A sneak peak of the coming changes at FWtCT through SBNation United

Hey guys. So... this isn't your usual MSU News and Notes at all. I thought we'd take a break from the usual to talk about the changes that are coming to the site very soon through the SBNation United upgrade.

Firstly, let me say that the changes we will see here at the site very soon will be ones that will elevate not only this site but the whole SBNation network to another level of professionalism and design. The new United sites are designed to bring you the reader content in a manner that is easy to follow, pretty to look at, and easy to interact in. The blog will not only be a place for us to post but a place for you to comment and share your opinions on State sports just as you always have, and we feel the layout aids that commenting and discussion aspect greatly as well. Now, let me quit jabbering and let's take a look at what's coming soon to For Whom the Cowbell Tolls.

The Cover

The cover is the sleek and well designed new area at the top of our page that will feature specific stories and new content on the blog. What is so great about this, besides how nice it looks, is that we will have the ability to keep content in specific slots, rather than the forced down the page in reverse chronological order as they are on this site. That means that we can keep topics at the top that draw a lot of discussion, are fan favorites, or ones we just simply want you guys to be able to see when you access the site. The other cool thing? These "cover" areas are interchangeable. Check out the two different layouts below.

Our plan during the week is to keep the five story cover (seen above) at the top of FWtCT. This allows for you, the reader, to view our top 5 stories right there when you get to the site. Then you can begin to scroll down and view items in the river portion of the site. Now, on game weekends, we plan to feature the following layout....

This layout will feature your game thread, your storystream (we'll get to that in a minute) and probably your college football Saturday viewing guide. All right there at the top for you to view them. Then, when the game is over and you're looking for our recap posts? You'll be able to find the Quick Hits, Game Recap, and other material right there at the top waiting for you when you dial us into your browser. Looks good, huh? Now, let's discuss this storystream tool a bit more

Storystream

Story stream is the ability for our site to link related articles all together in one place. We can take all of the articles about a specific recruit MSU is pursuing, a game, a coaching search, anything really, and keep all of the updates in one single place, making it easy for you to get caught up, no matter when you see our site. You won't have to worry about digging through the archives anymore, you'll be able to simply visit a storystream on many topics and find all the information you want right there. You'll even be able to like or subscribe to a stream, so that when we add updates to it, you're notified! How easy is that?

Fanshots/Fanposts

Fanshots/Fanposts are the area of the site where you, the reader, get to share links, videos, pictures, and other content with us and all of the other guys and girls in our community. These tools will now have their own sleek page as well (in addition to being found on the front page).

Mobile

One of the biggest accomplishments (and there are many) of the SBNation United upgrade is the viewing experience when you check out an SBNation site either from your mobile phone or tablet. It used to be that viewing our site on your phone was a royal pain in the rear, but no more! You will now get the same experience on your phone that you do on your computer, scaled down to fit your mobile device. You'll be able to comment easier on gamethreads, posts, and navigate the site with an ease that was not there before in the previous layout.

Tablet

Same goes for your tablet. Have an iPad and want to check out our site but don't want to miss anything? No worries, because you'll get the full experience of FWtCT right there on your tablet, just the same as you would on a computer or your phone. Your experience will be nearly the same on all devices, to the point that you'll probably be able to navigate the site better than us after not too long!

I hope this small glimpse of the coming changes to For Whom the Cowbell Tolls is as exciting to you as it is for us here at the site. We feel that our passion for talking about MSU sports coupled with this massive and sleek overhaul will provide for you the readers a premium environment to view, interact, and commune with others who share your passion for MSU sports. Although I can't tell you the exact date of when the new changes will go live, I can tell you that it's coming "Very Soon." So make sure you study up, you're not going to want to miss anything when FWtCT gets her facelift!