Back in April, we shared some big news: for the first time since DPReview went live in 1998, we’ve been rebuilding the entire site from the ground up. This isn’t just a cosmetic update or a new coat of paint, but a rebuilding of the entire codebase and migration to a modern web platform we can support for years to come.
After months of work, we’re ready to make the switch. This has been a massive undertaking. Beyond building everything that’s new, we’ve had to migrate more than 25 years of content, product databases, widgets, and more to an entirely new system.
It took a little longer to wrap up than we expected, and that was deliberate: we wanted certain things working properly out of the gate rather than rushed. A good example is our Image Comparison Tool, the widget that lets you compare studio scene images between cameras. We haven’t just rewritten it for the new site; we’ve redesigned it to work well on phones and tablets, too.
Here’s what to expect over the next few days, and how the change might affect your use of the site.
What to expect
The migration begins tomorrow, Friday, July 3. You can keep using the site as usual during this period, with a couple of limitations:
- Comments on articles will be frozen so we can migrate them to the new system.
- Creation of new DPReview accounts (including forum accounts) will be temporarily unavailable.
On Wednesday, July 8, we plan to flip the switch and turn on the new site. From that point, you’ll see the new DPReview website in place of the current one.
The forums will not be directly impacted by the migration. If you’re already a registered forum user, you can carry on as normal.
Once the new site goes live
Launch day is the start, not the finish line. As with any project of this scale, some things will take some additional time to wrap up. We’ll make sure to share a list of work still in progress, along with FAQs covering the new site and how to get support.
We will also set up a dedicated forum thread to log known issues and provide a place to report bugs and ask questions. Some bugs will inevitably slip through, and we appreciate your patience as we track them down and fix them.
In the meantime, we’re re-sharing the FAQ we published a few weeks ago, in case anything comes up before launch. Once the new site is live, we’ll add more FAQs to cover additional questions we know you’ll have.
None of this would have been possible without you. Your feedback over the years – including all comments, direct messages, emails, and the occasional rant – helped shape the new site. We’re looking forward to sharing the results and building the next phase of DPReview alongside you.
FAQs
Is the current site broken? If not, why change?
Not broken, but overdue. The site has been running on the same aging codebase for over 25 years, and maintaining it has become increasingly costly and limiting. Moving DPReview onto a modern shared platform with our sister site Gear Patrol means we can invest in new features and improvements far more efficiently than we could on legacy infrastructure while keeping DPReview’s editorial identity fully intact. The old system was a ceiling. This removes it.
Will this affect DPReview’s editorial content?
Our editorial mandate isn’t changing. We’ll continue to bring you the same authoritative, unbiased coverage of cameras and photography you’ve come to depend on, written by the same people.
When can I see what the new site looks like?
We hope to share some sneak peeks in the weeks leading up to launch. You’ll be able to see the full site on launch day.
Will the new site be faster?
Yes, the new site will be faster and more reliable for most things. That said, some functions are limited by factors outside our control. Downloading a large sample image, for example, still depends on your connection speed. We can make the site faster, but we can’t speed up the entire internet 🙂
Will the review archive and the camera and lens databases be available at launch?
Yes. We are migrating all our existing content, including articles, reviews and the camera and lens databases.
Will the site still be optimized for desktop users with large monitors?
Absolutely. While mobile is an important part of the new design, we have no intention of short-changing desktop users. We love big, beautiful photos, and if you’re on a large monitor, we want you to get the full benefit of that experience.
Will my saved bookmarks still work?
Yes, existing bookmarks will continue to work.
Why do you need to freeze the Challenges system?
The current Challenges system will not be carried over to the new site – we’re building a new one that will launch after the site goes live. To avoid any challenges starting under the old system that can’t be completed during the transition, we’re freezing new challenge creation on April 25th. Any challenges already underway will complete normally before the switchover.
Will this affect the forums?
The new website will not change how our forums work. There may be minor cosmetic updates to align with the new site design, but the forum experience will remain fundamentally the same.
Will the new site have ads?
Yes. Advertising is one of the ways we fund DPReview’s operations, and that won’t change with the new site.
Will my account and post history be preserved?
Yes. Your account, comments, forum posts, and history will all carry over to the new site.
Will there be further updates after launch?
This is the beginning, not the end. We’ll continue to make improvements after launch, and the new codebase will make it significantly easier to introduce new tools and features going forward.
How can I provide feedback?
You can leave a comment below or reach us at community@dpreview.com. Once the new site is live, we’ll have a dedicated area of our forums where you can ask questions, discuss the changes, and share feedback.