In 2010 we went through the single largest redesign in AnandTech history. We modernized the site, finally moved to a tag based architecture and made a number of other tweaks. The web moves a lot quicker than it did even just 3 years ago, so last year we started working on another significant redesign. Today marks the debut of that design.

Going into the redesign we wanted to accomplish three major goals. First, we wanted to have a design that put our smartphone and tablet coverage on equal footing with our traditional PC roots. The redesign consolidates our coverage areas into four major categories: PC Components, Smartphones & Tablets, Desktops & Notebooks and finally Enterprise. The super categories are largely self explanatory and you can drill down into each one of them for more specific navigation.

It's important that our site design reflects our internal focuses. We are as committed as ever to our PC component coverage, but we also devote an equal amount of time to what we're doing in the new mobile space. From my perspective, whether it's a smartphone or a server, we're still talking about some form of computer - just in a different case.

Our second major goal with the redesign was to more prominently feature Pipeline, our short form content section. We launched Pipeline in late 2011 as a way of dealing with content that either didn't demand our full review treatment or that we didn't have time to dedicate deep analysis to. Since then Pipeline has become a very important part of the site, and we wanted to elevate its position on the front page as a result. Pipeline stories on the right are ordered from newest to oldest, with even older pipeline stories appearing under the 2x2 grid of featured articles.

Finally, we wanted a design that would be more accessible and speak to the broader nature of our audience. While you all know why you come to AnandTech, it's very important to our continued success and ability to remain independent that the site accurately reflects the diverse audience. Whether you're coming to us for motherboard reviews, analysis of the latest microprocessor architectures or to figure out which smartphone or tablet to buy, you're likely a person relied on by dozens of others for recommendations.  We remain an independent website, which comes with its own challenges when it comes to proving our worth to the agencies and marketing organizations that help keep us operational. Looking the part is just as important as having the content to back it up.

We made sure not to take away any features with the redesign. We still include our well used Print View on all articles, but now allow you to use it both for single page reading as well as for actual printing. The previous Print View didn't have all of the styling of our article pages since it was purely optimized for printing, now we have both modes.

Other features have been enhanced as well. The View All Comments button now actually lets you view all comments on a single page, rather than just showing you 50 comments per page. You can also now permalink to individual comments. I'm always humbled by just how awesome your comments are, now we can finally link directly to individual ones. 

We now support larger images inline (we will be adding site-wide retina/hi-DPI support soon!) and our graph style has been updated as well, which you'll start seeing us take advantage of with all new content going forward. The review body text is also larger and hopefully easier to read, which should help when we post some of our ultra long form content. 

The Podcast now has a permanent link at the top of the page as well - thanks to all you who have been asking for that.

The Twitter feed on the front page now includes tweets from a number of staff members including Brian, Ganesh, Jarred and myself. We've also made it easier to follow us on Twitter and Facebook with direct links in our header (hint: it helps us tremendously if you do). Our most recommended content on Facebook is also nicely streamed in to the right of the site as well.

There are more functional changes that we'll be introducing throughout the new year. We just had to get the redesign out of the way first so we could start building on it.

I hope you all enjoy the site redesign. I know big changes aren't always easy to get used to, and as always you have my commitment to fix/improve anything that truly needs it. I'd love to hear your feedback on the design in the comments below.

I'd like to close with a thanks to all of you for continuing to read and support the site. I've always said that AnandTech is your site and I do firmly believe that. We are here to serve you and you are what make this site possible. Thank you for reading, and thanks for making the past 16 years possible. If you are a relative newcomer, please be sure to check out our About page that helps explain the philosophies that drive us.

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  • Anand Lal Shimpi - Saturday, March 9, 2013 - link

    Thank you for the feedback - very valid point about how the cats/supercats are currently organized.

    Do you believe that showing the top 3 - 4 articles at the top of the fp, in addition to the most recent pipeline posts doesn't give you a good feel of what you've missed? Are the tag front pages any better (e.g. click on SoC)?

