9rules has recently made their new site design public (see post.) There seems to be a desire to sidestep the ever-present “version number” because 9rules has dubbed their new site design and layout with a name: Phoenix. My personal two cents is that it’s a cool name and a good idea to forgo the “version x.xx” or whatever.
Besides the stating the obvious that this new design is visually sweet, there are also some great new features in this redesign that improve usability. The new 9rules site gives more focus to the individual communities and on the whole is more community driven. This, I think, was a very wise move on the part of the 9rules leadership because it aids in delegating responsibility to the communities and their respective community leaders. This does a couple things but namely it helps develop a sense of ownership among the sites to their particular community. They I definitely feel that sense.
Another awesome feature of the new design is the “Notes.” Before, to interact with 9rules members you had to either go to the member’s individual blogs and post a comment in hope of starting a conversation or go to the 9rules blog and post a comment there. Both times you feel very trapped into exactly what you can discuss. This new Notes feature, however, intends to change all that. To quote Scrivs:
…it?s essentially a way to let both members and non-members post topical content to a 9rules Community: think part forum, part blog, 100% interactivity.
Very cool, even if I do say so myself. I’ve already posted a note in the Religion community regarding my Ask a Minister feature here at Open Switch and hopefully we’ll be seeing more Notes and interaction between 9rules members and non-members as time goes on.
