One of the longest standing complaints the team here at JAMM has expressed to me was that 10 seconds after they post a lengthy review, it is buried under an avalanche of news posts and quickly knocked off the front page altogether.   So, when it came time to refresh the look of the site, I decided that I wanted to take a radical departure from the chronological list of posts many of you are used to.

Instead of looking at other tech-related blogs for inspiration, the design team at 18 Elements and I looked at how news sites like CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and other news sites in to to learn how they have addressed this problem.  The result is a truly innovative approach to news, which is unlike any other tech blog around.  Rather than providing just a chronological list of posts, we present a category based layout, which highlights the important posts and reviews, while giving you access to the content you want to read the most.  Not only that, but there are quite a few hidden features that I think you will really like.  Keep reading for a complete tour of JAMM 3.0

As you can see, at the top of the screen is the lone holdover from our previous theme.  Yup, we have kept the fantastic logo which was designed for us last summer by the insanely talented folks over at the Talon Communications Group.

Beneath the logo is our all new title bar.   From here, you can jump to any page within JAMM, even the JAMM Store and Cafe Press Merchandise Shop.  You can also use Subscribe menu to:

• subscribe to our RSS feed/comments feed
• subscribe to JAMM via your Kindle
• Follow us on Twitter
• Join us on Facebook
• Sign up for an email newsletter

Oh, and on the far right there you can see our RSS counter.  Yes, that is a correct count at 6,095 followers!  Thanks so much to each and every one of our readers.

Moving down the page, you will find the feature box.  This is the central design element behind the new theme.  In this space, you will find the most important reviews or posts on the site.  So, when a new review gets posted, it will no longer get immediately bumped off the front page by a random flurry of small news posts.  Instead, it can be found right here in the feature box.  To the right of the feature box is the chronological list of posts some of you might still like to read.  Headlines only, which is another big change for us.

OK…stay with me now, if you scroll down the page, you will find six category boxes.  Here, you can find posts organized by category.  No longer will you need to scroll through the iPhone posts to find the latest Palm Pre news, or vice-versa.  Right now, we have chosen to display:

• Free For All
• Contests
• Windows Phone
• Palm/WebOS
• iPhone.iPod
• Portable Media Players and Music

But that is not even the best part.  Not only can you jump straight to the category which interests you the most.  You can even move it around the page.  So, if you are on the iPhone and don’t want to scroll past those other categories to get your latest news…don’t.  Just grab the iPhone category and move it to the top.  Wallah.

OK.  Over in the sidebars, you will find many of the usual subjects.  There is a search bar, and the tabbed navigation panel.  From here, you can view recent posts, popular posts, categories, and even our new list of series.

Keep scrolling down past the ad space and you will find our new look at our friends’ sites.  Here, you will find the latest headlines from Gear Diary, Just Another iPhone Blog, and Clinton Fitch(dot)com…or any other feeds we choose to add there (we are working on those jumbled characters).  Just hover over any feed entry to see more details from the story.

Come with me inside, and we will take a look at one of our posts.  The first thing you should notice is that we have changed the font.  OK…well, maybe you did not notice that.  But we did.  Just a little modification to make the site a bit more readable.

At the bottom of each post, you will also now notice some suggested related posts.  Hey, if you enjoyed the one you just finished…here are a couple of others we think you might like.  Happy reading!

Finally, the last thing I want to show you is one of my favorite new features on the site.  Want to learn more about the folks who are writing your favorite articles?  Of course you do.  Just click on the author’s name at the top of the post.  And there is everything you would want to know…bios coming soon.

Well, that is about it for the tour.   Of course, there is plenty more for you to check out, and we invite you to take your time and have a look around.  Daniel, and his crew from 18 Elements have done a fantastic job.  Enjoy!  And welcome to the all new Just Another Mobile Monday.’

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