Entering into our 21st season, we are not only the longest running 49ers fan site, but we are also welcomed by a fresh look and feel to 49ersParadise.com pushing us much further down a path we began in 2004. About 12 years ago, we were among the first websites, let alone 49ers sites, to offer our community the ability to follow us on their mobile devices. For many, this meant a Palm Pilot, or perhaps a Pocket PC. Obviously we've seen a massive evolution in the way all of us interact with content on the internet... mobile phones, tablets, and even computers are leaps and bounds ahead of where they were ... or even where it was imagined they would go 12 years ago. Through this journey, we have made a constant emphasis to ensure our community could get the best of 49ersParadise.com regardless of the screen they were accessing from. Along with a "clean" design, fast loading pages, and a community first feel, this has been part of the foundation of each iteration the site has taken.
Today, at least 3 years of effort in the making, we have built our first "mobile first" version of 49ersParadise.com! I am excited to put this milestone behind us, so that we can focus on bringing the best community together again for this season. That means that the site is designed for optimal viewing on mobile screens, and we have taken the best practices of mobile browsing to the power of our larger screen views. We are very confident that our entire community will benefit from this change... making it easier to get your 49ers coverage wherever, whenever you want. And we did it, without sacrificing anything that makes our home great. Our home page is using the latest web technology to load faster than ever before. It is at least 10x faster than the last version of our site. It's clean, plenty of whitespace, and if I do say so myself, absolutely beautiful. There's also a hidden "Easter Egg" that I'm excited to see people's reaction too!
We've simplified the navigation, simplified the content, and brought the best of it up front. The "Press Section" leads with the ever popular Hot Off The Press section, after many years of taking a back seat to Paradise Press. The two are now in harmony. In our "Live" section you can follow along on twitter, facebook, and have your photos sent to gallery@49ersparadise.com show up live in our feed. In Trending, we track the latest happenings in the forum.
We've given the "Huddle" shoutbox an especially important role, it will be accessible on every page of 49ersParadise.com over time, and easy to get to no matter what screen you are on, or what you are reading. The dialogue will benefit our community as it always has!
We've also let the color green filter into the site a bit more. No, green is not a 49ers color, we are well aware... but it plays very nicely off the palm tree logo that has been a part of 'Dise for a very long time. It is also the color of the football field, and seems to fit well in this new design.
Over the coming month, we will bring the refreshed look into the secondary pages on the site. We also have a similar refresh planned for the forum... Thank you as always for your continued support. This community would be nothing without you. I appreciate any and all financial contributions to help sustain our future, please become a subscription member for as little as $3 / month.
