CHANGES COMING TO BF.C

THE LONG ANTICIPATED "remodel" of BF.C and all the Scout.com sites is scheduled to be launched next week. The new look, feel and navigation will be markedly different. And those of you who go mobile should enjoy a far, far better experience. Here are a few notable notes about where we're headed..

1) iPhone, iPad and all mobile users
A huge change. BF.C and all Scout sites should work seamlessly for all.

2) The message boards
Our internal system will continue to count your totals but they won't be visible on the message boards. Rest assured, though, if you have 10,000 posts to your credit today, that total will transfer to the new system even though you won't be able to see it on the boards; you have no worries that you'll be starting over at zero. You will still be acknowledged for your posting prowess through an expanded "badge" system. Right now we have a handful of designations for each posting milestone you hit. Under the new system, we'll have roughly 20 club levels, ranging from "New Prospect" all the way up to "Hall of Famer" and "Legend." Of note is that posting totals on the message boards won't be the only stat that determines what your designation is. In addition, the new system will factor in how long you've been a registered user, how many page views you've racked up, etc. The highest levels of fandom will be reserved for those who also are subscribers to BF.C.

Here's another interesting feature about the message boards. Whereas messages eventually disappear forever in the current system, they will never go away in the new one. It's true. If you want to prove that you predicted NFL stardom for a high school freshman 10 years from now you'll be able to go back to that post.

In addition, you'll have the ability to automatically link your post on your twitter and facebook page.

Two quick housekeeping notes: Anything you currently have in your message board inbox will NOT transfer with our new system. So if you want to save anything, better do it soon. Any content that is posted to our current message boards starting today (Wednesday, September 26) WILL NOT be migrated over to the new message boards. So if desired, you may want to save locally any posts you make between now and when we launch if you want to re-post on the new site. Anything that was posted prior to Wednesday will migrate to the new site.

3) The front page and story pages
In terms of look and feel, the folks who designed the new site -- all rabid college football fans, by the way -- point to the Boston Globe -- http://bostonglobe.com/?refresh=true -- as a close relative.

4) Your browser
The new site is state-of-the art so make sure you've downloaded the most current version of your browser. And yes, the new site will be compatible with Firefox and Chrome.

5) Glitches
We're scrambling right now to learn the technical side of the new system. In fact, we can't even begin to answer most questions about it, but wanted to give you this sneak peek of where we're headed. We do expect glitches, it’s impossible to make a move of this size and scope without experiencing at least some issues. But FSNext and we will do all we can to keep those to a minimum.

6) Branding
The Scout.com name will be going away soon and replaced with FSNext (in deference to Fox Sports, which purchased Scout a few years back).