DEVELOPERS BLOG

Extreme Makeover: BlackBerry Developer Site Edition

ANNOUNCEMENTS / 08.14.13 / shaunam1

NativeMixedThe BlackBerry Developer web properties are undergoing some exciting renovations. Our goal is to help you understand what tools or information you need and make sure you can find them easily. These changes affect our microsites’ appearance and the location of certain content. We’re also adding some new features that will enable you to provide feedback so you can help us make the BlackBerry Developer properties even more engaging.

Here’s what’s new…

Merge of Native and Cascades

This is a big one. You’ll now find all the resources for core Native and Cascades development in one place, unified under Native. This new microsite also showcases our new design and updates to the content.

PlayBook

PlayBook gets its own new, spiffy microsite. Native content is moving to this site, which will also contain all PlayBook information for HTML5, AIR, and Android.

BlackBerry OS (BBOS)

BlackBerry OS now has its own microsite too, which will contain all of the available Java, HTML5, and Theme Studio information. New design? You betcha.

Navigation

We’ve updated navigation site-wide to reflect the changes outlined above, including the information architecture for the BlackBerry Developer homepage, footer, and navigation bar.

The Platform Choice page has also been redesigned, and now has three options: BlackBerry 10, PlayBook, and BBOS.

Over time, all existing microsites will also be updated with the new design.

Developer Forums

The Native and Cascades boards are merging and will now be found under Native. Don’t worry, we’re migrating all of the content over. It will be sorted appropriately so you can still locate threads you have been following and find what you need easily.

Comment Functionality on the AIR Microsite

We’ve begun a beta project that adds commenting functionality with Disqus (the same tool implemented on the Inside BlackBerry Developer Blog) to our AIR microsite. We’re interested in seeing what kinds of content that community members post, its value to others, and the best ways for us to support this functionality.

If all goes well, we plan to roll out commenting to the other BlackBerry Developer properties over the next few months. So, AIR devs, drop by and ask a question, offer a suggestion, or share some knowledge!

BlackBerry developers’ skills and tools are always evolving, and it’s our job to ensure that developers keep moving. We think these changes are a great enhancement to the BlackBerry Developer user experience.

There’s plenty more to come. We are focused on improving our developers’ experience and workflow, so keep an eye on the blog for upcoming news!

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