YouMotorcycle 2.0: Big Changes Coming Soon

Whenever I hear from people about YouMotorcycle they seem generally surprised and grateful for the information here and it’s presentation on the site. Emails from total strangers leave me feeling flattered. Sure, some people complain as well, but every subculture has its stuck-in-the-past scooterista with all of the mirrors. There’s one thing I hear whenever I talk to advertisers though. They almost unanimously mention YouMotorcycle is a great looking site. They advertise and send samples here because the site looks good and reviews come out looking great. There’s just one problem…

As she’s grown, YouMotorcycle’s hit some technological stalemates. She’s running on an outdated and no longer supported technology. The designers of her theme (her look) told me they can’t update the theme to work with the recent version of the software she runs on and gave me a refund. I can’t add a lot of the newer bells and whistles other websites have because they aren’t made for my old tech. The site is starting to show her age. She’s been running strong since 2009. This year I’m giving her the full rebuild and a totally new look.

What will this mean for the average reader:

• Larger, better preview images (bigger is better, and better is also better, too)
  
• Image sliders (that actually work)
  
• Tags (that actually work, so if you’re reading a post about female motorcyclists, you can easily find all posts about female motorcyclists)
  
• Improved search function (now with thrice as much butt-kicking)
  
• Recent comments function (see what other readers are saying, and tell them how wrong they are)
  
• Dynamic size adjustments (to make YouMotorcycle beautiful on your desktop, laptop, tablet, or smart phone)
  
• Social media sharing links under each post (because motorcyclists like to get together and be social sometimes)
  
• Author bios under each post with social media links (in case you want to follow or learn more about the nut jobs we call our writers)
  
• Related articles contain preview images below posts (letting you know exactly what kind of mess you’re getting yourself in to)
  
• Better comment system under each post (Fuzzygalore gets props for this one, hi Fuzz!)
  
• Even more social media links (it’s like Where’s Waldo, or Carmen Sandiego, they’re hiding, but they’re everywhere)
  
• RSS reader feed thingy (apparently people use RSS readers?!)
  
• One click chronological next and a previous post buttons (to kill workplace productivity at an office near you)

It also means a lot of improvements on the administrative side as well. Everything related to posting will be much easier. If you’re thinking about submitting your own article or review, now is definitely the time.

YouMotorcycle gets about 15,000 monthly visitors, of which 20% are returning visitors. If you’re one of those faces that keeps coming back, thank you. It means a lot. If you’re a new face please stick around. You can join the family on Facebook or Twitter.

Are there any features you’d like to see on YouMotorcycle or you enjoy on other sites and blogs? Please leave a comment.

Adrian S.