Most people visiting this new site might actually be a bit lost, and unsure what all the hullabaloo is all about. Well, OK. I get it, since you haven't been working at it for the last 6 or so months and so don't possibly know what's new, and where you can find anything because it all looks completely different.
First off, this blog component is new. As the admins we wanted something a little less formal than the forums, where we could rant and rave, without having to pigeonhole it into a neat formalised category. We figured, it might be nice for our users to have the same, so for those who feel the need to blog, you can find the blog "stuff" under My Menu on the RHS (look for the Blog Dashboard link, and follow that).
Secondly, we thought that the galleries so far have only been about us and our pictures, and so assuming that you are happy to accept the terms of use of the gallery, we would like to extend the invitation to our users to upload their pics also. Some previously may have been able to historically upload into the forum threads, but it was clumsy, and so we have a brand new gallery component which allows this. This was something that a couple of people mentioned would make the site better for them in the forum when we asked the question some time back. Under My Menu on the RHS follow the "Gallery Dashboard" link to create your own user gallery and post your images. (Please be aware of space limitations....)
Thirdly, the community aspect is much bigger with this version of VE, allowing for larger volumes of information about yourself to be posted (apart from your blogs and forum postings of course). Naturally, this is only if you are happy to do so, but we would encourage better interactions with fellow users, in order to grow the community. Get to know others in your town who are also users, and plan a hike or something. (You can update your profile and upload a profile avatar by following the "Profile" link under My Menu on the RHS)
Lastly, the content management system we had elected to use had moved on, so in the interests of security and increased interactivity, we had to make the change.
However, what hasn't changed is the quality up-to-date articles, useful downloads and the biggest Berg forum of its kind on the web.
We (Intrepid, ClimbyKel and Myself) really hope that you will grow into the new site and make increased use of the additional features. We can already sense that we will be needing to purchase more hosting space to facilitate increased growth, but we will keep an eye on it and make the necessary arrangements should they become necessary. For now, we want you to tell us whether there is more we could be doing, or what you think of the new site etc. Feel free to discuss this further on the forums.
