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Have you ever liked a website redesign?
- Thread starter Bigkrev
- Start date
I like this one. I don't have to zoom out all the time on iPad to fit the size to the screen, and everything is close at reach. The trending and newest are golden. Just have to get the servers up to speed and I'm good.
I prefer theverge.com's current design to the one they had before and I love the simplicity and sleekness of the recent gameinformer.com update. I'm not yet decided on era's new look.
Nope, it sucks, I now have to open a tab and click more buttons to go between gaming and non-gaming.
Ars Technica's redesign was fine. They allowed you to keep it very similar to what it used to be.
The NYT redesign was good. It looks great and resizes better. I basically have a crush on the NYT web designers. They do a bang up job.
Reddit re-design is a dumpster fire.
Era's redesign..well, I've shared my feedback in the bug thread, including a youtube video and an annotated screen capture. I would not have done that if I had thought it was fine.
The NYT redesign was good. It looks great and resizes better. I basically have a crush on the NYT web designers. They do a bang up job.
Reddit re-design is a dumpster fire.
Era's redesign..well, I've shared my feedback in the bug thread, including a youtube video and an annotated screen capture. I would not have done that if I had thought it was fine.
Sure. This one though feels too cluttered though. I miss the simplicity and quickness of the legacy themes.
the most recent youtube redesing was ok.
era 2.0 is pretty bad tho, not gonna lie. its cluttered and cumbersome.
era 2.0 is pretty bad tho, not gonna lie. its cluttered and cumbersome.
Leaving the thread content to span 100% the width of the page is 1000% terrible. There's a reason the overwhelming majority of websites restricts their main content area to a fraction of the overall browser width.
It's like switching phones between iPhone and android. It always sucks for the first couple weeks and then I wonder how I used anything else.
I haven't really been able to use this site yet since it's been down. First impression is the dark theme isn't too bad but light is terrible and it keeps switching to the light theme randomly. The avatars next to the posts look messy and I wish I could turn them off. The banners are also kind of ugly and probably too large.
It's also a pain to navigate. There is a bunch of empty space and you have to scroll past nonsense to go back to see threads and you can't easily jump forums.
I haven't really been able to use this site yet since it's been down. First impression is the dark theme isn't too bad but light is terrible and it keeps switching to the light theme randomly. The avatars next to the posts look messy and I wish I could turn them off. The banners are also kind of ugly and probably too large.
It's also a pain to navigate. There is a bunch of empty space and you have to scroll past nonsense to go back to see threads and you can't easily jump forums.
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Give it some time. I think most of the issues are fairly small things to fix once the bugs are ironed out. Obviously it wasn't feasible to stay at an unsupported version of Xenforo, so this update needed to happen, but there's of course things to be adjusted/fixed, and a couple options that need to be added. I trust that the team here will make the necessary improvements quickly, as they generally have.
In speaking of really bad redesigns, HSX did one some years back that was a huge disaster both visually and from a navigation perspective. Like really bad. They pulled it back and fixed, but it was definitely one of the worst I've seen.
ERA was operating on an old version of Xenforo, it needed to be upgraded to Xenforo 2 to receive continued support/security updates. My understanding though is that jumping to the new version requires all new designs, layouts, themes, etc. I believe a fair amount of what you see in ERA right now is basic Xenforo stuff, so it will need some customizing to fix it the way people want(or to provide options to toggle certain elements).
In speaking of really bad redesigns, HSX did one some years back that was a huge disaster both visually and from a navigation perspective. Like really bad. They pulled it back and fixed, but it was definitely one of the worst I've seen.
ERA was operating on an old version of Xenforo, it needed to be upgraded to Xenforo 2 to receive continued support/security updates. My understanding though is that jumping to the new version requires all new designs, layouts, themes, etc. I believe a fair amount of what you see in ERA right now is basic Xenforo stuff, so it will need some customizing to fix it the way people want(or to provide options to toggle certain elements).
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Never, but then again give me two weeks and i wont even remember what the old site lookes like.
