Hello. Bonjour. Hola. Guten Tag. Ciao. Ohayo.
Yep…it’s still me. Just with a new and (hopefully) improved look and user experience.
Thank god this site is a labor of love, cause holy moly, was that laborious. Add to that server issues all weekend and it makes for one cranky Dude. So let’s dig right into what’s new and what’s still to come.
Hey Dude…What’s New With This Site?
Funny you should ask. Let me count the ways.
- A new design. A little more 2014ish. Uses more real estate. Easy on the eyes. Very mobile friendly. Easy to dance to.
- A better navigation, including new sections for those Just Diagnosed and overall Resources, which I’ll be adding to as time goes on.
- Easier to search. With over 400 blog posts written, too many were too hard to find. That made me sad. Now I’m happy.
- Mrs. Dude’s Recipes. The idea is to add one per week. So far, we’re one for one. You can print and even save them.
- All my social feeds in one happy place. If nothing else, it’s very cool.
Ummm…Dude…What Are Those Things to the Right?
Those my friends are paid sponsorships. After three years, I finally decided to open up my site to sponsors from gluten-free companies I believe in. This site has a very passionate community and I do not take these sponsorships lightly. If there is an ad here, it’s because I believe in the company and I believe the community can benefit from learning more about that company and their products. It’s as simple as that.
Oh…and most of them are offering discounts via special Gluten Dude coupons. So go ahead…don’t be afraid…click em to save.
I could give you a million reasons why I went in this direction, but the fact is I want to keep this site going for a long, long time. I put a lot of time and energy into it and I need to start covering my time a bit. Add to that I’ve got one Dudette in college and another going before I know it. And a stack of medical bills from Mrs. Dude’s cancer staring me in the face. Nuff said.
But again, any ad you see will be from companies whose products I’ve tried and that I personally believe in. And you can save money. It’s a win-win.
Where are the Forums and Everything Else You Promised?
All in due time.
As much as I wanted to have this site COMPLETELY ready at launch, I can only work until 2:00am so many nights before I start to lose it. And I’m currently teetering on the edge. Plus, I didn’t want to do things half ass.
So what’s still coming to the site?
Forums
I stole borrowed some of your awesome ideas and am in the processing of putting together a kick booty forum. I’ve got some pretty cool ideas and I really think it will be a big benefit to the community. But Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is a forum apparently.
Chat
I’m working on opening up a semi-private chat room.
– Got a question? Join the chat room.
– Not sure if something is gluten free? Join the chat room.
– Just want to pop in and say hi? Join the chat room.
– Lonely and looking for someone to meet? Please don’t join the chat room.
Video
I’d like to include YOUR videos sharing YOUR celiac/gluten-free journey. Assuming you’re game for it, I just need to figure out the best way to do it.
Store
My first attempt at a store where you can buy some fun items was a totally embarrassing effort. This one may be too but I’ll give it my best shot. Hey…you can’t blame a guy for trying.
And then some…
I’ve got some other ideas stirring around this celiac brain of mine. After a few weeks, we’ll see what some of the missing pieces are on this site and I’ll adjust accordingly.
So as always, I thank you from the bottom of my gluten-free heart for continuing to hang with me. I am beyond excited to continue this journey with you and I hope you feel the same.
New site looks awesome. Love how easy it is to find things. Keep on with your awesome work (and we’re thankful for all you do!!!)
Wasn’t sure if you cross browser checked though, JIC…works wonderfully in Firefox, not so much in IE8, just in case it matters.
Thanks Kati. IE8 is a dinosaur and with only a 3% market share so I chose not to worry too much about it. Much appreciate the feedback though.
congrats on the new site and I don’t blame you for the sponsorship. Gluten Dude’s cousin is only a year and change away from college and I’m willing to wear clothes like a NASCAR racer to help pay. Hope to see you soon
I hear ya. Thanks Aaron.
Thank you DUDE! Look forward to all you have to offer, looks good. I want to know more about GF beers. I am a 46 year old, Mom of two grown sons, and I miss having a decent beer when my boys come over for the games ( and food, they don’t even know it is all GF). I Love beer, but I hate the GF beer I have tried. Thank you and can’t wait to try some of Mrs. Dudes recipes, prayers for her too. Blessings and beer, what else is there? 🙂
Absolutely nothing 😉
Sharla – yeah agreed. GF beer is kinda blah – Redbridge is what I mostly drink (when I drink beer). But Woodchuck Cider is my go-too beverage these days.
Really love the new site… you’d think a professional did it! Well laid out, great graphics, easy to find… and always like to get coupons from tried and true companies.
Although I have never tested positive for celiac, my 8 year old was diagnosed in kindergarten. I can not express enough thanks for everything you do. Most days we go about our GF lives just fine but occasionally I just wish (selfishly) that we didn’t have to worry so much. That is when the humor of your website is so helpful. Thanks again for all the hard work, the site looks great! God Bless you & your family.
Gluten Dude, you’re one of the few who can safely and confidently state “Mission Accomplished.”
Your new site is highly organized and user friendly, and it will undoubtedly garner legions of new, avid fans.
Congratulations on a job well done!
Colette Sullivan-Ledoux
Thanks tons Colette. Mission not quite accomplished yet, but I’m getting there.
Gluten-Dude, thank you for investing the time and effort to put together a site that is well-organized, user-friendly, easy to follow, informative, friendly.
All the best,
L Chang
P.S. Now that you’ve pulled one too many all-nighters putting together such a fabulous website, you can sleep a bit, right?
