rebelling against low expectations

A Brand New Website

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Nope, you didn’t come to the wrong place. TheRebelution.com has a new set of threads — and we think it looks mighty fine. Welcome to the next chapter for The Rebelution movement

This redesign is one of several steps we’re taking to position this website and the message of Do Hard Things for maximum impact. The new site does a better job than ever at connecting motivated young people and empowering them to share their stories, projects, and resources with each other.

Here are five new features we’re really excited about:

1. Mobile and Tablet Friendly

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The new TheRebelution.com sports a completely responsive design — meaning it will look good on your phone, tablet, or any other Internet-enabled device. You can try it out for yourself, even from your computer. Just change the width of your browser window and watch the website change. Fancy!

2. More Powerful Comment Section

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Every blog post now runs Disqus — the gold-standard for large websites and professional blogs. It allows for complex back-and-forth discussions, lets you “like” or “dislike” other comments, shows you other popular discussions around the site, and even ranks top commenters. Try it out below!

3. Better Content Organization

content_organization

The redesign introduces several new content channels, including Projects, News, and Resources. All of the channels are divided into further sub-categories, allowing you to find the content you want as well as browse similar content. You’ll also appreciate the Archives and Classic Posts pages.

4. Ten Ways to Get Involved

get_involved

We think you’ll love the new Get Involved page — including the “100 Hard Things” Challenge and opportunities to get published on TheRebelution.com. The new site is powered by you and is fueled by user-generated content. So don’t wait! Share your story, article, news tip, or resource today.

5. Lots of Room to Grow

room_to_grow

The new site provides us with a solid platform to build on — something we really lacked with the old model. With a site that is much easier to update and compatible with numerous tools we couldn’t use before, we expect this to be only the beginning. We hope you’ll join us on the journey!

P.S. As with any new site launch, you’ll find bugs and broken links and various carnage. If you run across those kind of things, please be kind enough to leave a comment to let us know. Thanks so much!

About the author

Alex and Brett Harris

are the co-founders of TheRebelution.com and co-authors of Do Hard Things and Start Here. They have a passion for God and for their generation. Their personal interests include politics, filmmaking, music, and basketball. They are both graduates of Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, Virginia.

94 comments

  • Amazing! I’m loving it! I’m really excited to see what the Rebelution has in store for this new website. Awesome!

  • Most excellent web site! The content organization is much improved, and the layout is more visually/graphically oriented, which follows the trends that facebook and other web layouts are shifting towards. My one recommendation is to expand the “resources” section, but I see you are already working on it. (i.e. the suggest resources feature.) Great job!

  • Hey Daniel, thanks for the kind words. You’re definitely right about the resource section. That’s a new channel so it’s still very sparsely populated. Hopefully that will change quickly.

  • This website is AWESOME!! Brett, you and Alex have come a LONG way since 2005. Thanks so much for all you do in encouraging teens (like myself) to DO HARD THINGS!

  • Woohoo! Looks great, Brett (et al!) I’m thrilled to see the foundational truths of this ministry that have so impacted my own life continue to grow and flourish in these new and exciting ways. Even those of us in our twenties are reading along after all these years, so encouraged by the “fellowship” of those running this race as well. May the Lord receive the glory He deserves from His work in the lives of those represented here. Looking forward to this next “chapter” guys! 🙂

    ~Beth

  • So good to hear from you, Beth! It’s great to see God continue to open new doors for this message and ministry. If you’d ever like to write something for us, let us know. We want to start including more content for you twenty-somethings. 😉

  • Yay!! I’m so excited! It looks wonderful. 🙂

    Thank you starting this website, Brett and Alex, and for writing your book. It had a profound impact on this girl who was struggling in her teen years; God used your book in an amazing way. 🙂 I’m excited that you’re keeping this website going and look forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for it!

  • I think this is fantastic! It looks very swish, and should be easy to navigate. I’m going to have some fun playing around with it!

