The 9rules site was just updated, and many new features added. While some of these new features are immediately obivous for the value they add for 9rules members (like this site) and the site operators, others haven’t yet made clear their benefit.
A few random thoughts on the new site:
- Mike did a good job of visually unifying some very disparate sections of the site.
- The site is currently suffering under the digg effect. And I mean suffering.
- The site is decidedly busier, and occasionally jarringly colorful.
- I wonder about the points system, but reserve judgement until I se it at work. On the surface it seems well thought out, but I’ve been involved in creating and running community sites for a really long time, and have reservations about any sort of community participation score.
- There is some questionable organization in terms of categories and subcategories – most specifically the Writing subcategory (which Rain is a member of) is currently located in the Opinion category. Again, to the credit of the 9rules operators (Tyme, Mike and Scrivs) they have been open to reassigning these subcategories.
Only time will tell if the new version is a success, if it balances the needs of the operators with the needs of the community members and the audience in general.
While I have no doubt that some members will be uncomfortable with the drastic changes to the site and its layout, it’s my belief it’ll meet and exceed its requirements.