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It has recently come to my attention that some of the Faithful are beginning to question the resolve (and the ongoing existence) of the Northscaping Team. Yes, dear friends, we are all still very much alive and well!
Our entire team has been ridiculously busy over the past few months. We have taken on two MAJOR projects, and they are demanding all of our time. The first is the complete redevelopment of this Northscaping.com website, and the second is a complete redevelopment of our NetPS Plant Finder technology. One of these alone would drive a team crazy, but we're doing both at the same time!
The fact is, this website was built in 2004 and is using some antiquated technology by today's web standards. It is a nightmare to maintain, and it is at risk of becoming obsolete. We had no choice but to rebuild it. That's actually not a bad thing, because in that process we're able to make it much more maintainable, expandable, and less of a burden on us - which means we can spend more time having fun and helping out on here!
I still can't promise a timeline, but we need this done before the coming gardening season. I'm hoping it will be up and running early in the new year. We probably won't take it live until our rebuild of NetPS is also complete because the two are intertwined, which might delay the release by a little, but we're also under a deadline there as well.
In the meantime, things might look a little slow on the Northscaping.com website from an update perspective. It doesn't mean that we're not here or that we stopped caring about this website and community; much the opposite, it means that we're working hard to make this improved and sustainable! So yes, the Hot Topics might slide for a month or two, and new articles are few and far-between. It only means that we're getting closer to the new website!
One more thing, I just want all of our Northscaping friends to know, we created this discussion forum for the sake of the large community of northern gardeners and home landscapers. It is a COMMUNITY, which means that it's set up for everyone to contribute and share. We never intended it to be a place where people can come to Stefan and I for free advice - it's a place to come to the entire Northscaping community for free advice!
Fellow Northscapers, this is YOUR community, so USE IT!! Take ownership of it and use it as a venue to share your thoughts, victories and sorrows, and to transfer advice and experience. We don't mind - let me assure you, it was set up this way and this was ALWAYS our intention!
I am truly hopeful that once the new website is up and running, Stefan and I will be able to be a more active part of the Northscaping community. For now, rest assured that we are still here, and contratry to how it might appear, we are more committed to the long-term success of this gardening community than ever!
- James
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