Since funding was announced, we have been aware of the fact that the old b5media website was simply not adequate. Actually, I think, we’ve known that for some time yet our priorities have always been on our bloggers and member blogs. And we haven’t departed from that at all. Earlier this evening, we launched the new b5 website and the feedback we’ve gotten back so far has been very positive.
The way I see this site is as a “gateway of discovery”. It provides readers a way to discover our content through random channel content on the front page as well as making a more neatly organized access point to those blogs from the blogroll that now takes up 1/657th of the space it did before.
But we’ve provided avenues of discovery for more than just readers looking for blogs. Businesses can easily find ways to partner with b5media through advertising, investors can find out about what the company is doing and the people and personalities behind b5media are easily discoverable.
The credit for the design concept and implementation goes to Ben Bleikamp who is one of the best blog designers in the world. Ben is very easy to work with, knowledgeable and patient. Anyone who is serious about their blog can’t afford NOT to talk to him about doing work for you too.
I love this site. Honestly, it may be biased but I think it reflects so much about b5media. More enhancements and new features will be rolled out in the next weeks.
What made this initiative even more interesting (and complex) was our server migration. We have moved to a new cluster of servers from LogicWorks and their service is downright FANTASTIC. This is a fully managed cluster in load balancer heaven, database mirroring and vip firewall. Security is more rigid, monitoring is more proactive and I can finally worry about sleeping at night as opposed to dreading the notice that the servers have gone down. At this point, we have 5 servers (3 web, 2 database) and don’t be surprised if we build out more in the next month or two. One thing the Web 2.0 world has taught us - always have more than what you need. Y’hear Youtube? :)
Stumble it!
About the Author: Aaron Brazell is the lead editor of Technosailor.com and a social media expert. His passion is to see companies and individuals use the internet and web technologies wisely and effectively to promote their brands and companies. He served as Director of Technology at b5media from 2005-2008 and is currently an independent consultant.
[...] Aaron has some more info on the new site as well as the new servers at his blog. [...]
Great work mate. A huge week for you, and you pulled every piece off! Kudos!
Congrats on the new layout. I definitely like the new “Our Network” listing on the right.
I’m not a fan of the dates that look like NYC addresses. 11 3rd,2006, or 11 1st,2006. At the very least you need a space after the comma. But the month as a number is confusing.
Thanks Michael. Good call on the dates. I just fixed that.
Thanks, Jeremy. We’re simply “executing”, eh?
Hey, executing is the hardest part of all :-D
[...] The smartest techonogy architect from b5media, who had plenty to do, Aaron Brazell saw that I was still on the old server blog. He found a forgotten hack in my computer. It was made months back to fix an issue I hardly remember. [...]
You are THE MAN, Aaron. ‘Tis a thing of beauty.
The dates look great now. Glad I could help in my own small way.
[...] A couple of weeks ago, Aaron posted about our upcoming migration to a new server cluster. That migration is now effectively complete. [...]
Is it just me or is the site alot slower then it was prior?
It is slower but I’m not sure why…
[...] The new design will reflects about what kind of creature it is. As we know, b5media is a brand new media network with more than 150 blogs containing a lot of categories, from art to write, from sport to technology. We can discover the content through random channel content on the front page from available categories. Aaron Brazell, Technology Channel Editor and Technology Manage for b5media, said proudly that even the blog have server migration. The transfer from their old server LogicWorks run smoothly. Now it will have better security, more proactive monitor, and no server down. [...]