SITE UPDATE: Rolling Out Changes

What to expect while we switch over to our new design.

by | January 16, 2008 | Comments

As many loyal readers have known for a few months, we are in the process of redesigning RT. We have been soliciting feedback for several weeks via our Beta site, the same site you now see in front of you. We are very proud of it and hope you will come to enjoy it just as much as we do. We continue to roll out changes and features to RT throughout this week and it’s not an easy process. The bad news is that there is 10 years of data to move around here and it’s a little tricky to get all of the servers that, well, serve RT to get synced, especially with some of our deeper and more challenging refreshes. To that end, please bear with us as we roll out the goods. There will ongoing tweaks and we may not have on our Sunday best for the next several hours. We’re on it throughout the night and early morning.

Taking a step back, you’ll notice we still have the Beta flag next to our logo. This is the first phase of several over the next several months for RT and we’ve got a ways to go until we feel like we’re “there.”

Known tech issues:

  • There are several people reporting missing data from varying modules on the front page. This is a caching issue and will resolve with time. You will still get to see a snapshot list of movies in theaters, opening, and box office.
  • There are dead ends and broken links. We are prioritizing and troubleshooting these throughout the night.
  • The Tomatometer score is not appearing on some movie object pages. This is a caching issue, and will self-correct shortly.
  • You shouldn’t have to login to read posts and comments in articles, only if you want to post. We’re fixing that.
  • Slow load times: corrections are imminent. The pages are actually lighter than the previous versions.
  • Pixelated photos. RT has actually always had this issue, but today’s higher-resolution monitors expose this weakness even more. We are exploring varying methodologies to make it pretty.
  • Search. You guys are reporting search errors. We are aware and making appropriate changes. You will still be able to find movies by title and read the Tomatometer once we find the gremlin.

General comments:

  • Only the look of RT has evolved. Our core methodologies for the Tomatometer, top critics (aka Cream of the Crop), and Certified Fresh haven’t been touched.
  • Your same editorial team is in place, writing the same articles, with only a new capo whom we hope you’ll say hello to. We have launched additional columns bringing you closer to the critics, broadened editorial to dive into the past with Total Recall, and are working tirelessly to get you exclusives and the most up-to-date movie news.
  • Thanks for your comments. We are happy to hear them. Please submit them here.