Archive for January, 2008

We’ve got a lot going on today at Revision3!

Our big news? Today we launched a brand new update to Revision3.com. Our new site look has been under development for more than five months, and includes a number of new features, capabilities and styles.

Let’s start with the look itself. With a complete site redesign, our site is easier on the eyes, more organized, and each show has its own destination sub-site, with its own distinct look and feel. Our new home page is anchored by a rotating module that highlights shows, events and other key happenings at Revision3. We’ve also made it easier for you to find our shows, and try out new shows and episodes you might have missed.

These new show sub-sites are actually full-blown destination sites themselves. Inside you’ll find individual pages for each episode, more pages for daily episodes (where they exist), detailed pages for each host, and much more. We’re also highlighting news and notes for each show, ensuring you never miss any details for all your favorite Revision3 shows and hosts.

And once you find a show you like, why not subscribe to it, or share it with a friend. We’ve made that easier as well, with a big “Subscribe” button in the upper left hand side of every page inside each show’s subsite. We’ve also laid out all the subscription options in one place, and made it easier to embed a show on your blog or MySpace account too.

Oh, and what about watching your favorite shows? Sure you can subscribe and download, but we’ve improved our streaming capabilities as well. Over the last month we’ve worked closely with our streaming CDN, BitGravity, to improve performance and response time, and to integrate in a larger player. Now you can see all your favorite episodes in a new 555×337 window – that’s big!

Another part of the Revision3 site you may not have paid much attention to, our strong and active community, now takes center stage as well. We’ve integrated in forum comments everywhere on the site, from the home page to show pages and even down onto episode pages. Now you can easily read comments and post your own — about Revision3’s shows, or whatever’s on your mind.

But if you want to post, you’ll have to become a member. It’s easier than ever, though, and once you’ve logged in the site changes in subtle but important ways. First, your own comments will be appearing in our community pages for all the shows. Second, you can create and upload your own favorite avatar image that follows you around. And there’s much more to come, including new customization options, chatting options and much more. And when you become a member, don’t worry – we’ll never sell your name, nor never send you anything you haven’t asked for. But I encourage you to check the box that enables us to send you Revision3 updates – you’ll be first in line for our new email update, along with updates on new features and more. You can do all that on your own personal Account page.

Speaking of members, that leads me to our second big piece of news. For the last year or so we’ve made early release of Diggnation a part of our paid membership program. But just as Woodstock became a free concert, as of today those gates are down. Everyone will now receive Diggnation at the same time. So for everyone who’s been waiting mournfully for 24 hours, or heading over to other sites to get Diggnation early, your long national nightmare is over! Diggnation, free for all, on Fridays at 7pm (eastern).

The new Revision3 website is a thing of beauty. And our amazing web development and tech team, including Ron Richards, Stephanie Chu, Jeff Rizzo, Mark Rebec, Chuck Siu, and Brendan White have put together a fantastic site – with many more cool features and capabilities to come. So make sure to keep coming back and checking here at our blog for updates and announcements of new functionality. Enjoy the site, check it out, and feel free to leave any questions, suggestions, brickbats or kudos here in the comments.

- Jim Louderback
CEO, Revision3