A New Look for dark-tourism.com!

  
Hello subscribers!
  

If you were expecting the result of last week’s Newsletter’s themed-post poll, I’m afraid I have to ask you for more patience. I’ll extend the poll for another week. That also gives those of you who haven’t yet voted a chance to make your voice heard too (so far the turnout has been a little lower than the time before).
  

To remind you of the choices, here they are again: a) DT & Bullet Holes, b) DT & Planes, c) DT & Stairs, and d) DT & Graffiti. Vote by replying to this (or the previous) Newsletter or by leaving a comment below the most recent Blog post.
  

The reason I’m extending the poll is that I haven’t been able to compose a new Blog post yet because there have been developments with the updates and redesign of my main website that kept me busy this past week. This new look has now taken shape and the photo above is actually a screenshot of the landing page as it appears now (except that I reduced the resolution in the photo above). Please do go and have a look at the real thing! The new look isn’t drastically different, but I would say improved. But judge for yourself.
  

The main changes are: the slide show at the top of the page that used to play kind-of taster images from DT sites around the world has gone. I decided that it didn’t really serve its purpose and was more of a distraction. Instead the Logo is now a bit bigger (and a slightly different version to the one used before), and the main top and footer menus are a more subdued grey. The country list menu on the left-hand side is also a bit different now (only visible, as before, when viewed on a PC or laptop/larger tablet – in mobile view you have to go through the menu button). At the bottom right-hand corner is now a back-to-the-top arrow button, so you no longer have to scroll back.
  

The photo galleries are also somewhat different now, and I think much improved, both in image size and in that there’s no longer any delay when clicking through the galleries. In mobile view on a smartphone you can now also swipe through the galleries. However, the website is generally better viewed on a screen larger than those small mobile ones, not least because navigation is easier that way.
  

It’s not all perfect yet, though. There are still some glitches, especially when certain links result in a 404 error message (e.g. links to “urbex”). Unfortunately, this currently also includes links in the Blog, most notably if they link to subchapters on my main website (whereas country-chapter links, glossary links and others work just fine). That’s because the new version of the CMS uses a different URL structure for such links, so the old ones taken from the website before the upgrade currently won’t work. We’re looking for a workaround solution, but in the meantime please be aware that many links on the Blog (and I presume earlier Newsletters too) lead nowhere, so you’d have to go via the country chapters to find the destination chapters in question. Sorry about that. I hope this can rectified sooner rather than later.
  

But in general I’m happy with the new look and functionality of the website.
  

Feel free to send me feedback, positive or negative, and if you find more glitches other than those described above, please let me know.
  

So much for now – and remember the poll is still open!

  
Best wishes,

Peter