Thursday, December 06, 2007
New design on its way…
As some of you may have noticed we are in the process of implementing a new design for the site. There’s a lot of work going on in the background, and it is very much work in progress. When complete, we hope to have significantly changed the way the commenting facilities work, lending slight more space and focus on the work of individual commenters and making it slightly smoother and easier to navigate. Whether you love or hate what you see so far, comments welcome below!
Mick Fealty @ 02:44 PM
Great stuff!
Though still think that a wee comma between northern Ireland and politics might be appropriate. But what do i know?
Posted by on Dec 06, 2007 @ 02:56 PMIt makes the site seem like a cartoon version of the MSM with it’s fixation on red, white and black.
I personally find the red too bright. Its a distraction and a little annoying. Maybe its just change resistance on my part and I’ll get used to it.
Posted by on Dec 06, 2007 @ 02:57 PMMaith thú Mick, cén chomhlacht atá á dhéanamh duit?
Are you trying to entice a younger clientele?
Posted by on Dec 06, 2007 @ 03:00 PMIn the interests of balance, shouldn’t the slightly orange tinge be tempered with a bit of green. ;-)
Posted by on Dec 06, 2007 @ 03:03 PMI hate that word check below thing, as far as i know its only effective against stopping spam and I never see spam on here is it necesary
Posted by on Dec 06, 2007 @ 03:03 PMRG,
As I get older and more decrepit, the site gets younger and younger. ;-)
Frank,
I think there are things that can be done about the colour/s.
Posted by on Dec 06, 2007 @ 03:03 PMpacman,
I think you should see a specialist! ;-)
Posted by on Dec 06, 2007 @ 03:04 PMMick,
I have to join Frank Sinistra (that must be pratically the first time I have type that) and RG Cuan. I always liked the rather sober top of the web page and am unconvinced by the odd running bloke we are now greeted with. But then again I am a fundamentalist flat earth nutter.
Posted by on Dec 06, 2007 @ 03:08 PMSorry Mick - heading off the SF Politburo diktats before the minnions start posting.
BTW, if I’ve taken the sting out of that one, they may just home in on parity of esteem for Notes on North of Ireland etc. etc. (or here, there, this place).
Posted by on Dec 06, 2007 @ 03:10 PMI am not a fan of the Gorillaz style banner.
Posted by on Dec 06, 2007 @ 03:16 PMActually, with my glasses on, I can see a hit of orange (as opposed to Orange) at the extreme right. My apologies!
Posted by on Dec 06, 2007 @ 03:17 PMAny symbolism with the cartoon figure Mick? Wasn’t Slugger O’Toole a sailor who was drunk as a rule, whereas this character looks like some sort of athlete.
One tiny point, whenever my broadband connection goes down and I have to resort to dial-up (frequently in this neck of the woods) I often find my posts don’t appear after submitting, no matter how many times I click the button, I’ve found the way around it is to go back, “copy” the original message, then forward and “paste” it into the message block in the page where I was hoping my carefully thought out, enormously erudite, and hugely anticipated comments were supposed to appear.
It’s not a huge problem but it has occasionally led to me losing my six thousand words of meticulously researched opinion in the past and I know how disappointing that is to my many fans here on Slugger O’Toole.
Like I say it only occurs on dial-up.
Posted by on Dec 06, 2007 @ 03:17 PMThe red box for the home, contact etc is definitely a bad idea. I don’t know if you’ve seen it Mick, but I’ve made further complaints in response to your question if it’s that bad on the other thread which mirror Frank’s.
And if that’s slugger in the heading, shouldn’t he be stumbling rather than running?
Posted by on Dec 06, 2007 @ 03:18 PMAhhhhhhhhh. I said the same thing as Harry Flashman. See what you’ve done Mick, I hope you’re pleased with yourself.
And if anyone sees Orange, I suggest they see a doctor. I used to have the same problem as Harry but not once the code was removed.
Posted by on Dec 06, 2007 @ 03:20 PMTongue firmly in cheek Garibaldy.
Min you, I’ll have to stick to the left side of the page from now on, given it’s fine Down colours.
Posted by on Dec 06, 2007 @ 03:24 PMThe googles! they do nothing!
Anyway, a small suggestion to cut the traffic on the site and improve user experience. Add a link on threads to view comments from either the first page (as now) or the last page. Saves people who are following a discussion having to go to the first page to get to the last.
Posted by on Dec 06, 2007 @ 03:26 PMThat’s an excellent idea ken!
Posted by on Dec 06, 2007 @ 03:31 PMI agree. I suggested something similar ages ago on a thread about suggestions to improve slugger, but assumed the technology prevented it. Now I see that it was simply that my opinion was meaningless.
Posted by on Dec 06, 2007 @ 03:35 PMThe current links to pages at the top of the comments zone are perfectly adequate.
That way you’re not encouraging readers to skip from the front page to the latest comment.. and past the full post.. including what’s written below the fold.
Posted by on Dec 06, 2007 @ 03:43 PMTrue, but it is a right royal pain if you want to get the end of the conversation quickly. We might just repaginate to show 100 or 150 comments at a time.
Posted by on Dec 06, 2007 @ 03:45 PMmick
speaking of glasses, any chance of beefing up the script and making it a litte bigger. Otherwise I may need to get a pair of specs.
What say ye?
Posted by on Dec 06, 2007 @ 03:49 PMHave to agree with a few others, Mick. That red colour is simply awful.
Also would support the suggestion for a comma after Northern Ireland. That will stop the pedants who complain, mainly about Pete’s occasional wider forays, or, Heaven forbid, any mention of southern politics..Posted by on Dec 06, 2007 @ 03:59 PMA comment about the subheading - NOTES on NI politics and culture”.
Any chance of losing the word NOTES. I’s prefer “DISPATCHES” rather than “notes” - or something even better if anyone else can suggest it. Notes is weak.
Posted by on Dec 06, 2007 @ 04:01 PMMrs D, it’s on the list…
Posted by on Dec 06, 2007 @ 04:05 PM“The current links to pages at the top of the comments zone are perfectly adequate.
That way you’re not encouraging readers to skip from the front page to the latest comment.. and past the full post.. including what’s written below the fold.”
Well, it might be adequate if Slugger didn’t fall over all the time and give you what I can only assume to be throttling max page view errors.
But in any case, each page of comments includes the full post at the top, and if you jump right to the bottom you are likely to be lost and have to work back to find the thread.
Moreover, that’s a rather horrible top down dictation that results in poor user experience. Sometimes I don’t want to wade through a 200 page thread. Sometimes I’ve already joined the debate. In general, Mick’s idea of more posts on page is a good one, expect in the case whether I want to get to the last page to add to a debate I’ve already joined. Now I have to wait longer for the first page to load.
Ideally, I want to be able to pick any page.
But that is just my humble professional opinion.
Posted by on Dec 06, 2007 @ 04:05 PM
