Revisions Underway

February 26, 2011 — by Per Christensson

Whenever something is updated, whether it is a computer, a software program, or a website, we expect improvements. After all, why update something if you're not improving it? Yet every once in awhile, we experience an update that is not entirely beneficial. For example, a new computer may have hardware issues the old system never had. A new version of a software program may introduce new bugs. A redesigned website may lack features the old one had. Wait, could this be true of the new Sharpened.net?

When I updated Sharpened.net last year, I completely rewrote the website from scratch. I built an entirely new interface using HTML 5 and CSS 3 and added several new cutting-edge features. While many of these features have improved the usability of the website, not all the updates were helpful. For example, while the new top navigation has been simplified, a number of visitors have informed me that the dual navigation bars on some pages are confusing. And while there is now a search box on each page, the section-specific search boxes are missing. This has made it more difficult to search for specific glossary terms, file extensions, emoticons, and chat acronyms.

Rest assured, I have heard your feedback and am planning on making the necessary improvements. My goal is to make Sharpened.net as easy to use as possible, so I appreciate your honest feedback. I am also in the process of implementing other new features, which will further extend the capabilities of Sharpened.net. For example, I have recently added the capability to include images in Help Center articles, even though the articles are stored in a text database. I plan on extending this feature to the home page and news sections as well, since it will be helpful to include images with certain updates.

Thanks again for all your feedback, both positive and negative. I am continually working to improve Sharpened.net, so it's always nice to hear what you think. If you have any ideas that might make the website better, just let me know!