News

Welcome to the new look SDE site!

New features and functionality

By Paul Sinclair

Comments

410

SDE Editor, Paul Sinclair

Over a year in the planning, we have refreshed and rebuilt the website to enhance the SDE experience for you. A fresh look and feel, new functionality and some personalisation have been developed to assist with the all-important three ‘D’s: Discover more great physical music, Discuss releases amongst like-minded fans and Decide what you will spend your hard-earned cash on (or not!).

For example, you will now have the ability to ‘rate a release’. Look out for this facility on selected posts. Logged-in users can give star ratings to products and then drill down to specifics like content, presentation and value for money. All the ratings feed into one overall ‘SDE reader rating’ which will be displayed on the top of the post, so there’s nowhere to hide for labels churning out disappointing product! Likewise, it’s a way to highlight our appreciation for superb and well thought out box sets and reissues.

More on how to sign-up as SDE member, below

Find content more easily

There will now be regular polls within SDE posts and a new content module, called ‘SDE Release Life Cycle‘. This will connect related posts together to allow you to easily move ‘through’ the life of a product (e.g. rumours, announcement, unboxing video, interview, review etc.). The goal here is to make it much easier to find relevant and related content. Check out how this works by viewing the first McCartney III post and looking at the panel on the right-hand column.

Individual posts will have more links to other content and a new area called ’Explore’ allows you to dig deep into SDE’s 10-year content archive via specific artists or certain eras. Explore topics will change to regularly (feel free to put in a request!)

Comments have now been completely overhauled. It’s now much easier to discuss and debate with other passionate music fans and you can finally ‘like’ other people’s comments and ‘pin’ and/or share them. Discussions will be properly nested so there should be no confusion over who is talking to whom!

SDE membership

The flagship new feature which will unlock much of this new functionality and enhance the day-to-day SDE browsing experience is SDE membership. This won’t cost anything and it is a simple three-minute process to sign up.

Think of it as your own personal ‘keycard’ giving you access to enhanced discussion, interaction and product feedback on SDE .

Being an SDE member allows you to leave comments, without having to sign in with username/email credentials each and every time. Everyone will have a fixed display name (username) which you can choose when registering. This will promote transparency and trust amongst the SDE community. We will all know – or get to know – who we are talking to. You can increase your standing by leaving thoughtful and constructive comments and see them ‘liked’ by others. Regulars will see their ‘mySDE’ profile status change over time from ‘SDE Reader’ to ‘SDE Fanatic’ to ‘SDE Legend’ (longstanding contributors will be assigned an appropriate status and won’t start from ‘zero’).

But signing up as an SDE member gives you more. Through the ‘mySDE’ profile panel you can control communications, indicate what you like and don’t like, so any SDE news or deal alerts will be tailored to your requirements. Hate vinyl? Simply click the ‘only CD’ preference and you’ll never be contacted about a 13LP vinyl box set again! You can also build your profile; add an image (show us ya face, why don’t you?), fill in some details in the bio and enjoy centralised access to all your recent comments activity.

Preferences in the mySDE profile area allow you to tailor SDE news and deal alerts

There are many other new elements to the site, including improved release calendar, cleaner deals posts, new look ‘Out This Week’, the ability to share posts very easily and more. Ten years after the original website went live, I hope the new SDE is a solid foundation for the future and I welcome your feedback and ideas for further enhancements over time.

So please, do sign up, log in and create your mySDE account – and then leave some feedback in the comments below. I’d love to know what you think and I really look forward to delivering all the latest box set and reissue news from this new, improved SDE.

Cheers!
Paul

Paul Sinclair
SDE Editor

SuperDeluxeEdition.com helps fans around the world discover physical music and discuss releases. To keep the site free, SDE participates in various affiliate programs, including Amazon and earns from qualifying purchases.

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410 Comments

410 thoughts on “Welcome to the new look SDE site!”

  1. Hi Paul, after having lived with the new site over the last few weeks, I just wanted to say that it’s super (no pun intended) impressive. It’s extremely user friendly and the attention to detail/aesthetics/overall design are a joy. Not blowing smoke but credit where credit is due. The only negative point I can make is the impact it continues to have on my bank balance. That’s one thing that definitely hasn’t improved!

  2. Hey Paul! Great new look, even getting better with all the small improvements you already did after the launch.

    One issue I just found out (maybe it was already mentioned by somebody else, but I don’t want to read through all the comments): Even though in his own profile one can pick the preferred format like “only CD”, in the member info there are always all three options visible – like the person wasn’t able to make his decision.

    Keep up the great work, I visit this site literally every day!

    1. Thanks for highlighting this. I can confirm your setting is correctly registered on the system, so you won’t get emails about vinyl, however as you say, it’s incorrectly displaying all three options, which I will get fixed!

  5. So I’m the late adopter here ;) I hope I’m allowed to try out some of the formatting options… [spoiler title=”Don’t click”] I think I dislike like it! :D [/spoiler]

    We’ll see how I adjust to all this. (Being co-admin of another WordPress site, the mechanisms aren’t all that unusual to me. But SDE is just very ingrained in my visual memory. It can be hard to override that. I’ve already “zoomed out” because the font is too large for my taste.)

    Edit: So I’m trying out the editing function now. Seems to work well.

    Edit 2: I’m a fanatic! Gah!

  6. For those struggling with adding a photo to profile…after you do the save bit, at the bottom of your profile page there is an “apply changes” button… and voila !

  7. Hi Paul
    Glad that consensus on the site upgrade seems to be generally positive, I think you’ve done a beyond sterling job!
    I have one very minor point that could be just me, but if I leave the site while still logged in and then come back to it, it looks like I’m not logged in, so I click on the login button and it tells me I’m already logged in, and I go back to the site at which point it shows me as being logged in. I haven’t lost anything, but it seems like wasted clicks. Am I the only one with this? (M1 Macbook Pro, Big Sur, Firefox browser) It doesn’t seem to automatically log me out if I’m recognized as logged in, but why does it not show that from the start?
    Also, purely out of interest, what are the ranks of the SDE denizens, would love to see the full list! Spoken as a lowly resident lol

  8. Hi Paul.
    Just created the account & was using Chrome as the browser & when I went to activate the account it tried to tell me the site is unsafe – thought you ought to know you are being actively blocked by Chrome, as I have to manually override to enter the site, when I am told that what I am doing is ‘unsafe’ and prone to being hacked.
    Personally I am not concerned but thought you should know.

