SB Nation United and You

SB Nation is getting a redesign coming soon. My job here today is to prepare you. You've already seen the new logo:

The new logo is cool. It would make for a better tattoo than the old one, that's for sure. Right on the small of your back, like the kids do these days. I'm not sayin'; I'm just sayin'. But it's more than a new logo. The site's a gonna look different.

Here's a sample of what the top of the page will look like:

That's right: This is going to be a Lakers blog now. Can't get enough of that Kobe Bryant. Nosiree. Expect 35 posts comparing Kurt Rambis's look to the one found on Joe Pettini's 1981 Topps card. But, really, the new format will allow me to do a ton of different things.

Those are just the tops of the pages, though. You can download the whole look here. I can futz with the layout depending on the importance of the story. I can move things up and down, into the front, up top, or down at the bottom.

The site was designed to be faster, and it was designed with tablets and phones in mind. When you read a story -- or skim over it, at least -- you'll get to the bottom and read, "There are 19,399 comments. Load 'em up?", and you can choose to load the comments. Or you can realize that they're all about food and Brandon Belt, and you can pass.

I'll also get a lot of the same tools that I have over at Baseball Nation, which is something I've been dying for. A StoryStream is something that lets you add onto a story in reverse chronological order, like this. It'll allow me to do quick updates on developing stories. For example, Hunter Pence gets traded to the Giants. There's a quick story about the unconfirmed trade. Then there's a quick story about the confirmation. Then there's something about the prospects in the deal. Then I'll have my big analysis post after that. Then there are more updates as needed.

The paradigm now is to have a big analysis post, and when the comments fill up, I find any old crap I can to make a new story, just so people's computers don't melt. The story stream will help the site out a bunch, and I'm already familiar with how it works, unlike a lot of the other yahoos around the network. One step ahead, always.

Really, the thing I'm going to love is not being a slave to chronology. If I write something that I think will be relevant for more than six hours, I can pin it to the top corner slot. The minor lines won't get pushed down right away like they do in the mornings. When the GameThread for the game is over, it can be moved way down in the layout. I can't tell you how long I've wanted something like this.

Let's open it up to the floor for some questions:

Wait, so FanShots and FanPosts are going away?
No. Nothing's going away.

Will I have to make a new account like last time?
No.

I hate this because it's different
That's not a question, and you are a horrible, close-minded person.

What will be the main difference for me?
Not much, other than the look, less clutter, and (especially) the performance. There might be an adjustment as to how the comments develop -- the current setup is for a post to go up, the comments to fill, and then a new post is put right above that, pushing the other one down, and allowing the comment locusts to move to the new thread. It's not going to be quite as obvious as that with the new layout tools I'll have, but I think that will be an improvement. And I think we'll alll figure it out quickly.

Was Spin right to pick Bandwagonesque over Nevermind for the 1991 album of the year?
You know, I always thought that was a mistake, but I know which album I listen to more these days, and it's Bandwagonesque. I think I appreciate Nevermind more than I listen to it. There's no doubt which one was more important to how music developed, but if I had to take one to a desert island or Petco Park, I'd have a tough choice to make.

I'm excited. You're excited. I'm not even saying this to be a company man. There are some things that I'll need to get used to and figure out, but I'm genuinely excited about all of this.