Criticker has just made a big stride into its future, with the launch of a brand new logo, new color scheme, and new layout. This is the first major site update in many, many years.

New Style Elements

Probably the most obvious change is the introduction of a new logo. We've never really had a proper logo before, and are really proud of what we've come up with. In the near future, we'll be doing a proper introduction, explaining some of the decisions and thought-processes that went into its creation. 

You'll also notice the extended use of new colors and icons across the site, bringing a more modern feel to Criticker. Again, we'll be diving deeper into our choices pretty soon... stay tuned!

New Features

When we teased this new update a couple weeks ago, we stressed that the the site's functionality has not changed. And that's true. As you navigate the new version of Criticker, you'll probably notice that in between the new framing, nothing much has changed.

But there are some features which we'd like to point out. First off, is the new navigation. This is likely to be the change most immediately disruptive to longtime users, as some options have shifted location. Brand new is the new Profile submenu, which includes live counts of ratings, titles in your watch list, kumpels and more. You'll also notice a "bell" notification icon -- currently, it only lets you know if you've got a new message, but it's an element that has a lot of potential.

Another cool new feature is Rich Tooltips on filmmakers, from the title information page. Now, with just a hover, you can see an actor's picture and short bio. Does "Christopher Eccleston" ring a bell, but you can't quite place exactly who that is? This new tooltip will help!

As the loyal long-time user of the site which you definitely are, you'll be horrified to hear that one of the most important new features of the relaunch is something which you won't usually see: a brand new landing page for guests. We've put a ton of effort into this splash page. But even if you're already an established Criticker pro, it's worth logging out, so that you can see what potential new users to the site will encounter. I mean, just take a look at the juicy bait we're using to hook those new li'l fishies.

And that's actually a nice segue to the last thing we want to mention in this article, which is Criticker's new ...

Future Focus

Against the odds, Criticker has managed to stay relevant for nearly twenty years now. The site was started as a side project by its two founders, and for most of its life has been treated that way: as a side project. We would put work into it when we had a chance, but for many years, did the bare minimum required to keep things running. New features were few and far between, and we never bothered to promote or publicize the site. 

But that's changed. Over the past two years, we've decided to turn this side project into our main gig. We're working with pros to help us with style (let's face it, "style" has never been a strong point of Criticker). We're thinking strategically about what we need to grow the site into the UNSTOPPABLE JUGGERNAUT it deserves to be. And we're making decisions that are going to help us build and maintain a brand new audience. 

This relaunch does a few things with that goal in mind. First, obviously, is the new homepage for non-users. We have a shareable new logo, and bold new color and font. We need the site to be visually appealing, and we feel like the relaunch is a step in the right direction.

But even more importantly, the relaunch has laid the framing for changes in the future. Behind the scenes, we've completely refactored our code base (a necessary and unbelievably complex task after 20 years of patchwork, mish-mash additions and edits). Basically, we've built a new sandbox which will help us more quickly revitalize the various aspects of the site.

We hope you like the changes, and that you're as excited about what's to come as we are! We're happy to hear feedback and your thoughts! And as always, we're honored to have you along the ride, as Criticker marches boldly into a bright new future!