Some folks here at DZone have recently focused on improvements to the parts of our site related to DZone Refcardz, the 150-strong series of professional technology cheat sheets we have published during the past few years. Refcardz are truly outstanding resources for developers, but until now we haven’t really presented them as effectively as we could.
I’m sorry to say that nobody apparently got a good screenshot of the “before” pages because the “after” pages are simply worlds better. I wish I could show you an A/B, side-by-side comparison. If I can find an old screenshot I’ll update the post so you can see what I mean.
Anyway, here are some of the key improvements:
- Dramatically simplified download process
- Significant improvements in visual clarity
- Full-text HTML content of the Refcardz (no registration required)
- Useful list of related DZone Refcardz
- Better, more prominent author and sponsor credits
- Easy access to Twitter, Facebook and Google+ sharing
The best thing of all, however, is that the streamlined download process just works the way you’d expect it to. You click “Download” and (if you’re logged in) the download begins and you get immediate Refcardz goodness. This is much better than our previous process where you’d click to request the Refcardz, then wait for an email with a personalized URL, then click that link. Don’t ask me why we did it that way – what were we thinking?
In short, the DZone Refcardz pages look better, are better organized, and they are easier to use. They get you what you want faster!
There are 150 DZone Refcardz available for free. They cover a wide range of interesting developer and technology topics. These are typically written by bestselling tech authors and topic experts, so they can save you a lot of time and money as you work to add new skills or brush up on your old ones. Millions have been downloaded (even with the borked download process) and over 200,000 people subscribe to them.
Our new Refcardz page design should make it a lot easier for you to explore them all and find the ones that are most relevant for you. Enjoy!
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