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Welcome to the new MacFixIt on CNET!
We've moved! As you've probably noticed, the site looks somewhat different today. We've officially moved over to a new home in CNET that will allow us greater flexibility and give us access to an amazing new pool of Mac content and resources.
The site may look different, but you'll find the same Mac tips and troubleshooting help on these pages. In addition, this move means positive developments for MacFixIt, including:
- Easier access to the CNET's full breadth of Apple coverage;
- Embedded video access;
- Greater frequency of multimedia content, including more screenshots;
- More reviews and news on Mac applications; and
- Its free!
We're still in the process of moving some of our older content over to the new site, but it will all be available tomorrow. You may also notice that the posts don't show any comments from the old site yet. Those won't make it over for a week or so, but they will be available soon.
Also keep in mind that while we hope for the transition to be smooth, there may be some errors in the transition. We will try to tackle them as fast as possible, but erroneous posts may crop up here and there while we migrate the old content to the new site. Meanwhile, feel free to post comments on the current articles. We look forward to reading and responding to them.
Here are some links you may want to bookmark:
- Old MacFixIt Forum Archive: http://archive.macfixitforums.com/
- New CNET Mac Forums: http://forums.cnet.com/mac-forums/
- MacFixIt on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mac_fix_it
If you don't yet have a CNET account, you'll want to set one up by clicking on the "join CNET" logo in the upper-right corner of this page. If you were a registered user of MacFixIt previously, you can use the same login on this site. Once you're logged in, you can provide your feedback in the comments section here or on any MacFixIt post. We hope you enjoy the new site!
"At this point in time, the most prevalent display is 1024 x 768 and about 15-17 inches diagonally." --- W3C
See "Formula 1: Small Safe Area for Web Content"
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG-TECHS/G176.html
Can we expect CNET/CBS to ignore what is happening in our world just so they can cross off an item on a spreadsheet to keep upper management happy?
Part of the reason I browse grass roots sites like the former MacFixIt was to cut out the corporate influence and get the raw information I need to support my users without fear of losing a sponsor or how the stock price of the parent company could be affected. Neither of which help fix an iWeb bug or teach me how to authenticate to an ISA server via a users AD password, or any other technical problem so many people rely on to help themselves or others whom they support.
Please don't turn my fear into a reality. Keep the information coming, the interaction with users high, and continue to make this a community rather than a news source. Let's try to focus on the "interactive" part of "CBS Interactive" as this is where solutions are born - not just reported.
So far you have already lost one major Mac author and are switching sites at an inappropriate time. Neither are positive signs that management knows what they are doing - but I shall wait and see for now if this turns into CNET's folly.
As for the quality of the content and our interactions with users, we're always trying to improve those across the board. One of the new ways we're doing this is by communicating with users on Twitter, answering questions and offering general feedback. Our goal is to provide a truly valuable resource for the community, and we're always looking for new ways to reach out to users.
Moving under the CNET header won't change the type of reporting we provide. If anything, it will improve our coverage by giving us access to a wealth of new resources. If you have suggestions for how we can improve, please let us know. We appreciate your feedback and support, and hope you'll continue to visit the site.
As far as the site goes, it is still run and edited by the same people: myself, Joe, and Aaron, along with a couple of other overseeing editors. We're dedicated to the same content that's been on the previous site, and with this change are only looking forward to enhancing the current content of MacFixIt, not substitute it for something else. Granted it may feel from a user perspective that CNET has "taken over" and enveloped MacFixIt, but in reality while it may look like the rest of CNET, MacFixIt is still the same as it was.
We are trying to reach out to more people, incorporating social networks like Twitter and the CNET forums into our routine, and replying to comments. I personally bring a lot of the comments into other posts of mine, and hope to increase this as time goes on, bringing a lot more dialogue into MacFixIt. Much of what we're trying is experimental, but items such as the "MacFixIt Answers" postings seem to have caught on and been popular. We hope to keep those around.
I am hoping to make the content of this site relevant to Mac users, and not be just a "flashy CNET site", but also not have it be a bland "Problem --> Fix" set of issues with OS X. As with any dialogue-based site, I hope to bring more to the site, including opinions, reviews, and Mac news, which I'd like to see bolster the discussion and reader participation.
As far as Ted Landau's departure, while he has contributed a monthly article, for the past year or two the content of MacFixIt has been from other authors, such as myself and Joe. Ted's last article was officially his last formal contribution to MacFixIt, but his contributions otherwise have been minimal. He has been working at his other projects and not been an active author at MacFixIt for some time now.
-Topher
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bomb_%28symbol%29
(P.S. couldn't reply to your message directly as there is not a "reply to this comment" option on second-level messages.
That's the point! Just for what it has meant historically, it HAS to be the logo of MacFixIt.
This was the only site I read faithfully every day for the past 4 or 5 years. I have always avoided the PC-centric and biased coverage of CNET, and loved Ted Landau's gritty, always helpful, never corporate-pretentious MacFixit. (Although, to be fair, in the past several months its content did seem to be a bit diluted.)