    1. Hi Neil. I did many activation tests using Chrome (including last night actually) and didn’t encounter this issue. The site is secured with SSL so it sounds a bit strange.

  9. Congratulations on the new design, Paul. I wish you 10 more years of success :)

    However, is it just me that’s finding that the comments are now a long way from the main part of the article, with all the news articles repeated in between? There is a lot more scrolling now. I would have preferred the comments attached to what they’re commenting on!

    But otherwise, great!!

    1. Thanks Tim. There’s four ‘related articles’ at the bottom of each post. I personally think it’s fine on a normal desktop/laptop computer, but agree that on mobile it takes up too much space. So there will be tweaks coming. And as a reminder you can click on the comments icon on any story on the homepage (or category pages like ‘news’ or ‘interviews’) and go straight to the comments. And on the posts themselves, if you click the comments icon at the top it automatically scrolls down for you.

  10. Thanks for the wonderful pages. I think I’ve been following, finding discounts and lurking the superdeluxeedition-website from almost the time when it started out, it must have been right from the start all those years ago. Your website has given me plenty of news about new upcoming music, but also interesting boxsets and archival releases, so visiting this site regularly has meant that I have spent my earned money. So far, for what I have tested the new site, it seems really working nicely and I like the new enhanced and improved functions (especially as we now have accounts here), there was nothing that particular wrong with the old site, but this new feels great like new home. At the same time as you have new revamped pages, Im moving to new home. Just moved the last few packages and my complete collection of boxsets, albums (cd + lp) and such are all in the new home. Over 3000 items and so it took little time to get them all to the destination. Anyways, I hope you have nice day there.

      1. Thanks. By the way, I think I have posted comments on this and another email, but once I today tried to register this email and asked to change my current password, I got this immediately on the screen: “There are no users registered with this email address.” So, does this mean I started now from scratch here?

          1. Nope, I meant that I had used these same email-addresses for many years as posted comments, ordered newsletter and such, then as I registered to the new site it didn’t find any associate email. Is that normal behavior?

          2. It’s worked correctly. It has connected to your newsletter account and put you in the ‘Resident’ category and acknowledges your previous 79 comments.

  11. Hi Paul. My only comment on the new site is related to the visual aspects. Each page now seems very strung out/stretched down the page whereas before it was quite compact which I preferred. Even getting to the various format/price details requires what seems like more scrolling than is necessary. Consequently I find myself not reading that many of the comments because of this.
    Smaller font and less space between each line would improve matters and make it more compact on the page – it feels as though it has been set up for old people who have got poor eyesight!

    1. Well I’m never going to please EVERYONE but I can more or less guarantee you that “smaller font” isn’t something most people who read SDE are after!

      1. Re “Old people with poor eyesight”: Paul, do you have any idea what the average age of your readers/contributors is? Guess not since we don’t have to register our date of birth when we sign up. That might be something interesting for a future poll.

  13. Bit late with my praise, but congrats on the new site and the sexy fancy new improved comments! To know l am a SDE fanatic is equally a joy and a little disturbing. My wife always tells me l’m addicted to this site, and now l have a ‘fanatic’ label to prove she’s right! No chance of me denying it now!!

    Anyway, look forward to all future developments at SDE. Cheers Paul.

    1. Hi Gareth, you might want to tell your significant other that atop of the SDE-pyramid there are “SDE Legends” AND members of the “SDE Hall Of Fame”. That might buy (no pun intended) you some time… ;-))

  16. Hi Paul. When clicking on the “comments” can it pleeeease not do the mad scrolling thing it currently does? I have labyrnthitis and at the moment, this scrolling. jeez , i have to look away from the screen til it stops for fear of being sick and dizzy. Thanks.

  17. What a difference. Fantastic redesign, Paul.

    If there is ever a chance for additional features, it would be great to see a place here where visitors could list the albums they would like to see “deluxed” or what artists they feel are due a retrospective of some kind, with some kind of ranking for those suggestions.

    I also love to see comments where readers pimp their recent favorites… “What Lester Listens To.”

    But hey, I know the main course just hit the table. Probably shouldn’t be asking for dessert just yet.

    1. You can change the price comparison widgets to Euro and it should remember that setting. Or were you referring to something else?

  19. Congratulations on the new redesign of your page, Paul.
    Great to see an improvement which I‘m sure will last for the next years. And by the way, thanks for the inspiration for so many years for keeping music as an important part of my life.

  20. Hi Paul,

    Again, I love the look and functionality of the new site. Good work! A couple of small quirks that I have encountered I emailed you about in a reply to your “New SDE Website is coming” email are below, however I have discovered some other info so thought I would also post them here (and to see if other readers also have these issues).

    My personal comment history under my mySDE shows only 20 comments, made during the past 5 months. If I click on the @ryk link it shows I have posted 166 comments over my time here on SDE. Am I only able to view the latest 20, or is there a problem?

    On the old site, some comments I made never showed up under the post – even after waiting a couple of days for approval. I now see some of those comments (only those made during the past 5 months) showing in my personal comment history (see next issue).

    Under the most recent “Out This Week” post https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/out-this-week-on-9-april-2021/ I had replied to Murray Robbins comment (along with a few other members). That reply shows in my own personal comment history but it does not show in the comments on that post on the new site (it was displayed on the old site). Some replies to Murray’s comment from other readers that showed on the old site also do not show on the new one. Curiously, the post currently states there are 16 comments, yet only count 12 are visible (and these are not awaiting moderation as the missing 4 were visible on the old site). Another problem?

