For the past few months, Asaf and I have been working hard on rewriting the Handmade Network website - and as of today, we're pleased to announce that it is live, and you're using it right now!
The new site has been written from the ground-up in Go, replacing the old Python / Django codebase. The whole site should immediately feel snappier and more pleasant to use, but we've tried hard to keep all the features you know and love from the old site.
It's not all the same though. Here's one big new addition that we hope you'll like...
A new forum post editor (with Markdown!)
The old BBCode-based editor has been completely replaced with a new Markdown-based editor. It features real-time previews and all the features you'd expect from a Markdown editor, including GFM extensions and some features from Discord (like ||spoiler tags|| - always a favorite!).
However, if you are for some reason a BBCode diehard, that is still supported. You can freely mix BBCode and Markdown, and everything should just work.
In the near future, we're planning to add image uploads, so you can directly paste images into your posts without hosting them elsewhere. This has been a long-requested feature, and with this new codebase we're finally in a good place to tackle it.
What's coming next
With the new site released, we're in the perfect place to start working on lots of new features. Here's a few of the things we have coming up:
- Image uploads in forum posts
- Lots of special functionality for the upcoming Wheel Reinvention Jam
- An overhaul of the project experience (more details when it's closer to launch!)
You may also notice that a couple features from the old site are in fact missing - the library, and the wiki.
The library will be ported soon, but had to be temporarily cut in order to make some of our other deadlines. When the library comes back, it will be better than ever, with new features that let you save your favorite articles for easy access later.
The wiki, on the other hand, is gone for good - but all the wonderful wiki content written by our community will have a new home. We're still working out the details, but rest assured that it will be back soon.
That's it!
We really hope you like the new site. It feels great to get this project out into the world, and we're eager to hear what you think about it. If you have any feedback, feel free to leave it as comments on this post, or create new threads in the Site Feedback forum.