To find out -- right after we've switched to Snow Leopard and we all have increased need for support in making Snow Leopard work -- that MacFixit has been given away to the other side, is really horrifying.
All I can say is:
Noooooooooooooooooooooo!
We are here to help you get your Mac and system up and running, so hit us with your questions and problems, and we'll do our best to help out.
While I agree with your notion that the layout of the site does put a CNET-centric view to the site, we hope that does not detract from the content we're providing. This morning with the change there were relatively few posts, but I am hoping to get more out there for people to read and comment on. I hope they're useful, and I welcome feedback on improving them and everything here at MacFixIt.
We made sure to keep the content of the past years around for people to browse through and benefit from. If you go to the new MacFixIt forums (the CNET Mac forums) you can browse through and search for forum content that is as far back as 2003 (Mainly in the Mac OS X forum, and "General" discussion forums).
All the content should be searchable through the search bar at the top of the page. For instance do a search for "Cross platform remote admin tool" and you will get a posting from 2003 that was originally on the MacFixIt forums page.
http://archive.macfixitforums.com/
:)
I really feel the need for a shower and disinfectant after visiting there-
to listen to the general tone of the site, APPLE:
1. ....was started by Saddam Hussein
2. ....sunk the TITANIC *and* caused the great Depression
3....MIGHT have started H1N1-(or so theyve heard/gotten reports back on/set up tests on and discovered)
4 The site is almost a joke-its as if it were run by the MS marketing Dept-oh, they damn APPLE with faint praise at times-
but- I hope that if CBS cant reign in that portal of juvenile disinformation-at least this site will remain solidly independant and pro Mac
too bad I say, a wrong turn for MFI
If you would like more flexibility, please let us know and we will look into suggestions.
http://ct.versiontracker.com/clicks?t=386620461-811d829fd891ee65f6a2cd8a6914fa13-bf&brand=VERSIONTRACKER&s=5
Wow, what a ridiculous URL! Clicking on it (or copy/pasting it in the browser) results in a "Page Not Found".
If you try just using the first part of the URL: http://ct.versiontracker.com You encounter the wonderfully inept message "Sorry, we are not unable to redirect you to the desired page." (Read that again).
I am not impressed so far with the "New MacFixit".
We understand people are skeptical right now, with the whole CNET look, but hopefully that skepticism will be lifted in time.
This is less than a stellar start, not a confidence builder.
Return in 6months??
I cant handle the look, their is no home page, it is terrible. I recommend all Mac users go to:
http://www.macosxhints.com
http://www.finetunedmac.com/forums
...and even then the world is not the same :(
PS. And I had to sign up to CNET just to rant. First post, last post :)
I will do my best to keep things as straightforward as they always have been.
- by John Goodchild September 2, 2009 9:45 PM PDT
- Why is the MacFixIt site listed under "Reviews" on the CNET site? Why is there no link to MacFixIt from the Home page or even the Reviews root page? I feel that this site will fade into obscurity like iPhoneAtlas (again... no links from either the Home or Reviews pages) unless you provide links that people can find and follow. I do not want to see this site fail. Ted Landau built it from nothing into the second most visited Mac troubleshooting web site in the world (Apple's is first). You have a valuable resource and a piece of Mac history here.... SHOW IT OFF! Don't hide it in a nonsensical location.
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- by John Goodchild September 2, 2009 9:54 PM PDT
- Update: There ARE links. But they are hidden under a small pop-up menu entitled "Other CNET Sites" right at the bottom of the screen. It reminds me of a scene from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy:
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- by September 3, 2009 7:25 AM PDT
- Even with the help of John's guidance to locate the hidden link, I still had trouble finding it. Based on what they taught me in Retail Marketing 101, I can only assume one of two things from the product placement location to which CNET has relegated MacFixIt: either (1) CNET believes the customers who want the product want it so badly they'll keep hunting until they find it, or (2) they really don't care if they "sell" much, it any, of the product (and if after a sufficient time has passed and the page gets fewer and fewer hits, they'll be able to justify pulling it from the shelves all together.) I guess only time will tell which is correct.
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- by Cowicide September 3, 2009 8:29 PM PDT
- Yeah, having this in the "reviews" section when it makes absolutely no sense to have it in the reviews section just makes me wary enough to look elsewhere for my Mac troubleshooting sites. When we have to troubleshoot just the URL itself of a troubleshooting site... it makes me lose confidence in the site. This is a dumb move. How about macfixit.cnet.com? Or anything that remotely makes sense aside from reviews.cnet.com?
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- by Cowicide September 3, 2009 8:31 PM PDT
- wow, are you guys censoring me now as well or is your comment system just slow and crappy? what an update...
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Showing 1 of 3 pages (114 Comments)"But the plans were on display ..."
"On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them."
"That's the display department."
"With a torch."
"Ah, well the lights had probably gone."
"So had the stairs."
"But look, you found the notice didn't you?"
"Yes," said Arthur, "yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying Beware of the Leopard."