  21. Nice job on the new website. I don’t like change, so this will take a little getting used to. When I first saw the new version of things, I went, “What the f is going on??” But now? I think I like it. It’s only rock n roll, you know.

    1. So, I’m a bit baffled. Had to do a search with Firefox to find my comments. Not a big deal, but can you make this happen within the site?

  22. Paul

    I have tried to join using the email I use for newsletters and the email I always use for comments. I tried just a few hours after you went live. The site tells me though that this email address is already used. I doubt that someone else has that same email address. I have only been able to send this comment by joining with my wife’s email address which is not good long term.

    Please are you able to assist? By the way love the new site.

    1. Hi Simon – it hadn’t been activated for some reason. I have the ability to do that from this end, so have just done it. It should work. Let me know. Once confirmed, do you want me to delete the other one (ie the one you’ve used to leave this comment)?

      1. Hi Paul

        Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately it still won’t work. I am sure I am doing it right. I had no trouble joining using my wife’s email address. Any thoughts?

        I visit your site every day and really do want to participate.

        1. That doesn’t make any sense. You are in the system as an approved user and I’ve activated your account. Are you sure there isn’t a password issue?

          1. Thanks Paul. Now working.
            Really appreciate you taking the time and effort to sort this out. Thanks again.

  23. The refreshed Site looks great. Personally reviewing every comment must really take a lot of your time, but is probably made it anti troll and stopped the petty comments and squabbling that blight other sites.
    Looking forward to another ten years of you costing / saving my money.

  24. Visited the new look sir for the first time today – looks great Paul! I look forward to exploring and getting to find my way round the new features.

    Not yet sure how previous contributions get linked to the new profile I’ve created (maybe by email address?) but I’ll have a look round for the answer.

    Great job!

  27. I wondered why I hadn’t been receiving my usual daily email update from SDE so thought I’d come on over and see if there had been any new posts, only to find the entire site had been overhauled! It looks fantastic and I am looking very forward to checking out the new functions! I also hope that, now I’ve signed up, I’ll continue to get my daily email update!

  29. Great site Paul, I have followed you for years and you have pointed me to some great deals. Are we OK to contact you with suggestions of up and coming releases?

  30. Dear Paul Sinclair

    I just hit the “like” button on our own comment to see who liked it but ended up liking our own comment by mistake. Will this issue be fixed so you will be able to see who liked your comment instead of liking it yourself?

    Swiftie

  31. Maybe one process suggestion… Personally I don’t need an email every time a comment of mine is approved. Is there a way to turn this off? I’m wondering though if a reply is made to one of my comments will that trigger a notification? This would be welcome.

  32. A very good overhaul of the site! It will take some time getting used to, however. I miss the price comparisons and the deals in the various online stores.

        1. The price comparison widgets have direct links to UK, USA, German, Italian, French, Spanish and Japanese stores. The deals tend to be more UK based but there are often deals from Germany and France etc.

        1. Thanks mate,but tried everything! It’s just the bottom of the range Nokia IV got,,I presume it’s a phone issue,cheers John ,have a great Sunday

    2. I think the issue might be that even though you ‘save’ your new image, you then need to scroll down and ‘apply changes’ to your overall profile…

  34. Really like the new site and thanks for your help in my account activation.

    Will the RSS news feed continue on as it doesn’t seem to be updating with the new site?

    1. John, after you ‘save’ your image, you need to scroll down and ‘apply changes’. This could be the issue. Give it a go and let me know…

  36. One tiny bit of constructive criticism: every time i go to SDE. I have to click a cookie accept button and then a rather large never miss a release pop up. I understand that this is geared towards new visitors, but for me as a regular visitor it is a (granted, tiny) nuisance. Is there any way for me to circumvent this? Apart from that all is A Okay.

    1. They shouldn’t come back once you have closed them once, so what you are experiencing isn’t standard behaviour. If you are blocking cookies or similar it could be causing the issue. A cookie is needed for your system to ‘know’ that you’ve already seen these and therefore don’t need to see them again.

  37. One day in, am more and more impressed with redesign of site .
    Like the fact that when clicking on
    Comments it auto scrolls to latest .
    Bravo Paul

  38. Groovy redesign. Look forward to using the site.
    One point: is there still a facility to leave a post about a forthcoming release which you haven’t covered in a post? I’m thinking of the Get In Touch tab on the old site. I haven’t found an equivalent yet, but I may not have looked carefully enough.

  39. Hi again, Paul. Another thought on why it would be hugely helpful to set up reply notifications. With popular threads such as this one, the comments start moving off the end of the page display and you need to click “Load More Comments” multiple times to see the earliest batches of responses. That makes it almost impossible to locate specific posts in the conversation, which previously you could just do a generic browser “find”/search on. Hope this makes sense. Ideally you would be notified each time someone replies to you AND you’d be able to “subscribe” to specific posts in case someone has asked the question you wanted to ask and you want to see the answer if/when it arrives.

  41. Took around 2 minutes to learn about the new site and how to navigate around.Looks good and up to date looking forward to some good deals in the near future

  42. Well account registration issues aside, the site seems great! Looking forward to continued great content and enhanced interaction with the SDE community.

  44. As if I don’t spend enough time on SDE every day, it looks as if I’ll be here even more. So much going on.
    Must have taken a lot of work to get to this stage, so well done Paul.

  45. Hi Paul
    Being a more senior member it took me a while to get sorted but I think that I am finding my way around. We all like change, not, but I think that it is an excellent site that just got better.

  48. Paul

    Great site, intuitive layout and really fluid functionality, the nice widgets don’t slow things down or distract. I am in the process of setting up a website for a society, so I know how much must have gone into this. Can I ask what CMS etc. you are using because it has really impressively carried over all your old content !
    Looking forward to continuing to visit very day as I have for some years now and will enjoy interacting more !

  49. Hello There…..new look…..will take my eyes to adjust but i’m sure this will be a roaring success as it has been earlier…..great new feeling….Cheers!!!

