The All New Adaptistration: Ahead of Schedule!

Today marks the latest benchmark in the Season of Updates with a brand-new design and layout. Here’s a quick overview of what’s new.

Increased Focus On Content

The biggest change is the move to a full width layout for all pages and posts. It is the first time the site has been designed without any sidebar content! What that means is you’ll always be met with articles first and foremost when landing on the homepage or any single post. All the typography is a little larger than before as is the spacing between lines. The difference will be subtle for desktop and laptop visitors but for those using tablet and smartphones, it will be instantly appreciated.

new layout

The previous sidebar content has been relocated to the bottom of each page. Although some of the material has been retired, the items most-used by visitors haven’t gone away; such as the social media links, email subscriptions, latest job openings at ArtsAdminJobs.com, and the collection of links to my businesses.

Footer images

Enhanced Sharing

There are two new social share options for mobile users: a share through Facebook Messenger and SMS while desktop and laptop users will also have the FB Messenger option available.

New sharing options

Navigation Menu Improvements

The navigation menu for desktop and laptop users has been enhanced to provide a great deal of added contrast.

new menu contrast

You’ll also find updated Archive options, where you can browse articles by organization, categories, by date (monthly), and two new options: by series and a dedicated guest author archive.

New Archive Options

New Post Meta (a fancy word for info)

In addition to the traditional publication date, author, category, and tag meta, you’ll find a new “Last Modified On…” timestamp. This is a particularly useful addition as it makes it much easier for you to see when posts about time sensitive topics have new information.

updated meta

Given what’s potentially in store this week for Florida based performing arts organizations, the “Last Modified On…” feature could be a timely addition.

Updated Network Sites

In addition to the primary blog, all the network sites have been completely updated. You’ll notice the mobile friendly improvements at Who’s Minding The Score? and the Take A Friend To The Orchestra resource site immediately but there’s also a brand new Adaptistration Store.

If it strikes you as odd to have an entire store for just one product, good. It’s not going to stay that way for long and you can expect new resource based offerings in the very near future. In the meantime, moving all secure ecommerce to a mutually exclusive site helps improve page speed for the main blog so it’s win-win all around.

If You Subscribe To The Daily Or Weekly Email Subscription…

…nothing should change for you. Having said that, the blog’s primary domain has been updated to the non-www version so there’s a small chance the RSS feeds may not connect on the initial distribution. If you don’t receive your email notice, let me know.

Flotsam and Jetsam

  • I recommend you try using the new search function located in the navigation bar, it does an even better job than its predecessor.
  • Although URLs should be unchanged, feel free to reach out with any questions if you find a dead link, have trouble locating content, or a post seems like it’s missing something.
  • One item that wasn’t quite ready for launch included a brand new related post module. It’s considerably more powerful than the previous function and as a result, it’s still being setup and tested. Once it is released, you’ll notice a new related post section at the bottom of each single post.
  • There’s all kinds of fun under the hood style improvements; if you’re the type who is interested in that sort of geek-speak, feel free to reach out and ask.

I sincerely hope you enjoy these improvements. They are based on your direct feedback along with passive feedback in the form of metrics; specifically, how you use the site helps determine its evolution.

Without readers, it’s all for naught so THANK YOU for your patronage and support.

About Drew McManus

"I hear that every time you show up to work with an orchestra, people get fired." Those were the first words out of an executive's mouth after her board chair introduced us. That executive is now a dear colleague and friend but the day that consulting contract began with her orchestra, she was convinced I was a hatchet-man brought in by the board to clean house.

I understand where the trepidation comes from as a great deal of my consulting and technology provider work for arts organizations involves due diligence, separating fact from fiction, interpreting spin, as well as performance review and oversight. So yes, sometimes that work results in one or two individuals "aggressively embracing career change" but far more often than not, it reinforces and clarifies exactly what works and why.

In short, it doesn't matter if you know where all the bodies are buried if you can't keep your own clients out of the ground, and I'm fortunate enough to say that for more than 15 years, I've done exactly that for groups of all budget size from Qatar to Kathmandu.

For fun, I write a daily blog about the orchestra business, provide a platform for arts insiders to speak their mind, keep track of what people in this business get paid, help write a satirical cartoon about orchestra life, hack the arts, and love a good coffee drink.

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