{"id":17250,"date":"2024-09-19T08:45:17","date_gmt":"2024-09-19T15:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/?p=17250"},"modified":"2024-11-01T17:29:20","modified_gmt":"2024-11-01T17:29:20","slug":"introducing-the-new-dev-blogs-a-modern-streamlined-and-engaging-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/devblogs-news\/introducing-the-new-dev-blogs-a-modern-streamlined-and-engaging-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Introducing the new Dev Blogs: A Modern, Streamlined, and Engaging Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello, Dev Blogs community!<\/p>\n

We’re excited to announce ‘Dev Blogs Evolution,’ a major upgrade you’ve already been experiencing for the past two weeks. This project is our first major upgrade to the whole platform. Our goal is to make it streamlined and modern, discoverable, and easier to engage with. This upgrade is shaped by valuable feedback from both you, our readers, and authors.<\/p>\n

A modern, simplified layout<\/h2>\n

The first thing you\u2019ll notice is the wider content area. We’ve embraced a cleaner, simpler design that improves readability. Reading and navigating should feel smoother and more intuitive. The subtle use of color gives the platform a modern touch while keeping the focus on content.<\/p>\n

Enhanced content discovery<\/h2>\n

We\u2019ve introduced a breadcrumb trail at the top left of the page to help you keep track of where you are and easily navigate back to the blog home page. Breadcrumbs show on all pages.<\/p>\n

On individual posts, the right-side pane now features a table of contents so you can easily jump to any section. This change, requested by many of you, is especially useful for longer posts like Stephen Toub\u2019s excellent \u2018Performance Improvements in .NET 9<\/a>\u2019. Below the table of contents, you’ll find the ‘Read Next’ section, which offers recommendations for related posts that may interest you.<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/a><\/p>\n

On the blog home page, we have revamped how related content is displayed. Now, in the new right-hand pane, you\u2019ll find sections like Popular Topics, Archive of all posts, and other relevant information that can vary by blog.<\/p>\n

\"Blog<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve also added the ability to place Calls to Action (CTAs) on key pages, giving blog owners more flexibility in guiding their readers toward next steps, whether it\u2019s downloading a product, signing up for a newsletter, or attending an event.<\/p>\n

\"Blog<\/p>\n

You might also find a blog with a specific featured post highlighted at the top of all posts.<\/p>\n

Improved engagement and socialization<\/h2>\n

Engagement is now easier \u2014 liking, commenting, and sharing tools are now grouped in the left-hand pane, keeping them both within reach and out of the way of your reading experience.<\/p>\n

\"Blog<\/a><\/p>\n

On these individual post pages, you will also find your preferred social media platform where you can follow this blog along with the ability to sign up for email alert when new posts are published. Both options can be found right below comments.<\/p>\n

\"Blog<\/p>\n

From blog home pages, you can easily follow the blog on other social media platforms where they have a presence or sign up to receive an email when new posts get published.<\/p>\n

\"Blog<\/p>\n

The commenting interface not only got a facelift but a functionality lift too. One of the long-standing asks has been to change the sort order of comments. With this upgrade you can choose to sort comments by newest, oldest, or see the most popular comments first. We have also added tags to easily identify when a comment is from the post author, or if a comment has been edited.<\/p>\n

\"Blog<\/p>\n

Stay in the know<\/h2>\n

On the Dev Blogs\u2019 page, we\u2019ve introduced a Highlights section to showcase significant content, such as product launches, or even introduce you to new blogs. The Events section allows upcoming events to shine, making it easy for you to keep up with the latest events and highlights all in one place.\u00a0Previously, blogs and resources were compressed into a narrow pane. Now, we\u2019ve given them more space and they each have their own section.<\/p>\n

We understand that some of you might want to jump right to the meat that is the latest posts. The sticky navigation at the top of this page makes it easy to jump between sections as you browse this page.<\/p>\n

\"Main<\/p>\n

We\u2019re just getting started!<\/h2>\n

With Dev Blogs Evolution, we\u2019re taking the first step toward making this platform simpler, more modern, and more engaging for you. Whether you’re a reader, an author, or both, we hope you\u2019ll love these changes as much as we enjoyed building them for you.<\/p>\n

While a lot of you like what you see and how things function, and we\u2019ve got many positive reviews, there are two very specific areas that seem to have hit a point of dissatisfaction.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The new highlights and events sections that appear above the latest posts on the devblogs.microsoft.com landing page takes up too much space, leading to scrolling to get to the list of posts. <\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The landing page was upgraded so we can have a space to share important highlights that readers may have missed. Highlights will update ~every 2 weeks. When we don\u2019t have anything to highlight or any event to invite you to join, these sections will disappear and push the rest of the page into view. These elements are temporary residents on this page. If you are not interested in highlights or events, skip past them by clicking on the latest posts <\/strong>in this navigation which shows right below the hero and stays sticky as you scroll the page.<\/p>\n

    \"Sticky<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. The layout listing posts in a masonry \/ waterfall structure appears to be in random order, is confusing, and difficult to follow.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Although the latest posts are still ordered by publish date from top to bottom, the layout moves down in a block instead of a list.<\/p>\n

      That said, thank you for sharing your thoughts. Your feedback is incredibly valuable and greatly appreciated. We are committed to addressing your concerns promptly and have many improvements already planned. Keep an eye out for updates coming soon, and please continue to provide feedback as we evolve the platform based on your needs. Thank you for being a part of the Dev Blogs community, and we look forward to seeing how you engage with the new platform!<\/p>\n

      Please take our 3-minute survey to share your thoughts.<\/a><\/p>\n

      The Dev Blogs Platform Team<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Hello, Dev Blogs community! We’re excited to announce ‘Dev Blogs Evolution,’ a major upgrade you’ve already been experiencing for the past two weeks. This project is our first major upgrade to the whole platform. Our goal is to make it streamlined and modern, discoverable, and easier to engage with. This upgrade is shaped by valuable […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17318,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-announcement"],"acf":[],"blog_post_summary":"

      Hello, Dev Blogs community! We’re excited to announce ‘Dev Blogs Evolution,’ a major upgrade you’ve already been experiencing for the past two weeks. This project is our first major upgrade to the whole platform. Our goal is to make it streamlined and modern, discoverable, and easier to engage with. This upgrade is shaped by valuable […]<\/p>\n","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/devblogs-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/devblogs-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/devblogs-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/devblogs-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/devblogs-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/devblogs-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/devblogs-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/devblogs-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/devblogs-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/devblogs-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}