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Utah Ute Hub Celebrates 1st Birthday
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It is with great pride and satisfaction that I announce the one-year anniversary of Ute Hub. The site opened exactly one year ago today.
The Beginning
I saw a need for a new, modern, functional, mobile friendly Utah Utes fan site and decided the only way it would get done the way I wanted was if I build it myself! As a web developer and web host by trade, I had/have the tools and skills to design the site, improve it, and host it.
The Last Year
A lot has happened in year one of Ute Hub’s existence. Over 900 members have signed up. Over 11,500 forum posts and replies have been penned in roughly 1,800 topics. After a few weeks of being online, many requested a “threaded” format similar to UteFans.net and Cougarboard and other sites. It was a big programming and design challenge to come up with a layout which uses the best parts of the “old-school” design, but incorporates modern and mobile friendly features. It was a hell of a winter project and I spent probably 100+ hours tinkering around with it.
Once the threaded view was done I wanted to incorporate a post rating system. Other sites have stars, but I liked the idea of a thumbs up/thumbs down system. Like or dislike. I paid for a one year license for a system, but decided I would program my own, because I’d rather spend 50 hours programming something than pay $60 for a damn year. I’m stubborn like that, pun intended. The like/dislike system is my own creation and working great. Thousands of likes and just a couple of dislikes have rated thousands of posts.
This fall I took on a very cool and fun project to help the site grow and become more interactive, Pick Em. The great suggestion of a member sparked a high interest in me because it would be a programming challenge and would be a great way to generate discussion and gain new members. So far Pick Em has been a huge hit with over 150 competitors each week making their picks for Pac-12 games.
Members
I can focus on the nuts and bolts of the way the site is programmed and all that, but it would mean NOTHING without members and member participation. Ute Hub members have taken on a great role in participating and creating great content and discussion points. So many of you come up with amazing takes, stats, research, and opinions. It’s fantastic and the HEART of what is making Ute Hub the best Ute Fan site in the universe. For that I thank U.
The Future
This site is a labor of love for me as a web developer and huge Ute fan. I don’t “need” to make money off of it to keep it running, or to pay my legal bills. I’ve placed a couple of google ads on the site in hopes that the site can perhaps pay its own way. The site did make $1.00 the other day. I guess you have to start somewhere.
As far as the future of the site I plan to continue to spend a chunk of my free time improving it. I would love to refine or create an even better “view” for mobile. I would like to make my own chat for the site too. I’d love to make any improvements I can in hopes of helping the site grow and flourish.
Conclusion
Once again I think YOU, the Ute Hub members. Without you this site would be nothing. Thanks for your continued participation and be sure to invite all your friends to join up.
Tony Korologos – Ute Hub Admin (I use my real name because, well, I don’t need to use a fake name).
GO UTES!
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