  • Wow, guys! This is awesome 🙂 so stoked to find content I haven’t seen before because it was hidden. Thanks for taking the time to “re-face” and “refresh” the blog with a new face and fresh vision! Blessings to you both 🙂

  • Looks absolutely incredible! Way to go guys… amazing work y’all are doing for the Kingdom of God! 🙂

  • Wow! Phenomenal makeover! Absolutely stunning! One really (really) nit-picky thing I noticed is that on the pages for the books, the book graphics face away from the text. The reader’s eyes will logically follow the direction the book turns, so it might be better to have the graphics facing in toward the text than away from it.

  • Thanks for the encouragement, Ana! We’e so glad that God used our book and message to make a difference in your life. That’s amazing. =)

  • Hope y’all don’t mind me advertising here. (The new website looks great by the way.)

    I (and a friend) have a blog going called, “Growing in His Knowledge.” If you are interested, you’re more than welcome to check it out and learn from it. It’s not fancy, but I hope y’all find it a blessing!

    http://redeemed-dianoia-thinking.blogspot.com/

  • Yay! I can even log in with DISQUS! And I love the mobile magic and the new design. Nice Job guys.

  • Site looks nice. I’m guessing you, Brett, designed and developed it? Or who did?

    I’ve been reading a lot of design books recently, and many emphasize the use of grids and alignment throughout. While for the most part I can see effort was put in to doing so, may I suggest two things: 1) Make Rebelution logo same height as “manifesto” book ad (keep aspect ratio). 2) Either center or align left to the logo above it.

    It also took me a little while to find the forum which is an essential part of the site as I see it (unless your trying to make the shift towards social media and away from forums which is another common idea although I disagree.)

    The only functional problem so far that I’ve discovered is that at therebelution.com/classics/ I got a 404. My link to that page was from the “classic posts” image link on side on the “article” posts.

    Please note that I’m not trying to be picky, just trying to give my humble opinion. (Oh, and don’t let my critiques outweigh my appreciation for the new site.)

  • Excellent suggestions. Thanks for catching those things. I fixed the broken link you found and will work on the logo tomorrow.

    I’m afraid I don’t understand your second point (i.e. “2) Either center or align left to the logo above it.” What did you mean by that? Sorry if I’m being dense.

    In answer to your questions, yes, I’m responsible for how the site looks —though it’s actually built on a premium WordPress theme, so it didn’t require much development at all (just a lot of design work, content migration, organization, etc.). What little development it needed was provided by Jon Feaster at Bitdesigner.com — who was excellent to work with.

    Thanks again for sharing!

  • So, this is the new look? Amazing! You will definitely catch a lot more eyes with this…love all the colors.

    Praise God for this site. I don’t know, but I have never seen a larger group of varied young people with a heart for God come together with one accord! So encouraging. I’m glad you’ve kept it all up, and look forward to checking out the new features.

    I’m also looking forward to seeing just how far God is going to go with the Rebelution…again! I cannot wait to see this generation changed as dramatically as I know it can be.
    One other thing: how do I like the comments of others?

  • Oh goodness the site looks amazing! I love it. I totally love how organized and attractive it is! Beautiful design.

  • So glad you like the new website! =)

    To like/dislike comments you click on the little arrow signs at the bottom left of each comment. The arrow pointing up will “vote up” the comment and the arrow pointing down will “vote down” the comment.

  • Oops; I somehow skipped finishing that sentence I was referring to the main navigational menu. It doesn’t seem to be aligned with anything. I’d either line “Home” up with the logo or center it.

  • Completely unrelated, how is Alex doing? I haven’t seen him really do anything on the blog for a long time.

  • One more thing: I can’t seem to find any links to the modesty survey. Maybe you could put image links several places?

  • Alex is doing great. He’s very excited about the new website and has been following everything around here, but Harvard Law School is keeping him from writing for now.

  • We’re not entirely happy with how some people have been interpreting/applying the survey results. Until we have a chance to address those things we’ve chosen not to feature the survey prominently on the website.

