LAST week saw the launch of our new Get Hampshire site, powered by the Aldershot News Group and Surrey and Hants Star.

The fact that the site is now live is a result of a lot of hard work from people all over the country, but it was a fraught and often stressful couple of days as the finishing touches were applied.

This was my first experience of launching a new website, and at times it was like a covert military operation.

The teams in Guildford and Aldershot have known about what the site will look like for months now, but preparing to unleash it on the increasingly discerning web community was easier said than done.

I realised how much we take for granted when browsing the net.

We surf along happily, jumping from one page to the next thanks to camouflaged links which carry you seemingly effortlessly through the vast expanses of cyberspace.

Wikipedia is the perfect example of this – you can go from Mozart to Mourinho via Chaplin and Chekhov in a matter of minutes – but underneath the surface lies an intricate set of wires, which can easily become a tangled web.

All was going smoothly at the start of the week as we began converting video, re-sizing pictures and making arrangements to move into our new second home.

As the three-man web team here in Guildford, we tend to keep our heads down and communicate with the outside world – even those sat feet away – via the medium of email.

On Thursday, however, we drew curious looks from the rest of the newsroom as the wires became crossed, the web developed knots and our deadline approached.

At around lunchtime, our hosting system decided in its infinite wisdom to go AWOL for a bit, such was the intense pressure of dealing with so much of Hampshire’s breaking news.

We stared at our monitors as the half-finished site crawled to a virtual standstill, and our usually unflappable online editor unleashed an expletive-laden volley of abuse at the PC in front of him.

After a short break and a couple of custard creams, we were informed by the developers at the Manchester Evening News that their system – which drives our sites – had been overwhelmed by traffic following the riots by Glasgow Rangers fans during the UEFA Cup final the previous night.

It would be foolish to lay any kind of blame at the feet of thousands of angry Glasweigans out for revenge, so it’s probably best to look at the whole thing in a positive light.

After all, what better example could you get of the power of the web to connect people?

As the old saying goes, when a Rangers fan flaps his wings in Eastlands, the internet has a heart attack.

Roll on Get Surrey.