I’ll let you know right after my nap…
The new site looks great…it will be fun to explore it! And the page loads really quickly now!
The new site looks great! Much easier to navigate now. I love the drop-down menus that look like they are unfolding. Very cool. I’m happy to see ads on the site. Just knowing that you endorse the products makes me far more likely to try them and to trust those companies. I’m looking forward to the forum and other new changes to come.
The mobile site definitely looks a lot cleaner and runs more smoothly. Loving what I’m seeing so far, and excited for more.
The RSS feed is now only partial. Is this on purpose or a bug? Thanks!
Hmmm…I didn’t change anything on my end. Let me take a peek under the hood. Thanks!
Looks great! I can’t get to it on my mobile, though. Some of it loads. Then it stops. The links in the emailed “new comment” notices don’t work, either. Had to check in from the desktop. Is it my phone? Or my phone’s browser? Do I have to get a new phone so I can still follow? lol
What kind of phone are you on?
Droid razor – a year old. It worked with the old site, just not with the new.
Can get new site on mobile by switching to Chrome
This looks great, Gluten Dude! Your comment about kids in college just gave me an idea for your site – a dedicated tab or place for us to give our impressions on the gluten free college food experience. This may be particularly helpful for those who are college shopping. Although my daughter has no food restrictions, when we were looking at colleges two years ago my daughter wanted to ensure that wherever she went to school I would be able to eat on her campus.
Keep up the great work and thanks for putting a smile on our faces while we face these struggles on a daily basis.
That will be part of the upcoming forums. I’m building a forum for ’em.
Love the new look. Great responsive design 🙂 Might want to remove the console for “carouFredSel: Set a width for the items!” at some point … only things that drive other devs crazy though.
“carouFredSel: Set a width for the items!”
Where do you see this??
I’ll have to open it up again at work tomorrow and see where it appears. I was surfing the new site when it appeared in my dev console.
P.S. the name and email field asterisk for required don’t show on my android phone either … just discovered while trying to submit response. But I really do love the new site … development and code testing is just what I do and love seeing others great efforts too 🙂
Hey Dude – It looks like it is in there intentionally in the minified file and already setup to avoid x-browser issues but just in case you still want to fix the width thing … I’m using the newest Chrome browser and seeing the message pop up on your landing page from this file.
http://glutendude.com/wp-content/themes/gdude/js/plugins.min.js?ver=1.0
Search for ‘”Set a “+b.d.width+” for the items!”‘ if you want to see it.
Love it! Look forward to the upcoming changes too, especially the forums and the community aspect. Your efforts are definitely appreciated. Thanks Dude!
Way to go, Dude! Kudos for garnering sponsorship too. I’m gonna go take a wander right now.
CONGRATS!!
New Site looks great!!
I can use
Love everything you’ve done! Great work! You do us proud – and I sincerely thank you.
Good luck with it all! Had a read this morning and you made me smile and chuckle as usual – I do love a funny man, good on you!
Looks great, I’m looking forward to exploring more and seeing all that you have in store for us. The forums seem like a perfect extension of all the work you do and should give us all a chance to tap into the collective wisdom and ideas of this community.
Oh, and I love the idea of a video library for people’s celiac journeys. I’m interested in participating if you go forward with it – how would I be able get involved?
just found your site last week
Love it and love what you do. God bless you and yours
Your site looks great…best of luck to you in the new endeavor. You bring some sanity into my insane world. Thanks.
Nicely done GD – looking forward to more enhancements! Thanks for what you do – really. 🙂
Awesome!!! Looking forward to perusing at leisure.
Thanks for all you put into this community (and to the Dude Family for sharing you with us). You really help to make a difference.
LOVE your new site. worth the aggravation you endured– works fine on IE7 with Chrome no problem at all. Love
the ads too.. and I have to say your sense of humor comes across loud and strong, the best in the business. Thank you
for that humor as it brightens the darkest of days and the most ornery of circumstances.
Excellent job! Worth those sleepless nights to give your fans the best experience! And you do have devoted fans! Amazing the way your sense of humor comes through to brighten the darkest of days and the most ornery of circumstances. You manage to make us laugh and calm the angriest of voices. I’ve stopped reading a lot of other
blogs because yours is so darn good… keep it up! Can’t wait to check out those ads..
Looks awesome, Dude! Congratulations on birthin’ a new baby! May he/she grow and prosper!
Website looks great! Congrats! This is a great resource for those of us with Celiac, and I appreciate the fact that it’s here!!!! Thank you!!!
Great feedback folks. Thanks tons. Marching on…
Still can’t get the site on my Droid, and now Chrome on the mobile keeps freezing at your site, and I can’t read all the comments at replies. The links in email notifications of new comments at the blog are useless because I can’t use Chrome for emailed links. I wish a techie could inform me of wth is going on with this. Love the site, but not the fact that I can’t visit from the mobile anymore. OK. Moving on.
Very strange Deb. I cannot replicate your issues, but I will look into it. Thanks.
Been reading the site for two years since I first got diagnosed and it is amazing to see how far it has come!
I think it would be great to have a directory to good GF recipes/other food blogs, especially for those of us who have multiple allergies and are on a strict budget (I have celiac and have gone vegan to help my body heal, in addition to trying to go refined sugar free. It can be a challenge when you’re a college student!)
The coupon code “CanyonAndTheDude” is not working on the Canyon Bakehouse website. Has it expired? Is there another code that I should use to get the 20% discount on my Canyon Bakehouse order? Many thanks!