Fri, 01 Feb 2008 00:01:24 -0800:

I've been updating the comment space to use AJAX, which should make your commenting experience go a bit smoother. For a couple of hours today there was a problem with the comment submission form, and we lost a few comments. You might want to check and see if your comments made it. The problem has been fixed now, and all commenting should work fine. I've also updated the comment edit and delete functions on all your previous comments, and these now use AJAX to update within the page. The front page 'featured' and 'latest news' columns now use AJAX as well. I'm going to be adding more site updates over the next week, so keep an eye out for the changes.

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 17:02:29 -0800:

Please send all article submissions to articles@richarddawkins.net. From now on, please do not send articles to the 'design' email address. This will help us keep things organized. Thanks!

Josh

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 23:57:06 -0700:

I've added some new things to the website I thought I'd let you know about:

- A new comment rating system: users can now rate other users' comments, and a new comment sorting feature allows them to be sorted by ranking (they can also be sorted 'new to old' or 'old to new')

- A new login area in the top of the right column, which also shows some new links when logged in: "Favorite Articles" and "My Comments" (described below)

- Favorite Articles: Users can now add article links to a favorites list by clicking on "Add to favorites" in the top bar on each article (has the heart next to it).

- My Comments: Users can now see a list of all their comments, with links to the original articles.

- All users can also click on a new link below each comment called "Other comments by (username)". This will allow people to view a list of all comments by that comment author. For example, if someone really likes the comments by "Obscured by Clouds", they can click on this link and see a list of all his other comments, with links to the articles they're posted on.

I hope some of this makes sense, and if not, it might be easier to just try some of these things! Be sure to log in first.

Josh

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:38:52 -0700:

Hi Everyone,

We've moved The Richard Dawkins Foundation website to its own domain, http://richarddawkinsfoundation.org . The RichardDawkins.net/home page has also now been relocated to the root of the domain, so you can if you wish change your http://richarddawkins.net/home bookmark to just http://richarddawkins.net (there will no longer be a 'split' page). We still have a link to the foundation's page in the top left corner of the left column, and the 'donate to RDF' link in the top menu will go to the new RDF site as well.

Thanks,
Josh Timonen
RichardDawkins.net

Sun, 03 Jun 2007 22:32:34 -0700:

I've set up a new 2-level system for articles on the home page. 'Top Articles' will have articles that we want to keep on the home page longer, while 'Page 2' (lower down the home page) will have a higher turnover of content, more for stories that are current events. Hopefully this will help keep really good content on the homepage for first-time visitors, while still allowing us to bring in plenty of daily news.

Josh

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 02:16:00 -0700:

I've setup a new article ranking system for everyone who is logged into the website. At the bottom of each article, you will see the pull down menu. Each user can rank an article once, and can update that ranking at any time. A tally is kept for each article, which gives us our All-Time Favorite lists! One is on the home page, under the newest comments:

http://richarddawkins.net/home

And the other is here:

http://richarddawkins.net/allTimeFavoriteArticles

With this new information, we're helping new visitors find the best that the website has to offer. And as it grows, soon past 1,000 article entries in less than a year... I'm sure it will be helpful! I'll try and add some other 'best of' lists as time goes along.

Let me know what you think: design@richarddawkins.net

Thanks for reading!
Josh Timonen
RichardDawkins.net

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 17:19:46 -0800:

I've added a new "Links for Children, Parents, and Teachers" page:

http://richarddawkins.net/linksChildren

If you go to the regular links page, you'll see it linked at the top. Sean sent me some great links, and hopefully some of you out there can find some more!

Josh

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 05:02:22 -0800:

I've added a little 'Welcome' page, linked to the word 'welcome' in the top of the left-hand column:

http://richarddawkins.net/aboutThisWebsite

I thought it might be nice to have for first-time visitors.

Josh

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 00:49:39 -0800:

Here are some avatars if anyone is interested in using them:

http://richarddawkins.net/images/avatar_teapot.jpg
http://richarddawkins.net/images/avatar_growingup.jpg
http://richarddawkins.net/images/avatar_biblecover.jpg
http://richarddawkins.net/images/avatar_gardenofthegods.jpg

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 21:29:51 -0800:

I've added a new search function to the website that allows you to search the database by author name or title. For example, if you'd like to search for all of the documents written by Richard Dawkins, you would do a search for "Richard Dawkins" with only the "Documents" box checked, and "Author name only" selected from the pull-down menu. All searches can be done here:

http://richarddawkins.net/archives

I've also added an option to the "Archives" pull-down menu titled "Articles by Richard Dawkins." As you would expect, this link brings up all content authored by Richard Dawkins in the database. Let me know if you have any comments or suggestion by emailing design@richarddawkins.net.