  50. Love the new SDE site..very intuitive & informative as always. Looking forward to grabbing plenty of more bargains & improving my strike rate with taking the right option; buy straight away or wait #surely the price will drop.

    Would love an area to vote for most wanted SDE……obviously TFF Seeds would have been off the scale until last years fabulous release.

    1. @Paul Sinclair – I think the idea of polls is a great one – single most wanted title reissue, band whose catalog needs a reissue, etc.

      btw does the “@” thing trigger anything to a reader?

    2. Agree a “Wanted” section would be great. There have been some great threads over the years based on your annual release previews. Would hope the industry is watching those and this could be a way to potentially influence future releases.

  52. Hi Paul,

    Well after 2 days, I finally got signed in. Was having a lot of issues
    with the password, and logging in. The activation emails, and
    reset took awhile, but did finally arrive.

    The improvements and updates look impressive, and I’ve gone
    through many of the options without logging in. I’m glad you
    have archived many of the older articles, and even the comments.

    I look forward to seeing the new additions, and other features planned.

    Thank you to you and your team for the updates, and especially the
    improved commenting.

    You might consider a forum for conversations also, however, that would
    require more moderation. Maybe in the future.

    later
    -1

  55. Nice update. SDE evolves again.

    An aside, I think it would be intresting to see what SDE subscribers think are the reissues they would most like to see.

    For example, Husker Du and Ween catalogs desperatly need a spruce up.

  56. Hi Paul,
    The new site looks great! I’m a long-time reader and this is my first comment! I created an account and am looking forward to
    debating and discussing music with the SDE community.

  58. Hi Paul,

    I look at SDE at least twice a day to look out for new releases etc.. Even though I may not be interested in a particular artist / band it is always interesting to see SDE’s and other peoples comments and learn about different music.

    As well as the good I do look forward to the odd indifferent SDE review.

    My highlight over the years is the free hippy included in the Woodstock boxset.
    “Orders placed with Rhino for the big box will include exclusive Dale Saltzman 18×15 lithographs based on banners from the original festival. And a free hippy, a square inch of actual farmland and some vintage LSD* (*not really).”

    Without SDE I wouldn’t have come across Steven Wilson’s TFB or missed out on some great deals.

    Keep up the good work SDE.

  60. Website is looking good and it’s great to have all the sections at one place so easy to use. It does seem this site is a bit slower to load (desktop use) than the previous one.

    As you use “tags” (at the bottom of article instead of at the top previously) for every release like (Prince, 1980S, Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin etc etc) perhaps it’s possible for SDE site members to chose / subscribe to certain tags and add them to their personal page? A bit like the other “interests” one can see at everyone’s personal page.

  61. Not sure I like the renewed website, I already miss the long(er) list of latest news which was always present…
    I doubt it is “iPad friendly”.

    Well, I guess I have to find my way on the new website. Hopefully next week I will leave a “well done, love the new website” comment

    1. Hi Musicoloog,

      I thought the same but have now saved in my favourites to open on the ‘News’ section rather than home page.

      This gives an even longer list than before.

      Hope this helps.

    1. I’d check the size of the image…hi-res isn’t always agreeable for profile images (try 320 x 320)- hope this helps you John.

      1. Yes did that,IV only got a Nokia phone,no computer or anything,get the picture I want ( me and max in naveds shop from still game), I save it and apply changes,,, nothing happens

  68. Paul, congratulations on a great looking site. As many others have mentioned this is a fantastic place for music lovers. So much information and informative comments that give people like me so much to investigate.
    Thanks to all.

  69. Hi Paul, love the updates to the way everyone can post.
    One bit of feedback though to help you optimise, it’s a bit of a drag to read an article on my phone, (haven’t seen desktop yet) and then have to scroll past 6-8 photos/links to other articles before finding the comments.
    Feels like I’m on the homepage again before I get to the comments. Know what I mean?

    Anyway you can move these to the bottom? Or make them smaller?

    Keep up the good work.

    1. I hear you. On a desktop it’s one row, but on a portrait-viewed mobile it’s four blocks stacked on top of each other. I’ll add this to the list of things to review/adjust. By the way, the track listings can collapse in case anyone hadn’t noticed. That saves some space. For return visits to a post you can click on the comments icon at the top which ‘whizzes’ you straight down.

  70. Hi Paul, great new look, your website is a daily source of great joy. You have pointed me towards some great music and deals I would have missed otherwise, the selection presented on SDE is fantastic – your unpacking videos and/or the comments from your dedicated audience often the final push to opt for the purchase. Very occasionally, I notice an item I think this community might like e.g. the Deluxe Vinyl reissue from Warren Zevon’s Stand in the Fire. One of my all-time favourite (live) albums, including the four extra tracks of the most recent CD reissue and an additional six previously unreleased track. I wonder if there is an easy way to alert the group to these items – there is of course the comment section in “out this week”, but often these items disappear from sale weeks before they are issued and I for one like the whole anticipation of awaiting the issue date. Fabulous website, better looking than ever.

    1. Hi Ben, are you sure you’ve used the right email address? That’s the trigger for it to understand previous comments etc.

      1. That must be it, I had to change it from a Gmail email to an outlook email a couple years ago due to a hack. Gros bummero.

        1. I see… even with your current email, you should be an SDE Resident. One level up from ‘Reader’. I should be able to amend. Bear with…

          1. Paul, I know you must have a fair bit on right now, but I too have the same issue – been a regular reader/commenter on here for years and only recently changed my email. Would you be able to add me to your list to amend if possible? My original and most-posted email was [email protected], and very much appreciated if possible.

  73. It will be nice to be able to go back to posts from a few days or weeks ago to provide updates or further information that may not have been known at the time, but that is relevant to the discussion. Previously, many would have already moved on to newer topics. This should be quite interesting to see how the new ‘look’ plays out. Exciting times for sure.

  74. Excellent new web site. Well done Paul! It must have been a lot of work to take the site to the next level. Very good result that you can be proud of !