I know this isn't a "bitch about this redesign" thread. But maaaaan. I loved the "Legacy" version with the stylus theme someone made from near the start of the forum. Like, this seems heavily mobile focussed (the wasted space either side of the posts) and things like removing the navigation stuff from the bottom and instead adding random topics and just showing your current "file path" ( Forums > Discussion > etc instead of Videogames|Hangouts etc|hangouts). It was much easier to navigate before as if you wanted to hop subforums it was right there instead of having to scroll up and move right to the side for navigation.
EDIT: Like, seriously, I'm already annoyed at having to navigate this place. Usually, I will go to a sub-forum, browse the current page and if nothing strikes my fancy click the link at the bottom to hop to the next forum. I can't do that anymore because I reach the bottom and have to scroll back up to navigate and that just makes me not want to even bother. Plus, I really do hate this empty space. Fine if I'm on mobile but I'm not. I'm on a widesreen landscape desktop monitor I really do enjoy using the available space.
EDIT: Like, seriously, I'm already annoyed at having to navigate this place. Usually, I will go to a sub-forum, browse the current page and if nothing strikes my fancy click the link at the bottom to hop to the next forum. I can't do that anymore because I reach the bottom and have to scroll back up to navigate and that just makes me not want to even bother. Plus, I really do hate this empty space. Fine if I'm on mobile but I'm not. I'm on a widesreen landscape desktop monitor I really do enjoy using the available space.
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They didn't overdo it though, ERA did. GAF never got it wrong when it come to redesigns of the sites look and feel.
Even if you don't like their newer default style, they offer a classic theme for people that dislike the new one.
We don't even have that option here.
I like this one quite a bit after applying the unofficial dark theme style. However.. I don't get why we can't have icons at the top (and bottom for mobile) to quickly navigate to whatever forum we want in an instant.
And the similar threads/entire bottom of the page should be gone (or significantly minimized) IMO, it just takes up WAYY too much space on the page.
Am I crazy or are there really no up down arrows for quick navigation?
And the similar threads/entire bottom of the page should be gone (or significantly minimized) IMO, it just takes up WAYY too much space on the page.
Am I crazy or are there really no up down arrows for quick navigation?
Yeah I mostly like this redesign.
you can add them its an option in the preferences page
you can add them its an option in the preferences page
I like most redesigns as long as they dont take any functionality away.
This didn't, and server issues aside, it's way better than the 1.5 version.
This didn't, and server issues aside, it's way better than the 1.5 version.
yeah i'm not sure i've ever experienced a redesign that felt like an improvement. it always just feels like the site felt obligated to change things after some timer expired.
this redesign increased the amount of blank space everywhere for no reason, got rid of the refresh button, and hid the forum nav icons i click constantly behind a dropdown menu.
this redesign increased the amount of blank space everywhere for no reason, got rid of the refresh button, and hid the forum nav icons i click constantly behind a dropdown menu.
Yeah, hiding the options in "Quick Jump" between a click is annoying. Also, on mobile, there is no navigation at the bottom anymore so you have to reach to the top of your phone for quick navigation. There isn't even a move to top botton either.
i'm really glad the majority of the folks in this thread aren't bigon this redesign. simplicity is a really nice thing to have. especially on mobile where screen realestate is at a premium.
hopefully we get a legacy theme. or atleast hide avatars. don't wanna see that stuff
hopefully we get a legacy theme. or atleast hide avatars. don't wanna see that stuff
Caveat: I get that this probably is a small band of people working for mostly free working with templated software, so no pitchforks from me. I don't know whether or not this is as good as the old dark ERA, but it is imo at least definitively better than the last dark redesign that was attempted.
Anyways, a few observations as a UX guy, just based on heuristics and nothing else:
- Overall, the visuals aren't too bad. The constant purple accents helps in some parts but are distracting in others. It's a notable improvement over the last time they tried to do this.
- Lots of small general usability/information architecture things: what's the point of the discussion section? Others mentioned full screen width content and avatars next to threads, both worthwhile observations.
