A Year at SBN

Once upon a time, this site was hosted on blogger. I would put my thoughts out into the intertubes and once in a while it would pop out onto someone's screen. I averaged about 30-50 visitors per day and would get a comment every once in a blue moon. I plugged away mostly because I needed some place to vent. At the end of August last year the site migrated over the SB Nation. The first full month ended with 1528 visitors and 3013 page views which at that time seemed like a lot. A small group of core visitors came out of the woodwork and became fixtures here.

One year on (and two years of writing the blog in total), and August was another record breaking month (the 9th out of 12) with 9368 visits and 21658 page views. After a long-time of flying solo I welcomed long-time reader and commenter Chemmy as a partner to the site (best decision ever) and watched more and more lurkers come out of hiding to become members no doubt inspired by his call to arms.

This weekend our growing community hit 100 members. The numbers conflict for some reason in the back office but it was either bobberbob or Pat Verbeek that put us over the century mark. Chemmy noted it in another comment thread but the best part is that each new member has fit into the community seamlessly. The discussion here, which was non-existent over at blogger, is a big reason why I look forward to posting something each day. The beauty of the platform that the SBN tech geniuses have put together is that this site is truly a community. Fanposts let you guys write up your own points of view and fanshots let you guys share anything interesting about the team that you come across while you wander the internets.

The new platform will make game day threads a great place to pass the time and give you a place to ensure that you are not suffering in silence. We're also working on a new and vastly improved SPG program for the start of the season. The upcoming season will probably be a tough slog but it'll be easier getting through it as a group than wondering if there is any light at the end of the tunnel on your own. There have actually been a number of changes to the platform itself since it launched. On the left hand side there are RSS feeds for fanshots, fanposts, and the front page. There are links to the rest of the SBN family so you can follow all of your other teams (almost). The commenting function continues to evolve all in an effort to make participation as easy as possible. Recommendations allow you to select the comments, fanshots, and fanposts that deserve everyone's recognition for their quality. I honestly believe that the new platform outpaces anything else available.

So, the past year has really been an exciting time for me. It has seen the site grow in both quality and quantity of, well, everything. So thanks to all of you for visiting and participating and making this the best Leafs community on the internet. And if you haven't joined why not do it now and help contribute to the atmosphere?