  75. Looks good. However, I notice some comments in a previous article have disappeared? Specifically the Wham Japanese Singles one that I posted in the other day (my post has now gone). Was showing 73 comments, now 67. Also, comments seem to be quite a long way down, have to scroll past links to other articles before reaching the comments?

    1. There’s an outside chance of the odd comment going AWOL, especially a recent-ish comment on an old post. Sorry about that. If you are coming back to a post to check comments, you can just click on the comments icon at the top and the screen will automatically scroll down in quite a relaxing fashion!

      1. Ah yes, that does work. Plus you can get straight to any article’s comments from its link in the home page, which is really good. Thanks.

    1. When you say ‘didn’t recognize’ your email what are you referring to? The system has attributed your previous comments to you, hence ‘SDE Resident’ (which is one up from the starter level of ‘SDE Reader’)

      1. Aha, just checked my profile after making my first post in the new look sir, and my old contributions have automatically been linked – excellent @Pauls !

  80. Just signed up. Have dipped in and out of SDE for years. Feels official to be a member on the great looking new sight. Well done Paul.

    1. Thanks Jonathan and welcome! I’m pleased you feel like that. The idea is to foster even more of a community spirit and people being nice to each other, even if they are not nice about some products!

  82. Brillant Paul !
    I just registered. As I said elsewhere, it’s a very smooth browsing and refreshing experience. Well done.
    Glad to still have the price comparison modules.
    What’s more ? I just discovered the many new features, I’m astonished and impressed. Bravo !

  83. Congrats Paul.

    It’s not easy changing a whole website. Here’s to the next decade with a whole new look. New Boots and Panties for SDE you could say.

  84. I like it! Very impressive and easy to navigate. The only thing missing is a ‘stop me spending my pension fund on SDEs’ button! ;-)

  85. Hi Paul and all SDE people out there – ‘calling’ in here from New Mexico. I really do like the new design. Thank you Paul for all your hard work!

  87. The new site does look great, and I can only imagine how much work must have gone into making it thus.

    That said, I was maybe half hoping to see a video of a trio of folk singers lamenting the passing of the old layout.

    Congratulations to all involved!

  88. After logging in & registering I emerge blinking and unsteady into SDE’s brave new world, liking it v.much!
    Good luck with the next stage of the SDE (r)evolution. Best wishes & good health to all of the SDE massive.

  90. I rarely if ever actually “sign up” for a website to be able to leave comments or otherwise, but I gladly did so here. Update looks great, well done!

  92. Had to let work know I was running late so I could set up my SDE account – didn’t tell ’em that and blamed the dog for jumping the fence. Now onto the new site Paul…it’s fantastic! Here I thought all the maintenance messaging was to add the thumbs up functionality (I’ll never underestimate you again). What an overhaul- it must have been exhausting but please know this reader is already enjoying all of your efforts.

      1. No problems jabber,I was really struggling until I was sitting in my van in largs and read all the comments, somebody further down said his was in spam,so checked that ,bingo,so my thanks goes to the guy that originally pointed it out,

  104. Sometimes when things change you think ‘why?, it was OK as it was…’ and it was OK as it was was. But this looks slick, more modern, refreshed and is an improvement. Well Done.

  105. Looks fantastic. What a difference! I loved the old site but this is a huge step forward. Me and my wallet are looking forward to news of forthcoming releases !

  109. Great job, Paul (and others who contributed). It looks really nice. Nothing’s missing as far as I can tell, you apparently thought of everything, as usual. Happy 10th anniversary SDE. To celebrate both the anniversary and the website, you might find some swiss chocolate in your mail next week. Small token of appreciation for all that you do for us readers. Cheers.

  111. I chuckled when I noticed the spinning SDE logo. Would be nice if it could actually spin 360 degrees, adding a little hole in the centre of the logo. HA HA !

    Seriously, compliments with the new layout. Needs some getting used to, but it looks nice and promising !

    1. Haha… it’s actually not that bad. The blue in the photo is jus a little treatment I gave it in photoshop to tie it in with the new branding on SDE!

  117. Congratulations, Paul; the new site looks great. I know how much work goes into this sort of thing, and I’m sure it kept you busy while there weren’t as many new physical releases to write about. Here’s to the next 10 years!

  118. Wow, very impressed with the new site. Congratulations Paul and look forward to continuing my love affair with my favourite site ❤

  126. Just a note about the ‘disappearing comments’ some people have been experiencing…. when you first post a comment, it appears momentarily for you to see but then ‘disappears’ in the queue for moderation. I personally check comments and approve them for publication. When I approve the comment, it then goes live. There is likely to be a delay between you first posting a comment and then everyone (including you) ‘seeing it’ on the SDE site.

    That is the current process which is the same as before, although I think previously after posting a comment the poster didn’t ‘see’ the comment. After publication the author has 15 minutes to edit and fix any typos etc.

    I do want to change this process so I’m not constantly having to approve comments. With the new mySDE there should be less (hopefully virtually zero) trolls, spam etc. so I will monitor the situation. I might reach out and see if a few of you would like to be moderators.

    1. I may try and change the system so the person can still see the unpublished comment but with the text ‘your comment is awaiting moderation’ underneath. So it’s nice and clear. If you like this idea, then like this comment!

    2. Thanks for clarifying Paul. I had a comment ‘disappear’ about an hour ago but it was a simple ‘Looks good and Congratulations’ post plus I do really like the spinning logo (on mouse over) – hope I don’t wear it out.

    3. Thanks, Paul. That makes sense. Maybe it would be better if, like before, we don’t see them until they are approved. I find that the appearing/disappearing element makes the page “jump around”, so it seems less stable than before. Hope that makes sense. Don’t want to seem picky. It’s an excellent upgrade that’s massively appreciated.

      1. Yes, I take your point… although some people (maybe not regulars) end up posting the same comment twice because they think something has ‘gone wrong’. We will get this sorted, one way or another.

