Cartoon Brew version 3.0
Welcome to the updated Cartoon Brew. This was an important redesign for us. We wanted to make the site more useful for regular readers without significantly changing the look and feel of a design that already functions well. We also wanted to add more functionality without cluttering it up with bells and whistles that none of our readers would ever use. So we’ve judiciously added a handful of new features that we hope will enhance your site experience as well as upgraded our servers which we hope will make the site a lot faster for everybody. Here is a guide to the new additions;
Industry Headlines: We don’t have the time to write a full post about everything that’s happening in animation, so we created this section, located on the upper side of the right-hand column, where we’ll have a constantly updated stream of links to news from around the animation industry.
Animation Tweets: This box, in the middle of the right-hand column, is a continuously updated feed of tweets by artists working in the animation industry. If you click on the directory link at the bottom of the box, you’ll be taken to the full list of artists and each of their latest tweets. The list is by no means complete and we will be updating the directory regularly to include as many artists as possible.
Top posts: Some of our favorite and most popular posts drop off the front page far too quickly. Our new top posts, located at the top of the site, will offer links to posts that we feel deserve a second look.
Suggest: To suggest an item for inclusion on Cartoon Brew, do not e-mail Jerry or Amid individually anymore. Please use the suggest form which is accessible through the navigation bar at the top of the page.
Commenting: Exciting additions here. You can now respond to specific comments by other readers and your responses will be threaded below the original comment. Simply click on “reply to this comment” below the comment that you want to reply to. Also, if you like somebody’s comment, click on the thumbs up button for that person’s comment. If enough people like a comment, a colored box will highlight the comment permanently.
Sharing: Sharing items on Cartoon Brew is now easier and more efficient than ever before. We have greatly simplified the process for sharing posts via e-mail, Facebook, and Twitter. Simply click on the appropriate button below each post.
Events: The events links in the right-hand column now lead to a map of where each event is located as well as additional information about the event.
Also, we wanted to take this opportunity to give a shout-out to our site designer and new web host, Rob Kohr. None of these changes would have been possible without his expertise. If you need somebody to design a site for you or to host a site, we can’t recommend him highly enough. He has always been incredibly responsive to the specific needs of our site, and is a collaborative partner throughout the design process who offers plenty of good ideas along the way. There is never an unsolvable problem when he’s involved, only potential solutions. Not to mention that on top of being a web designer, Rob is also an emerging filmmaker. His most recent animated film The Lift is playing all over the festival circuit, including in a few weeks at Animation Block Party. What more could we ask for?