Linux Today Gets Facelift, Improved Design

As Managing Editor of Linux Today, let me be the first to welcome you to the new Linux Today news site!

Looking around at the new elements on the site, your first question will probably be "what have they done to my LT?" In actuality, the site's editorial content will remain exactly the same--we have just reorganized the way the content is presented.

If you examine the front page of Linux Today, you will note that the content of the feed is exactly as it has always been, We are not changing our story selection or point of view.

The only changes are in the colors, formatting of the pages and a new section design. These new section feeds focus on specific technology areas of Linux and open-source technology. When a story appears on the main front page, it will also appear in the appropriate section page. This gives you yet another way to use LT. You can continue to read from the home page or make a specific section your bookmark LT home, if you prefer.

There will be six sections, which will each feature aspects of Linux:

• Developer: This section will feature stories about development issues, software releases, open-source language progress, and many distribution-specific stories. This section will also serve as the home of the kernel announcement and community-oriented stories we like to feature on Linux Today.
• High Performance: This section will include articles on high-performance computing, clustering, and high-availablity computing, to name a few. Linux in high-end technology is a fast-growing area, and here will be the place to find out all about it.
• Infrastructure: The infrastructure section will highlight articles covering admin, networking, and other practical issues. Software reviews will be included, too. The focus here is on how to use Linux and open-source software.
• IT Management: This section will actually be a link to our sister Web Site, Enterprise Linux Today, which is also undergoing a design face lift. While ELT will still remain a separate site, Linux Today visitors can get all of the enterprise- and business-related news on open source technology here.
• Security: One of LT's strongest assets is the publication of up-to-date security advisories, as well as links to articles that demonstrate how to lock down your system. Such articles will be featured here.
• Storage: Surprisingly, one of the newest growth areas for Linux is the storage technology field. We have noted its increase over the last few months and felt that a section highlighting storage and SLAN technology should be included on the site.

The definition of these sections, and the sections themselves, are by no means set in stone. As time goes by and Linux continues to grow, new areas of technology will be focused upon--and, probably, some areas will fade into the background.

The addition of section pages to LT does by no means change the customizable features of the site that you have come to appreciate. All filters, triggers, and preference settings can still be used as before.

Here on the story pages, very little has changed, as story content, both linked and original, will appear as before. Talkbacks will also function as before.

Most of the elements from the previous version of Linux Today are still present in this new design, with the exception of the About Us page, which has been dropped.

So, why was the site redesigned? Two reasons, primarily. When discussions first began on the design change late last year, we wanted to give the site a new, slicker look, and also make stories easier to find. Hence, the addition of the new sections.

We also needed to accomodate the existence of new, larger ads. These new block ads have become more popular with advertisers because they deliver more information than smaller ads resulting in more people clicking on them. We will continue to work hard to make sure that only the most relevant ads appear on the pages.

Linux Today has never been stronger, both in terms of traffic and community participation (planning is under way for the upcoming Enterprise Linux Conference. We've worked hard to ensure that we have taken nothing away while we introduce these enhancements.

Of course with any significant software change comes the posibility of some uninvited bugs showing up on our site. Our developers have done an excellent job re-designing the front and back ends for Linux Today, and a few weeks of in-house bug testing leaves us feeling we're ready to release today.

But nothing compares to the real-life testing of hundreds of thousands of visitors per day, all asking the site to do the things they need. If you do find something that does not work the way it should, or looks rather odd, don't hesitate to send us an e-mail at webmaster@linuxtoday.com. Please don't post a found bug in the talkbacks--that will only serve to slow down the reporting process.

We hope that your experience with the new Linux Today site is a smooth one, and one that you will enjoy more than ever.