23.04.2019

An all new Vertikal.Net

Later today we will transfer to a brand new version of Vertikal.net the first major redesign in 11 years - the current site dates from 2008.

Until the transfer is complete we will not be adding any more stories, but hope to resume service later on today or at the latest tomorrow. The shift from old to new will take some time and might take longer in some places – but should all be in place and working everywhere within 24 hours.
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Why change?

While the current site design has served us well and traffic has grown steadily ever since, we were obliged to move to a new platform which encouraged us to look at moving to a faster more modern host and to update in order to make it more future proof.

A good deal has changed since the new site went live, not only in the technology, but also in our readers. Back in 2008 many of our readers were not that computer savvy so we kept a similar general design/look to the original 2001 site, which we launched at Bauma 2001.

This time we are being more adventurous and adopting a similar more horizontal format to most of the major web based news services, which require a little more scrolling down for additional content, such as directories and library etc…One aim is to de-clutter the look, something that many readers have commented on in recent years.

One thing you can be sure of is that the old content – dating back to 2001 - will remain on line and part of the database search facility. With 33,000 news reports, and over 44,500 photographs- not to mention several hundred magazines converting it all to the new platform was a major factor that has challenged our developer, especially give that all this also includes two languages.

The benefits are substantial:
- The site should be faster, as we are moving to multinational multi server hosting
- It will be a lot less cluttered, although you will now need to scroll down or use the drop down menu to access items such as stock quotes, library, directory etc…
- The new site will automatically adapt to your screen size and will also be mobile friendly, eliminating the need for a separate mobile website.
- Your mobile or computer will only download images and banners as they scroll into view, reducing the bandwidth usage.
- We will have new features, including a space for you to add an article or editorial that gives your point of view or thoughts on a particular subject.
- The site has a modular system architecture making it faster and easier to update and to extend with new features.
- Many of the website's services (like magazine subscriptions or job postings) can now be paid online with credit card.

Please bear with us while we transfer and then work out any bugs that we might have missed during the months of testing and tweaking.