Welcome to the ALL NEW RaptorsHQ.com

by RaptorsHQ - Howland on Jul 10, 2009 6:18 PM EDT Comment 32 comments

Welcome to RaptorsHQ version 3.0!

We know it has been a long time coming, but the day has finally arrived – welcome to the new and improved RaptorsHQ.com!

As you can see, we’ve not only re-launched with a new look and feel, but we’ve also joined up with SB Nation – the largest and fastest growing grassroots sports network on the web.

After going the "indy" route for four plus years, we decided it was time to take advantage of a great opportunity. Joining SB Nation is going to provide countless benefits to both the HQ and its community of readers, and we’re extremely excited to be part of the SB Nation family.

The new HQ is more user-friendly, allows for more interaction between community members, and provides the HQ with an advanced platform for bringing you the best Raptors coverage on the web....currently from Vegas! None of us like change but we know that once you get used to the new platform you will love it.

Other features include open Game-Day Threads for consistent chatter through a Raps broadcast, the ability for users to upload their own content, and of course being part of SB Nation gives us more opportunity to collaborate with some of the best NBA blogs on the web. There are so many new features that we can’t list them all, but you will see that this new platform will enrich your experience while visiting the HQ.

In addition to moving to SB Nation, the RHQ team has started to expand. As many of you will have noted, this past year we added Vicious D to provide insight and commentary on the Raps, and even more recently Ray Bala signed on to provide you with extensive first class coverage of Canadian Basketball. We have now added a fifth member Geoff "Defensive Stance" Rahal who will be in charge of providing up-to-date links to all things Raptors-related. The HQ and its team are growing and we are excited about the possibilities.

Before launching into our regularly scheduled programming, a few shout-outs to those who made this move possible.

First, a very special thanks to Jim and Lauren at SB Nation who were both extremely patient and cooperative in making this enterprise a reality. It was a long process to get here, and we couldn’t have done it without them.

Second, a thanks to the SB Nation design team who worked diligently to get the new site up and running. The site will continue to develop over time and with a full tech crew behind us the sky is the limit. With the new site we would recommend reading the FanPost Howland put up about how to get the most out of the site (right hand side).

Third, thanks to hooplife.ca which was the home of the HQ over the past few seasons, and our former techie, Jerry, who made things work in our wacky back-end.

Finally, a big thank you to our readers! We have created a fantastic community at the HQ and it is the quality of our community that made this move possible. We hope you enjoy the new site and if you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at our new email address: raptorshq@gmail.com. This site continues to be a site run by Raptor fans for Raptor fans.

It’s a new chapter in the life of the HQ. We are excited about the future and we hope you will continue to come along with us for the ride.

Go Raps!

Franchise and Howland

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Comments

Nice fresh looking site. Congrats.

by vanislesteve on Jul 10, 2009 10:05 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Great new site guys

now let’s get that summer league recap up. : )

I’m jonesing for some raptors news!!!

by CalexanderJ on Jul 11, 2009 12:06 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Welcome aboard, Raps HQ!

I look forward to checking in often as you folks cover the Raps duking it out with Philly, New York and New Jersey for second place in the Atlantic next season…

-sw

"I didn't go there with the intentions of getting ejected. I went there with the intentions of just telling Kobe, 'You got to relax. You're hitting the wrong person. Don't you know you're hitting Ron Artest?'" -Ron Artest, 05.06.09

by Steve Weinman on Jul 11, 2009 12:31 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

There will be no “duking” :)

Liberty Ballers.com.

by jsams on Jul 11, 2009 1:49 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Welcome to SBN!

Look forward to seeing what you guys bring…Hope you guys do well here!

—Prez (from Blazers Edge)

PS—Thanks for stealing Hedo from us…meanies! (Just kidding…kind of)

If you're gonna quote me, misquote me -- The Arkitect

by prezofdeath on Jul 11, 2009 12:59 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

LOL. I think Franchise and Howland say that you should be THANKING us… Especially if you get Millsap

Kinnon "Vicious D" Yee
Author - RaptorsHQ.com

by Raptors HQ - Vicious D on Jul 11, 2009 1:48 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

hahah yeh, 'cept then we got LaMarcus Alridge to deal with. They can't both play 35 minutes a game ;-)

If you're gonna quote me, misquote me -- The Arkitect

by prezofdeath on Jul 11, 2009 1:53 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

What about Aldridge's Emotions

He is fragile…. he may take this personally and decide not ro resign…

If you are a DJ who plays House music... let me know and I will get you on our Promo list
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by Humble Dragons on Jul 13, 2009 5:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Congrats guys!

