It’s taken a while, many months longer than I anticipated, to launch this newly designed blog site. Hopefully it has been worth the wait. 

FIRST THINGS FIRST: IF YOU WERE SIGNED UP TO LOG IN AND POST COMMENTS AT THE PREVIOUS SITE, YOU WILL HAVE TO RE-SET YOUR PASSWORD.  Here is how:  At the top right of this page, click on “Log In” and then click “Request New Password” – you will be prompted to enter your email address, so you can be sent a password. You will then enter the password you receive via email, on a one-time basis. Then you can re-set the password to whatever you prefer–what it might have been originally, or to a new one you prefer. If you never registered, but want to do so now, you can indicate that you are setting up a new account, and go through the process as you are prompted.  Some of you may need to update your username if it did not match your real name.

The most obvious change, of course, is the site’s overall design. The main intent here was to make more items more immediately viewable. Thus, you’ll be able to see several of the most recent posts at one glance. 

You’ll also be able to immediately see the most recent reader comments  The idea here was to give greater prominence to reader comments, as a way to make this site even more community oriented than it has been. I know that for many people, the comments are where the real value of this blog lies, since individuals with such a wide variety of backgrounds share their knowledge and expertise here. 

I expect some of you will bridle at some of the changes. If you are like me, you become used to doing things in a certain way, finding things in certain spots. Among the technical changes here are the following:  

* The new topic-based searching mechanism. This section will take some time to show value, since little of the previous content has yet been tagged according to topic.

* Improved subscription mechanism. It is now possible to subscribe to alerts in various forms. Under the “My Account” section at the top of the home page, you can subscribe to receive emails about all new posts. If you’d rather be alerted to changes or comments on a particular post, you can subscribe on an individual post-by-post basis in the comment section. You have to be signed in to do that, though.  These settings will get fleshed out and clarified over time.

* Update links. On the previous site, the links to relevant blogs and web sites had become hopelessly out of date. I have begun to update that list, and will add to it as time goes on. 

I know that all won’t go smoothly for everyone. This new site will have its growing pains. 

Some heavy-duty work has gone into designing, developing, and transitioning this site, and for that I want to thank Andrew Ward and Alec Reynolds, developers who specialize in working on food and health-related sites. It’s been very helpful that they have a passion for much that is covered here, and considers themselves part of the community.  

Emails will be going out to registered readers repeating the instructions here. If you encounter problems or questions, there is technical support available. Simply email webmaster@davidgumpert.com. 

And please feel free to post comments or suggestions in the comment section here.