- The left sidebar seems weighty and adds a lot of visual clutter; what's the point of this and the quick jump and the profile dropdown? Lots of UI, questionable utility. Vertical nav for a site like this seemed more useful for easier mobile adaptation than to present information efficiently and helpfully. The goodness of horizontal nav jump in older versions and on GAF was severely understated.
- There are some NOTABLE performance issues. I'm not sure if it's my browser (lots of open tabs). Also my text entry window is super jumpy with scroll bars constantly misfiring. Had the same issue with Twitter.
- There's definitely some vertical real estate inefficiency in terms of white space. Normally it's whatever but for a message board IMO it has a lot more impact.
- Scrolling all the way to the bottom now makes me miss the page navigation, which personally is REALLY annoying. I now have to aim to find the page nav, which is also visually overshadowed by other elements.
- The fast forward/reverse thing is kinda confusing and I don't get the point of it. Seemed like it would have made more sense to do a better job of handling the page counts.
Anyways, a few observations as a UX guy, just based on heuristics and nothing else:
- Overall, the visuals aren't too bad. The constant purple accents helps in some parts but are distracting in others. It's a notable improvement over the last time they tried to do this.
- Lots of small general usability/information architecture things: what's the point of the discussion section? Others mentioned full screen width content and avatars next to threads, both worthwhile observations.
- The left sidebar seems weighty and adds a lot of visual clutter; what's the point of this and the quick jump and the profile dropdown? Lots of UI, questionable utility. Vertical nav for a site like this seemed more useful for easier mobile adaptation than to present information efficiently and helpfully. The goodness of horizontal nav jump in older versions and on GAF was severely understated.
- There are some NOTABLE performance issues. I'm not sure if it's my browser (lots of open tabs). Also my text entry window is super jumpy with scroll bars constantly misfiring. Had the same issue with Twitter.
- There's definitely some vertical real estate inefficiency in terms of white space. Normally it's whatever but for a message board IMO it has a lot more impact.
- Scrolling all the way to the bottom now makes me miss the page navigation, which personally is REALLY annoying. I now have to aim to find the page nav, which is also visually overshadowed by other elements.
- The fast forward/reverse thing is kinda confusing and I don't get the point of it. Seemed like it would have made more sense to do a better job of handling the page counts.
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Ok, another thing I dislike about this redesign (I did eventually find the TINY "width" button which fixes half my complaint about the wasted space) is that if you are going to have a permanent sidebar that you can't hide to reclaim the taken space, at least have it be static. I scroll down and when I get to the bottom of the page (padded out by the mass banner and the bonus threads) it scrolls the side bar meaning that even those "quick" navigation buttons become useless as I now need to scroll back up to use them! Madness!
On topic, I guess most of the GAF redesigns were good, at the worst they were just different but functionally the same of with slight improvements that didn't take away from the ease of the site. I feel with Era, every redesign and new theme has just been worse and worse. It looks prettier and more fancy and premium, but isn't as quick and easy to use as the very first legacy theme (with slight modifications via a stylus theme by someone who I can't remember. (sorry) ).
On topic, I guess most of the GAF redesigns were good, at the worst they were just different but functionally the same of with slight improvements that didn't take away from the ease of the site. I feel with Era, every redesign and new theme has just been worse and worse. It looks prettier and more fancy and premium, but isn't as quick and easy to use as the very first legacy theme (with slight modifications via a stylus theme by someone who I can't remember. (sorry) ).
GAF never got it wrong because the owner refused to upgrade or update the base forum technology for a decade even though his staff and users requested it, whilst making tons of money in the process. Which is why it never had any improved features outside custom stuff built for free by the other staff. The site was still using vbulletin 3 or some shit until it's recent update which is ridiculous. Basically did nothing with the site until everyone left lol.
I haven't used the desktop version yet, but isn't there some toggle button to adjust the width?
