Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (June 12, 2009)

I DENY ALL CHARGES OF THE BGWE HAVING A NERVOUS BREAK DOWN, COSMETIC SURGERY OR STAGING A WALK-OUT TO GET MORE MONEY
Despite certain other websites (I mean you WallStreetJournal.com!) jealously insinuating the BEST.GAY.WEEK.EVER! went missing last week in order to "dry out" and get a little cosmetic work done, the truth is simply that we relocated digs and the move meant there wasn't enough time to write the column. I appreciate all the folks who missed us and were upset we weren't around, but we're back and I worked extra hard on this week's column.

And I guess we did have a little work done. As you can see from our "tease" picture on the front page, we have introduced a new logo for the column that you'll be seeing from now on.

Of course, the background picture will change every week to highlight some hot man aspect of the column.

Speaking of changes, last Wednesday, we debuted the new front page for the site and the reaction was mostly quite positive, although not everyone universally loved the changes. With that in mind, now that we've had the new look under our belts for a week, I thought I'd take a moment to discuss some of the concerns. 

Regarding The Big Deal section on the right hand side of the front page, that is mostly going to highlight our recent articles, but will also occasionally promote breaking news or blog posts generating a great deal of interest and that we want to keep easily accessible. It will also be used to highlight various videos and vlogs; speaking of which, look for our vlogs to soon be marked with a special symbol resembling the "play" button on your remote control so you can more easily identify content you can watch.

I also know a lot of folks aren't happy with the search tool on the site and I wish I could say I had a solution for that. Unfortunately, the system we're using leaves us no choice in using that particular tool for now, so I just ask your patience while we continue to find a solution.(Note: we have improved our tagging system so that should help some.)

If you can't find something you're looking for don't hesitate to private message any one of us and we can track down whatever you're trying to find. As I mentioned in my last BGWE, we're also working on some other changes that will help with site navigability.

One thing some folks are still unhappy with is the fact that after thirty minutes the system logs you out. I know this can be inconvenient for our most devoted readers who never leave the site, but this is actually a safety feature designed to protect readers from leaving their account open when away from their computers. Just remember to refresh your browser once every 30 minutes and you'll be fine. Or when you still forget and are logged out, just send me a PM calling me names. I'm here to help after all. 

Other changes to the front page that I'd encourage folks to take advantage of include updating your LATEST MEMBER HEADLINES which is the fifth item in the right hand column (the one where you find The Big Deal). I always find it interesting to see what other folks are up to and you can update that by going to Your Account and clicking on the text right next to your photo (or avatar) and then type in what it is your doing and want the world to know about!

Also new and of (I think) interest is a list of all the members who are online at a given time. It's sort of like being in your local coffee shop checking out what the regulars are up to, except you can do it in your ratty sweats. Or naked. Not that I'm naked, mind you. Well, not much. 

Next page! You won't believe what happened this week!