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So, as I am sure all dotTechies have noticed, I have not posted on dotTech for the past two months. Why? Simply because I was too busy with life (life outside dotTech), and couldn’t deal with dotTech. I know I should have given a heads up instead of just disappearing, but I never really planned on just disappearing. It was more of a gradual “oh I will post something soon” and before I knew it “soon” become two months. For that I do apologize. Now, however, I am back and looking to make a few changes to dotTech.
First of all, I am sure everyone noticed dotTech has a new look. There are three main reasons behind the new look:
- After the two month break, I wanted to start “fresh”.
- The previous theme I had for dotTech was poorly coded, and recently I have had a craving for a minimalist look.
- dotTech has started its third year online — what better way to celebrate than change looks?
That said, I would like some feedback on this new look. Hate it? Love it? Want something changed? Found bugs? Please post in the comments below!
Second order of business is changing how dotTech functions. While I was on my “break”, I realized that the existence of dotTech depends very heavily on me. Yes, I know I am the founder/owner/care-taker/etc. so being the core pillar holding up dotTech is expected. But I would like dotTech to be more community centric, with multiple authors and active participation from dotTechies. So, in this regard I will be posting information soon about hiring authors for dotTech (this time authors – all regular authors – will be paid, although the pay will be very,very little since revenue is very, very little) and am devising a plan to enhance community participation.
Thirdly, because of the lack of activity in the past two months, the traffic ranks for dotTech has fallen. This really hurts dotTech’s capabilities to get freebies like we have in the past. So I humbly request all dotTechies to try to make regular visits to dotTech so we can pull our ranks back up, enabling more excellent freebies to come our way.
Fourthly, I have removed the sidebar from the forums to make more width for the forum. Please provide feedback on this change.
Lastly, the status of Giveaway of the Day reviews is up in the air. Truly, I have found myself no longer enjoying GOTD reviews, so I am not too sure if I will continue on them. However, I will be looking to hire a regular GOTD reviewer, so if you are interested in the job let me know.
Let’s build this website together back to its former glory!
Feel free to flame me in the comments below – I deserve it.
It is nice to have you back.
The theme is nice, but a little color would add to it.
welcome back dear brother
i like the theme
“Who is this masked man ?”
I believe in KISS, so no complaints.
Can you convince MS as well ?
Welcome back,
Rob (Down Under)
PS It is a bit brutal, if one types a comment, and submits it, without having entered an email address. (It discards all the typing).
And I would like the checkbox pre-ticked (unless it was a ‘first time’ cookie problem ?)
Welcome Back!!
Hope to c the same old dottech back firing..
Grr
Dear Ashraf
There are 2 websites I view “religiously” every day.
1 of them is GOTD (freebies occasionally useful but often of dubious utility) the other is dottech.
I have found your freebies and reviews to be consistently useful and of high quality and was dismayed by your absence over the last few months. If I were you, I would be reluctant to let dottech go as it is something special and all of your own.
Internet capable hardware is expensive and cannot function at all without software. Having already spent a ton of money on the hardware, I don’t see why I should have to spend any more hard-earned cash - and that’s where you come in!
Good quality freebies are vitally important for those millions, like myself, on a software budget of zero.
Who knows, one day, when some license expires, I may even be prepared to fork out a few pennies for some god-like piece of software I cannot live without.
Cheers!
Fatih
Welcome back! Personally, I care less about the look than the content. That said, I do like the minimalist approach. I have but one suggestion – a possible ditching of the top posters count on the forums. It just seems to encourage people to write about nothing in order to get their numbers up. I’d rather see people post because they actually have something to say, rather than babbling on about nothing ad nauseam. That’s my only wish.
Ashraf,
I have been a regular visitor for a long time but seldom if ever post. Your return has prompted me to say a few words.
1. The site looks good. A change is as good as etc….
2. The art of delegation is central to success, regardless of individual brilliance (and the load that implies). You have access to a core of great admins who have kept the interest up while you were away. Use them.
3. Happy to revisit. I have kept a watch over the last few weeks for activity. The forums have had some interest but the regular site postings are much more interesting.
4. Go ahead, it makes for better readability.
5. The GOTD offerings have been pretty thin lately especially from a quality point of view. The idea of continuing to review the site is good, but my view would be to only post on offerings that are breakthrough/new approach/interesting to the majority. How many video converters do you need after all!!
As to flaming, you deserve a life, and a career. If you get the delegation right, the site will continue to be as interesting and informative as it always has been.
