We had severe server problems the last few days, and I decided to install a ‘light’ theme – something I had been working on for a while anyway. I also decided to try the Disqus commenting system as it would further remove load from our webserver. I’ll keep working on a full redesign, but for the time being this will have to do.

As a bonus, there’s now a HUGE amount of space for art (which is what this community is all about, after all). Like with the old layout, the banners rotate daily. If you’d like your artwork to feature here, send a 1000×288 pixel image to bart @ this site, and include your name and a link for the credits. Please don’t add your own text to the image.

I’ll keep you posted on my progress, thanks for hanging in here with me :)

Here’s a quick service update: I’ve been getting complaints about our comments editing system, and have just purchased an upgrade. It now also includes a bunch of new features such as a spiffy full-screen editor (if you really want to rant) and a spell checker.

Please have a go at it (use this post to test) and let me know if it works ok now. Thanks!

After many months of preparation I’m proud to present you the new BlenderNation design! The old theme was over 6 years old and badly needed updating. We’ve worked closely with a renowned design studio to create a new, refreshing look that reflects the colorful composition of the Blender community.

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Running BlenderNation is a blast, but it’s a LOT of work for just one person. So, I’ve decided to bite the bullet and scale up – I’m looking for 2 editors!

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I just made some changes to the WordPress security settings. As a result, you may need to log in again. If you keep having problems, please send an email to bart @ this site.

As of yesterday, most of the ‘static content’ on BlenderNation (images, CSS and Javascript files), is no longer served from our own webserver. Instead, we’re now using a ‘Content Delivery Network’. They have over 500 servers worldwide and automatically choose a server near you to get you the files.

It should speed up the website quite a bit, but it also costs quite a few dollars per month to run. So I’d like to ask you: did you notice any change in loading speed? Should we keep this?

In the same week as our 60,000th comment, we reach another milestone: our 3,000th article (this one). In just a little over 5 years, this site has grown from a hobby experiment to a regular part of my life. When I was first amazed at just 400 readers, we now have over 13,000 unique visitors every day – and well over 1 Million pageviews per month!

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