Wanted to give our users a heads-up about some changes scheduled to take place within the Rivals.com Network.
Many of you have noticed the new format of our story pages that we've been rolling out over the past month, and the front page will take a new look as soon as this evening.
Here's a quick FAQ regarding the upcoming changes:
Why are the changes being made?
◦ No. 1 - The Rivals network has essentially been unchanged for 15 years. Because the coding is so antiquated it's coming apart at the seams and was in desperate need of an update. As many probably remember, national signing day two years ago was an absolute disaster when the network crashed for several hours. That was a result of underlying problems with the network and having few people that could maintain antiquated code and software. The network has been held together by tape and string since then, and it's a daily challenge to keep it up and running.
◦ No. 2 - Mobile! When Rivals was launched around 15 years ago there was no such thing as reading online content on a smart phone or tablet. Now, over 50% of people that are online are doing so from a mobile device! The old configuration (content and front page) was never designed for mobile and doesn't play nicely with it. We tried a workaround by independently developing an app, which was OK for a while but essentially hasn't worked since last summer. The new network is 100% mobile responsive and optimized for all devices.
What will the changes mean for The Wolfpacker users?
◦ For content pages, there will be a slightly different look but more importantly they will be optimized for mobile. Everything should be much easier to read on smart phones and tablets, and they should load faster. There will be no need to scroll from side to side or to increase the size of the page in order to read it. And because it's compatible with all devices and operating systems, every page should look fine whether you are using an iDevice, Android or Windows.
◦ With the network now stabilized and with everything compatible with mobile, it means we are one step closer to getting a working app that should be more functional than before, and a closer experience to visiting the site from your desktop computer. In the meantime, we encourage you to simply visit the website on your mobile browser, and we're confident you'll have a good experience with it.
◦ Since we have been switching to the new story pages, most of you are likely used to them. The new front page, will be new, and please keep in mind that we're building features into it - a work in progress. Because there was a priority to make everything mobile friendly, we had to sacrifice some features that have been mainstays on the front page - Twitter feed, a video module, links to quick updates, and the look will be more streamlined (you will need to scroll down more to find recent features and stories).
What does this mean going forward?
◦ When we finally got approval for funding to design and launch a new network, one of the best things that happened was getting Rivals away from the constraints of being on Yahoo's servers. For all intents and purposes, Rivals is now independent (from a technical standpoint) from Yahoo and will no longer be constrained by having to go through 20 layers of bureaucracy to get an upgrade or something needed done. As a result, a lot of cool features and needed changes will come quickly over the coming months.
◦ The new leadership at Rivals is putting more of an emphasis on listening to the publishers which means we have more of say in the direction of the network (and that means your voice will be heard as well). It also means we have a lot of input on needed changes. With a streamlined network away from Yahoo these changes can happen much faster.
◦ Yes, there will be some bugs. The new network has been essentially running in the background for over a month to weed out as many bugs as possible. But with any major technological change/upgrade bugs, glitches and unforeseen setbacks are inevitable. We will work as quickly as possible to get through these problems so please be patient.
Questions, comments, suggestions and criticisms:
◦ This thread will be left open for a while to get feedback on the changes. We'll do what we can to answer any questions you might have and to consider any suggestions. However, please follow our regular board rules of remaining respectful to each other and to our staff.
I can't thank all of our loyal subscribers enough. We realize the technological side of The Wolfpacker has been substandard the past few years and realize it's been frustrating for many of you. It's also been frustrating on our end, which is why we're happy for these much needed changes. We've always tried to be the best staff when it comes to covering NC State sports and in the very near future we think we’ll have the best technology as well.
The Staff of The Wolfpacker
Many of you have noticed the new format of our story pages that we've been rolling out over the past month, and the front page will take a new look as soon as this evening.
Here's a quick FAQ regarding the upcoming changes:
Why are the changes being made?
◦ No. 1 - The Rivals network has essentially been unchanged for 15 years. Because the coding is so antiquated it's coming apart at the seams and was in desperate need of an update. As many probably remember, national signing day two years ago was an absolute disaster when the network crashed for several hours. That was a result of underlying problems with the network and having few people that could maintain antiquated code and software. The network has been held together by tape and string since then, and it's a daily challenge to keep it up and running.
◦ No. 2 - Mobile! When Rivals was launched around 15 years ago there was no such thing as reading online content on a smart phone or tablet. Now, over 50% of people that are online are doing so from a mobile device! The old configuration (content and front page) was never designed for mobile and doesn't play nicely with it. We tried a workaround by independently developing an app, which was OK for a while but essentially hasn't worked since last summer. The new network is 100% mobile responsive and optimized for all devices.
What will the changes mean for The Wolfpacker users?
◦ For content pages, there will be a slightly different look but more importantly they will be optimized for mobile. Everything should be much easier to read on smart phones and tablets, and they should load faster. There will be no need to scroll from side to side or to increase the size of the page in order to read it. And because it's compatible with all devices and operating systems, every page should look fine whether you are using an iDevice, Android or Windows.
◦ With the network now stabilized and with everything compatible with mobile, it means we are one step closer to getting a working app that should be more functional than before, and a closer experience to visiting the site from your desktop computer. In the meantime, we encourage you to simply visit the website on your mobile browser, and we're confident you'll have a good experience with it.
◦ Since we have been switching to the new story pages, most of you are likely used to them. The new front page, will be new, and please keep in mind that we're building features into it - a work in progress. Because there was a priority to make everything mobile friendly, we had to sacrifice some features that have been mainstays on the front page - Twitter feed, a video module, links to quick updates, and the look will be more streamlined (you will need to scroll down more to find recent features and stories).
What does this mean going forward?
◦ When we finally got approval for funding to design and launch a new network, one of the best things that happened was getting Rivals away from the constraints of being on Yahoo's servers. For all intents and purposes, Rivals is now independent (from a technical standpoint) from Yahoo and will no longer be constrained by having to go through 20 layers of bureaucracy to get an upgrade or something needed done. As a result, a lot of cool features and needed changes will come quickly over the coming months.
◦ The new leadership at Rivals is putting more of an emphasis on listening to the publishers which means we have more of say in the direction of the network (and that means your voice will be heard as well). It also means we have a lot of input on needed changes. With a streamlined network away from Yahoo these changes can happen much faster.
◦ Yes, there will be some bugs. The new network has been essentially running in the background for over a month to weed out as many bugs as possible. But with any major technological change/upgrade bugs, glitches and unforeseen setbacks are inevitable. We will work as quickly as possible to get through these problems so please be patient.
Questions, comments, suggestions and criticisms:
◦ This thread will be left open for a while to get feedback on the changes. We'll do what we can to answer any questions you might have and to consider any suggestions. However, please follow our regular board rules of remaining respectful to each other and to our staff.
I can't thank all of our loyal subscribers enough. We realize the technological side of The Wolfpacker has been substandard the past few years and realize it's been frustrating for many of you. It's also been frustrating on our end, which is why we're happy for these much needed changes. We've always tried to be the best staff when it comes to covering NC State sports and in the very near future we think we’ll have the best technology as well.
The Staff of The Wolfpacker
