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No reason for this photo. I just like it.
It’s been almost a year in the making and we are still not quite finished, but we thought it was time to flip the switch. So here it is.
The Phat Phree turns two years old in January, and given that we initially built it so that a handful of comedy writers could crack each other up, it held up pretty damn well. From a few hundred visitors a week to more than 20,000 a day, the site just kept plugging along. Unfortunately, with the increase in traffic came bills, spammers, DoS attacks, and general management issues. And we knew fairly early on that we would have to eventually rebuild the site if we wanted to keep it fun and interesting.
We listened to all the feedback we got from our writers and you readers, and we have tried to implement as many as we thought would make the site better and help build a real community here.
What would have been a six month project costing many thousands of dollars with a team of dozens of designers, IA experts, programmers, database engineers, and a QA department, was done completely in house by three people—Chris Queen, Jessica Brandt, and me. It is a tribute to the skill and dedication of Chris and Jess that the project was completed at all, and we couldn’t be happier with the results.
So what does the new site do? Well first of all, sign up to become a member. It’s free, and most of the cool new stuff requires it. One of the major reasons for the login is to eliminate the spam comments. As I’m sure you all are aware, the spam became a huge problem during the past year, and despite my nearly constant efforts to fight it, I just couldn’t compete with the bots on a playing field of over 3000 articles.
As a member, you can comment on articles, use the message board, add writer and article favorites, vote on comments and contests, and earn points you’ll be able to redeem on merchandise from Oscar Shitley’s. You earn points by doing what you’re already doing: rating articles, emailing articles to friends, commenting, etc.
You’ll also notice that there is some new content, namely columns by some of the most popular writers, weekly reader polls, and there will be much more appearing in the coming weeks—including more message board options, a daily link depot with discussion, and much more. Just stay tuned.
So click around; explore the site. I know there are still a bunch of spam comments that we will be slowly clearing out, some of the traffic numbers aren’t populated yet, and a lot of the articles still need to be reformatted to fit the new design. But if you find any errors, please let us know (just email us the issue and what page it is one at: techsupport@thephatphree.com).
Posts: 3005 Rank: 6 Joined:
12/7/2006
Location:
New York, NY
Posted: 12/7/2006 9:47:49 AM
Did I come into work drunk again? What the hell's going on? My favorite part is that Charlie will be continually updating the list of "People Who Need a Vicious Beating." God knows that thing needed to be expanded.
Posts: 1069 Rank: 20 Joined:
12/7/2006
Location:
two up two down, VA
Posted: 12/7/2006 10:12:46 AM
nope. i was the 1st (and best) with the "outstanding" comment
go to manage your account and enter your "screen name" in the "your name *optional*" field... charlie told me to so the name would appear on the comments.. this is testing it.
Posts: 82 Rank: 48 Joined:
10/21/2005
Location:
Okinawa, Japan
Posted: 12/7/2006 10:28:52 AM
That is not a BDC look a like by any stretch of the imagination. She has much bigger... hair than that.
-Napalm
PS Don't forget to read Charlie's first column. I won't be the only one doing a regular column from now on. All the best writers on the site have decided to take a stab at doing a regular thing like I have been doing and I expect you all to support them as they go through boot camp or I will come to you house a perform a full frontal labotomy on you with a spork.
Posts: 5 Rank: 3037 Joined:
12/7/2006
Location:
m-burg, PA
Posted: 12/7/2006 10:37:06 AM
like the site. especially the bio's of the writers... now i can put it together and see why they aren't funny at all. if you cant write a bio that can make me interested and laugh
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