Welcome back Ashraf, you were missed, believe me. I hope that all is well with you and yours and that it stays that way.
I like the ” New ” look, mainly because at my age. I like for things to be simple and right on target.
Again, ” Welcome back, Ashraf.”
Welcome back!
Like so many good things in life, you do not appreciate them until they gone gone.
Glad you are back so I can say thank you for all that you have done and thank you in advance for all that you will do.
Next should come a donation. Please, all those who are yet to donate, do it now. Now that we appreciate what we have been missing.
Welcome back :-)
You know better than anyone, what is best for yourself and your dottech child. I wish you good luck to whatever you choose, especially for your “real” life.
If I had to write an advice, that would be to try to keep a “meter” like the ancient Greeks said, meaning, to try not to exaggerate in any kind of activity, including the time you spent to dottech or elsewhere.
(usually men do not manage to keep that, including myself, so a reminder should be given every now and then).
Your decision to hire a reviewer should be positive towards this direction. I do not know how successful that person may be with the reviews, but I prefer that you appear from time to time with short comments or experiences, than missing totally…
Again, GOOD LUCK and may God be with you :-)
p.s. I like very much the new forum width.
its good to see you back.I trust your reviews…
Good to see you back. I checked up daily hoping you would return.
Great to have you back! We ashumed you were busy so don’t feel guilty over it :)
As for the new theme, i actually quite like this minimalist approach. It looks nice, clean and simple. One change i would suggest is similar to Phoenix’s, a lot of people end up posting nonsense in the forums simply to get their rank up and i don’t think we should have that kind of competition personally.
Other than that, i’d be happy to be an author without pay tbh. I wouldn’t mind writing an article for dottech every now and then. I’d actually feel privileged to do so.
Welcome back! It has been a LONG 2 months :(
The redesign of your site is much better. Loads very fast and no heavy bloat. Oh and by the way…PLEASE come back to GOTD, some of the reviews are….well lets just say..ill-informed and not well written.
Welcome back Ashraf, you were missed.
Rob
XFASTPC.COM
Good to see you back! And it was very easy to understand that you needed a break. I was very impressed over your thorough GOTD reviews, in fact I was wondering how you were able to manage it combined with having a life.
Your new layout is quite OK – I don’t think it is important. It’s the contents that count.
The new look is ok, but the drop down menus don’t seem to work (at the top).
Great to see you back. I checked this site alot to see if you were back.
Wellcome back :)
Good Luck Every One
Overall, I like the sparse layout, but would like a little bit of color.
One but I did notice is that there doesn’t seem to be a favicon anymore.
We did all wonder where you were, but figured that you had a life too. I know all about the “I’ll get to it later” becoming a day, then a week, then a month, etc. It happens to all of us.
As for the GOTD reviews, my recommendation is that you do them again at least for a while. It will serve to drive up traffic to dotTech–after all, GOTD is how a bunch of people learned about dotTech in the first place.
I do like the new layout of the forums. Making it wider makes it much easier to read. A couple of issues I noticed:
1) the icons in the forum that indicate a subscribed, favorite, etc post don’t line up correctly (the edit icon for admins especially) and appear to have an extra line at the top or bottom of the icon.
2) you might want to think about putting a link on the dotTech icon in the header. I clicked on it thinking it would take me back to the main page and nothing happened.
Happy Days! Welcome back, Ashraf. I am deeply relieved that all seems well with you, and that rather than dissolving into the sort of burn-out and overload that has befallen another favorite blogger, you had the wisdom to attend to your own affairs.
The new look is quite elegant. It is also exceptionally easy to read, which is appreciated as one who tends to stare blurrily at the screen while waiting for morning coffee.
All in all, hooray, hooray, and I hope that in dotTech’s 3rd year, your hope for a more vibrant and participatory community will be fully realized.
Glad to see you back. Am a regular visitor to this site in spite of your short break. Am ready to assist you to make this site better and useful.
Good to see you back. If I had the expertise to help I would. None the less, I have learned a lot from your site, but I understand your desire to improve the site and at the same time to not let it consume you. I would suggest you somehow screen those who are willing to help so that the quality of your site will not deteriorate. Perhaps those who comment in the forum section will give you an idea of who is capable/qualified.
Welcome back, Ashraf, we missed you.
It wonderful for you to be back with us. Any format you choose will be fine. Just don’t choose white text on white background or black on black, etc.