A quick guide to the new features introduced on the site today.
For more on the changes, see here:
Community enhancements
- Follow other F1 Fanatics and keeping up with their activity on the site
- Private messaging system allows you to send direct messages to other F1 Fanatics
- Refer to other users using @-messages and receive notifications when someone refers to on the site
- New community functions available by redesigned top navigation bar and always in view
New user profiles
- Name your preferred drivers, teams and other types of motor sport, and find others F1 Fanatics with the same tastes
- Easier profile updating
- Upload and edit your avatar directly to the site
- Your own activity stream shows all your activity across the site including the main blog and forums
- Post unique updates directly into your own activity stream
- Configure which site notifications you receive
- Option to report spam users
Click on “My Account” at the top-left of the page when logged in to see these new features. Not got an account? Click here to register for one.
Groups
- Dedicated groups for different areas of discussion including race visitors, other racing series and more
- Join the groups you’re interested in to stay up-to-date with them more easily
- Suggest new groups for other subjects you’re interested in
View and join the F1 Fanatic Groups
Forums
- Now fully integrated within the main site including the mobile site
- Post videos from major video-sharing sites (YouTube, DailyMotion, Vimoe and more) easily via oEmbed
View the new F1 Fanatic Forums
Search
- New search facility shows results by article, username, group and forum
- Individual results pages available for article, username, group and forum
- Search box is always in view at the top-right of the page
Design
- General style refresh to incorporate new elements
- Wider article and comment columns
- Single sidebar layout
- Revised top navigation bars
Mobile
- New mobile site design
- Forums and threaded commenting now supported
- New site functionality also supported
- Toggle between the normal and desktop views on mobile devices
Bug fixes
- Internet Explorer 9 commenting bug fixed
As always, if you experience any problems with the site please follow these steps to report them:
Please leave any other feedback on the changes below.
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
5th October 2011, 20:11
That is something I have been wanting for years.
Keith, I love it. Every bit. Can’t wait to have a play with it all!
sid_prasher (@)
5th October 2011, 20:22
@damonsmedley totally agree :)
Steph (@)
5th October 2011, 20:57
This is miles better than Christmas. Actually, this has been more exciting than the races this year and that’s saying something! :P
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
6th October 2011, 3:23
This time after the F1 season ends the off season won’t be boring.
daykind (@)
6th October 2011, 14:51
Without wanting to sound really sad, this is almost making me cry… BRILLIANT!!!
davey (@djdaveyp87)
5th October 2011, 20:23
@Keith Collantine and his team of testers have done a fantastic job here!
davey (@djdaveyp87)
5th October 2011, 20:24
lets try @keithcollantine
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
5th October 2011, 21:09
Thank you! @djdaveyp85
Fixy (@)
5th October 2011, 21:22
@damonsmedley strangely enought it’s @djdaveyp87 !
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
5th October 2011, 21:24
Wrong person, @Fixy! :P
sato113 (@sato113)
5th October 2011, 23:22
i guess i’m @sato113
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
5th October 2011, 23:33
@fixy Ha! @damonsmedley getting corrected for my mistake, nice ;)
Fixy (@)
6th October 2011, 13:46
@damonsmedley sorry I mus’t have read badly! @andrewtanner
BasCB (@bascb)
5th October 2011, 22:48
Gee, thanks @djdaveyp87 !
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
6th October 2011, 3:25
@BasCB does it work’
BasCB (@bascb)
6th October 2011, 7:25
@wasif1 yes it does!
dansus (@dansus)
5th October 2011, 20:23
Messege notifications are one of the most important features for any site, good job.
dansus (@dansus)
5th October 2011, 20:25
Just need to be able to edit comments now..
webster (@webster)
5th October 2011, 20:24
everything looks great :)
but i prefer original title font for the articles on home page
Craig Woollard (@craig-o)
5th October 2011, 20:51
It does seem brilliant! I’ll get used to the new layout… Surely!
Michaeljs317 (@mclaren-fan-17)
5th October 2011, 21:02
Definitely looking great, but I too think I preferred the old font for article titles.
daykind (@)
6th October 2011, 14:53
We thought that though when the site changedit’s design last year. You’ll get used to it…
jsw11984 (@jarred-walmsley)
5th October 2011, 20:28
This is starting to look more and more professional everyday now Keith, well done it looks fantastic!
JPQuesado (@joao-pedro-cq)
5th October 2011, 20:31
Love this. F1Fanatic gets better and better every year. And I hope it stays like that. Good job, Keith and the testers.
Lord Stig (@lord-stig)
5th October 2011, 20:34
The new features are quite nice. I must say I am much more impressed by this than the iPhone 4 all over again from yesterday!
