this entire thread is that we're complaining about the changes because we view them as harmful to the site and that we clearly care about the site's survival. I'm sure it can be worked out to work with the new CMS, but if you can telegraph that sentiment to the overlords who managed this transition (I think I'm being too kind by even implying there was a plan, though) I think we'd all appreciate it. We're all invested in the site, the community, and the survival of both - I'm just amazed that anyone could see this transition and the timing of it as anything but a negative one.

THIS.

I stopped visiting other tech sites because of changes like this, but I never wasted even a keystroke complaining. Just stopped visiting them.

I think most of us complaining is, actually, a big compliment to you guys. You do a great job, and your job deserves to be easy and confortable to read. You are not a blog, your are not yet another tech site. You are f**ng TechReport. If we are moaning so much is because we want you to continue your great job. And it's truly amazing as I think not one of the original staff is still in TR (Scott, Cyril etc). You had huge shoes to fill and you did it great.

Al this grumbling is just a bunch of oldtimers trying to help you go in the right direction.

Igor_Kavinski wrote:

It's WordPress so isn't it possible to provide a selection of different themes that users can try out? After a while, make the most viewed theme as the default one.

leor wrote:

Former (and occasionally current when I have to be) web designer here. So yeah, don't break production 101... pretty epic face plant while getting punched in the dick and choking on your gum... that happened, but we're here now so what can we do?

First off, Wordpress as a CMS doesn't really limit anything people have been asking for, it's just a bit less flexible than other options so some things might require more effort/creativity to implement. It seems like we're building a backlog of stuff to do here, so I'm going to make a guess at the priorities that will drive what gets done and what might not (given everything costs money).

1. Keep the site from dying/enable growth
This as the highest priority is potentially at odds with keeping the community happy, as the goal is to get new eyes on the site and those new eyes likely expect something different than we're used to.

2. Make sure everything works

3. Keep the community that's kept the site alive happy
So how can we achieve #1 without too badly compromising #3? We should organize our requests by things we don't like but can live with, and deal breakers. Also wherever possible, the old look and feel should be retained, that can be as easy as, when implementing a dark theme, just use the same exact blue we are all familiar with (new users won't care either way). If an effective balance between #1 and #3 isn't achieved, all this effort will be for naught. The success of this endeavor will hinge upon a mix of the passion and energy the old guard brings, and catering to the masses at large.

Information density isn't really a value in current web design, but I think this site strikes a decent balance. https://www.theringer.com/

SecretMaster wrote:

So now that there is a post up on the front page, can we be clued in to the change in management/staff? Who is Renee Johnson? What does the "corporate" structure of TR look like now?

just brew it! wrote:

Hard to tell from the tiny avatar

DancinJack wrote:

lftl: https://techreport.com/featured/3463422/new-design/

talk about barebones. there is virtually zero information here. I sure hope they plan on expanding on what went down, even if it's just here in the forums, but I won't hold my breath. Renee didn't even introduce herself. Neither have the new owners. Just....I don't know at this point.

drfish wrote:

Technically, the new guys have owned the site for a few months, but they have left business as usual alone (except for the Twitter and FB bots and the redesign obviously) while they rest of us have continued to do our thing as we saw fit. There's no indication that's going to change. Of course, the existing writers have concerns, we'd be crazy not to. Not looping us in before the redesign launched was very uncool. Hopefully, we'll get better at communicating and avoid missteps like that in the future.

Today is the first I've heard of Renee Johnson. John Rampton is the new "business guy" and the rest of the team is the same, save for anyone else we haven't be introduced to yet.

Bigbloke wrote:

derFunkenstein wrote:

juzz86 wrote:

You're doing a fine job from a tough spot mate and it's appreciated, thankyou.

I don't mind the new look so much personally (I actually find the article body far easier to read in this layout), bit generic but you'll fix all that up when you get the keys back.

Stick with it, all good

Get the keys back lol

So if nobody else has already had the idea, you should compare current whois info to cached whois info. That'll give you an idea what's going on.

My Google-fu must suck eggs. I can't find anything useful that way. Only thing I found was that techreport.com was updated in April to a different privacy protection outfit to the one used back in 2016! Don't worry I wasn't going to blurt out any sensitive data, even if I could find anything!!!!

drfish wrote:

All I can ask is give them a chance. That's what I'm doing. Like I said, both groups need to learn more about each other.

drfish wrote:

All I can ask is give them a chance. That's what I'm doing. Like I said, both groups need to learn more about each other.

Mr Bill wrote:

Here you go. It was posted earlier in the thread. I bookmarked it so I could remember the old days.

SecretMaster wrote:

drfish wrote:

All I can ask is give them a chance. That's what I'm doing. Like I said, both groups need to learn more about each other.

For sure. But maybe they should invest in someone with PR experience

Waco wrote:

The odd "approval" thing for comments is screwing up the counts on the front page as well. It shows 9 comments, but only 2 are visible. That'll be a fun comment thread based on the (lack of) content in the post.

just brew it! wrote:

C'mon, people, give 'em a chance. Don't be so quick to write TR's obituary.