Hello all,
As promised I'm here to share with you the details of our re-branding, how it will work and the chronology involved in some of the more major elements.
This will affect each and every one of you to some degree so I encourage you to peruse this posts contents so as not to be surprised should you visit and find us offline.
Site Re-branding:
This is of course the biggest and most important element of the re-brand about to happen and the most difficult by far.
The biggest road block facing the re-brand is the forum and blog both need to physically relocate to a new account on the Server. While it sounds easy it is far from it as both Wordpress and vBulletin are database driven programs with existing data that is all intricately altered from the base install via some 3rd party mods we chose to run (such as the Chatbox).
Assuming this is the case, the entire Website and databases will need to be copied to a new account and tested to see whether or not they function correctly.
The above translates into a tremendous amount of work, help from the Community to BETA and bug squash and represents a worse case scenario.
...
However, apparently there is an option within cPanel/WHM that allows for changing many elements of an existing account and it may be possible to make the change this way. This is something I'll certainly discuss with our Webhost.
Assuming this is the case, the change will only take a matter of minutes.
Having said that it is still bound by the same laws as a total site move in that DNS will require propagation in your local area. This process can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours to a few days; I've seen all happen.
Regardless of how this change happens the Community will be given a heads up prior to any major work being done.
Twitch:
Twitch will play an active role in growing our Community via Streaming. It is a proven viable solution that has brought players into both our Teamspeak and Community.
The one biggest feature of Twitch that I love is that people watching the Stream not only get a sense of what your Community is about but also a sense of your Community's personality. This so far has translated into some delving beyond the Stream into the Community often times with personality traits very similar to ours.
...in other words their oftentimes an easy fit.
You also get to chat with people you typically wouldn't meet online while you play a game and who doesn't love to hobnob when gaming?
It is a terrific tool and we will be embracing it fully.
As a result there will be some Website design changes which I'll touch on later as they fall within the confines of the overall re-branding schema.
YouTube:
At this time I'm unsure of how this will work?
Depending on who you believe, an existing YouTube Channel cannot have it's account name changed unless your an 00ber Superstar like PewDiePie or TotalBiscuit.
However, I've read that since YouTube is now tied into Google+, changes to Google+ should change the associated YouTube account.
I'm not sure if this will work but I have a dummy account called d00kt00b that I'll be testing it on.
Facebook and Twitter:
These were both epic failures on my part as I could never get them to update automatically via Website RSS, Blog RSS, Twitch and YouTube.
The problem was I was trying to use both at the same time via the same service and use either/or as a gateway toward updating content on both Social Media platforms.
This time around I won't be wasting my time in this regard. Twitterfeed will take care of Twitter updating and Hootsuite may become my platform of choice for Facebook.
Steam:
A new Steam Group will be created.
Implementation:
This is a bit of a grey area right now as every piece of the puzzle requires a few other pieces to complete the picture.
...and there's no box cover to cheat off of.
I won't lie to you, as it stands there is no ETA on when this work will be completed. My guess is that instead of a full launch like I wanted earlier, this will be a tiered soft roll-out with a full official announcement to follow once all assets are in place.
...and last but not least, re-design (yay!)
This is the most exciting element of this entire re-brand (for me anyway) as we get to be creative.
Not only that but we get to address issues I've ignored since day one that has not helped us in our online presence.
There are four major elements to this re-design and are as follows:
What follows are both my original mockup and one streamlined by Daunt that highlight the minimalist approach we'll be taking to our sites default theme:
Now before anyone freaks out please note, you will have the ability to bypass these themes.
Personally I'll be using them as I love the ease of use that comes with them but there main functions are strictly in the interests of embracing current web standards while simplifying browsing and boosting our SEO through clever use of optimized "alt" and "title" tags on SEO images.
This will also go a long way toward cutting our content to code ratio which will also help in SEO as well as speed up page load times.
...
Even though you will have the ability to bypass the above there will be elements disappearing from all but one theme.
There will remain one "legacy" option to allow those of you who adamantly don't want to see change however please be advised it will be pretty much what you're currently used to and will not be developed further.
All other designing will be taking a much simpler approach and in doing so will cut thousands of lines of needless noise from our code. Right now some of our highest ranking keywords are "Threads", "Posts", "Last Post", "Duke", etc.; all utter nonsense!!!
Cutting out much of the code that generates this needlessly duplicated content will allow our actual topics to rank higher in the Search Engines.
I don't know about you but I'd much rather find us through search for iRacing Forum or perhaps DayZ Forum rather than by typing in our sites name as we do currently to get here (assuming you're not using a Bookmark of course).
Essentially we're invisible online right now and all of the above is an attempt to change that.
To be perfectly clear, none of the above is the total solution to growth and it is not to be interpreted as such. Everything that's being done is simply meant to enhance what we already do anyway and help it all perform better.
In closing
It's a really exciting time right now and I personally love the fact that even though not everyone is on the same page this entire process has helped breath both life and passion into the Community once more.
This is what has sorely been lacking the last several months on end and whether you agree or disagree with the work being done, you cannot deny the fact we're finally seeing signs of life around here.
Exciting times all and I'm glad you're here to experience them!
Sincerely,
Ken
As promised I'm here to share with you the details of our re-branding, how it will work and the chronology involved in some of the more major elements.
This will affect each and every one of you to some degree so I encourage you to peruse this posts contents so as not to be surprised should you visit and find us offline.
Site Re-branding:
This is of course the biggest and most important element of the re-brand about to happen and the most difficult by far.
