Good-bye old Mandolin Cafe

[Mandolin Cafe]

Sorry for the lack of notice but no sense in announcing these things to our mind. If your browser is functioning properly and hasn't cached a bunch of old stuff you'll notice there's a new look to the web site. Little change to the Forum, only the header art and background color. The home page, however, has changed quite a bit. If it does look the same, or something doesn't look right, hold down your shift key and hit refresh.

To address some obvious questions:

The Events Calendar info that has always appeared on the bottom of the main home page--it also appears on the bottom of every Forum page--didn't make the cut. Social media is a better fit in this moment in time and rather than have something with very little content I didn't feel it had a place there any longer.

The random MP3 player that rotated hourly was moved to the main MP3 page in place of the larger player which is still available in a pop-up window for those of you that used it. With Flash going out of style felt this was the best option.

The Classifieds remain untouched except for header art and a few random color changes.

Everything else has remained the same--site navigation was untouched. Everything you would have found on the old home page is still on the new one but has moved around.

In the future - the header art is likely going to change fairly often. Don't have a set schedule at this time but don't intend for it to be something we'll be looking at for years. A month, maybe. Idea there is to keep things fresh and honor that which we all enjoy: the instruments, the musicians, the history, etc.

As you delve deep into some of the archives you may see some of the old site header art and background. Those will be disappearing over the next few days as we hit some of those resources that have been around since the late 1990s.

[multidon]

Love the new look Scott. Great job! I’m sure the sponsors are pleased that their links are more prominent. The Collings torch and wire art is classy looking. Everything in fact about the new appearance oozes class.

Thanks for all you do. The Cafe’ has been, and still is, a shining example of what an instrument website should be.

I also play dulcimer, harp, ukulele, and guitar. The best dulcimer site we had recently shut down permanently, and even when operating was still using ancient technology. The harp and ukulele sites out there aren’t that great, and as for guitar we all know what’s out there for that. I wish other instrument sites were even half as good as our beloved Mandolin Cafe’!

[Mark Wilson]

Main page is pretty . Liking the list of twenty and the layout

[Jim Garber]

Nice more up-to-date look, but it certainly puts a very different emphasis on the site. The above-the-fold look of the front page (at least on my laptop) is now primarily advertising. However, I can deal with the larger ads if it better supports our beloved site and Scott and the folks who put so much effort into it.

And perhaps I am just missing where this is... I cannot seem to find any link to the Mandolin Archive.

I know and appreciate how much work this takes. I used to to do web work for a living. I hope at some point you will get around to modernizing the forum, too. Many of us use mobile devices for at least part of the time and the forum software is workable but not altogether responsive to mobile devices.

In any case, thanks a lot for this wonderful site.

[TheMandoKit]

Like the 20 most recent items instead of 10. Ads seem a little overwhelming. The big "30% off everything" is missing something, at least on my tablet. 30% off whose everything? Clicking through reveals it to be Mel Bay, but...

[Mandolin Cafe]

Nice more up-to-date look, but it certainly puts a very different emphasis on the site. The above-the-fold look of the front page (at least on my laptop) is now primarily advertising. However, I can deal with the larger ads if it better supports our beloved site and Scott and the folks who put so much effort into it.

Ads seem a little overwhelming

Incorrect.

The Mel Bay post is there simply as a courtesy to users. I consider it news. If you consider it advertising, have at it. Likely gone by tomorrow evening, Monday for sure. That large area is for news, Mandolins Mondays, new album releases, interview highlights, etc--same as it always has been for the front page. It's usually a pretty big deal for a 30% off sale for Mel Bay and they only do it a few times a year. Lots of members are authors there. Forgive me for promoting them. Lots of people buy from Mel Bay. Our visitors are made up of all kinds of folks, not just forum members. Only the area circled in red is advertising and it's about the same % as always.

By my count only about 15% of the space you say is all advertising actually is and that's quite a bit of content for an opener. Of course I can get an exact pixel count for you if it's really bothersome.

[Mark Gunter]

It's a great, streamlined look, especially with the explanation that the left side on front page is actually a news space. The news space has always been my reason for watching the front page. Nice surprise this morning with a new look!

[Russ Donahue]

Like it.
Russ

[darylcrisp]

I opened up my favorite forum and wow. Liked the look immediately.

[F-2 Dave]

I love the torch and wire banner at the top of the forum page. Thanks Scott and Dan for making this the great place that it is.

[Steve-o]

I also like the new look Scott. Thanks.

[Roger Adams]

Looks pretty slick to me! I like it!

[Ranger Bob]

Two thumbs up!

[George R. Lane]

It freaked me out at first, old codgers like me don't do well with change, but I like it.

[Timbofood]

I instantly noticed the new header! Was going to comment then, saw the news banner!
It all sounds like the factual “New and Improved” instead of the usual “new and confused” we see so many other places!
Thanks Scott!

[Dogrich]

The Mel Bay post is there simply as a courtesy to users. I consider it news. That large area is for news, Mandolins Mondays, new album releases, interview highlights, etc--same as it always has been for the front page. It's usually a pretty big deal for a 30% off sale for Mel Bay and they only do it a few times a year. Lots of members are authors there. Forgive me for promoting them. Lots of people buy from Mel Bay. Our visitors are made up of all kinds of folks, not just forum members. Only the area circled in red is advertising and it's about the same % as always.

I like it, however, like Jim Garber and Mandokit, I thought the largest area was an advertisement. Now, with you having explained what it is, it makes sense.

[Dave Bradford]

I think codgers of all ages will like it!

[Jim Garber]

So, where’s the link to the Mandolin Archive?

[Mandolin Cafe]

So, where’s the link to the Mandolin Archive?

It's right here, Jim.

Dan and Ted both have essentially retired developing their sites and told me if there was ever a redesign no need for those links.

[Baron Collins-Hill]

Very fresh, I'm a big fan already! Thanks for all the hard work!

Baron

[Jim Garber]

It's right here, Jim.

Dan and Ted both have essentially retired developing their sites and told me if there was ever a redesign no need for those links.

Thanks! That is what I thought.

[clem]

Looks great Scott. Thanks for all you do.

[Denny Gies]

Yea, another nice job, Scott. The page looks great.

[sgarrity]

The only thing that's constant is change. I like the header art.

[mandolin tony]

Scott you did a far better job than what they did at the banjo hangout.