It's been a battle, but we've finally launched the new version of the software we use to power randi.org. This new software promises to be more secure, faster, and offer more features than we've had before. We hope to add more features in the coming months.
Here's a guide to some of the changes you'll find.
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We now have an RSS feed for each page. You can subscribe to Swift articles, JREF News, or just whatever appears on the front page. Once subscribed, new content will appear in your favorite news aggregator. You can subscribe by clicking on this icon on the left:
For more on RSS feeds, and what they are, visit this wikipedia article. - The software provides for dynamic font sizes and screen width so you can customize how you see the screen. Too big? Too small? These buttons
at the top right of the page will let you choose the right size for you. Keep in mind that most modern browsers have their own text size options, usually changed by hitting CTRL + or - or COMMAND + or -, so if you find that the largest font size on the site still isn't large enough, you can make it larger with your browser.
- The menus at the top will take you to the most important places on the site. Keep in mind that the title of the menus is a link itself: for example, if you click on the title "JREF Forum" it will take you to the forum. This might be a bit confusing, and I'll change it if enough people complain.
- You can now click on the article headlines to read the rest of the article. No more hunting for the "read more" link.
- The new software will allow us to incorporate all the old Swift and Randi Hotline archives into the database, making searching much easier. This is a big project, but it's well underway.
We're realists at the JREF, and we expect to have some problems with this launch. Please, if you find anything out of order, or if there's something missing contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and I'll see about fixing it as soon as possible.
Please note that we were not able to save the comments from the previous version of the software. I know many of you were engaged in active debates, and I apologize for this loss. I hope this new blank slate will encourage some new thoughts and continued productive dialogue.