The biggest road block facing the re-brand is the forum and blog both need to physically relocate to a new account on the Server. While it sounds easy it is far from it as both Wordpress and vBulletin are database driven programs with existing data that is all intricately altered from the base install via some 3rd party mods we chose to run (such as the Chatbox).
Assuming this is the case, the entire Website and databases will need to be copied to a new account and tested to see whether or not they function correctly.
The above translates into a tremendous amount of work, help from the Community to BETA and bug squash and represents a worse case scenario.
...
However, apparently there is an option within cPanel/WHM that allows for changing many elements of an existing account and it may be possible to make the change this way. This is something I'll certainly discuss with our Webhost.
Assuming this is the case, the change will only take a matter of minutes.
Having said that it is still bound by the same laws as a total site move in that DNS will require propagation in your local area. This process can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours to a few days; I've seen all happen.
Regardless of how this change happens the Community will be given a heads up prior to any major work being done.
Twitch:
Twitch will play an active role in growing our Community via Streaming. It is a proven viable solution that has brought players into both our Teamspeak and Community.
The one biggest feature of Twitch that I love is that people watching the Stream not only get a sense of what your Community is about but also a sense of your Community's personality. This so far has translated into some delving beyond the Stream into the Community often times with personality traits very similar to ours.
...in other words their oftentimes an easy fit.
You also get to chat with people you typically wouldn't meet online while you play a game and who doesn't love to hobnob when gaming?
It is a terrific tool and we will be embracing it fully.
As a result there will be some Website design changes which I'll touch on later as they fall within the confines of the overall re-branding schema.
YouTube:
At this time I'm unsure of how this will work?
Depending on who you believe, an existing YouTube Channel cannot have it's account name changed unless your an 00ber Superstar like PewDiePie or TotalBiscuit.
However, I've read that since YouTube is now tied into Google+, changes to Google+ should change the associated YouTube account.
I'm not sure if this will work but I have a dummy account called d00kt00b that I'll be testing it on.
Facebook and Twitter:
These were both epic failures on my part as I could never get them to update automatically via Website RSS, Blog RSS, Twitch and YouTube.
The problem was I was trying to use both at the same time via the same service and use either/or as a gateway toward updating content on both Social Media platforms.
This time around I won't be wasting my time in this regard. Twitterfeed will take care of Twitter updating and Hootsuite may become my platform of choice for Facebook.
Steam:
A new Steam Group will be created.
Implementation:
This is a bit of a grey area right now as every piece of the puzzle requires a few other pieces to complete the picture.
...and there's no box cover to cheat off of.
I won't lie to you, as it stands there is no ETA on when this work will be completed. My guess is that instead of a full launch like I wanted earlier, this will be a tiered soft roll-out with a full official announcement to follow once all assets are in place.
...and last but not least, re-design (yay!)
This is the most exciting element of this entire re-brand (for me anyway) as we get to be creative.
Not only that but we get to address issues I've ignored since day one that has not helped us in our online presence.
There are four major elements to this re-design and are as follows:
- Embracing current web standards while greeting our visitors with a more intuitive and simplistic site design.
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization): Simplistic design will go a long way toward helping in this regard and be supported by current SEO Techniques in delivering content.
- Media Integration: Both Twitch and YouTube will experience a more prominent display on our website and will give visitors more to experience. Twitch will be integrated into the header while YouTube will be displayed in a widened sidebar directly under it.
- Closing the loop: All assets from Blog to Community to Twitch/YouTube, Facebook/Twitter will be structured to direct traffic to one another. They will all cross promote one another at the highest levels of all our nomenclature.
What follows are both my original mockup and one streamlined by Daunt that highlight the minimalist approach we'll be taking to our sites default theme:
Now before anyone freaks out please note, you will have the ability to bypass these themes.
Personally I'll be using them as I love the ease of use that comes with them but there main functions are strictly in the interests of embracing current web standards while simplifying browsing and boosting our SEO through clever use of optimized "alt" and "title" tags on SEO images.
This will also go a long way toward cutting our content to code ratio which will also help in SEO as well as speed up page load times.
...
Even though you will have the ability to bypass the above there will be elements disappearing from all but one theme.
There will remain one "legacy" option to allow those of you who adamantly don't want to see change however please be advised it will be pretty much what you're currently used to and will not be developed further.
All other designing will be taking a much simpler approach and in doing so will cut thousands of lines of needless noise from our code. Right now some of our highest ranking keywords are "Threads", "Posts", "Last Post", "Duke", etc.; all utter nonsense!!!
Cutting out much of the code that generates this needlessly duplicated content will allow our actual topics to rank higher in the Search Engines.
I don't know about you but I'd much rather find us through search for iRacing Forum or perhaps DayZ Forum rather than by typing in our sites name as we do currently to get here (assuming you're not using a Bookmark of course).
Essentially we're invisible online right now and all of the above is an attempt to change that.
To be perfectly clear, none of the above is the total solution to growth and it is not to be interpreted as such. Everything that's being done is simply meant to enhance what we already do anyway and help it all perform better.
In closing
It's a really exciting time right now and I personally love the fact that even though not everyone is on the same page this entire process has helped breath both life and passion into the Community once more.
This is what has sorely been lacking the last several months on end and whether you agree or disagree with the work being done, you cannot deny the fact we're finally seeing signs of life around here.
Exciting times all and I'm glad you're here to experience them!
Sincerely,
Ken