  • I remember the old comments! your books are guys! I ‘ve read Do Hard Things book.
    That chapter of helping someone who is struggling to quit drugs that chapter was helpful my friend quit them cause of your inspiring story she gave her life to Christ fully back in early October she struggles when bad things happen my friendship with her this past year has been risky I reached out to her on the chatroom a while ago she was in trouble I knew something wasn’t right with her, I did a book study do hard things book questions I wrote them down on paper I had her write down what re the hardest things she had to do many times. she struggles to keep up with her faith in Jesus. Even she was doing drugs a while ago a year ago I never gave up.
    I wanted to thank you Brett & Alex for writing the book Do Hard Things
    that made my friend realize that killing herself would not do any good.
    she and I did a prayer walk every week in August 2012!
    Jesus turned her around! I’m glad I reached out to her.
    That book is so great!
    love it

  • I am using an iPod touch and the website will flash on and off against the background. :- /

  • Hi there!

    Back in the end of Feb. I changed my e-mail address so I re-subscribed, but haven’t been getting the email updates. Thankfully my sister (my twin :D) has a subscription, too, so I haven’t been missing out, but I was wondering if it something to do with the website change over (I’m a bit of a computer idiot)??? I’ve re-subscribed again so hopefully I will start getting them again.
    Thanks anyway!

  • Hey Nicole,

    When you sign up you should receive a verification message to the email address you provided. Did you receive that? If not, you might need to check your spam filter. Until you click on the verification link they send you your subscription won’t be complete and you won’t get the updates.

    Hope that helps!

    – Brett

  • The first time I checked out the website from my iPod Touch it was fine. However, I just checked again and it did flash a few times when the site finished loading and on occasion afterward.

    It could be because there is a little too much to load for a mobile device, or it could just be an iPod problem. Although I know that the same thing happens for other sites that have a lot to load on the home page.

    Perhaps decreasing the number of extra links/images on the home page might help for those who have slow internet, computers, or devices.

  • Hi Brett,
    Nope, didn’t get the verification message & I checked the spam filter, all good there. I am getting the email updates now though since I re-re-subscribed though. 😀
    Oh! And the new site looks great!!! 😉

  • Wow Brett, you have outdone yourself, I think this is exactly what anyone would want to find after reading do hard things. Thanks for all your time and effort to make this happen, we really appreciate it. God bless! =)

  • So encouraging to see everything still going strong all these years later!

  • I like the new look! It is very nice! I always enjoy reading this blog!
    God bless!

  • Hmmm… That’s really too bad. Sorry for the annoyance.

    I’m afraid I don’t know what to do to address it, so I’ll have to ask someone else. Thanks for the feedback!

  • Well, I tried enlarging the logo and it didn’t work. Getting the logo the same height as the banner made the logo way too wide. So, I compromised and made the banner smaller. 😉

  • I am so happy that it is tablet friendly!!!! Thank you guys so much! Now I can share the Rebelution site with my friends easier.

  • I have a question, Brett. On one of my sites I’m working on adding Disqus, and I was wondering how you changed the secondary color to red.

  • Hey guys! I’m 14 and I am reading your book for a summer project assignment. I am only on page 25 and I am already inspired. That’s why I decided to check out your website. Its awesome. Our project is to accomplish a goal, do something outside of our comfort zone, new to our worlds as we know them, one hard thing this summer. I have been volunteering at my school’s daycare. It has been very enlightening. I never knew how much went into a daycare. I spend 8 hours a day Monday- Friday there. Thanks for inspiring me! Keep on inspiring people. Hopefully our worked will be just a little bit better because of it.

