academiPad got a brand new design which makes finding new ways of how to use your favorite gadgets in research teaching and learning much easier. The biggest changes you will notice right away are in the design of the homepage. But it’s more than just the layout that changed: academiPad also got a new menu structure and other improvements under the hood that will greatly enhance the reading experience.
New look of the homepage
The homepage welcomes visitors now with three featured sections. The large slide-show element on the top features some of the best posts on academiPad – check them out if you haven’t done yet.
Below the slide show there are two additional featured sections that are used to highlight different topics on academiPad. For example, these can show topics on “Writing” and topics on “Productivity”, and these will change from time to time in order to highlight different topics on academiPad. Of course, you can always find posts about a particular topic using the menu bar; more about this in the next section.
The homepage also shows you a list of “Recent posts” towards the lower half and a list of “Most popular posts” on the right hand side”. This makes sure you can always find something light to read for these days when the Journal of Incredibly Densely Written Research is a little bit too heavy to read. Don’t feel bad! Reading academiPad is not procrastination, it is professional development 
Finding articles has become much easier
academiPad covers a broad array of topics, but sometimes you just want to know about one particular category. To make finding relevant article easier, academiPad has now a navigation bar on the top of each page. The first menu lists articles about Apps and Workflows for currently 9 topics (e.g., Conceptualizing Ideas, Info Management, Reading & Annotating), while the second menu satisfies all your hardware needs by offering articles about Accessories and Devices.
You can also find a list of all categories in the footer section of each page.
If you prefer to read academiPad in the more traditional Blog structure, or if you want to go through the academiPad Archives, the new navigation bar will also make you happy.
One last way of exploring academiPad is through the Tag Cloud (you can find this in both the Blog and the Archive sub-menu). Its a neat, visual way to find articles that might interest you, so give it a try one day.
Get updates and get social
The new design of academiPad also makes it easier to sign up for free updates via RSS or email. Both are great ways to keep in touch with academiPad and to be in the know of every trick that makes your research, teaching and studying a little easier. Of course, your email address is 100% safe and secure with academiPad! I hate spam as much as you do.
In the same box you also find some social buttons (Facebook’s Like, Google’s +1, and academiPad’s twitter account). These are meant for the overall webpage, not for individual articles. Right now, these buttons are new and they are sad that only a few people have clicked on them. If you think that, overall, academiPad is doing a good job, please let the world know by Liking and +1′ing academiPad. And of course, you can also share, tweet and +1 individual articles through the social buttons placed at the end of each article.
Last, you can follow academiPad via its twitter account. In the early days of this blog, I was just using my personal twitter account to tell the world about new articles published on academiPad, but as the blog grows I will soon only use the academiPad twitter account for that. So even if you are following my personal account, please also sign up for academiPad’s own twitter account.
Have fun with the new academiPad
These are the main new features on academiPad, and I hope you are having fun exploring the new design. Naturally, there will be a few things that don’t work immediately, and some other things will continue to change over time.
If you find any bugs, or if you have any suggestions for the homepage or articles you would like to see, please drop a line in the comments below or contact me directly.
