I believe in freedom of speech. If you feel I'm dumb, you're free to criticize me. If you feel you know something I don't know, you're free to share your precious wisdom with me.

So yesterday, a childhood acquaintance decided to slam me publicly for not changing the "software" of Nairaland (meaning the look). She went further to call me an old man in a young man's body, suggesting that I'm not open to change, and to say that "charity begins at home", meaning I should not invest in other things until I change the look of Nairaland, because in her opinion, that's the issue that needs the most urgent attention on Nairaland.

I beg to differ. I don't believe in change for the sake of change. Never have, never will.

I remember when I used to look up to the webmaster behind Face Of Festac. He installed a gallery script that allowed people to post pictures and comment on those pictures, and it was a hit! It had over 1000 visits per day. But then, the webmaster decided to "upgrade" the site by turning it into some sort of weird private social network, and his visitors left.

I remember when I used to visit the MySQL Performance Blog almost every day. It had simple theme with a nice, legible font. Then they changed it, and now I really hate going there.

So I don't believe in changing the elements of sucessful website for no reason, because you could end driving away people who like your site just as it is. I will never change the look of Nairaland just to satisfy people who want change for it's own sake. I don't take unecessary risks.

But apart from that, changing Nairaland's look is not as trivial as an uninformed person would think. The theme has evolved a lot over time, with lots of little changes every month to accomodate the genuine needs of Nairaland members. If we move to another theme, all those changes will have to be ported to the new theme. Mistakes will inevitably be made, costing us to lose traffic as we struggle to fix those mistakes. We have much to lose and nothing to gain.

Naijahotjobs used to be Nairaland's number 1 competitor. Some months ago, they changed their look and migrated to Vbulletin. How is that working out for them?

ok

1. I have no problem with the look, but you might be shocked at what a simple opinion poll might reveal.

2. Are people clamoring for a funkier look or something more?

Somehow, i agree with you so far the look still accommodates the yearnings of the users, but why not take it through a poll really? You never can tell.

Arkhin:

Somehow, i agree with you so far the look still accommodates the yearnings of the users, but why not take it through a poll really? You never can tell.

I got you, but you know those who want to see Nairaland as Facebook 've got 2 or more Ids/ user'name and i think these ppl will doninate the the poll with their multiple user's name.

Freiburger:

I got you, but you know those who want to see Nairaland as Facebook 've got 2 or more Ids/ user'name and i think these ppl will doninate the the poll with their multiple user's name.

that means they wont leave if they win and the site changes, right?

Might also connote the converse.

Really, a multisite solution with single sign on, like Yahoo Network, might just be in order.

Glueing Nairalist with auto update, a cinch.

Arkhin:

Somehow, i agree with you so far the look still accommodates the yearnings of the users, but why not take it through a poll really? You never can tell.

good idea

Seun dont change a thing about Nairaland cos its where we can go to without seeing the horrors of large pics and too much colours. We love it the way it is.

Itz Ok if it wil mk u fil BETA-biz wise

Change is the only fin in life that is inevitable, Facebook changes their looks every now and then. Though Change can be very dangerous at times, HI5 chased me away with their shouting color, But a poll would be alright. but am still cool with this theme sha. It denotes simplicity. That's who and what i am

The Boss has spoken. By the way, i see nothing wrong with the present look

Seun,

Your argument is weak and your friend is somehow right to an extent. Your users are more internet sophisticated than they were 2 years ago. This means that their needs have changed over time and will continue to change. In this era of rapid development in widgets that add value to user experience, I am a bit surprised at your position. Do not become complacent due to current user loyalty.

A pool would be good. Then you can decide on a time frame and port all the portables(if those for change won). From an income perspective, it's a risky move but if done well can and will  eventually yield you more income at the same time satisfying more than 50% of the site users.

Change is good but not without reason/cause/objective. Anyway sha you're the boss. In the end you'll decide, but like where I work they say "Customer is King"

Good thinking. Look before you leap is a timeless saying. Just stick to minor changes that are really useful.

I also stopped visiting Nigeriagalleria when they changed their look. Just couldn't find my favourite buttons anymore.

Pls try to turn Nairalist around. That I think needs change.

Well done Seun!!!

Please leave the website as it is. Good websites are not necessarily colorful.
I do not feel there is a need for a poll; except people pay to access this site.

"Change" is the thing killing the world today

mbatuku1:

Good thinking. Look before you leap is a timeless saying. Just stick to minor changes that are really useful.

I also stopped visiting Nigeriagalleria when they changed their look. Just couldn't find my favourite buttons anymore.

Pls try to turn Nairalist around. That I think needs change.