  • I bought this book for my son and even took him to one of the conferences a few years ago. He is a good boy but isn’t interested in challenging himself. If anyone would like to pray for ROMAN O. please do! He just needs a little push to get moving Thanks

  • Alex, Brett I read your book I am not quite a teenager but I turn thirteen in December the book was great! I loved the elephant story. I live in Colorado and I was hoping I could help with something in the future, if I could email me at [email protected] my name is Keegan Dunn thank you

  • My name is Keegan, I live in Colorado and I was wondering if there was something I could help with that was near me, thank you and have a good day….. oh and if there is email me at [email protected]

  • hey my name is Isaac!i am fourteen and I live in ohio!!!I want to start a web-site and I need some tips on how to start?i read your book and it really inspired me!!!thank you very very much!!!!
    thanks,
    Isaac:)

  • First of all, this is epic! I just joined and i still like it.One thing, I posted a comment on the game article and it said it was posted. However, I was looking to see if anyone had given me any advice today, (I had asked) and I couldn’t find it!? Where should i look? I might not be able to find this either, so this is me email, [email protected]. I would love some help, maybe I’m just new…

  • do u know how i can talk to brett?i just want to ask a few things but it seems like he’s talking to everybody but me…..thanks!

  • I’m sure it’s nothing personal. He’s probably just wrapped up in a lot of other things.

  • oh cool, what’s your website on? and I don’t think Brett is in charge of the graphics and making the website. I assume there are a lot of other people that work with him. he might though, I am not quite sure;-)

  • Hey Isaac,

    Sorry for not responding sooner. As Josiah mentioned, I’m traveling so I don’t have much time to get on the website.

    As far as tips for starting a website — that would really depend on what kind of website you’re wanting to start! In general though, you should start with reading some books about web design (check out your local library). Just make sure it’s a book that was published in the last two years and that it is targeted at beginners. Otherwise the information will be way too old and way over your head.

    There are also some cool free services like Wix.com that make creating and editing your website really easy.

    Hope this helps!

    In Christ Alone,
    Brett

  • hi!i want to start of by saying i’m very sorry on how I was so rude there is no excuse and i’m sorry….ok so you have helped me so much on my idea….well….I just got done reading chapter 10 about the teenage boy who started to sell bracelets for wells in Africa…….that is amazing!!!!!so i’m really praying what I could do to make a difference…so I was thinking what could I sell to make money…….the money would prolly go to houses in Haiti cause are church go’s down and builds houses for the people of Haiti!!!!!(btw you responded in great time it was me I was very rude..sorry)so anyway anymore advice would be great!!!!!oh and i’m HOMESCHOOLED!!!!!!!!!THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!hope we can stay in touch!!!!!!:)
    isaac

  • Hey Isaac,

    No harm done. I accept your apology and forgive you completely. I’m glad my advice was helpful.

    I’d also recommend checking out our second book, Start Here, once you finish Do Hard Things. Start Here is much more practical and focuses on how to put your passion into action (as well as answering all the most common questions we’ve received from young people like you).

    Anyway, may God bless you as you seek to do hard things and rebel against low expectations for His glory. Keep focusing on Him and obeying Him, no matter how difficult it is, and He will use you in amazing ways.

    In Christ Alone,
    Brett

  • Is this your first comment???
    Welcome to the Rebelution! Say, how’d you find us, anyway?

    It took FOREVER to scroll through your profile… almost as long as it would have taken to scroll through mine!

  • I came here about a year and a half(ish) ago. I can’t believe 6 months before the site was different. Thanks for so much of your time, Alex and Brett!

  • Wow, you were here a year and a half! I thought you were here forever! I never thought of you having been new once…

  • Yeah. My first comment was using a picture-less profile. It was on the first post about the Muslim girl who was shot by the Tailban. I forget how to spell the name, but I always pronounced it Malinda Yack-swiv. (Or something) If you check it out, you will see I sounded… nervous.

  • Yeah, without Disqus it would be pretty hard to comment on here.
    That’s cool… I don’t have a story like that. I just read it because my mom was like, “Hey, here’s a book for you to read,” and all of my other siblings like it 🙂

rebelling against low expectations

The Rebelution is a teenage rebellion against low expectations—a worldwide campaign to reject apathy, embrace responsibility, and do hard things. Learn More →