        1. some people (maybe not regulars) end up posting the same comment twice because they think something has ‘gone wrong’

          All the more reason for a “Your comment is awaiting moderation” notice! :)

          

    5. Paul, it must be hard to moderate all comments. That must take a chunk of time out of your day. One thing that I hope will be fixed is that some comments simply got “lost” and then never were published so you had to write them again (or chalk it up for a loss). That was a bit discouraging sometimes although I always figured it was because you are overwhelmed with the amount of comments you had to moderate in addition to the regular work on the site. When my first comment here “disappeared”, I was afraid of that. Glad it’s all working fine. The comment section is one of the best parts of this site so I’m glad to see it enhanced. Loving the new functionality, job well done!!

      2. I like the idea of letting things flow sans moderation and seeing how it goes. Sometimes comments are time-sensitive like deal alerts or limited releases (e.g. Bowie’s BLA releases or signed items) that everyone would want to see as soon as possible. I have also posted here and not had my comments published and then had to re-post (e.g. some input re the recent Dead or Alive Invincible box set where I spent a couple of hours comparing its contents to the Boom Box release and thankfully had a copy of the information to re-post). I participate in other music site forums that also require accounts and rarely see spam. In those cases the moderators remove it. I think that provides a better experience overall and would relieve you of the moderation burden.

    6. Hi Paul,
      Like the refreshing look of the updated web site..
      Look forward to more stuff coming.
      Hopefully, a piece about forthcoming RSD Drops.
      Already done my list for the two drops.
      Shame that it appears that the Sabbath (though my best mate) calls that specific area a tribute act, pic discs for HAH and MR seem to only be available in USA. It seems only that MOR is going to be available here.
      A forger request for bricks and mortar stores, please include perhaps a rotating selection; e.g. Badlands in Cheltenham.
      There could be a periodical review / mention of our favourites.
      Carl

    7. HIYA, Paul Like the new design & allowing SDE members a bit more options in leaving comments eg Italics or being able to attach an image to this comment. Font & size are excellent on my both my Andriod phone & windows PC :)

      • A section for the RSD releases please ~ we all enjoy a good moan / discussion.

  128. Awesome new site, Paul. I’ve been a SDE Fanatic for years. Love the content and design. Never stop.

    (My activation email wound up in the spam folder. Creators on WordPress need to watch for that happening too often.)

  130. Very nice, just one thing – I couldn’t create an account with the username I wanted (& usually use) so I had to use this. The system didn’t tell me why I couldn’t create an account but you must need a unique display name.

    Otherwise, it all looks great. :)

  131. Great improvements to the site- congratulations. I’ve been a daily visitor since the beginning, a go to site.

    Bought the Level 42 box solely on the recommendations of the review and the other comments – so as a concept this all works so well!

  133. Love the new site, congratulations Paul! Not sure if anyone else has encountered this minor glitch with the account process: when I used the activation link in the email, I reached the activation page then clicked on the activate button, but then got an “invalid activation link” message… However, when I then tried to log in, everything worked fine. All’s well in the end, just thought you might want to know.

  134. Absolutely awesome. All the functionality I have been wanting to see has miraculously appeared (have you been reading my mind)- in particular rich text, voting and easier navigation were all things I was hoping would appear.
    The fact that the design uses a nice colour palette and great type is a real bonus.
    Congrats to you (and the team?) for pulling this off so well.

  136. Hi Paul. Congratulations on the new site. Looks great.

    One tiny thing: I couldn’t get it to work on an iPhone. But that’s really not a problem. Probably low down your list of things to do right now.

    Quick question: can we sign up to notifications when someone replies to a post (such as this one)? Sorry if that was already explained somewhere and I missed it…

    Thanks again for doing this.

    1. It should work on an iphone. What exactly do you see?

      Not at the moment, re email alerts for comment replies, but I would like to introduce this option and perhaps put some settings in the profile panel

      1. It was just extremely slow and timing out.

        Also, I am getting the problem Roedelius reports below. My post was literally vanishing and reappearing when I refreshed. But then disappearing again. I have tried on Chrome and Safari and it happens on both.

    2. Hi Stephen,

      Did you use an existing bookmark to access the site? I found it would not work for me until I searched for the site on Google went in that way and then bookmarked the site with a new bookmark.

  137. Hi Paul,

    Many congratulations on the new look site.

    I’m liking that I can see my old comments, currently up to 2 months old. Any chance this could work back without time limitation?

    I read Roedelius’s comments on not being able to post on an old Chrome browser, and thought, that’ll be me. My imac is now out for posting comments, as yes, the same thing happened to me.

    I love the new layout and font size – talk about knowing your audience and the quality of their eye sight.

    Regards,

    1. Thanks Quante and welcome! You should be able to see ALL your old comments…? In terms of browsers etc. I’d encourage people to update and use the latest versions if possible. Very old versions/browsers are much more likely to have issues. If anyone is using Netscape Navigator or can’t get SDE on their Palm Pilot, there’s little I can do ;)

      1. I’ve checked my old personal comments in my SDE profile on an up to date lap top and iPhone, and don’t see past two months ago for previous comments. I’d be interested to see if other readers have anything different?

  141. Love the new look for the site Paul. I’m usually checking in several times a day to try and keep up with the never-ending demand of record companies parsing money from me for goodies I never even thought I needed! Probably been with you for most of your first 10 years and don’t see that changing anytime soon!

    Particularly love the new SDE Release Life Cycle feature. Very useful.

  142. Love the new look. I’ve been a regular visitor to the site for a few years, but I haven’t ever used the comments function. I decided to give it a go and sign up. All really simple to do!

  143. Looks great Paul, loved the simplicity of the old site but the new one definitely encourages more debate and discussion.
    Heres to the next 10 years of spending money I really should be saving

    1. Thanks Sean. Sorry if everyone gets bored of me saying ‘thanks’ but I can’t tell you how much all the positive vibes mean.

      1. I’m sure everyone of the SDE family would like to say thanks personally to you for this site, so take all the positive comments and feel proud to have established a fantastic site that fans and the “business” take note of :)

  144. Mmmmmm, that new car smell

    As you can see, Paul, I finally managed to join the party! Better late than never. Many thanks for your assistance last night. New site looks wonderful. Here’s to the future!