Nice one.

Change being one of the hardest thing to achieve in any setting can be a good or bad thing depending how it's managed and rolled out.

Resisting to change should never be an option but how best to intergrate change with minimal fuss should always be the order of the day.

Ask yourself, what needs changing, what benefits will this change bring and how do i go about changing them
without moving away from the fundamental bedrock of what nairaland was to built to achieve.

This Seun dey petty sha  

see wetin Esther cause  

jay bee:

Change being one of the hardest thing to achieve in any setting can be a good or bad thing depending how it's managed and rolled out.

Resisting to change should never be an option but how best to intergrate change with minimal fuss should always be the order of the day.

Ask yourself, what needs changing, what benefits will this change bring and how do i go about changing them
without moving away from the fundamental bedrock of what nairaland was to built to achieve.

+1

Dear Mr. Seun,


I constructed visionitesmagazine.com for our great forum using smf and I patterned it after nairaland.com. The only difference is in the theme (classic Yabb). It looks glassy and I like it.

However, yours truly, Prior to using this new theme, I adopted the default theme core, but due to the thirst for change, I broke the whole thing and lost everything in the process, so I had to begin reconstruction from the scratch. Although, I am somewhat comfortable with the new look I gave it and also enjoyed the process of changing, editing, coding, parsing and all that which made me understand more of smf, but I weakened for losing some faithful/regular users who are only just re-registering after a while.


My advice:

1. Commit in your mind that those asking you to change the theme/look either know what it takes and want you to break it, or 'wish it were better' but don't understand the stake

2. Stick to your idea; if it is not broken, why fix it?

3. Should you attempt a 'nairaland theme revolution' and broke the whole thing, your 247 users will divert their loyalties to other places within the short time you are finding your feet back on ground, and it may take 'eternity' to count up the scale back to no.1 (I was going to direct you to ask Naijahotjobs admin, but you already know it)

4. Simplicity is genius

5. Should you consider a theme change, please experiment it on a separate 'test' domain and be sure it's safe before applying on nairaland.

I thought you would be present at the adplacers launch event so we could meet and share some ideas more about smf and safe optimization, but you were not around.

Please get my drift; maintain it if changing it will cause you the whole thing.

O' Law.
08060606166.

I'm a suck-up for continual success so i agree with seun on this one; if there's a fundamental need to change anything on NL, "looks" may NOT be considered to be top of the list IMHO.

Do NOT discard a winning formula. Don't change the look.

I wonder wat look could be more mature than this. Most people i know cant stand flashy/multi-coloured/picturesque/disneysque websites. They look more like a child's first experiment with paints. Pls let us/them let nairaland be. Astute decision,seun!

I don't know maybe its just me but i think your post was slightly dictatorial.
anyway to the matter,i think you should understand that as you climb the ladder of success you are bound to meet various resistance(like your childhood friend) the higher you climb,the louder the resistance.the way you handle this resistance defines how successful you will be.

change they say is the only constant thing.you don't necessarily have to accept it but don't resist it either.the best way is to adjust/adapt to the changes in your environs

you can start by conducting a poll as stated above or experiment to get viewers reaction,opinion etc

All the same,remember someone out there is trying hard to outsmart,outwin you
cheers

Seun, Keep it simple bro. Google's homepage still looks the same.


Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication -Da Vinci

This is one of the issues facing Nigeria as a country. Complacency! "oil is the winner and will always be in demand for eternity, fvck other sectors." God forbid, If Google or Facebook comes out with a similar forum. Say on a global level and sub-levels for each country in the world with key celebrities on the local level as moderators. When the Americans and Europeans start using it, trust Nigerians and the bandwagon effect.

That is when all those that say we should continue living in mud houses will start screaming, " It's a bit outdated jor" Stay hungry Seun.

@Seun
We need more icons just like yahoo messenger

Somebody said right from the onset that he doesnt act simply because majority of people want him to, and some people are still saying 'put it to poll'. Dont people read?

I, for one, like Nairaland's'distinct look now. I am not a fan of flashy sites. I love simplicity. Facebook, it should be noted, is a social networking site, not a forum like NL, so it doesnt require the flashiness of FB.

Despite its "grandma's wrapper' look, to quote the description of one Nairalander, NL membership has continued to grow exponentially.

I like Naijahtjobs. The change brought me back and now i go there multiple times a day. The place is too bad.

@Seun

I got a piece of advise for ya

The biggest risk in life is to never talk a rick

££VICTOR££:

@Seun

I got a piece of advise for ya

The biggest risk in life is to never talk a rick

***take

We want chat. And private messaging jo