    Take care,
    Anand
  • 3ogdy - Saturday, March 9, 2013 - link

    Pfff....just when I thought Anandtech was still stylish, there comes a screwed up design that reminds me of the awful Windows h8 interface. And the logo and the top of the page now make Anandtech look like a CHEAP page people barely know about. Lack of style at its finest.
    This background is awful - it hurts on my 10.1" netbook screen, I don't even want to think about viewing it on a 23" LCD... sorry Anandtech, but the "brand new" design is WORSE than the previous one, which in turn was a clear step forward compared to the one it replaced.
    I'd LOVE to be able to choose the page styling, like choosing a page skin /theme.
    I'm definitely considering not returning to this cheap, mostly-ignored(I know it's the exact opposite, but this is how it looks like!) page. Sorry, Microsoft's engineers were drunk when they designed their latest operating system's interface for the Desktop - don't follow them.
    I'll stick to Tom's Hardware and maybe some other pages, Anandtech looks awful now.
  • karasaj - Saturday, March 9, 2013 - link

    I don't mind the widescreen stuff. It's like it used to be, just white. I wouldn't mind a darker option though, but I love how the site looks now. Thank you!
  • UpSpin - Saturday, March 9, 2013 - link

    1. The new design looks modern, the old not. So I like it, somehow.
    2. The front page is cluttered. I barely noticed this article because it looked more like an advertising image/banner than an article, because the text was in the image, it just didn't looked like an article.
    3. The second issue got caused by too many different styles. staiaoman mentioned a few of them. First is a main story/image filling the whole width, then 4 reviews as a block, then AFTER scrolling a list of pipeline stories, then after another scroll further articles/reviews as a list with images. On the right top the missing pipeline stories in 3! different font sizes, on the right AFTER scrolling dailytech news in a different layout, wow, not consistent.
    4. A lot to scroll, too much to scroll, especially if you consider how much free space is on the left and right. This free space is white, which is bright, which causes eye strain, please use, for this white space something different than pure white.
    5. Widescreen: You made a new design, yet haven't changed anything fundamental. Why don't you make more use of widescreen. Make it dynamic. If space is available move the dailytech news to the right of the pipeline news (less scrolling, more info). In your articles, if space is available, automatically move images to the left and let the text flow around it (less scrolling, more info)

    so yeah, it looks more modern, but usability got worse or at least remained unchanged.
  • 3ogdy - Saturday, March 9, 2013 - link

    1.Modern doesn't mean better anymore not nowadays with a stupid Microsoft and a style which is actually VERY OLD but it is colored, unlike the one from more than a decade ago.
    2.Exactly....cluttered is a very nice word, though...I didn't even know this was an article,...I just clicked on it and I got here-
    3. CONFUSING is the word.
    4.It hurts my eyes with brightness set to the minimum...I can't set it any lower anymore.
    Computer display expand horizontally( FullHD is 1920 x 1080...and does the word "Eyefinity" tell you anything, Anandtech?) and Anandtech completely IGNORES that .
    5.The exact same thing I've said at Nº4.

    Modern doesn't mean better - and somehow modern has become less useful and more annoying nowadays(I'm looking at you, Microsoft...and Anandtech)
  • average_joe - Saturday, March 9, 2013 - link

    Apologies if I have missed this, but Anand could you please give a brief overview of the implementation details of the site with regard to technologies and tools to create it? Thanks.
  • Elnrik - Saturday, March 9, 2013 - link

    Is there a way to make the background light grey, or something other than the glaring white? Thanks. = )
  • Elnrik - Saturday, March 9, 2013 - link

    Also, I think it is a very functional and stylish design. Looks good, I just prefer darker backgrounds.

    Thanks
  • 3ogdy - Saturday, March 9, 2013 - link

    it actually couldn't be worse.
  • 3ogdy - Saturday, March 9, 2013 - link

    Yes, stop visiting the page. It seems to be the best way unless you have Anand's phone number.

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