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
5th October 2011, 21:50
@lord-stig Wow that is a compliment!
irishlad (@irishlad)
5th October 2011, 20:40
Great job, Keith loving the new upgrade. Theres now more of a social theme to the site.
Fixy (@)
5th October 2011, 20:43
It will take time to get used to it, but it’s all excellent! The bold font is a bit too big in my opinion, in a few days it’ll be fine.
This is more complex than Facebook now! A real community for F1 Fanatics, all that we can desire is here!
sebsronnie (@sebsronnie)
5th October 2011, 20:43
Fantastic job Keith! This site is fast becoming (actually already is) the Red Bull of all F1 websites. Congratulations!
Steph (@)
5th October 2011, 20:43
Keith has created heaven with the added bonus that you don’t have to die to enter.
Fixy (@)
5th October 2011, 21:36
@steph This has to be comment of the day for me! A beautiful comment! :D
Steph (@)
5th October 2011, 21:39
Thank you very much @Fixy ! :)
LAK (@lak)
6th October 2011, 13:57
Hahaha this is my favorite comment! We are indeed in F1 heaven ;)
Steph (@)
6th October 2011, 14:55
@LAK Thanks LAK! There’s just no way any F1 site can compete with F1f. There are a few good and unique ones such as Badger and Wtf1 which I love but F1f is the king of them all.
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
6th October 2011, 16:43
Badger’s got nothing on F1F!
TommoTHFC (@)
5th October 2011, 20:47
Love it :D
TommoTHFC (@)
5th October 2011, 20:49
Quick test, @TommoTHFC
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
5th October 2011, 21:52
Comment messaging works on your username so you’ll need to use @spursfan39
US_Peter (@us_peter)
6th October 2011, 7:19
@keithcollantine, so people’s names can appear differently than their username? How does that work?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
6th October 2011, 7:28
@us_peter here’s an explanation:
@-messaging, user names and display names
BasCB (@bascb)
6th October 2011, 7:30
@us_peter look at your profile, you can have a different name listed (using capital letters etc.) then your “username”
US_Peter (@us_peter)
6th October 2011, 7:40
Thanks.
f1alex (@f1alex)
5th October 2011, 20:50
Loving the new site! :)
Jake (@jleigh)
5th October 2011, 20:56
absolutely loving it! Where as before I would only log in every so often if there was a quiz or vote (my computer never remembers me for some reason), now i’ll make sure I’m always logged in :)
BBT (@bbt)
5th October 2011, 21:00
Love the changes. :-)
Jim1601 (@jim1601)
5th October 2011, 21:24
Loving the changes so far!!
Younger Hamii (@younger-hamii)
5th October 2011, 21:59
Brilliant,The Changes adds a new Feeling to the site & i really really welcome it,
Spawinte (@spawinte)
5th October 2011, 22:15
It’s a pity all the major motor sport categories can’t have a site as good as this lavished upon them (hint hint).
Seriously though you go to the likes of Autosport and see 2 week gaps between stories in the LMS and ALMS sections. What does it say about all the serious journalistic type sites that I come to F1 Fanatic before I even think of looking anywhere else.
It occurs to me that I’ve never donated to F1F so I think it’s time I got the credit card out.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
5th October 2011, 22:29
Well, I will be expanding the groups area of the site to include more racing categories.
But I couldn’t cover Le Mans or other categories in the kind of detail F1 gets at the moment. I did run a site called Maximum Motorsport for a while which had GP2, IndyCar and some other series on it. But I could never give it the time it deserved and it never got a fraction of the traffic – and, therefore, income – F1 Fanatic did.
But at the end of the day it’s a question of resources. If the site brought enough money in to justify it and I was happy it was sustainable I would consider it.
dsob (@dsob)
5th October 2011, 22:43
Maximum…now I remember how I found this site. I’d done a search for some Indycar thing and Google had a link to a Maximum Motorsports page. I clicked it right off, as the company I work for is named Maximum(in part). There was still a parking page that re-directed me here. Best thing a Google search has ever done for me!
Site is da bomb ! This latest upgrade looks great, Keith. As an IT professional & website designer, I cannot compliment you highly enough for the work you have put into not only the looks of the site but the functionality as well.
