Some folks have noticed we have been playing around with the old templates. I am now able to let you know why.
We introduced the new look and design earlier this year, so that the forums matched our parent website (Roadtransport.com). Many of you commented on the new look and not all were favourable comments.
However it was a means to an end, Roadtransport.com has proved that there is a market online and we are now going to invest and take it a stage further.
Instead of trying to cover the whole market with a single website we now know that we can support websites based on specific areas within our industry.
As such Roadtransport.com will be replaced by websites based around our print titles, the first of these based on Commercial Motor will be going live soon.
This does mean we no longer need to match the look and feel of Roadtransport.com, and taking into account the feedback we have got over the “Orange” fixed width design we have taken the opportunity to slightly update the original templates and we will be putting them into use shortly.
TruckNet will become the core of the new drivers website from Road Transport Media. It will retain its name and the rest of the drivers site will be built around it. This is not an instant thing though and the new site will probably not appear in its entirety until the new year.
Q and A
Q) Does this mean TruckNet UK will become a pay site?
A) To quote the Managing director “not as long as I have a hole in my backside” (or words to that effect)
Q) This means that TruckNet UK becomes simply Truck and Driver forums?
A) Almost the opposite, the drivers website will be built from the forums not take the forums and drop them into a new website, the core of the new drivers site will be TruckNet UK, the forums will keep their own URL
Q) Why do this at all? , everythings working fine why cant you just leave well alone
A) Part of the reason is that it is all your fault, the huge growth in traffic and the success of Roadtransport.com means that we can now invest to provide targetted websites for different areas of the industry. It means that we can provide content directly relevant to you
Q) You have sold out, sold us down the river, etc etc blah blah
A) Everytime we make a change or invest, this comes up, and to date all the prophecies of doom and gloom have failed to materialise. Yes it is a major step, but it is a step toward the future . This is a major investment by the owners, a measure of the confidence in our on-line products including the driver sector
Q) Are there any more surprises in store?
There are plans and ideas that are being looked at, but if I told you what they were they would not be a surprise would they
Q)When does all this happen?
A) We are looking at reverting to the old templates sometime later this week or early next week, the complete drivers site will probably start to grow in the new year