blog: add beta.getmonero.org announcement

_posts/2026-08-05-announcing-the-getmonero-org-beta.md

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+---
+layout: post
+title: Announcing beta.getmonero.org
+summary: A redesigned getmonero.org is up at beta.getmonero.org. Feedback wanted.
+tags: [announcements, community]
+author: redsh4de
+---
+
+getmonero.org has held up better than most sites of its age, but it is showing that age. It has looked and worked much the same way for a long time.
+
+A redesign concept by [rehrar](https://github.com/rehrar) (Diego Salazar) has been sitting in Figma since 2024, with community feedback gathered along the way. What was missing was an implementation. That work was [funded through CCS](https://ccs.getmonero.org/proposals/redsh4de-getmonero-redesign.html), and the result is now up for testing:
+
+### [beta.getmonero.org](https://beta.getmonero.org)
+
+<figure style="margin: 1.5rem 0;">
+  <img src="/blog/assets/2026-08-05-announcing-the-getmonero-org-beta/home.png" alt="The beta front page" style="border-radius: 8px;">
+  <figcaption style="font-size: 0.9em; opacity: 0.75; margin-top: 0.5rem;"><em>The beta front page.</em></figcaption>
+</figure>
+
+One thing to know before you look around. Parts of the beta describe Monero as it will work after FCMP++, not as it works today, because the switch is aimed at sometime after that upgrade lands. Anything that reads as wrong about Monero today may be describing that later state deliberately, so it is worth checking against the roadmap before filing it as an error. Everything else is fair game, and the timing also leaves room to finish the work listed below.
+
+## Why a redesign?
+
+The complaints have been steady for years. When a [redesign concept went up on r/Monero in 2021](https://www.reddit.com/r/Monero/comments/pr8x6v/a_redesign_concept_for_wwwgetmoneroorg/), the thread filled with people who had been waiting for one: *"The current site looks like a school project from 1999, it needs to be modern."* *"I too think the current layout is a bit outdated, and a facelift would be in order."*
+
+A recurring worry was that the site sells the project short: a first-time visitor sees something amateur and draws conclusions about the technology behind it. By the time the website workgroup [put the question to the community in 2024](https://www.reddit.com/r/Monero/comments/1felb8e/the_future_of_getmoneroorg_looking_for_feedback/), it was describing the site in those terms itself: the look was starting to feel "dated & amateur."
+
+There were also complaints that had nothing to do with looks: outdated information, no technical explanation of how Monero actually works, and documentation buried too deep to find.
+
+Not everyone agreed. Open that thread today and the replies run mostly the other way: *"NAK. Current site works fine."* *"If it ain't broke don't fix it."* *"Dated and amateur is superior."* The fear was that a redesign would drift toward crypto-marketing gloss.
+
+Both sides raised specific objections, and those became the rules the beta was built against:
+
+- No JavaScript required
+- No landing-page gimmicks
+- No dark-only theme
+- Mobile from the start
+- No increase in page weight
+- Documentation that is easy to find
+
+## What is new in the beta
+
+Taking those rules in order.
+
+**Still no JavaScript.** Nothing runs in your browser, and no page asks anything of anyone else's server. Fonts and video are served from the site itself.
+
+**Follows your system theme.** Light or dark, matched to your OS setting, so neither camp gets a theme forced on them.
+
+<figure style="margin: 1.5rem 0;">
+  <img src="/blog/assets/2026-08-05-announcing-the-getmonero-org-beta/theme-light-dark.png" alt="The beta roadmap page, split in light and dark mode" style="border-radius: 8px;">
+  <figcaption style="font-size: 0.9em; opacity: 0.75; margin-top: 0.5rem;"><em>The roadmap page in light and dark.</em></figcaption>
+</figure>
+
+**Lighter than the site it replaces.** The front page transfers about a third of the bytes the current one does, which matters on a slow or expensive connection.
+
+<figure style="margin: 1.5rem 0;">
+  <img src="/blog/assets/2026-08-05-announcing-the-getmonero-org-beta/page-weight.png" alt="Chart comparing front page transfer size" style="border-radius: 8px;">
+  <figcaption style="font-size: 0.9em; opacity: 0.75; margin-top: 0.5rem;"><em>Front page weight on a desktop browser, measured on a first visit with an empty cache.</em></figcaption>
+</figure>
+
+**Guides now live at [docs.getmonero.org](https://docs.getmonero.org).** The old guides on getmonero.org are retired, which is most of what "documentation that is easy to find" was asking for.
+
+**Icons that hold up in Tor Browser.** On the strictest security setting, Tor Browser blocks SVGs, commonly used for iconography. The beta uses a custom AVIF icon system, so the icons still render.
+
+## What is still in progress
+
+A few things are still being worked on:
+
+**Illustrations.** Some are carried over from the current site and sit awkwardly next to the new design; others are stand-ins. If illustration or design is something you do, this is one of the more useful places to contribute right now, and it does not require touching any code.
+
+**Languages.** English, Arabic and Chinese are in place so far, against considerably more on the current site. The translation setup is ready for the rest, and work is underway to bring the Weblate instance back up for easier localization.
+
+**Copy.** A few pages still carry placeholder or lightly-edited text, and some inherited content is out of date and needs rewriting rather than moving across. Moneropedia is the largest piece of this.
+
+## Feedback
+
+Before this becomes the site everyone lands on, it should be tested by the people who use it.
+
+Useful things to report:
+
+- **Broken things.** Layout problems, dead links, anything that misbehaves in Tor Browser, on a phone, or in a narrow window.
+- **Things you could not find.** If you went looking for something and gave up, that is a navigation problem, and worth reporting along with what you were after.
+- **Translation problems.** Text that overflows, reads wrong, or lays out incorrectly.
+- **Accessibility problems.** Screen reader behaviour, keyboard navigation, contrast.
+- **Content that is wrong or out of date.** Corrections are welcome.
+
+Where to send it:
+
+- **[GitHub issues](https://github.com/monero-project/monero-site/issues)** for anything specific and reproducible.
+- **`#monero-site`** on Matrix and IRC for discussion and questions.
+
+Pull requests are welcome too.
+
+Thanks to rehrar for the design, to everyone who has reviewed, tested and filed issues against the beta so far, and to the community for funding the work.
+
+[beta.getmonero.org](https://beta.getmonero.org)