Maximum PC is moving forward
I love cutting-edge technology. It would be natural to think that all of us who read Maximum PC have an affinity for the latest and greatest. But instead of talking about the newest graphics card, or the next motherboard, I'd like to talk about what's happening with Maximum PC itself from a technology point of view.
The website that you're reading right now is going to change. These changes will be both visible and invisible. Let's talk about the invisible changes first.
The back-end
From a content production point of view, we are overhauling the entire CMS back-end for Maximum PC. That means that there has been a tremendous amount of development from our tech team in an effort to help our team of editors and writers produce better content. Every part of the writing process has been streamlined and trimmed. Anything that wasn't needed is no longer there. Processes that used to take multiple steps will now take just one. It's a much more efficient platform, overall.
Right now, the new site is on a staging server where we're squashing out the remaining bugs. We're also importing all the current content into the new database to ensure that when the switch is flipped, everything will go smoothly. We have a target launch time frame of mid-May. The exact date is going to be somewhere around the 19th of May, but I will provide a second notice once the date is set in stone.
Now, let's talk about the visible changes.
Website front end
The site you see before you now will cease to exist. Maximum PC will relaunch with a brand-new front end that embraces a far more modern and visually appealing design. The actual content, as in the stuff you read, will be easier to consume, too. Clearer font choices, color palettes that are easier on the eyes, and a very clean layout that's both browser-width friendly as well as mobile friendly. There are, however, some critical changes that may impact some readers. We believe these changes are for the better.
Scoring
Maximum PC will adopt a new 20-point scoring system. This means that after the new site is live, all reviews thereafter will have a score that's between 5 and 100, in multiples of 5, for example 65, 70, 75, 80, etc. This will allow us to be more granular in our rating. It would also provide us room to indicate if one product that's similar to another has a feature that's worth noticing. The difference between a score of 80 and 85 may not be much at first glance, but it may be useful in say, a roundup of motherboards.
Comparing the new system to the old 10-point system is not entirely 1 to 1, as in, an 8 in the old system isn't necessarily 80 in the new system. A product that we would have given an 85 to, may have ended up with just an 8, simply because we rounded down. Since the scale of the old system was small though, the point gaps were relatively smaller, too. For example, getting a 9 out of 10 score feels better than receiving a score of 90 out of 100. Also, any products that score 95 or 100 will automatically get our Kick Ass seal of approval.
As we continue to use the new point system, comparing products will be easier. For now, we will point out where old products would be on the new system if they're referenced in new content.
Editorial content
Maximum PC will be introducing several new features in the coming months, and we actually already started on some. For example, we are producing more content with Linux users in mind. Our recent RAID guides for examples, provides information not only to Windows users, but Linux enthusiasts, too. Many readers have asked for this. We are committed to doing more.
You'll also see in increase in how-to guides with a split focus on both hardware and software. The two obviously go hand-in-hand, and you're building your PC—or buying a pre-built—for a purpose, so we want to touch base on the "purpose" of things.
We are also working on more in-depth buyer's guides too. More price points, more options. But we're not going to hold back from telling you what we think is good. In the new Best of the Best section, we're rewriting everything. There are some things that we're baking right now that I can't talk about yet, but they're really exciting.
A lot of the new content that's coming through is a result of your feedback. Thank you.
Comments
In an effort to improve the user experience across the site, reduce the large number of spam comments, and bring a cohesive user experience, we will be transitioning to using the Disqus community platform. There are a number of beneficial reasons behind our choice to go with Disqus.
1. Disqus is fast. Site load times can be slowed if articles containt lots of comments. This is true on the current comment system. With Disqus, load times will be improved significantly for articles with a large number of comments.
2. Spam reduction and filtering. Disqus maintains its own spam-filtering system that's both comprehensive and redundant. I'm personally tired of someone trying to offer me some work-from-home scheme that can add an additional $6,000 to my monthly income.
3. User experience. With Disqus, you're able to track your comments, and see everything on your dashboard. And since thousands of popular websites use Disqus, you'll only need one login to comment on any of them. You'll see all your comments across all the websites you read, and be able to follow conversations more effectively.
The current comment system will be turned off later this week, and Disqus will take its place. This means your current comment login will no longer work, and you will need to sign up for Disqus.
Foreword
Nine years ago, I lost something very precious to me: a binder containing all my pencil sketches that spanned years. In fact, it was more than a loss, it was taken away from me and never returned. I was devastated, and was haunted for a long time. One day though, a friend of mine told me that if I didn't let go of those old drawings, I would never draw anything better. This totally changed my perspective for the better. I decided then, that I would stop looking at where I had been, and look toward where I was headed.
Although some may not agree with the changes, we truly believe that we're heading in the right direction. I personally invite you to join us in the changes we're making, and continue to provide feedback. I'm really excited, and can't wait for the all the new goods to arrive!
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