I have just one question, though — what’s the max size for the avatars? (I could figure it out, yes, but I’m lazy. LOL)
BasCB (@bascb)
5th October 2011, 22:59
funny enough, I just noticed that in the replies and the comment box below on articles comments, the avatars seem not to fit the picture boxes or are somehow badly aligned, see picture This is new in the past couple of minutes, I did not notice that before.
dsob (@dsob)
5th October 2011, 23:07
Yes, and now my Gravatar isn’t showing. Been working fine these last 3 years. Wonder what’s up ?
dsob (@dsob)
5th October 2011, 23:12
Well, the fix is to simply upload the image to F1Fanatic. Works great now. Perhaps the Gravatar site is mis-reading something in the code.
mantolwen (@mantolwen)
5th October 2011, 23:15
Missing Formula Two on the Motorsports list. Otherwise, love it! @keithcollantine
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
5th October 2011, 23:36
Yea, I noticed that too @mantolwen
sato113 (@sato113)
5th October 2011, 23:23
great job keith!
Mister Nillionaire (@mister-nillionaire)
5th October 2011, 23:44
This is a very good change. Thanks
xxiinophobia (@xxiinophobia)
6th October 2011, 0:06
Test post to see if my Gravatar shows up…
xxiinophobia (@xxiinophobia)
6th October 2011, 0:25
Okay, my avatar shows up if I upload it directly to the site, but the site doesn’t seem to interface with Gravatar anymore, even though the Change Avatar page says it does. (My avatar did not appear on the above post before I uploaded it to the site.)
Also, would suggest a place on the profile to specify the country where a user is located.
And no mention of the American Le Mans Series on the “Motorsports you follow” ?
Journeyer (@journeyer)
6th October 2011, 0:50
I am loving this. This is amazing stuff. Will be playing with this over the next few days. :D
I still want comment editing, though. ;)
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
6th October 2011, 2:07
I know this is an incredibly over-used phrase but there’s no other way to describe this and Keith’s work:
a big fat “This is EPIC!”
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
6th October 2011, 3:30
So much to do it will take sometime to get on with it.
BasCB (@bascb)
6th October 2011, 6:52
nice new avatar Wasif!
Michel S. (@hircus)
6th October 2011, 4:02
Is Gravatar support currently broken? On the page where I can submit my own avatar picture, it notes that if the associated email has a Gravatar, that will be used. Mine certainly does — it worked until yesterday — but I get the default profile picture instead.
SouthPawRacer (@southpawracer)
6th October 2011, 4:16
This is Brilliant! (Yes, with a capital B!)
I’ll be looking foward to using this siter for all my F1 needs from here on in.
Regards,
Stealthman (now known as SouthPawRacer)
TomMK (@tommk)
6th October 2011, 4:35
Very professional looking!
matt90 (@matt90)
6th October 2011, 4:36
Love the profile changes in particular. If I can offer one suggestion (hate to be critical after such a comprehensive improvement) it would be that in the replies the avatars are quite small, which is a shame. Generally great though, congrats.
Stefanauss (@stefanauss)
6th October 2011, 7:27
I think the different sizes for avatars based on hierarchy make for better readability.
Not only you can spot more easily which are main comments and which are replies, but also they assure you can extend the indentation between them without making even deepest threaded replies “more tall than large”.
I think It’s the right choice, aka the best compromise.
matt90 (@matt90)
6th October 2011, 10:32
You’re probably right, it’s just a shame that it’s harder to instantly visually spot who you’re talking to. Now that you don’t have to trawl through all the comments looking for your avatar to find your own comments though I suppose that to some extent renders the size of avatars a bit pointless.
Dev (@dev)
6th October 2011, 6:20
pretty good evolution, this site keeps getting better!!
czhihong (@czhihong)
6th October 2011, 7:06
Keith, I still view the desktop version of the site when I browse with my phone and I can’t find where to change it.
My phone is a LG Optimus 7, with the Windows Phone OS.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
6th October 2011, 7:22
@keithcollantine, will the site login now log us in for the live blogs as well?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
6th October 2011, 7:35
@us_peter Afraid not.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
6th October 2011, 7:37
Bummer. I hope that’s in the cards for a future update.
alexf1man (@alexf1man)
6th October 2011, 8:05
Now all we need is a user’s Twitter directory :-)
JamieFranklinF1 (@jamiefranklinf1)
6th October 2011, 8:45
Great job! The changes are fantastic :D
bosyber (@bosyber)
6th October 2011, 9:20
Wow, didn’t see the site yesterday, had a very busy day. This looks very interesting, and good. Looking forward to exploring all the new bits over the weekend! Thanks a lot @keithcollantine
Girts (@girts)
6th October 2011, 10:18
This morning I decided that I should focus more on my job and spend less time reading and discussing F1 stuff on F1 Fanatic.
But then I saw THIS.
I don’t know how you did this but the outcome is awesome. Everyone who has participated in implementing all the changes deserves maximum respect.