YO, FIPS LOOKS DIFFERENT!

Not that anyone gives a shit anymore now that Osama was found dead, but just in case...

Are you looking at this site right now and thinking: "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS BULLSHIT???" Are our pictures so big now, they make your head feel like it's gonna explode?? Do you miss that gigantic "FUCK" that we used to have emblazoned on the top of our page? Or the Adrien Grenier photo you used to like to jerk off to?

Well, don't worry! All of those feelings are t-o-t-a-l-l-y normal. They just mean that you're likely in the throes of of your FIPS 2.0 readjustment period (F2RP).

Based on the team of experts we hired to manage this transitional process, as best we can estimate, F2RP should last no more than 24-48 hours at most. Sufferers have found that increasing your intake of marijuana and/or freshly baked donuts from 7th Ave Donut Shop will help ease your symptoms significantly. In order to further help you through this potentially difficult time, we've gathered an impressive FAQ below based on questions readers have sent in via Twitter, Facebook, and annoying blog comments:

Why did you redesign the site?

Well, no reason in particular. It's just a couple of years old and I thought it was time to freshen things up a bit. We switched from 3 columns to 2 because there was just way the hell too much crap on our front page. I wanted to make sure our content was really shining a lot more than it was. I also wanted to make it easier to click around, find shit that you need, and generally just make reading FIPS a better experience over all. FIPS CARES! I'm certain you'll fill me in (i.e. leave complain-y comments) concerning wherever we missed the mark. DO IT UP. I'm not afraid.

I miss the old site and hate this new design! I'm mad!

 

Well, after spending thousands of dollars to make shit pretty for you, a complete fucking stranger to me, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your bitching. And, of course, by "appreciate" I mean loathe with every fiber of my being. However, we're all entitled to our own opinion. And so I'll just thank you for your feedback, accept your criticism, assume you have no taste and move on. Also, be happy this bitch doesn't look like new Gawker.

Why did you get rid of the "FUCK" in your header? Does this mean you're not gonna curse anymore on the site?

No motherfucking way! Of course we're going to curse, rant, bitch and do all the stuff you've come to know and love about FIPS. We removed the big fuck for two main reasons:

1. It's very fucking annoying being referred to as "the blog that cannot be named" without receiving a link back to us from various local, national and international press outlets (which happens quite a bit...and we're especially lookin at you, NY Times).

2. We're getting a shitload of traffic now, and we want to start making more money with advertisers. For whatever reason, f'd is more palatable than FUCK.

We've also heard from a lot of readers who have mentioned that our site gets blocked at work. Or even if it's not blocked, they sit at their desks in panic mode, waiting for their boss to walk up behind them and ask them to explain why they're reading a site with a big FUCK across the top. We've now got you wimps covered! Also, as a reminder, you can also always access FIPS via: http://www.effedinparkslope.com, so no curse words ANYWHERE! Except in our posts! (but those are easier to hide).

What's with the new email sign-up? Are you going to harass me all day and night if I put in my email address?

Uhm, no. That would require us building email campaigns that we would need to launch and pay for in order to harass your ass all day and night...in case you've forgotten, I am insanely lazy. We're working out the specific spin of our email list, but rest assured when we figure it out, you'll be the first to know. And it's gonna be GOOD. My hope is to provide exclusive, (read: BETTER) info, content, etc, none of which you'll be able to get on the blog. So if I were you, I'd sign-up.

What's with all the ads?

Right, so remember that whole post I wrote about how blogging sucks? Well, ad dollars help to make it suck a leetle bit less. Also, apparently you FIPS readers are a hot commodity! And what do you know, lots of local businesses want on to your computer screens. In fact, if you're a local business who fits into that category, you should also check out our brand spanking new advertising page, which includes our media kit, deets about our readers, and all sorts of other good stuff. Everyone else: pretty please click on the ads and support all the businesses there...these are places that actually felt comfortable giving ad dollars to a blog with the word "fuck" in its URL, and that shit needs to be rewarded.

Anything Else coming? [YES! A DEALS PAGE!]

Deals! Yay deals!

Here's what's going to be going on there: we're gonna try to bring you guys some cool, Park Slope deals that are exclusive for FIPS readers. Consider this our online bulletin board, minus the bizarro psychics (unless there are any bizarro psychics out there that want to place a Deals ad...in which case, C-A-L-L M-E).

Anything E-L-S-E coming? [YES! A FORUM!]

Of course we all love Brooklynian, but also, we wanna get our heads into this whole forum game ourselves. You ppl have quite a lot to say, and we're not gonna have any pushy mods managing this shit, so it's gonna be a big ole free-for-all.

What if we want to get in touch with you? You know, like to tell you how much we hate this fucking redesign?

Well, there are about 17 million different ways you can reach us! You can:

• Leave a comment right here below. Also, it's best to start those out with: "Really, Erica...."--I love those comments!
• You can still always get in touch by emailing us at effedinparkslope at gmail dot com.
• You can click on over to our little contact page and send us scoop and/or bitch-outs. 
• OR, if you'd like to bitch out a specific FIPS writer, you can figure out how to reach them by clicking on over to our Contributor Page!
• If you are interested in advertising and/or deals you can contact us via our advertising page, OR just send an email to effedadvertising at gmail dot com. 
• You can Tweet bitch us out at @effedparkslope.
• Leave a bitchy comment on our Facebook page wall.
• Or just take a cue from Kook and tag the entire neighborhood with whatever FIPS message you'd like to get across! I'm positive we'll see it before someone covers it up with metallic silver paint!

Is that Oliver depicted in the center icon in your new header?

IMAGE VIA PARK SLOPE LENS

YES IT ISSSSSSSS! COULD YOU JUST DIE!???? I DID!

How come there's an "Erica" now in the top nav? Is Erica leaving or something?

I wish! Of course not! I realized that sometimes I like to write about shit that has fuck-all to do with Park Slope (I usually use the TMI tag). Sometimes I wanna write about my mom or TV shit or who knows what else, and now I have a spot to do it in....The Erica Blog! I'm definitely not gonna update it every day, but whenever the mood strikes, and whenever that mood is unrelated to anything PS-ish, I'll put it in the Erica blog. If I annoy you already, do NOT click over there.

Your pictures are much bigger now! I mean, right?

IMAGE VIA PORTLYN SNAPSHOTS

Yep! Bigger! And better! At least maybe.

In fact, we'd love to use some of your pics, cause we're guessing that you take way the hell better ones than we do (except for Park Slope Lens, of course). So, yeah! You should join our Flickr group (that's where the image above is from). You can add any photos you take that are Park Slope-y, or Brooklyn-y, and then if we use them on the site we'll link back to your Flickr page.

Ok, guyz...so have at it! What do you think? Good? Bad? Ugly?