I can get used to the desktop version, once it's not a buggy mess, but the mobile version is really bad right now. You nailed it, space is precious in that format, and the previous site had nice thin compact text, whereas now the site feels 'fat' and everything from the text to icons takes up so much space I can barely see a handful of threads before needing to scroll down the page. Mobile version needs work for sure.
Desktop version has potential. Small things I like are seeing a preview of a thread OP while hovering over it. The dark mode is gentle on the eyes (when it friggin works). Clicking on a thread makes you jump right to the last unread post which is also really cool.
Just...please fix the mobile version. And don't crash when the Avengers trailer comes out... >_<
I'm glad Reddit has the option to use the classic layout, and I enjoyed doing it here too. The redesign barely loads for me, sporadically fails to completely load a page, and the left side of the screen is too cluttered and is distracting while reading the forum. Overall, no, I'm not big on redesigns. Though I haven't disliked YouTube's multiple redesigns.
Edit: Just noticed that I can hide the left tab. That's great. I also like that I can edit comments without loading a different instance.
Edit: Just noticed that I can hide the left tab. That's great. I also like that I can edit comments without loading a different instance.
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Except for all the new functions? What was lost?
I honestly just think the core userbases tend to dislike change, for all platforms, basically always.
I don't get the new design...
Is this a minimalist design? All I see is more clicks to navigate and plenty of wasting space...
Is this a minimalist design? All I see is more clicks to navigate and plenty of wasting space...
There's one thing I really miss for this site and that's the navigation bar at the bottom of the page on mobile. Generally I don't care much about redesigns one way or the other.
I sound like a broken record but this, a thousand times this.
I don't hate this site's redesign but I do prefer the Legacy themes. I mostly view on mobile though, I feel it looks better on mobile than desktop at least when viewing a thread. There are a few things I hope they can customise like an option to disable avatars next to thread titles.
Don't think I have liked many redesigns over what they were replacing. Not a big fan in the direction a lot of major sites have been heading for a while, which is probably why I have tended to get stuff like my game news from NeoGAF and now ResetEra rather than the news sites I used to frequent. Like I hate autoplay videos on written articles or links to videos articles that are indistinguishable from a link to a written article on the front page. If I want a video I will click on a video, if I want a written article I will click on what seems like a written article.
Don't think I have liked many redesigns over what they were replacing. Not a big fan in the direction a lot of major sites have been heading for a while, which is probably why I have tended to get stuff like my game news from NeoGAF and now ResetEra rather than the news sites I used to frequent. Like I hate autoplay videos on written articles or links to videos articles that are indistinguishable from a link to a written article on the front page. If I want a video I will click on a video, if I want a written article I will click on what seems like a written article.
I've liked some in the past but this one is awful. Even putting aside the forum behind down for 2 days and continuing to run like ass it just doesn't feel as functional and is generally a cluttered mess. What I liked about GAF and then ERA was the simplicity. I come here for the community so I won't be leaving but overall I find the current experience far worse and will probably browse the site less.
Giantbomb seems to be better at grouping series or "seasons" of episodes together. Also, it looks fresh again as I think the old site had just bee. tacked onto too many times since its first iteration. Really would love the GB team to keep chipping away at the wiki section. I would love under the new games section if I could manually select a date range. It's kind of always fun to look back and see what released. And more so than what is released, it would be cool to see which games they covered out of that time frame of new releases.
But GB, like you said, it's really hard to navigate anything more than their newest content unless you know the name. I mean, I have been at GB since launch, and I have a pretty good idea of their content library, but if they are looking to get new users to subscribe counting on watching any of their old content, I have no idea how new users would easily find it.
Also, GB and Era are following the same trend of decreasing the density. Is there a reason why it is a trend for redesigns to reduce density? I get that we have higher resolution screens, and make items a bit larger and more user friendly as far as wrong clicks, but man, low density designs turn me off. It feels like they are built for people who consume just because content is there in a way that is asking the user, "you have 3 choices, pick which banner is the prettiest and watch the flavor of the day".