Enjoy!
Josh

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 12:11:34 -0800:

I've added some new books to the Recommended Reading section of the website. Check it out!

Josh

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 16:56:40 -0800:

A few users have mentioned problems with the login sessions expiring while writing a comment. I've extended the session expiration to 48 hours, so hopefully this solves the problem. As long as you finish your post within 2 days it should keep you logged in. If not, please let me know at design@richarddawkins.net. It's also a good idea to copy and paste your comment into a notepad or text editor before you hit submit, just in case!

Josh

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 11:59:50 -0500:

Here we go, off and running on our new server! I'm sorry for the week or so of such slow speeds, it seems as if we were just innocently overloaded.

Josh

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 18:41:58 -0800:

RichardDawkins.net has been receiving some heavy traffic recently, and we're working to upgrade the server again to deal with the site's increasing popularity. Thanks to everyone who has helped to make this website such a success by submitting articles and spreading the word about it.

Josh

Mon, 29 Jan 2007 01:42:21 -0800:

I made some changes to the page structure today so that the website looks better in lower resolution displays. The columns now size differently, and some of the margins might be a little different. If you are using IE6, it's probably a good idea to upgrade to IE7. Or just use Firefox! Please let me know if you see anything out of the ordinary by emailing design@richarddawkins.net.

Thanks for reading,
Josh

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 16:09:27 -0800:

A 'comment posting guidelines' sheet was setup today, linked in the comment authoring box while you're logged in.

http://richarddawkins.net/commentNotes.html

Fri, 15 Dec 2006 04:05:06 -0800:

How about that new front page?! A big thanks to Claudio Esposito for creating it!

I've also finally finished restructuring the Foundation side of the website, so it now matches the RichardDawkins.net side. Maybe you didn't notice, that's ok. We're a true table-less layout now, for all of you who might know what that means! For those who don't, just look at our nice new columns with shadows! Sometimes it's the little things.

More exciting stuff is on the way soon!
Josh.

Tue, 12 Dec 2006 16:16:38 -0800:

New troll management feature:

I've setup a new feature that allows registered users to flag comments that they feel are trolls. A 'troll' is someone who posts with the sole intent of provoking a negative response from others. Usually, a troll's comments are not at all related to the article either, so the thread goes wildly off into a back and forth debate/argument. If a commentor is marked as a troll for an article, all of their comments will be sent to the troll thread. All users are welcome to post and engage trolls on the troll thread, but this way we keep the main comment thread for each article on topic.

Mon, 11 Dec 2006 03:21:13 -0800:

I've added a new 'adjust font size' feature to the website, located in the top of the right menu. It has two optional sizes, regular and large. It keeps the sizing on all text in all the pages until the user changes it one way or the other. The default is regular, or what the website always looked like.

I've added "Digg it!," "Reddit" and "del.ico.us" links at the bottom of all articles. These are popular website sharing tools, where users can submit links and tell others about them. The more people who "Digg it!" (or whatever), the higher the link ranks on the company's website. It can help drive traffic to richarddawkins.net.

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 14:48:38 -0800:

A new links page! View it here:

http://richarddawkins.net/links

It's also in the left column under the mailing list signup.

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 03:46:01 -0800:

Hi everyone,

Today I updated our comment system with a new login feature, using the same login info as the forum. I've also copied over the avatars, so if you add a picture for yourself in the forum it will appear in your comments on the main website as well. You also now have the option of editing or deleting any of your own comments by clicking on the two icons in the top-right corner of the comment box.

As always, feel free to email me with any questions or comments at design@richarddawkins.net.

Thanks for reading,
Josh.

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 03:22:26 -0800:

So by now everyone should be seeing the website on the new server, sorry again for all the downtime. There were a few complications, but we pulled through. Thanks for being patient, Josh.

Sun, 26 Nov 2006 19:10:02 -0800:

We've been having some server overload problems lately, and we're upgrading our system as fast as we can! Please bear with us. If you get a mysql or memory error, this is probably why. You can try and reload the page, it may come back, depending on how much traffic the website is receiving.

As in the Hitchhiker series where God enscribed his final words of creation into a mountainside:

"We apologize for the inconvenience."

Josh.

Sat, 25 Nov 2006 13:52:53 -0800:

There have been some impostors in the comment space lately. I am going to setup a login system as soon as possible to verify a poster's identity. I hope to have it done very soon, but until then please understand that anyone can post a comment under any name. Thanks, Josh.

Sun, 19 Nov 2006 22:10:19 -0800:

I'll be updating the layouts of some pages over the next few days. If you see anything crazy please let me know, and please provide your operating system and browser info if you do.

