Launching TechSpot similar downloads, other site enhancements

[Julio Franco]

Our small but dedicated group of web developers are always hard at work, making sure things are running smoothly across the site. Admitedly, half their time is spent on details that may not be so obvious: performance and stability enhancements, security fixes and what not.

Since our last major update, when we upgraded TechSpot's community platform, a lot of extra work has been performed. The weeks following the community upgrade were spent polishing over two dozen features and smaller items that were part of this transition. Even to this day there are a few rough edges here and there, but rest assured we are on it.

Our downloads section has received a handful of upgrades. First and foremost, we have added similar downloads to many popular software entries in our database. For example, say you rely on Roboform to automate your web password management, but the most recent version is not running as well as it used to or you are seeking for an alternative to that program. We have now listed a handy list of similar programs for you to try.

Last year I was into that situation until I landed on Lastpass and haven't looked back ever since. The same could apply to your favorite (or not so much anymore) antivirus, image viewer or PDF creator. Look for the "Similar" tab on our download entries for useful and practical suggestions if that's what you're after.

Also in downloads, we have enabled a feature to sort programs by popularity (all-time and 1-week), so it's easier to track what programs are currently trending and discover what other users are downloading the most.

The handful of you using high-resolution, high-density pixel screens (a.k.a. Retina screens) on your laptop or tablet may have also noticed TechSpot's logo is now displaying a proper, high res version. No more jaggies or blurred vision in your high-res laptop or tablet.

Last but not least, we've made several adjustments to font sizes across the site and on the mobile version of TechSpot, which should improve readibility. Unfortunately it's taken us quite a while to bring the forum to the mobile site (natively) but we hope to launch that by the end of the year. Otherwise the mobile site is feature complete, meaning you can read all our content on a smartphone-optimized template that loads fast, and lets you log in and comment on news stories just like the full version.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/50901-launching-techspot-similar-downloads-other-site-enhancements.html

 

[Ranger12]

Woot! Techspot FTW!
Thanks guys for maintaining a great site and continuing to improve it.

 

[cliffordcooley]

Nice!!!
Thanks TechSpot.

Question: Has all the apps been organized by similar categories?

Suggestion: Wish all the software updates could be linked somehow. This way when you vote for a software, your vote is carried over to the next version automatically. However I would also like to reserve the right to change my vote in the future, if the new updates are better or worse. As it is, I find it a waste of time voting for some of the apps, when they are updated twice a month.

 

[TitoBXNY]

Awesome job guys, thank you for keeping me educated through out the years. Techspot has been my home page for years. I was debating on which budget card to get and you just helped me make my decision. Sweet!

 

[Burty117]

Good old techspot, one of the rare websites where I actually like the improvements, and is the first website I login to every day

 

[treeski]

Suggestion:
Wish all the software updates could be linked somehow. This way when you vote for a software, your vote is carried over to the next version automatically. However I would also like to reserve the right to change my vote in the future, if the new updates are better or worse. As it is, I find it a waste of time voting for some of the apps, when they are updated twice a month.

I have to disagree with this suggestion. I think more often then not, software gets penalized due to poor previous versions (with this suggested scenario). If this does get implemented, I would want a way to see the votes for the current version only.

 

[Julio Franco]

Thanks for the kind comments.

cliffordcooley, actually that's the way it works right now. The option to change your vote was added just recently, otherwise the current scores are historical votes for all versions. The system has shortcomings as treeski points out, but we are figuring out a way of changing that while encouraging more participation from readers. That change won't come until sometime next year however.

 

[Guest]

Thanks TechSpot for your effort to bring out this helpful feature to us.(y)

 

[Archean]

Julio about mobile site (I.e. m.techspot.com)
For some odd reasons, the headline bar on the mobile site doesn't work in Chrome (and in stock browser), in FF it works but is a hastle / lack smoothness.

Except for these, great work and keep it up guys

Thanks.

 

[LinkedKube]

Good old techspot, one of the rare websites where I actually like the improvements, and is the first website I login to every day

Lmao same here, my gf got on my computer once and said "Do you work there or something? Course the answer was "I wish!"

 

[Julio Franco]

Archean Which is the headline bar? The login menu, the + sign pop menu, or the homepage featured stories (that scroll horizontally)?
Also which phone and OS are you using? Thanks!

 

[Archean]

Homepage featured stories bar, it doesn't scroll horizontally as it should. I can hardly move it to second story in Chrome and stock browser, and in FF at least after several attempts I can move to the end of it.

Also notice that the arrow sign on the Latest in the bar overrides the word. Does it suppose to appear at the center of the bar?

I am using SGS3 on JB 4.1.1 FF/Chrome latest versions.

I also noticed this behavior on my now sold Lumia 800's browser. I'll let you know how it goes once I get my hands on 920 (hopefully soon as it hasn't launched here so far).

 

[treeski]

I also noticed this behavior on my now sold Lumia 800's browser. I'll let you know how it goes once I get my hands on 920 (hopefully soon as it hasn't launched here so far).

I assume you're supposed to be able to swipe the headlines to view others. If so, it doesn't work at all on my Lumia 920.

 

[Julio Franco]

Last time we checked we were doing OK on Android and iOS, Windows Phone was kind of OK, too, but not perfect.
This helps, thank you.