It seems it's been a few weeks since the last time we were spoken to about this whole 2010 thing our lovely staff are going on about.

I'm wondering if there's anymore information?

Yes, I'm calling you out Springer and SO lol.

I'm looking forward to the changes and it would be great if we were actively advised of what was taking place and the new things that will be coming.

~Keeper

Bump.

Seems the border and header have changed. ATS2010 the future is near. Where are you SO? Anticipation,,,,,,,,

I can assure you SkepticOverlord is working hard and ATS2010 will be AMAZING

[edit on March 9th 2010 by greeneyedleo]

All things in their time.

It's stunning, but not quite ready for prime time. You'd be shocked how much code is involved with a site this complex, busy and huge.

Even more shocked if you had to basically strip it all away and start from scratch.

Stay tuned...


Springer...

Thank you Springer and GEL. I can't even begin to imagine the coding involved. This is one of the reasons I love ATS. The site is continually improved and is never stale.

The new ATS 2010 is a complete top-to-bottom recode of the entire site. And yes, we're migrating everything to a 100% CSS/DIV layout with a consistent menu system throughout the site, which will be the same for both members and guests.

Most of what you know about ATS remains intact, though every page is redesigned for a much cleaner look and smoother information flow.

There are some very-tricky code-based issues being worked through now, but we're hopeful for a beta-test version for our staff to use by the end of the month, then a full-release some time in April.

While it's tempting to reveal some of our completed pages, I think it's best to wait until the entire project is complete. But, here are some tidbits to consider:
"Way Above Top Secret" is returning, but in a different way
Artistic members won't *need* to rethink their avatars...
... ...but some might want to
Dark backgrounds on thread pages are the default...
... ...but there will be a lighter option (only on thread pages)
Every important site page is accessible from the top main menu
ATS forums and BTS forums are accessible under one domain...
... ...but you can keep them separate and never see one if that's what you want
Better integration of the media portal...
... ...changing your ATS/BTS password will also change your media password (yay!)
A very different thread page
A significantly different forum list page
A significantly different recent posts list page
and much more

*BH waits not-so-patiently.*

It sounds really great and very exciting!

Thanks for all the hard work! I can't wait! Well, I can. You know what I mean.

Will the code and database queries be lighter or heavier?

Because at off-peak hours a typical text-only thread loads fully within 5 seconds here.

And my bandwidth is only 1 mbps or 128 KB/s.

Will the load times improve or stay the same?

Hopefully the sections in each category on the home page will be uniform. It has slightly agitated my OCD in the past that some of the folder colors are different than the rest in the category. For example, in the Conspiracy Theory Discussion Forum category all the folders are pink except for the Alternative Substances section, which is manila. Oh and by the way, someone never even added text to that section on the board home page. It's just the folder.

That's really my only issue with the site. That and sometimes the organizational issues. Sometimes it seems like just a jumbled mess. But I suppose that's going to happen with such a large site.

Other than that, a new look and feel is always a good thing from time to time.

After some internal discussion and contemplation... we agree that our members deserve a preview of what's coming. In many ways, the changes are not a great deal more than an overall upgrade of our existing "image." But in some ways, the new design represents a significant step forward.

Below are three screen-shots of existing, fully-functional pages on our testbed server.





While the pages are fully-function, they also represent "works in progress" so there may be some minor changes between the finished pages and what you see here.

6... 5... 4..
I LOVE IT! Thanks for the preview.

AAAAHHHHH! I iz skerred!



Actually, it looks really cool! I like what you did with BTS and the tab option to keep it separate.