  145. Congrats Paul, best of luck with the great looking new site. Just updated my new profile and prefs, and adding my first new comment. You make my day, every day.

  146. Really like the new layout although it seems slower to load on mobile devices.First world problem!
    I’m presuming the click through arrangements with JPC have changed as links to them seem to have disappeared.Although hardly your fault it is a pity for Australians largely locked out of international Amazon’s.
    Hope SDE continues to thrive.It is one of my favourite sites on the internet let alone music sites.

    1. Bear with us Alan… now the site is finally live there will be some tweaking/optimising on the hosting side to get things running as smoothly and quickly as possible. JPC links should be visible, so there could be an issue… I’m on it.

  147. Hi Paul
    Not sure if this is a glitch or not: I’ve just posted a comment, which I can see, but then the page keeps reverting to an earlier version, before my comment was posted. Also when I clicked to post my comment using an old Chrome browser the page just hung and didn’t post the comment. I had to use a different browser to post the comment.
    Thanks

    2. Hi. Yes, this is happening with the post I just left above. It vanishes. Then I refresh and it appears again. But then…it vanishes again!

      1. Is this just because you are having to wait for Paul to approve the comment, but you’re able to it yourself prior to this? That’s what I thought when it happened to me.

  150. Dear Paul,

    Congratulations on your new site!
    It’s looking very nice.

    Visiting it on a daily basis will be a real pleasure! But then again, so was the old one…

    Keep up the good work.

  151. Hi Paul
    Really like the new design. One question: I used to enjoy the “Get In Touch” page on the old site as it was a good forum for general discussion, even if it wasn’t a specific news story. (eg. I was looking at the Record Store Day releases for 2021 yesterday and I’m sure there would have been a discussion about that on the old site). Is there a similar page on the new version?

      1. Perhaps you could change the old “Get in touch” into two or more(?) different threads:

        One for general chat as “Get in touch” was used as general discussion
        and another one for new releases that didn’t get their own thread (yet) on SDE (I’m thinking about Phil Cohen(?) I think it was/is who posted lots of info about upcoming releases not always covered on SDE).

        Maybe there could also be a new general thread about releases which had faults like discs missing / wrong discs included / wrong versions / downloads not available (any more) etc etc with info what to do / whom to write / e-mail to etc? Or do you prefer to have that kind of information in the thread of that particular release?

  152. Really great work on the website Paul. I’ve been a visitor for years but rarely left comments because of the effort of signing in (yep, laziness on my part) but this new set up really helps. Good times!

  155. Always good to freshen up- and the whole overall look is great. Yours is one of the few sites I go to almost every day. Music has been especially great over the last 12 months.

  156. Most probably at an age like stephenc where I get used to something and not that keen on changes.I liked the old site for its simplicity but I suppose I will get used to the new one eventually!

  161. Brilliant Paul , will take a while to get used to, but a quantum leap up
    in every way . Well done and considering there is no charge to be a member
    quite brilliant .Thanks

  162. Probably me being of an age that still wants to buy a physical product but I’ve signed up and nowhere did I see an option to make my preferences? Also clicking on highlighted reading doesn’t take me to “that page” I’m slightly confused and probably just old. Congrats on all the new things anyways

  165. Looks great, Paul, I’m sure it will take a while to find everything but I imagine a lot of hard work’s gone into this, which I’m sure is much appreciated by us all

  167. Excellent stuff!

    Sure you’ve noticed, but on mobile, on the menu, Explore and shop links are repeated and look a bit odd in the footer of the menu.

    1. Thanks Stuart. That footer menu is correct, although the text is the wrong size. Will get that fixed. Inevitable teething issues. If anyone else finds anything amiss, don’t be afraid to flag it!

  168. As far as I’m concerned you’re the 5th emergency service, on speed dial. Good luck with the refresh and hope to see you at a London gig soon.

  172. Hi Paul,

    Loving the look and functionality of the new site. One question:

    If I choose to be notified of CD only releases by email, would I get notified of a release that contains both CD and vinyl? Like for example the SDE of Rumours by Fleetwood Mac which contained both.

    1. Thanks Simon. The answer to your question is yes, you would be notified, because regardless of any other contents, the box contains a format you have expressed an interest in. If it was vinyl only, that would be a different matter.

  173. Love the new look. Not that the old one was bad, but a freshen up always does wonders. Liking the new approach to comments and filtering what interests you should eliminate some of the “why is XXX releasing this?” and “vinyl only box sets don’t appeal to me” comments! Great work, sir.

  174. I love the new look of the site. It is very pleasing to the eye. Well done for all of your hard work for making this the only site I visit on a daily basis.

  175. Looks good, Paul. Not too cluttered, not too much white space. The ‘lifecycle’ module is impressive. Hopefully your ‘X’ t-shirt is a positive omen for an SDE of it this year.

  177. Hey Paul, I’m enjoying the new design, even if it’s taking a bit of getting used to. Mind you early days…

    A question: in your article you say that if you click only CDs you won’t be contacted with vinyl again.

    Does this refer to both news and emails? And if I click on the 80s box below it will that have a similar effect of filtering out anything without any 80s goodness?

    Actually I tend to read most things you post, but if it’s just preferences you are after I might want to let you know!

    Thanks for keeping us entertained and informed.

    1. Only CD v Vinyl will actively stop communications about one or the other formats, and even then, as I mentioned in another comment above, if the box has CD and vinyl, you’ll steel get the alert, even if you have said you are ‘only’ interested in CDs. With the other categories 80s, 90s, surround sound etc. that’s more about a general feel about your likes/dislikes and maybe giving you some priority if, say, some obviously really limited item became available. For example if a-ha released a 500-only limited set of something, I might send the alert first to everyone who ticked 80s. If there was a deal alert on a blu-ray audio, again I might prioritise and send to those who ticked ‘blu-ray’. That’s the general idea. So to your point directly, just because you haven’t ticked 1990s doesn’t mean you won’t get a news alert about Blur.

