Last One Out, Get The Lights...
Update!
At 2:57 PM on 11/16/08, the new Comic Related website went live!
Site creator Chuck Moore here reporting for duty!
It's an amazing time here at Comic Related and I invite you to join me as we take one long final look around the web site before it fades into the dust of history and rises in an utterly new way. Okay, now that that is done. Let's look forward!
We're evolving and we're shaking off the current site design that has carried us into the start of our fifth year on the web. After we pull the trigger and initiate the change sometime tomorrow, I can honestly say that things will never be the same again and I wanted to give you a taste of what you can expect...
The New Look
It's being teased in the image on the right and the logo above!
I can't wait for you to see the new design as I have been on the edge of my seat to share it since it was finalized. We've worked hard to maintain the features of the current Comic Related all the while jump starting a bold new look. You won't be disappointed!
The look of the new site will take over the main page and many of the first few levels of recent content when we relaunch. In the days that follow, we'll continue transitioning all the old content. As each page changes over, it will become available in the new search function of Comic Related. We're doing this as we want to preserve your ability to walk back through the history of the last four years despite the somewhat radical change which is about to happen. Our history is a part of what makes us so strong and we refuse to lose it, even for a short time. Essentially, we're going to let the initial change roll across the history of the site page by page offering you a bit of the best of both worlds.
Our forum will follow this tidal wave of change in just a few short weeks. We're working with Eric Adams and Turnstyle Creative on a new skin for that area which will maintain the overall look and feel of the main site.
This is Just the Beginning
Web 2.0 here we come!
We like to refer to the Comic Related regulars as family and our next order of business after the relaunch is to begin finalizing a series of "community" updates that will impact everything we do. Over time, our web site will be increasingly configurable to the type of content you're wanting to see and in phase two of our roll out we'll launch comment areas for every update. We're shooting for a smooth integration of options allowing you to play an increasing part in the web site you visit.
Managing the Content
Content management system here we come!
In the new design, all stories will be tagged (behind the scenes) based on their content they contain and the web site will understand how those stories flow off the main page and where they go throughout the web site. Additionally, each columnist on the Columns page will have its own mini homepage gathering each individual story as it's posted automatically. If you like Russell's Gold Exchange or John's Graphic Content or Gordon's TV Party or Eric's Why I Love Comics or Bill's Life in Four Colors (or etc.) you'll have a page that will show you the most recent story and the complete history of what that columnist has written. This will also be the case for our growing crew of reviewers. Like what someone writes? It will be easy to follow on the new site. This feature should be live within just a few days of the launch.
In time, we plan to evolve more areas within the site into "on demand" content pages. Looking for small press stories... Looking for manga stories... Looking for web comic stories... Looking for Marvel stories... In time, one click will give you the option to call up stories based on the topic area you're interested in reading about. It may be a little on down the line, but how cool is that? You the user will be able to call up news pages tailored to exactly what you're looking for. It's all about community, convenience and fun!
The Next 48 Hours
Before the new site dawns, the lights will go out...
We're actually moving the entire site to a new web host (Fused Network) and with that move there will be a bit of unavoidable down time. Here's the plan for what's going to happen over the next two days...
At 11:00 PM tonight, I'll shift the forum into a "read only" status as the forum will be the first to move.
As of this post, main site updates to the current site will halt until the new site is live.
The main site will remain here until we repoint the www.comicrelated.com domain to the new server.
Depending on the name server your computer access, this down time range from a few hours or as much as a day.
Everything will jump back to life at once. Just keep checking www.comicrelated.com until you see it!
Want to follow the change process blow by blow?
Bookmark http://twitter.com/cr_forum/ as I'll be live blogging 24/7 until we return to life!!
I offer special thanks to the hard work of Eric Adams and Darren Mueller for making this change possible.
See you on the other side!
Cheers, Chuck
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