Announcing a smarter, faster TechRepublic for 2013

TechRepublic has revealed its latest transformation, both inside and out. And, we've got several exciting new announcements to share.

Welcome to the new TechRepublic. As you can tell, we’ve been busy doing some house cleaning and redecorating. And, what you see on the outside is only part of the story. We’ve also rebuilt the foundation, reinforced the walls, and integrated some powerful new infrastructure that you’ll never see but that’s going to make this a much better place to visit.

So what does that mean for you?

It means that you’re going to find the new TechRepublic site is:

Simpler and less clutteredEasier to navigate by topicAligned with the IT Buying CycleReadable on any device or screen sizeQuicker and more responsive when loading pages

You’ll also notice:

Photo galleries now offer a full bleed display and much faster flipping through imagesEmail newsletters now adapt automatically to all screen sizesThe Resource Library has a much cleaner display and the topics match the rest of the siteWe still have all the same great writers (you can find them under All Writers)We still have the same great community of technology professionals and executives (you can find them under Community)

We have a new backend infrastructure that makes the site much more flexible and scalable. This new infrastructure enables us to handle larger amounts of traffic without blinking, launch new international editions like the Australian (2011) and United Kingdom (2012) editions we launched over the past two years, and eventually even launch editions of TechRepublic in foreign languages.

The new backend framework also gives us more power to launch exciting new features. In fact, we’ve got three big ones that we’re announcing today:

“Long Feature” articles: We’re putting extra focus on quality and depth by launching a completely new page design for long articles. This provides an immersive reading experience by stripping almost everything off of the page so that you can focus on the words and images of our biggest and most profound stories. Look for the first ones in the coming weeks.“Special Feature” packages: One of our biggest challenges has always been that we publish so much content that it becomes difficult to find previously published stuff as well as valuable resources on the same subject. So, we are unveiling a new way of pulling together some of our best content into an attractive and user-friendly package. This will mirror the Special Feature packages we launched on our sister site ZDNet at the beginning of 2013. These will roll out on TechRepublic in August.TechRepublic Pro is now Tech Pro Research: Our premium product, TechRepublic Pro, has long been a valuable source of tools and insights for IT leaders. Now, we’re greatly expanding it and spinning it out into its own site as a joint venture between TechRepublic and ZDNet. It’s all grown up! Look for more exciting news and announcements about that in the weeks ahead.

Since TechRepublic first opened its doors on May 4, 1999, this site has been here every day to help executives and engineers and project managers and IT administrators do one of the most challenging jobs on the planet: Make wise business decisions about rapidly-changing technologies and make the world more efficient and productive than ever. Helping you do that remains our driving force today, just as it was in 1999 when we were one of dozens of IT sites competing for your attention.

That said, we know that change always brings discomfort and frustration. Because we exist at the intersection of three industries that are changing as quickly as any on the planet--media, IT, and the web--it forces us to continually adapt, evolve, and reinvent ourselves. In this environment, it’s never been more true that if you’re standing still then you’re going backward. So, as much as changes like the ones we’ve rolled out today will involve things that are a little uncomfortable for all us, it’s all part of the growth process. If you find things that are different or confusing or frustrating, let us know in this forum post where we’re collecting your feedback.

This new version of TechRepublic represents the largest set of changes we've made to the site since we launched 14 years ago. It's not just a new coat of paint. It's a fundamental rebuild of the backend, frontend, publishing system, and community, all aimed at providing you with a better experience, both today and in the years ahead. We'll be busy refining things and doing touch up work over the next few weeks to make sure everything looks and works great. 

Finally, if you’ll pardon our pride for a moment, we have to say that we have long felt a lot of gratitude about TechRepublic being one of the survivors of the Dot Com Boom. We’ve watched a lot of excellent competitors fade away or morph into something quite different. We’re grateful that you’ve given us the opportunity to stick around. The only reason we’re still here is because enough of you show up everyday and find what we do useful. Thank you!