Announcement: LAXCrossword.com is Moving

LAXCrossword.com is Moving
I find myself having to change some fundamentals about the LAXCrossword.com blog, largely due to economic constraints. I’m not a big fan of change, but am afraid I really don’t have a choice. That said, my intention is to change many things for the better, while taking care of what is necessary.

What is Changing?
There are two levels of change. The most fundamental changes are in the background, and will not affect your experience significantly as a reader (I have to change web hosting service, and also the blog platform).

The second level of changes will be very noticeable for you. The look and feel of the site will change significantly. My aim is to improve the reader’s experience, to make reading and navigating the blog simpler and more intuitive. I am also addressing many complaints that I receive about the difficulty of accessing the blog using mobile devices, and smartphones in particular. You will find that the reconfigured LAXCrossword blog will be easier to read across all devices, and pages will load much more quickly.

When is LAXCrossword Moving?
I’ve been preparing for the move for about a month, in order to minimize disruption. The change should be instantaneous, hopefully without any downtime. One moment you will see the old design, and the next moment the new. Most readers in North America should see that change some time on May 31st. For others, the transition may not occur for another two days, with everyone accessing the new blog by June 3rd. Once again, the blog will be up and running during the change, it’s just that some readers will see the new site, and others the old.

Realistically, this move is so fundamental that I expect to come across some issues that I will need to address. If you see something that you think I should know about, feel free to contact me. I’ll be monitoring the blog very closely while the transition is taking place, and hopefully making any changes necessary in real time.

Thank you, all, for your patience and support.

Bill

Update (20:45 PST)
The good news is that the new blog is up and running. There are posts available for today’s puzzle, and the past week. The bad news is that I don’t yet have the large volume of old posts and comments imported yet. As a result, searches (say on Google) that give links to those old posts are giving a 404 error. I’m working on it. But, as I say, you should be able to check on the puzzles for the past week.

Update (23:15 PST)
All of the old posts are now available here. The old posts (prior to May 25, 2016) have some formatting oddities (double grids, in particular) but the information is there and is legible. I’ll try to clean up those posts over time. I am still getting 404 errors when linking to those old posts, say from Google search. I’m working on fixing that issue next. The good news though, is that all posts can be accessed using the navigation here at the blog (the best is the “calendar” in the sidebar or pull-down menu).

Update (23:55 PST)
It looks like all of the important stuff is up and running. Any bookmarks that you have to the old site should bring you here to the new site with no work on your part. Also, if you find LAXCrossword coming up in search results, even old posts, those links will take you to the old post here at the new blog. There are probably some issues that I don’t know about (yet), and if you come across something, please do contact me. I’ll get right on it!

11 thoughts on “Announcement: LAXCrossword.com is Moving”

  1. When opening at the site, it doesn’t go directly to the puzzle. I have to search around to find the current puzzle.

    1. Hi, Tom.
      There are several ways to enter the site. Going straight to “LAXCrossword.com” takes you to the “front page”, which is the latest post, the solution for that day’s puzzle. If you get to the site via a saved link perhaps, or from a search engine, you might be taken directly to a different days solution. To get to the puzzle you need, there’s a list of the most recent week’s solutions in the sidebar and/or pull-down menu. There’s also a calendar that can be used to find solution for any particular day in the past few years.

      I hope that helps!

        1. Hi there, Ed.

          I’m sure about any LA Times crossword app. You’d have to contact the publisher, presumably the LA Times itself. This is just a blog about the crossword, and there’s no affiliation with the LA Times.

          If I misunderstood your question, please get back to me.

    1. That’s great to hear, Penny! I am hoping that this design will be easier to deal with, although I still have some things to iron out (nothing too major!). Not sure why you’d want to see my ugly mug, but one of the things I have on my to-do list is to work out why the pics of that ugly mug, and my Dad’s pensive look, don’t show up in the “About” page. I’m working on it!

  2. Goodness Bill, – it scared me when I pulled up a whole different format.
    Glad to find out you are still with us. I had no problems with it.
    Hope you and your wife have a great summer.

    1. Thanks, Millie. I didn’t mean to scare you 🙂 I am really happy to hear the “no problems” comment. There have been quite a few, but thankfully most of them involved me and not the blog readers!

      I hope that you have a fun and “puzzling” summer too, Millie.

  3. Hi Bill,
    I am so disappointed with the new puzzle. Before, I could get the puzzle answers grid plus some numbered written answers below. (all in small
    print). Even this message has larger type than I like. Is this the way it
    all is, or am I not doing it right. Please help me, Bill. I don’t think I can
    continue getting your site if this is the way it will always be.
    grid plus some numbered written answers below (all in small print).
    I liked this a lot! Now it looks like a grade school text in huge letters.
    I have enjoyed your promptness and amazed at your ability to solve
    these crosswords so easily and quickly ! I look forward to your response.

    1. Hi there, Nancy.

      I’m sorry to hear about the issues that you are having with text size. It is indeed true that the size is larger, although it should only be marginally so. Often text size is related to browser settings. Would you mind contacting me directly, so that I can ask some questions in an email exchange? My email address is bill@paxient.com.

Comments are closed.