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'Day Next' comes to the Developer Center

Today you may notice a few changes to the Developer Center. This is all part of a project we've been calling "Day Next"—our codename for the day after "Day One," which is when Adobe Systems completed the acquisition of Macromedia. Day Next is the next phase in our quest to integrate the Adobe.com and former macromedia.com websites fully. Day Next brings top-level integration to Adobe.com, unifying the domain and integrating the top-level pages.

As executive editor of the Developer Center, I'm here to answer questions that may arise as you start to explore the newfangled Developer Center. I will also offer a few tips on how to get around the redesigned site.

How do I get to the Developer Center?

Don't laugh. If you're reading this article, you are probably thinking, "I'm already in the Developer Center." But with more and more people getting content through feeds, blogs, and search mechanisms, there's a possibility that you accessed the site, or are reading this article, from a source other than Adobe.com.

To access the Developer Center from any page on Adobe.com, click the Communities button on the global navigation (top of page). This leads to the Adobe Communities page, which provides a central portal to various community areas, including the Developer Center, the Design Center, Labs, and the Partners site.

For more direct access, simply bookmark the Developer Center homepage.

Where are the new articles?

There they are, right at the top of the Developer Center. You can always find the new content under the Features tab. How new are these articles? We publish on a weekly schedule—sometimes even more frequently—so you can expect to find new content at least once a week.

Remember seeing something a few weeks ago that you can no longer find? You can either search the Developer Center or visit the Developer Center archive, where you will find every article featured on our home pages dating back to January 2005.

How can I find out when new articles are available in the Developer Center?

Good question. Go to the Developer Center and scroll down to the "Keep current with the Developer Center" section. You'll find the following:

• RSS feeds
• Latest blog posts
• Newsletters

These are all mechanisms we use to "push" content to you, so you won't have to worry about missing any new content.

Why would I want to subscribe to an RSS feed?

Our RSS feed updates when we do. When we launch new content in the Developer Center, every article goes into our Developer Center RSS feed, so you'll get them immediately in your RSS reader.

You can also subscribe to Adobe product RSS feeds, which provide you with various types of content, including Developer Center articles and TechNotes related to our products. Scan through the feeds and see how to subscribe at adobe.com/support/rss/.

What types of developer newsletters can I subscribe to?

The Developer Center team publishes several newsletters, including the following:

• The Edge: As our flagship developer newsletter, the Edge contains original content geared toward informing, enlightening, and inspiring the Adobe developer community. Sent every six weeks, the Edge features project profiles, developer interviews, and Adobe insider perspectives. If you'd like to subscribe to the Edge, visit our membership page. After signing in, choose Communication Preferences. 
  
• Developer Center Update: This e-mail provides an index to new articles and is a lot like receiving the Developer Center home page in your inbox on a biweekly basis. If you don't want to miss a single article and you prefer e-mail to RSS, subscribe to the Developer Center Update now.
  
• Adobe Enterprise Developer Newsletter: Sent monthly, the Adobe Enterprise Developer Newsletter provides articles and information that is specific to enterprise installations of LiveCycle and Flex. If this interests you, subscribe now.

Where is the sample code? Where are the sample applications?

The first thing you're going to notice on the new Developer Center home page is a row of gray tabs. (Yep, they're new too.) The Samples tab is home to our featured sample applications and code samples.

However, I'll let you in on a secret: These samples are only a small number of the samples we offer in the Developer Center. A large percentage of sample code exists within Developer Center articles and tutorials. We encourage you to download and study the sample code as you follow along with the techniques described in our articles.

Where I can see all blogs about Adobe?

You can find the Adobe blog aggregator on MXNA at weblogs.macromedia.com/mxna. We are still in the process of aggregating all Adobe bloggers with all the other folks who are part of the MXNA world.

A good way to get to MXNA from the Developer Center is through the Community tab, again at the top of the Developer Center. We have some quick links there for the following:

• Blog aggregator home (MXNA)
• Latest posts by Adobe employees
• Listing of all Adobe blogs
• Customizable Adobe RSS feeds

Tip: MXNA lets you build your own custom feed, so you can get only the types of content you want to read.

How do I meet other like-minded developers?

On the Developer Center home page, check out the Community tab. This is where you can find forums, discussion lists, and events where developers gather. On top of that, you can join an Adobe user group in your community.

I could tell you more. However, to get the real detail on these programs, check out Jonathan Wall's article, Tapping into the community, which covers all of the community programs that his team manages.

How is the Design Center different from the Developer Center?

The Design Center publishes tutorials and articles aimed at folks who are creating projects and media with our creative tools. While the Developer Center is primarily focused on people who build projects that involve writing code, we recognize that there is a designer/developer continuum, and that you need to find all types of content when you need it.

We see this crossover specifically in the web design and development world. (We know that many of you need to keep your design hat and your developer hat both handy.) For that reason, the Design Center and Developer Center teams are working closely together to make sure that both sites have the content and features you need to find content easily.

I'm developing for Acrobat. How can I find the Acrobat SDK?

Again, the new tabs on the home page of the Developer Center are your friends. Click the SDKs & Downloads tab and you'll find a link to the Acrobat SDK page. Also, you can click the Acrobat link in the Product Developer Centers navigation on the right side of the page to get to the Acrobat Family Developer Center.

Just how deep does this redesign go? Some areas don't look the same.

Ah...if you just followed that link to the Acrobat Family Developer Center, you may have noticed.

Our primary goal for Day Next was to integrate the top levels of the Adobe.com website. Some areas are completely integrated by necessity. In the Developer Center, we tackled integrating our two home pages and all the content that existed on both sites into the new tabbed page.

We have also migrated the LiveCycle Developer Center into the new Adobe.com templates. We'll be tackling the other product developer centers and technology centers in upcoming months.

As an Partner, how do I get to the program from the Developer Center?

You can access the Adobe Partner Connection and other developer programs through the Developer and Partner Portal link on the right side of the home page. This link takes you to the Adobe Partner Connection Partner Portal main page.

You can also find developer programs that are specific to other products in those product areas. For example, if you are a member of the Adobe Enterprise Developer Program, you can find a link to it in the LiveCycle Developer Center.

What's next after Day Next? Can I send you suggestions for improvement?

We're always planning ahead for the next iteration of the Developer Center. (That means we're already planning the next version right now.) So please send your feedback to the Developer Center team. Your comments help us continually improve and build new features into the Developer Center.

While we always want to do more—and I promise we will—we hope that you'll like the changes we've made already to this "next day" Developer Center. Once again, don't forget to send us your ideas for what you'd like to see on the "Day After Day Next."

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