TheTrukstoP.com has gone through many changes over the years, and the latest upgrade and refresh is of no exception. As a matter of fact, it's probably the biggest overhaul this site has ever seen. Not only has it seen a new redesign, but a complete shuffling of content as well. It is evolving into something else entirely.
Back in 2005, I was looking at TheTrukstoP.com as it was at that point. A launch pad for my fan-made sites dedicated to KISS and Star Wars. I wanted to change that. KISS had gone beyond the regular evolution of band and had changed into a brand. There was really nothing new to report. Star Wars fans had seen the release of all prequel films, and that was the primary reason why I started that site. It was time for a change.
Not only was it for external reasons though. I was beginning to take on a whole range of new projects and ideas. Although I would still be managing Corey Hodgetts' West of October web site, and Stevie D's SLAM website, I was also beginning work with a metal band known as AGAINST 72. I was beginning to dive further into a wide array of writing projects I was subjecting myself to. I began planning concepts and ideas such as a Dimebag Darrell tribute show, and many other things.
I began to feel, deep inside, that it was time to turn TheTrukstoP.com into a media format detailing what Greg Davies was up to, as opposed to what Gene Simmons or George Lucas was doing. That sounds kind of self-centered, but if you take a look at the web as it is right now, there's very little that ISN'T self centered.
Take MySpace.com for example. There's an opportunity for someone who knows very little about HTML to create their own corner of the web. & no matter how poorly most of those pages are designed, all of it is an opportunity for one to blow their self-centered horn; screaming, "Hey - look at me, bitch!"
At the same time, I didn't want to totally restrict myself from talking about KISS, Star Wars, and other things I was interested in. I also wanted to talk a lot more about things that interested me, and things that had either attracted my attention or pissed me off. Initially, that was the beginning of what would become known as TrukbloG. But I quickly learned how much I despised the nature of blogs... and it was something that really didn't fit this site. So I changed the concept to "articles", and moved my generic blogging to the MySpace page I screw around with.
Some may say, at first glance at these articles, that they're pretty much blogs anyway. I disagree. The best blogs online are run either by web designers that have a good concept of vision and design, or journalists with excellent news sources. In other words, they're web sites anyway. Every other blog is just a weak, pale imitation, and part of an online movement that will die in the near future.
Basically, what it crunched down to was that good web sites came from thoughtful web design, in terms of both image and content. & that's what I wanted. I wanted to change what TheTrukstoP.com was, into TheTrukstoP.com you see now. And that wasn't as easy as you think it might be.
Rebooting TheTrukstoP.com wasn't as simple as getting rid of the KISS and Star Wars stuff, and doing a quick redesign. The initial change began back in mid-2005 when I first made the decision for change. You see, the old TrukstoP was integrated with many things, such as our message forum. That necessitated change of a massive kind at the message forum. Topics were moved. Forums were destroyed. Members were lost. Some people thought I was crazy.
The next step was an initial design change to indicate the coming main change. I removed all references to KISS and Star Wars, and TheTrukstoP.com, for many months became a launch pad for Against 72, SLAM, and Corey Hodgetts.
To the general visitor, over those months, it seemed that TheTruktoP.com had become a stagnant site - with the only updates being links to the abovementioned sites. In actual fact, the truth was far from the assumption. Behind the scenes, in real-life, I began doing a lot of research, and I mean A LOT of research, into the surge of Web 2.0, and the common web design trends going on out there.
This research actually took longer than I originally thought. After finishing, it literally came down to me sitting down with pen and paper, and completely rethinking the site from scratch. & now, here we are, as it is now. It's taken a long time. 8 years of online presence, 9 months of initial planning, and the last few weeks have come down to the actual nuts-and-bolts redesign of the site.
So, was it all worth it? When I see the design as it has turned out, deep inside, I feel that it is worth it. I don't think I have been more excited about this website as I am now. To me, after all of the work, it feels like this is just the beginning.
Take 
Rebooting TheTrukstoP.com wasn't as simple as getting rid of the KISS and Star Wars stuff, and doing a quick redesign. The initial change began back in mid-2005 when I first made the decision for change. You see, the old TrukstoP was integrated with many things, such as 