Liberty Ballers.com.

by jsams on Jul 11, 2009 1:50 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

There’s a lot with this new site guys, so while it might be a pain, the writeup that Howland made is definitely worth a read. (Linked here for your covenience: http://www.raptorshq.com/2009/7/1/928464/a-hq-user-guide-to-posting).

I also recommend that you either sign up with an existing yahoo ID (Rogers.com IDs should work, I believe) or create a new user and take a look at the possibilities available to you. It might be head-spinning at first (it was for me) but your level of participation will not go unnoticed!

And just a shout out to all our readers that this wasn’t possible without all your participation and talk in the past. We love you guys and we do this largely because we want to give you the best Raptors HQ possible. Send us some comments about the site, about what you enjoy or don’t. Feedback is always important to us.

Kinnon "Vicious D" Yee
Author - RaptorsHQ.com

by Raptors HQ - Vicious D on Jul 11, 2009 2:35 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Welcome to the club guys — glad to have more T.O. bloggers onboard.

Blogging on hockey at fromtherink.com

by James Mirtle on Jul 11, 2009 3:02 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Well it's about time.

Finally, somewhere to post my “Bosh to Houston” rumors.

The Dream Shake ...on Twitter.
"I think girls are probably just better shooters." - Steve Novak

by Tom Martin on Jul 11, 2009 3:05 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Haha. It’s been a long time in the making.

Kinnon "Vicious D" Yee
Author - RaptorsHQ.com

by Raptors HQ - Vicious D on Jul 11, 2009 3:19 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Congrats!

The new website looks nice, congrats!

I’m not posting as much as before but I keep reading you guys, and I’m definitely excited about this new era both for the Raptors and for the HQ community.

by Sergi P on Jul 11, 2009 5:08 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Welcome aboard guys!

I’ve been reading the old site for years, but it’s great that you’re on board SB Nation. It’s such a great format that will really expand everyone’s ability to talk Raptors basketball.

by RedNose on Jul 11, 2009 5:15 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Welcome!

Finally, somewhere to post my “Douby to New York” rumors.

Posting and Toasting: "Say yo Oak, what's the dish tonight? A couple steaks on the grill and we season it right."

by Seth on Jul 11, 2009 8:13 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Nice

Site looks great men. Welcome to SBN!

Indy Cornrows

by Tom Lewis on Jul 11, 2009 8:31 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Congrats boys…respect

by d279 on Jul 11, 2009 8:43 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Welcome

We’re only an Argos and TFC blog away from completing the set.

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on Jul 11, 2009 9:18 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

lol. Really surprised about not having that TFC blog. I mean, those fans make Leafs fans look dispassionate.

Kinnon "Vicious D" Yee
Author - RaptorsHQ.com

by Raptors HQ - Vicious D on Jul 11, 2009 9:21 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Heh

We love our team.

Maybe SBN goes after MLS once they have all of the NBA filled out.

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on Jul 11, 2009 9:25 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The latest move

Having followed you guys since you were a plain blue and white blog this is some good news!

The site looks wicked, and the community is sure to grow.

(Sadly, I can no longer use the moniker ‘bedhead’ as that has been scooped by someone elsewhere.)

Best of luck in the new digs!

by velociraptor on Jul 11, 2009 11:12 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Welcome to the team guys!

Blogging Suns Basketball

by Seth Pollack on Jul 11, 2009 11:32 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Thanks

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the new sandbox!
Collapsible comments, great comment formatting tools, the chance to reply, those are a few that jumped out at me. Things aren’t as “busy” as I thought they’d be from perusing SB blogs in the past. The collapsible comments is a large part of that, and when combined with the new/read comment options should make scrolling easier. It’s great timing, since the last few articles had the greatest sustained string of comments I’d ever seen on the site. I can see the FanPosts being a useful tool, for the odd time when a commenter feels strongly enough about a topic to lay some paragraphs down.

I know you guys don’t get paid for this, and yet you’ve kept progressing, all the way back to the fan.ca days. Hopefully the media access is the start of a much deserved higher profile on the Raptors sporting scene.

by Yardly on Jul 11, 2009 2:23 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Thanks a lot Yardly. Really appreciate the comments.

SB Nation’s been remaking their site structure the past year and they offered to take us in, which I know was a big decision for Howland and Franchise. In the end, it helps us on multiple fronts. We’ve customized our particular structure a certain way so that things don’t end up being too cluttered. Simple is best, isn’t it? ;)

One additional great thing is that we’ll be cross referenced in Yahoo Sports since SB Nation is in a partnership with them. Our widget isn’t up yet in Yahoo Sports, but it will be soon.

Kinnon "Vicious D" Yee
Author - RaptorsHQ.com

by Raptors HQ - Vicious D on Jul 11, 2009 2:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs