We’ve just launched the latest version of BuffaloRising.com. As you can see, we’ve modified the design of the site but we’ve also introduced a number of new important features we want to point out.
First, the most popular stories are now highlighted along the top of the front page just below the header navigation. We think this new position for Buffalo Rising’s most popular stories helps readers quickly and easily determine which stories are generating the most pageviews and comments.
Second, we have reintroduced comment ratings. This new system allows you to simply vote a comment up or down. The system keeps track of all the votes on a particular comment so that a comment can have a positive rating (if there are more up votes than down) or a negative rating (if there are more down votes than up).
Third, we have introduced a forums section to the site (which you’ll see in the top navigation). This is the first time we’ve ever done this and we’ve included them based on user requests. The Buffalo Rising Forums allow users to post thread topics and communicate with one another around specific topics. We think this will help users address topics that aren’t covered in posts and we’re hopeful the dialogue in the forums will be dynamic. And civil.
Finally, we’ve enhanced the login functionality so you can now login to Buffalo Rising with your Google, Yahoo, OpenID or AIM accounts (with more to come). Or, of course, you can still use your Movable Type account you created on the last version of BuffaloRising.com. Keep in mind, however, that to post comments in the forums or events to our event calendar you’ll need a Movable Type login.
As with any launch of a site as big as Buffalo Rising, we expect to experience some technical issues over the next 48 hours as we refine the new site. We’ve identified some bugs already and are working to fix them but, if you experience any issues, please let us know in the comments section.