  179. This is the first day of the next 10 years for SDE! :)
    Congrats on this great job, Paul !
    I’m so proud to be part of this community !!!
    Take care and keep up the good job !

  180. Hello everyone!
    Just signed up. Been following for some time now. Paul, great step into the future for you! Wishing you and SDE loads of success and many more followers. Latest purchase with a good dose of buying decision based on SDE info – NY Archives II retail version. Let it rock!
    Greetings from Hamburg.
    Michael

  182. You missed a trick by not giving us at least a bag of marbles or flexi-disc when we sign up but other than that, this looks ace Paul,:

  188. Nice update Paul. Loving the new site.
    Very fresh and well laid out.

    The comments update is very welcome and will make it more useful to revisit comment threads over and over.

  189. Congrats, Paul, on a splendid looking website. Good luck also with the troubleshooting i had some trouble logging on. After altering my password i tried to log on but got an unknown error. I hadn’t understood (or the site hadn’t told me, not sure) that i would first have to activate. After i did that it was all plain sailing. My activation mail was in the spam folder. Which happens regularly with SDE mails. Not quite sure how to fix that.

    Nice that i will not have to enter my name and email everytime i want to react.

    1. Hi Marcel,

      to avoid having SDE-mails sent right into your spam folder you might try to add the mail adress from which these are sent into your list of contacts at your mail account.

  190. Wow, congratulations on the new look and updated site, Paul.

    It’s going to take a bit of getting used to but early signs are positive, it feels and looks good and the new features sound fantastic. Thanks you for all your hard work, as usual, and for creating and maintaining this wonderful place that is a celebration of both yours and all of our passions. Here’s to holding her music in your hands.

    Long Live SDE! :)

  192. Nice work, Paul! Of all the details, I particularly like the animated twist in the circular icons; too bad it couldn’t have been a full rotation like a record. Cheers from California!

  195. Congratulations on the new site Paul! Looks awesome. I know you have been working on this for a long time. I was so much on the old site that I could dream it in my sleep. We are all creatures of habit so I need a few days to get used to everything. The increased functionality is excellent! One request, the price comparison widget does still not include Amazon.NL (Netherlands). It would be great if you can add that.

    1. Hi Kauwgompie,

      i guess that Paul’s problem with adding amazon.nl might be that they only deliver to the Netherlands and Belgium leaving too many readers here at the sidelines when noticing great offers there that they have no chance of ordering.

      Hope your 90-something parents have held up well in these grim days…

  197. Congratulations on the new site, Paul, it must have been quite a job to get sorted! Looking forward to exploring it and getting used to everything!

  198. Yeah! liking the Steven Wilson 5.1 Mix of SDE Paul, looking good. I’m just going to test it and see if it will automatically block me quoting “Reissue, repackage, reevalulate the songs…extra track and a tacky badge” from Morrissey. – And let’s see what happens if I say “Cash Cow”…and let’s try “Flogging a dead horse”. OK now let’s try “Suspect this will be brickwalled by Cherry Red”. Testing Testing….

  201. Wonderful work Paul! Everything is amazing. Here’s to your next 10 years and beyond…

    I’m so happy to have discovered your site at the very beginning. You’re the first site I check in the morning, and multiple times through out the day. I love the knowledge and suggestions from other posts, and your articles are always a pleasure to read. I have made many discoveries over the years of great music thanks to your hard work.

    Best wishes!

  202. Like most old fogies into physical music releases, I dislike and fear change.

    Nah, seriously, the new site looks great, I look forward to trying it out and only complaining a little about how you’ve moved everything around and how much better everything was in the 80s….

  205. Congratulations on your new website, Paul. Coming from an IT-Multimedia background, I have to say that the design and functionality of the new website is superb! My only concern is that I could be parting with more of my hard-earned because of my need to own the ATMOS version of Pet Shop Boys’ “Please” :-).

    I’m really looking forward to engaging with the great SDE community you have built up over many years, and the updated comments functionality will certainly make that process easier. Cheers!

  207. This all looks great. Love the “life cycle” feature. I find it appropriate that on your 10th anniversary you are wearing the X t-shirt!

  210. ‘Lovely stuff’. Not my words Paul, the words of Shakin Stevens.

    Seriously though, this looks great, am really looking forward to getting to know the new site and all it’s new functionality.

    I know people say this stuff a lot, but, this site really is one of my favourites on the whole Web. I look at it several times a day.

    Best wishes,

    James.

    1. Obviously…

      But if you’re referring to being not able to upload one into your profile i’m having problems with that too.
      Pic won’t be saved when clicking on said button…

  215. Cheers! So far, so great. Congrats on the update. Very impressed with all the thought, effort and time invested. You can tell a lot of love and passion went into constructing our new home. Well done and thank you!!

  218. I’m so old (61) that it takes a little while before i’m used to this new form. Maybe after a few weeks i say it looks better than the old one!

  220. The new look and functionality is very impressive. An already great (and often visited) site has received a that rare thing of an upgrade that adds much while taking nothing away of what made it great in the first place. Keep on truckin’.

  225. Hi Paul, I’ve been a lurker on here for several years and have always been impressed by your coverage – it was just the sort of site I’d been looking for and has been a daily visit (if not more!) since.

    I’ve ended up with a much smaller bank balance as a result (I counted up last year’s total outlay on music and it was…scary) but my ears and my brain have both been well-fed as a result!

    So, very good to see a new look and I wish you all the best – and definitely aim to contribute from time to time when inspired!! Thank you and best wishes from Yorkshire!

  229. Looks and feels great. 21st century here we come! Marillo-Tom previously tom m hans. Chicago Carnegie Hall Rhino 16 CD set coming… please let have SW done this remaster. Pretty Please.

  231. I already miss the old layout haha but I know this new site is gonna be amazing! Well done Paul and the gang! (not a classic funk band!)

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