Our stats say that 38% (!!!) of our visitors are using Internet Explorer 6! If you are using a PC, please check and see if this is you. Click 'help' and then 'about Internet Explorer.' If it says IE6, you may upgrade to the new Internet Explorer 7 for free here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/default.mspx

Or you can (and should) use the superior (and also free) Firefox browser:

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

If I had to browse the internet in IE6 everyday, I'd probably just quit and read the newspaper. This website, amongst others, looks much worse that it should. Improve your experience. Upgrade your browser.

Josh Timonen.
design@richarddawkins.net

Mon, 23 Oct 2006 19:08:22 -0700:

As stated on the index page:

"We are now splitting RichardDawkins.net into two sections: one side is for the non-profit foundation (RDFRS), and the other is the official promotional site for Richard Dawkins and his books. In order to obtain our non-profit status in the UK and US, we are required to keep our book and tour promotion activities separate from the foundation's non-profit work. We hope you enjoy both of these growing new websites, and apologize for this inconvenience."

RichardDawkins.net is now separated into these two partitions. I've also updated a few of the graphics to emphasize the split. The forum received a new header, I hope you like it! -Josh.

Mon, 23 Oct 2006 01:45:07 -0700:

Updates today! The banner is new for starters, on the main page and the forum. We're also doing a bit of restructuring, so hold tight. It's nothing too serious, but the page organizaton will look a little different.

Sat, 21 Oct 2006 15:27:07 -0700:

Added new code to stop duplicate comment posts. If you are still seeing an error message or a 'page not found' error, please email me at design@richarddawkins.net with as much info as you can give me(your computer type, browser, OS, etc.). I have so far been unable to replicate this problem. Thanks! -Josh.

Sat, 21 Oct 2006 02:26:20 -0700:

Created a new photo article entry template. You can view the first entry of its kind here:

http://richarddawkins.net/article,220,Photos-from-Richard-Dawkins-Lecture-in-Lawrence,Michael-Smick

If you take photos, send them to design@richarddawkins.net!

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 17:45:00 -0700:

The comment received page error should be fixed now. Some users were seeing an error after entering their comments (even though the comments were in fact received).

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 16:42:43 -0700:

I've setup an RSS feed of the Tour Journal:

http://richarddawkins.net/tourJournalFeed.php

It's also linked off the Tour Journal page:

http://richarddawkins.net/tourJournal

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 12:39:58 -0700:

A couple small updates today:

Broken automatic links with certain special characters in the comment space have been corrected. Let me know if you are posting a new URL that is still having problems. It's always good to use the comment preview to check for this before you post a URL in your comments.

The mailing list removal tool has been fixed and works as it should now.

Mon, 16 Oct 2006 21:11:37 -0700:

Added a new forum to dicuss The God Delusion Book Tour. View it here:

http://www.richarddawkins.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=14

Mon, 16 Oct 2006 01:44:58 -0700:

Added a 'Local Groups' listing. This database is designed to help visitors easily find Humanist and Atheist groups in their area. Seach by City, State/Province, or Country. View the page here:

http://richarddawkins.net/localGroups

It is also linked in the left column near the top. If you have a local group to include in this list, please email localgroups@richarddawkins.net.

Sun, 15 Oct 2006 04:37:01 -0700:

RDF MySpace page launched! If you're on myspace, why not add RDF as a friend and put it in your top 8, 16, 20, or however many 'top friends' you may have! Help spread the word about The Richard Dawkins Foundation!

Our MySpace URL is:
http://www.myspace.com/richarddawkinsfoundation

Sun, 15 Oct 2006 01:48:25 -0700:

This update was done a couple weeks ago, but I thought I'd remind everyone. RichardDawkins.net promotional banners have been added to the website, so you can link to us in style from your personal webpage or blog! View the many different versions here:

http://richarddawkins.net/RDFbanners

Sun, 15 Oct 2006 01:44:39 -0700:

Added two new forums, one titled 'There are Atheists in Foxholes' for members of the military, and one for all of your meetings, events or parties.

There are Atheists in Foxholes:
http://richarddawkins.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=11

Meetings / Events / Parties:
http://richarddawkins.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=12

Sun, 15 Oct 2006 01:32:40 -0700:

Added a new 'Other Events' calendar for events not associated with RDF. This page also includes an 'Other Event Calendars' listing of other websites with relevant event listings. View the page here:

http://richarddawkins.net/otherEvents

Sun, 15 Oct 2006 01:06:49 -0700:

Setup 'The Good, The Bad, The Ugly' section of the website, featuring 3 separate pages of emails and messages we've received.

View it here:

http://richarddawkins.net/goodBadUgly