RaceDepartment New Website Released

[Paul Jeffrey]

RaceDepartment.com will be down on Wednesday 30th October, as we look to bring a fresh new image to the largest sim racing website in the world.

Having undergone considerable growth and change in the last decade and a bit, we feel the time is right to take our website to the next level of presentation and functionality. On the evening of Wednesday 30th October (approx 22:00 UTC) we will close access to www.racedepartment.com for much of the night, as we upload and launch our brand new website!

We anticipate access will be restricted for around 12 hours, but if you still need that essential sim racing fix, take the opportunity to check us out on our various Social Media platforms, which can be accessed via the below links.

See you all on the other side!

 

[DX-Pig]

Could the Download button be a bit more towards the content instead of being on the right side of the page?

 

[Gerard Hatfield]

Wooaah... first impressions the home page looks too busy but I am sure with time I will get used to it. Not a massive fan of the space down the sides but understand there is much more to do to complete the look. Look forward to the further improvements.

 

[Koen Verlinde]

My point was the desktop site does not cater to smartphones. Smartphones get a very different version of the site that is catered to their size with a different layout, different menu setup, etc

Fair enough, as I don't have a smartphone I conclude stuff on what is perceived as their resolution across the screen.

Doesn't change the fact that now half the screen of a normal 1080p is wasted as blank/white where the previous lay-out at least wasn't so bad.

Still was wasting space for no good reason, but ok.

Not convinced the stuff we lost is worth all this "new" and "improved" though. Actually I'm convinced it isn't, cause it's tedious now.

 

[Case_]

Not convinced the stuff we lost is worth all this "new" and "improved" though. Actually I'm convinced it isn't, cause it's tedious now.

That's because you just hate change

But seriously, if the support for the old version was ending, there really wasn't much that could be done.

 

[Paul Glover]

Fair enough, as I don't have a smartphone I conclude stuff on what is perceived as their resolution across the screen.

Doesn't change the fact that now half the screen of a normal 1080p is wasted as blank/white where the previous lay-out at least wasn't so bad.

Still was wasting space for no good reason, but ok.

Not convinced the stuff we lost is worth all this "new" and "improved" though. Actually I'm convinced it isn't, cause it's tedious now.

Things will come back overtime, an upgrade of this magnitude isn't straight forward. There were always going to be growing pains.

 

[Benutzername]

Hey guys, i am not sure if i am not using the page correctly or somethings does not get displayed correctly on my device.

Im pretty sure this is not the intended look of the mainpage on mobile devices.
Can somebody help me?

And please dont look at my energy bar, yeah, it is that low.

 

[Alex Townsend]

Click the gear icon in the editor to go full nerd mode with bbcode . Click it again to go back to normal view.

Love this, full nerd mode

 

[EIF]

So after seeing the change here and hating it, (why does the main content area have to be so narrow and confined???) Steam then updated with a new god awful Library UI, which is also clealry aimed at the smart phone zombie horde. Just great

 

[CrimsonEminence]

So after seeing the change here and hating it, (why does the main content area have to be so narrow and confined???) Steam then updated with a new god awful Library UI, which is also clealry aimed at the smart phone zombie horde. Just great

I like it personally and i was growing up with:
C:\>nc
*norton commander starts up*
*double click on xwing.exe*
*not enough memory avaiable d'oh*
C:\>memmaker
*don't know, what the f*** i'm doing now*
*somehow gets this thing to run*
*soundcard isn't recognized*
.....

These new smartphone zombie UIs made my quality of 1st world problems a whole lot easier

 

[Sean]

Well done, I really like the new website!
..But: Where is the "Beer" button??!?!

need the :beer: one for sure!

 

[narc_]

Finally the new XenForo application. Nice graphic, very simple and clear. I like it.
I'd have added a darker theme so I could choose light or dark theme.
Anyway, congrats RD great work

 

[AlleyViper]

Is the search working ok for downloads? As an example, if I go to this link for AC downloads, and then on Search I input Pantera and set "search topics only", and then "this category" or even "resources", no results show.
Edit: It's working now!

Also, if this gets looked at, on this section default search should change to "this category" (or at least resources) instead of "everywhere", as most users will be trying to find downloads.

 

[schlitty]

Congrats on the overhaul. Subtle enough of changes while still looking good. And I imagine things on the back end are chugging along better. One random note I'd make; Given your continued growth and hits on your articles, I'd casually suggest you folks start crediting photos more often. Always a good habit to be in. Here's to further growth!

 

[Brandon Borders]

I feel the homepage is a step backwards, but everything else seems nice.

As far as what I don't like about the homepage... the pictures are nice of course but the titles are objectively harder to read and I miss having a summary about the post. I'm having a hard time thinking of another news site that would move to this type of design.

Your developer(s) should implement a focal point feature on the images. Once you get into a blog post the featured image can become pointless.

Or a few adjustments to get let the image be sized correct:

Or object-fit: center as a safer image position:

 

[Emery]

You can find it at the top of each forum index.
View attachment 332336

That "Mark read" button doesn't seem to work properly.

For instance, when I dropped into F1 2019 - The Game and click "Mark read", I would expect all the sub-forums to end up being marked read. Instead, it marked read a sub-forum with no further sub-forums (F1 2019 Mods), but left as unread the F1 2019 Racing Club & Leagues which has additional sub-forums. The time that I clicked was after 16:00, so when the latest msg is 10:46 in F1 2019 Racing Club & Leagues, it should have been marked read.

 

[Old Geezer]

What a shame! Attempted for 20 minutes to send Paul a p.m. BUT continually get sent to a site for a Vegas casino!!! "IF" the site ever returns to a version both viewable and usable on my tablet please let me know and I'll sign back in. Many Thanx for all RD has done in the past.

 

[Robert Bachmayer]

Like it so far, jump to new is good, Nvidia forums...this is how it's done.

Mind you the old forum was fine.

 

[386]

this seems too clunky and there are quite a bit of bugs, it was way better before. Honestly if it ain't broke don't fix it

 

[millen]

I feel the homepage is a step backwards, but everything else seems nice.

As far as what I don't like about the homepage... the pictures are nice of course but the titles are objectively harder to read and I miss having a summary about the post. I'm having a hard time thinking of another news site that would move to this type of design.

Your developer(s) should implement a focal point feature on the images. Once you get into a blog post the featured image can become pointless.

Agree with all you wrote. Homepage is a step back from before I feel...
But I'm sure the site will evolve from here still.

Things can't always stay the same. Looking forward to seeing how it progresses.

 

[Bethasia]

I really like it (On PC) so a well done RD is in order. New sites take a few days to settle in and the navigation still seems the same here. My only complaint is I now feel guilty not having the premium account and it looks like I am a loiterer hanging around a bus stop like a 10 dollar hooker. I shall go take a peek and see what is involved. I knew this day would come.