Since launching in March of 2009, TwistedSifter has been through a lot. The site has grown, the site has crashed, pictures have been posted and good times have been had.

Today I’m pleased to announce the second major redesign in the site’s history. The first redesign was March 2011, and since then the usage of tablets and smartphones have dramatically increased. Readers are now accessing the Sifter from a variety of screen sizes and resolutions and the current site was not adapting adequately.

So with that, we find ourselves here. Check out the major changes below and get ready for an improved Sifting experience!

 

TwistedSifter is now responsive. This means whatever your screen resolution may be, TwistedSifter will adapt to provide you an optimal viewing experience. Browse the site on your smartphone, tablet or giant 26″ monitor; the site will be ready to do thy bidding.

 

The homepage has now been equipped with infinite scroll. Just like Facebook and Twitter, you can now scroll through every post ever published on the site, all 2,000+ of them!

 

I’ve created a few new categories (e.g., ‘lists‘), renamed a couple (‘homes & buildings’ is now ‘architecture‘), and even split Nature/Animals into separate entities. All of the primary categories can now be found on the main menu bar instead of having to use a drop-down menu.

As the number of posts has surpassed the 2,000 mark I’ve found the general category headers too broad. Now with a healthy amount of archived content, I’ve begun the laborious task of tagging all previous posts. This is a work in progress and I’ve barely scratched the surface. My personal goal is to have almost all posts tagged by the end of the year.

Once properly tagged you will then be able to really drill into niche topics within the broader categories. For example, you’ll be able to see just ‘street art’ or ‘sculptures’ within the art section etc. It’s a slow process but one that I will chip away at each day.

 

The Sifter is delighted to partner with WordPress.com VIP for hosting and support. I hold them in the highest regard and would recommend their services to any site owner who dreams of not having to worry about downtime.

 

For those with a screen width greater than 1400 pixels, you will now see two orange arrows on either side of the screen. If you hover over the arrows, the title for the next/previous post will appear. Clicking the arrow will take you too that post.

For those with screen widths less than 1400 pixels, the orange arrows will appear at the bottom of the post.

 

The Pinterest button has been updated for all you pinners! Now when you click the Pinterest button at the top or bottom of each post, a complete gallery of all images in the article will pop-up for you to choose from.

 

For the fellow sifters there’s a fun little easter egg on the page. Scroll around and maybe you’ll notice it.

 

None of this would have been possible without the help and support of my friend Mohammad Jangda. His expertise has been instrumental in the evolution of TwistedSifter and I can’t thank him enough for all of his time and insight.

 

Relaunching a site is tough! While I’ve tried my best to test out the site on various browsers and devices there’s no way to catch everything. If you have any feedback (positive or negative) or notice any strange glitches, please do let me know in the comments below or via email at: admin@twistedsifter.com

None of this would be possible without your readership and support. I can’t thank you enough for taking time out of your lives to check out the site. I will strive to keep providing you with content that educates, entertains and inspires.

Stay sifty my friends!