Although SSD launched in 2008, it wasn’t until the Spring of ’09 that we transitioned from hobby blog to a commercial website. Until yesterday, we featured the same WordPress theme slightly adapted from 2008. Personally, I’ve always liked the simple look of the site.
But yesterday, two different things happened, realizing site upgrades I’ve wanted for quite some time. First, we added a pop-up so readers can sign up for the new Soldier Systems Digest, the weekly email newsletter that folks have been asking for. Second, we updated the theme ever-so-slightly. This was done to keep it compatible with WordPress updates and to accommodate our newest feature.
Along with the theme update we instituted an improvement to SSD that has been a long time coming; a dedicated sales section. I’ve always looked at the site as an electronic newspaper. We publish multiple articles seven days a week and you’ll notice the newspaper mindset in the layout. One of the things I remember from my childhood was the sales inserts from various businesses that came with the paper. They were a part of the overall paper, but had their own place.
Now, up at the top of our site, you’ll notice a button that says “sales.” Push it and you’ll go to a section of SSD dedicated solely to sales announcements. This is a big win for everyone. First off, all sales will be in one place on the web. We expect this to become the hub for tactical sales thanks to SSD’s amazing reach so you’ll be able to find the most up-to-date sales information, Internet-wide. Second, our great audience means that companies will want to announce their deals on our feature site. Third, it moves the sales announcements, which can be quite heavy during holidays, out of the news feed and into their own dedicated space. Finally, I will no longer receive emails on Thanksgiving Day asking me to post someone’s Black Friday Sale announcement.
However, this new dedicated section means that we will no longer host sales for free for non-advertisers, as in the past. Now, it will cost them a small fee per post. Advertisers will receive discount codes which offer the service for free.
A company wishing to announce their sale will click on the “advertise” tab at the top of the site and be guided to an interface which allows them to create their own announcement. A member of the SSD staff will review the sale announcement for fidelity, clarity and applicability and then approve it for publication, a process that will take minutes. Obviously, we feel the need to maintain a “man-in-the-loop” for this process. If for some reason, the announcement is unsuitable, SSD will immediately refund the money.
I’d like to personally thank the marketing team at Beyond Clothing (past and present) for helping me out with this upgrade.
We look forward to the implementation of this exciting new section of Soldier Systems Daily and can’t wait to make it the Internet hub for the best deals on tactical gear.
Congratulations and thank you for the ‘new and improved’ SSD format! Obviously, a lot of thought and planning went into it. As a daily visitor to SSD, I very much appreciate the hard work that goes into bringing SSD’s readership, new and interesting content everyday. Looking forward to whatever comes next. Thanks again!
That’s great!
Managing a webpage is not an easy task and upgrades and improvements are needed and thanked time to time.
I hope this improves not only the contents but also the incomings needed to maintain and expand this wonderful site, undoubtly the first of its kind.
Thanks a lot!
Hard Work to keep the site running smoothly! But thanks for making the info readily available and easier for us to access!!
BZ!
Have to say the “subscribe” pop up it really obnoxious…. please turn it off and place it on the side bar somewhere.
Thanks.
How many times have you seen it?
I see it every time I visit the page. It is because my browser is set up not to accept cookies. Anybody seeing the pop up each time they visit the page likely can solve it by tweaking their privacy settings to allow cookies from ssd.
It will go away soon. We put it up to get the sign ups moving.
I’d really like it if the articles would use more of my screen. Right now, there are 2 1/4″ grey borders on each side of a post. Inside are another 1 1/4″ white border on each side. Out of the horizontal 10″ that could be content, less then 3 1/2″ of my screen are you posts… Yes, this is a minor thing, but it’s just been bothering me for a while. (Running chromium)
It’s because there are so many screen sizes out there. This is one of the few sites that will fit a mobile device screen in its native format.
Meh, to be honest it’s pretty bad on mobile.
That’s why they invented responsive design 😉
It’s awesome on mobile. You can see all of our advertisers. Unless you’re on a flip phone.
I generally consume your content through “newsify”. Anyway you can help us find the feed to add for the sales side of the site?
They’ll still show up via the RSS
Congratulations
The popup makes sense – but appearing on every single post is rather invasive. It’d be great if it didn’t shop up again once you register/dismiss.