Emergency Templates

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 :)

Update: BlenderNation Kiva Team

Kiva is a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Leveraging the internet and a worldwide network of microfinance institutions, Kiva lets individuals lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world.

Over the last three years, 56 BlenderNation members have been quietly providing micro loans through our BlenderNation Kiva Team – so far, we’ve loaned a staggering $11,600! Won’t you join us?

Continue reading

BlenderNation Launches Localised Sites

The Blender community isn’t limited to English-speaking people – far from it, it fact. I’ve felt the need to launch localised versions of BlenderNation for a long time. When Deniskaab contacted me a few weeks ago with the offer to translate our news, it was time to start the project. As a result of his work, you can now also read (most of the) BlenderNation news in Russian!

Go check it out at ru.blendernation.com

If you want to volunteer to help us translate our news into other languages, contact us.

Technobabble: website performance

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?