As many of you know, we will be transitioning the Race42012 Community to our newly redesigned site in a matter of weeks (though a firm date is yet to bet set.)
Part of this transition is that we are changing the name of the site to Rightosphere.com. This was a big decision for me, as the “Race4″ sites have been a huge part of my life for so long now. But I felt the time had come for a couple of reasons.
First, it is becoming increasingly costly to own all of the “Race4″ URL’s needed to protect the brand I have built. I already, of course, own Race42008.com & Race42012.com, as well as Racefor2012.com, Race42016.com, Racefor2016.com, Race42020.com, Racefor2020.com, Race42024.com, and Racefor2024.com! So it was becoming increasingly difficult for me to decide where to draw the line as long as I stuck with the “Race4″ identity.
Also, it would become increasingly difficult to have the site consistently identified with one name as time went on (some people still refer to us as “Race42008.com”!) I foresee this becoming an even greater problem as time goes on. Having one name that does not change with each cycle alleviates this problem.
Secondly, I have received many requests throughout the years from the members of our community as to features they would like to see the site have. Some people would like to have the ability to from groups or tribes within the site, e.g., “Team Mitt” or “Team Huck.” Other wanted to have a list of the campaign stops that each candidate would make during campaign season. Others wanted the ability to create their own polls. Many thought it would be nice to have a fully functional social network added to the site so that they can connect with other like-minded conservatives.
About a year ago, Kris Lorelli and me were discussing these requests and we asked each “why not?” Why can’t the Race42012 Community have all of these features to have some fun with?
So we set out together to make this kind of community a reality. The results, I feel, speak for themselves. Rightosphere will have all of the features that anyone has ever asked for plus, much, much, more. In fact, I believe that there is no political website, Right or Left, that will have the features and resources that each member of the Rightosphere family will have.
I encourage everyone to head on over to the new site, register, and take a look around. If you are already on Facebook, you can login via your Facebook account (once registered) to keep your social networking profiles in sync.
Of course, I know that some people will miss the old site, and change of any kind is always somewhat scary. However, what is not changing is our community! Everything that made Race42008 & Race42012 great will be what makes Rightosphere great as well. Think of it this way, when a community builds a new town hall, they do not change the people in the city along with the building. They simply provide new, modern facilities to make community get togethers more fun. This is exactly what this redesign is meant to do.
The frontpage of site will still function in the same way as it has before, and will feature articles written by our tremendous staff. The comments sections will still feature the insights of the best conservative community out there. The only difference is that you will see essays that were posted on a commenter’s personal blog (yes, everyone who registers gets their own personal blog that everyone can subscribe to!) promoted to the frontpage, along with our Twitter feed, and a running scroll of all of the blogs written by the Rightosphere Community (entitled, “Right Now.”)
The transition of our little corner of the Internet from R4’12 to ROS represents the work of a little over a calendar year for Kris and I. It was a labor of love meant to give our little family great new digs. I sincerely hope that you all enjoy it as much as I think you will. Please feel free to email me at kavon_w_nikrad@yahoo.com with any questions.
P.S. One little suggestion… If you haven’t yet, please consider downloading Firefox. Firefox is a free Internet browser that is faster, more secure, and more fully-featured that any other browser out there. R4’12, Rightosphere (and any other Internet site you visit) both work and look their best in Firefox.
FF is also highly customizable. I surf the ‘Net using the Aero Fox Theme. Give it a shot and see.
January 24th, 2010 at 5:15 pm
Could you explain the difference between groups and tribes? With tribes, are there drumbeats; some libertarian writers might also wonder about ceremonial marijuana?
January 24th, 2010 at 5:36 pm
I hope that you will include a feature for sending private messages to other members. This might help to reduce the number of arguments in the comments sections of threads. If there are concerns that a private message function could be abused to send threats or harassment to other members, you could include an ignore function.
January 24th, 2010 at 5:44 pm
It’s in there Dan!
January 24th, 2010 at 5:55 pm
Heh, I feel sheepish. I just saw it after I had posted #2.
Maybe MWS and I can save our angry retorts for PMs now
January 24th, 2010 at 5:59 pm
you gonna say the arguments don’t make the site fun?
January 24th, 2010 at 6:22 pm
Ignore function. Sweet.
January 24th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
WSU, if not for the arguments Race would be too dull sometimes to read. But I have to also say that the arguments go too far many times. Me and MWS are two of the worse offenders here.
January 24th, 2010 at 7:59 pm
Hi Kavon,
I made the same comment on the election thread but maybe you didn’t see it. Perhaps it would be good to reduce the font size (too large right now). The font size on this site is perfect.
thanks
January 24th, 2010 at 9:24 pm
Hey, are you guys going to start cross-posting from R4’12 onto ROS soon?
January 24th, 2010 at 10:17 pm
11 – the current goal is to provide first and second page posters with an opportunity to learn the functionality of ROS.
January 24th, 2010 at 10:54 pm
Kavon, will there be a general forum where anyone can post news articles for commentary (similar to Free Republic)?
January 24th, 2010 at 10:58 pm
C_of_D,
Yes, there is a general forum. It is a little different from Free Republic, but the functionality should meet your expectations.
http://www.rightosphere.com/forum.php
January 24th, 2010 at 11:28 pm
Looks Great, I am looking forward to the new format. Keep up the good work guys!
January 25th, 2010 at 2:16 am
How much has my liberal candidate Romney contributed for the “redesign” of this website? Wow, this is really great! I’m already preparing my scripts against pro-lifers Huckaboomers and Palinistas.
I’m doing this for free Mr. Nikrad, count me in! All for Romney 2012!
January 25th, 2010 at 2:18 am
Thank you for the Aero Fox plug.
January 25th, 2010 at 3:47 am
re 14,
I’m hoping there is some plan for keeping the lunatics and trolls away. I think that has been the biggest downside of r408 since its inception. Constant trolls.
January 25th, 2010 at 6:58 am
This is a free country. Many trolls are registered voters here. I’m just on the left side of the republican spectrum. RESPECT ME Mcon if you bastard even know how to.
January 25th, 2010 at 7:00 am
Expect me to be here more often…. Romney 2012! The Darling of Republican Liberals!
January 25th, 2010 at 9:14 am
First person for me to ignore will be Dotan aka El gwapito liberal
I can’t wait.
January 25th, 2010 at 10:03 am
Just signed up – I glanced around the site a little and I think all-in-all it is a good design. It really does feel like a social networking site and obviously has a lot of opportunities to expand upon the basic conception of Race4… It seems like it may be a little daunting for some members but actually pretty well designed. I didn’t notice but, is there a way to alert members of posts and/or blog entries from our friends or favorite FPP or commenters? Thanks for all the hard work you guys put into this and hopefully it is rewarding to everyone involved!!!
January 25th, 2010 at 10:07 am
Will you also be keeping race42012.com alive until ’12 elections? Some of the readers might enjoy the analog version of Race better than the ROS 2.0 version? I’m not really a web design guy but I would think it wouldn’t be that difficult to automatically update from one site to the other. BUT, like I said…I am not a web design guy so it may be very difficult.
January 25th, 2010 at 8:46 pm
Thanks Kris.