It's finally time to update our ageing creaking directory platform which has been live since 2012.
We've been planning and working on it now since May, and my wildly optimistic idea of being live by August disappeared into fantasy when our technical guru outlined how complex an update we were attempting to roll out.
But the testing is nearly complete, final tweaks getting applied and fingers crossed and a good wind, we should be live on Saturday night.
So the forum and directory will be locked down tonight, while the site is upgraded, and should be available again Saturday evening.
From a forum perspective, you will see little difference. You will log in the same, create and edit posts the same, and visually it will look the same.
But we are finally scrapping the separate mobile and desktop website approach we have had since 2009, and I've finally been won over to responsive web design, where one size will automatically resize and fit all.
The biggest changes are for our directory. The search facility was designed back in 2006, with loads of bolted on updates over the years and is well past it's sell by date.
Instead we have taken our Trading Standards Trusted Trader platform as a starting point, which has been performing really well, and scaled that up to include loads of extra functionality.
Below is an example of a listing on the new platform.
So a busy weekend ahead 
and no doubt more than a few support calls on Monday morning.
But I'm hoping you like the new platform, the majority of the changes are a result of requests from customers and forum members.
Due to the complexity, there is some more functionality that will be rolled out early next year, but we want to bed in the new system and make sure it's stable and bug free.
So if you are having a beer or glass of wine tonight or tomorrow, think of us 
