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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.
Welcome bak Ashraf ..
Awsome theme… White and blak.. My favourite in my sites :)
Absolutely thrilled to have you back Ashraf. I’ve missed you terribly and had resorted to reading old articles to get my daily ‘fix’.
Regarding the new theme, I’ve never really been a fan of the minimalist trend, but this is not bad. I do agree that a dash of colour wouldn’t go astray, perhaps in the headings.
Keep up the excellent work my friend. The internet would be a wasteland without you.
Hi Ash :)
I do agree the background is very white …
That wouldn’t be a problem, but the right side column is also totally white, making it hard to distinguish one section from the other.
Also, would it be possible to number the comments in a more clear way? Maybe bold black, preferably outside the box. Sometimes we want to come back to a particular comment later. But as of now the numbers are pale grey on white, its a bit difficult to even see them, plus sometimes the text itself overlays the numbers.
Just a thought.
Ciao
Welcome Back Ashraf. Your reviews were really missed as you are very good with them. Your new look is fine to me. I look forward to your come back. I’d offer help if I were an expert, but alas I’m not. Best wishes from Canada.
Hello Ashraf,
It is nice to see you back again!
The new page layout is nice, clean and un cluttered.
May be you may throw in some dash of red/blue/green/yellow like the one from google to make it very universal and discreet.
Cheers,
Dwight