I spent last night unclogging nearly 16 years of Brown Pundits.
First, I made a full backup of the site. Every post (about 3.4 million words, the length of 35–40 medium-sized books) and all 93,281 comments now sit safely off the server.
Next, I switched off eight plugins BP no longer used. Our homepage took 20 seconds to load from scratch. Now it takes under 2. If you write for BP, the editor should feel quicker too.
I also fixed 507 older posts that loaded their images over an insecure link. Images now load as you scroll, so long posts open faster on a phone.
fb spotted posts from 2018 in the recent comments. The image fix created those links automatically. Nothing was lost, and they no longer appear in the list.
The new design went live this morning. It is built around what makes BP different: the argument. The latest comments now sit beside the newest post and update every minute. The Open Thread has its own line under the menu. A “Most discussed” row shows where the debate has been hottest over the last 30 days.
Further down, the archive opens by subject, with a search box, so older posts are easy to find. The writers have a section of their own. The look stays plain and text-first.
Our new line: The Indian Subcontinent Argues with Itself. A lot of thought went into each specific word of that tagline.
If something looks broken, or you miss something from the old site, please tell me in the comments or by email.
— X.T.M
Very snazzy. The sepia tone is easier on the eyes too. Some images are missing, but am sure people can fix their own posts.
It’s also much faster, and if you disable javascript still very readable.
ok thank you – I will see. I think I installed some plugin re images.
Site has gone back into slug mode. If anything, worse than when pre-revamp.
Now I have to completely nuke all data associated with the site just to access it.
+ information clutter has come with an exponential decrease in aesthetics.
it should be a little faster. I wanted to also pay homage to BP over the years. if you have a specific suggestion re aesthetic please let me know as that helps!!
Pls take positively, I will be blunt for brevity.
The comment banner rendering badly, no spaces, browser independent (picture included).
The most discussed section has limited added value, at the very least posting old open threads is redundant.
Archive sections should be clubbed together.
Browncast should be a link as they happen very infrequently.
Extra open thread section feels redundant.
Some issue with wordpress? My uneducated guess is they have tacked on a lot of back end tracking, site is behaving like an iceberg, 10%visible, 90%underwater gunk.
Thank you – I had big site problems yesterday ..
Much better now. This cook has nothing to add to the broth.
Thank you for your feedback – I’d love it if the Commentariat constantly made website suggestions .
I prefer more, not less, constructive criticism
And I’m back, with fresh quibbles.
I cannot find the login link. I’ve been just typing the address in the browser bar appending /login.
Also the site is unbearably slow when logged in. I was trying to add a post and kept getting 502 errors after the browser gives up its ghost.
Ok I’m looking into as I was telling Agni; I don’t have access to the Hosting Server, which limits my ability to do with such issues.
Are you experiencing the same? I expect the only way to sort this out is with wordpress.
I did some tests on the site. They seem to have optimized it for non login use. Once you login, the cookie turns monster and squats on the connection.
Ok that’s very helpful – thank you
Are you experiencing anything better; I’m trying as much as I can without access to the host.
We have 60,000, mostly spam, subscribers. Need to whittle them down.
I’m sorry, not on my side, if everyone else is fine, please write in and say so.
Screenshot of trying to access the site when the cookie is active.
Yes please let me know
Thank you, the screenshot helps. That page comes from the host: the server turns visitors away when it is too busy. Readers who are logged out get a saved copy of each page, which is why they are fine. Once you are logged in, every page has to be built fresh.
I have cut two things that kept the server busy in the background. The comment bubble no longer checks for new comments every minute, and the writer screens now check in far less often. The real fix is a bigger, newer server, which needs Razib and the host.
Until then: read logged out, and log in only to write or post. If you still see the error after a day or two, please tell me with the time it happened.
👍
Did it help?
Sorry for all this; I’m finally getting to grips with the site 10 days after the redesign .
The login page is accessible now. Commenting from it is still miserable, have to spawn a private browser to do so.
Looks great!
thank you buddy. we can create a way that the Peshawar Review posts directly
@XTM
Looks great, and easier to navigate.
Looks good. How will the photos gel?
Maybe its just me but I don’t like the new look. It’s very boring and I preferred the older one.
Is there an option to opt out and switch back to the the older format?
This one is hard to read due to lack of contrast
yes good point tbh
The color is bland. I dont have a better suggestion apart from – we need more contrast
1) comments are hard to read
2) when you maximize the tab in a widescreen monitor, the sidebars are completely empty while all the text is in the middle.
3) the header needs to stand out, right now everything is bland and blending into the nothingness of the beige background
I’m making changes
feedback is very good – thank you
pl.get back the genetics topics. this is still relevant in india, as a shrill section claim to be ” moola nivasis (original inhabitants)” and a small section is named as invaders.
the western scholars after having introduced the term ‘invasion’, have cleverly and quietly withdrawn that word and have inserted migration.
there needs to be a bridge between the geneticists and linguists.
ok I should Razib to post more 🙂
Yes
Supreme Court to sit on Sunday regarding the protest in Delhi.
Even God cannot save india.
What’s the story here?
Supreme Court is swayed by its own assessment of self importance, holier than thou attitude, and increasing cutoff from reality.
CJP which started as a voice of the students is increasingly shaping as an anti modi political party, without much of a base.
Their agitations get support from disparate and desperate groups who are hell bent on creating anarchy.
They were successful the first time as modi govt assisted them apparently to checkmate congress.
Now that slack if gone.
The same set of lawyers appear for all sorts of anti govt groups.
Any body seeking alternative to modi is scared of the choices offered.
Let’s take a chill pill about this issue. The CJP as a movement has largely failed in being a pan-Indian phenomenon. It’s largely based around the Capital and thrives on media attention from Noida-based studios who confuse the ongoings of New Delhi with India. The Supreme Court for all its idle musings and holier than thou attitude is bound in backroom deals with the govt. It may make some noises but it isn’t going to directly oppose it. In fact you can be rather sure that when the SC supersedes the Parliament on a given issue it has tacit approval of the BJP.
switch to the new open thread y’all