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Current Site Layout Tweak Feedback
MikeB
Community ManagerAdministrator RarePosts: 6,555
Hey guys,
Earlier, you may have noticed we made some changes to the homepage. These changes were made in an attempt to improve the site's layout in the interim until we can launch the full blown new design later this year. We've rolled back those changes temporarily so we can make some further tweaks based on your feedback, but if you have additional feedback you'd like to share, please do so here. I've gone ahead and locked the other thread since it was for a totally different design/out of date. This should be easier to follow for all involved.
Thanks!
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
But it DID have the forum post updates. They were just moved. To an even better spot (right next to the image scroller). But I think most people looking for forums didn't look there.
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Telling us it looks like shit isn't really constructive feedback we can use. What didn't you like about it? How can we improve it? Etc. We aren't going to be keeping the same layout, so this is your opportunity to provide us feedback so that we can better implement these tweaks before the new site arrives.
I didnt notice it. The overall impression I got was it looked like one of those list sites filled with clickbait articles. The homepage is good as it is imo, any specific reasoning for changing it?
We're on an ancient struggling architecture, moving to a new one, so a brand new site is coming. It will but much easier to read/find content on, but that's then, a few months down the road.
For these changes, the main thing we're going for is more visibility of the news. Most people don't even realize how quick Suzie gets stories up there, or click on them. Frankly, we have too much clutter on the homepage now. We'd like it to be a little easier to see content, without you guys losing access to the Recent Discussions area either.
BUT, if it's unfeasible to NOT spend a ton of time on it now, we'll just wait until the new site comes later in the year. At least that we know will work, because it's a complete overhaul.
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"full blown new design later this year"
I'm hoping it's a total overhaul with a more modern design, and new forums, such as what IGN and Massively did (not necessarily exactly like these two, but with a modern layout post-2012).
Either way, good luck with the design.
This is from the test site. The Tabula Rasa article is what the news feed looked like, scrolling down about 7-9 articles before having a "more" button. There were definitely issues with it pushing content way out of view.
Notice the forum feed right next to the image slider.
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Indeed it is. I really think it's going to be happily accepted. And once we get it live, we'll be able to make style changes based on feedback.
Try to be excellent to everyone you meet. You never know what someone else has seen or endured.
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OK... I already gave you some feedback on the forum activity glitch caused by the narrower column. So here are other impressions:
I liked the article feed but as others said, it was taking up too much vertical space and required too much down scrolling to even get to yesterday's stuff. But it was definitely more visible than its current placement.
IDK much about website design so my apologies if I'm stepping on design rules (or infringing on ad space) but you could use a slighter wider 2nd and 3rd columns.
And finally, don't waste too much time on these interim tweaks and get us that new site already!
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The spot for the forum posts was fine but the box was a bit to narrow.
Right now you've got on your front page the scrolling pictures about some of the latest news, list of latest features, list of latest news, list of latest columns, and a list of latest videos. That's too many and they're too scattered around the page to find.
I'd suggest finding a way to get them all together on top of the page if you want them to be noticed.
The forum post headers were in a completely non intuitive location, seemingly placed at random. You may just as well have put a printout of the homepage on the office wall and thrown a dart at it to decide where to put the headings.
I gave up looking after around ten seconds, guessing there was a bug and just went to a different site instead. I've come back now to see if things are fixed, and they are for now.
You know what they say about "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" ?
1. Column width could use some adjustment.
More width to 1 and 3(!!). We hit the 1920x1080 age times ago, yet the actual site's body size is like 880p (at least on my Firefox). If i enlarge my browser window, all i get is wider ads left and right.
2. the "current forum activity" block is taking up too much space for too little content (4 topics only). Also, BRING BACK THE "VIEW MORE" BUTTON!!!
3. getting an overview over the last articles in the left column requires too much scrolling. If i want to skim over the last 5, i have to scroll down and more down and further down. As it is now, it could use a smaller font for the articles headline, rezise the picture underneath, remove some spaces/empty lines to get each article more compact.
"If I may add a suggestion. A little colour at the bottom of each post where the agree etc buttons are would look nice, even if it's just the numbers of the people agreeing within the boxes."
Try to be excellent to everyone you meet. You never know what someone else has seen or endured.
My Review Manifesto
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The very simplest idea of spaces in between sentences should be there not something thought about or discussed.
We could get around it before by adding extra spaces,which was also dumb but now it does not recognize a space at all.I don't know why i even put a space in here as i know it won't show up.
Current activity seems to have disappeared yet it looks like current videos moved into that spot.
I see an embedded advert into where content should go,we already have the giant advert that surrounds the whole outside.Then mmotftw doesn't need a box that big,half the size is plenty.
Columnists again you only need a heading not 6 medium sized areas on the main page,that shoudl open up AFTER you click the main heading.
Pretty much all of the headings have oversized boxes including the special offers area seems to have a gigantic area beneath it of wasted space.
I would have got rid of top voted games before anything,it is a 100% meaningless area that is over weighted by fanbois who rate their fave games a 10/10 and haters a 1/10.
What was the purpose of adding more flags?Awesome,,insightful what is the purpose of that?
Is it some sort of lame rating system ,that idea was asked a long time ago and put down because targeting users in such a manner should frowned upon in a big way.You should know the end result of such a system and the added negativity it causes,just from past experiences on other websites making the same mistake.I could spell out expamples but i should not need to.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
The proper way to have a hype rating is to use a counter to each forum,that gives a TRUE hype rating.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.