We are redesigning the Herald-Mail web site!

It is still a "work-in-progress", so all of the links are not functioning in the menu, etc.. So please don't PM me to let me know something is broken (yet!)

But if you want a sneak peek, check it out!

Constructive comments are welcome, I am really working hard to get this finished up and I know I can count on our dear forum members to offer good advice!

webbie

Nice.

ok, ok, what is this about the 16 iteration now???

Not everyone got to see the other 15

Thanks!

My first thought: it's not gonna load for me.

It loaded!

My second thought: West Virginia is spelled wrong.


What?! I have an eye out for my West Virginnie peeps! I think the misspelling is subliminal!








It looks great, webbie! Excellent.

Looks good to me. I like the crawler across the top. Is there going to be a difference between the two chats? Theres one at the top and then another at the bottom left. I like the steel gray too. Very modern.

Nice "old school look"
easy to use .. I like the drop boxes

you pass

This is my opinion:

It looks a bit to "busy" for me. I like the simple layout of the current site. Not to many "bells and whistles". The new site looks crowded. Again, just my opinion.



Let the bashing begin.

I like it, I like it!

Thanks!

It is the same chat. Just two ways of getting there.

The story headlines are too small and I agree that it looks too crowded.

Looks like the H-M wants to be seen as a 'national' newspaper since the AP wire stories are given equal prominence as the local news.

Here's my constructive criticism... but this is coming from a designer/developer with lots of experience.

• It doesn't look good in Firefox because the fonts scale. I looked at your stylesheet; don't use EM for font size, use PX.
• The ticker is an unneeded distraction. (Doesn't show up in Firefox, so it probably thinks its an ad... or it isn't W3C friendly.)
• You could add some color and tweak your drop-down menu to make it look less generic.
• The rectangle gradiant boxes are kind of out of style and ugly.
• Could make the box for the poll look a bit nicer. It's just a big ugly box with code thrown into it. Bleh.
• The Preps area needs a lot of work. The colors, bold text and big black lines around boxes need to go.
• Way too much javascript in the source. You should call your javascripts instead of just dropping them into the source.
• The site would be easier to maintain (and design around) and you could have a cleaner layout if you did it in CSS instead of tables. It would also load faster.
• In mentioning CSS, adhering to W3C standards will reduce production time and increase accessibility.

Frankly, I think the current site is better than this one. This looks a little too generic. Look at other news sites like CNN, BBC or CNET. They're modern, have a nice layout and easier to read.

The site is way too text heavy. Granted, its a NEWS site, but its just text, and more text. There isn't anything to lead your eyes along the page. It's just big chunks of text. One item should lead your eyes to the next, and so forth. It's just not very easy on the eyes.

In my professional opinion, the site is two steps back from the current site. It could really use a more modernized, user-friendly layout.

Don't mean to be too critical because I know how tedious this can be, but you asked for it.

Hey Phluux - tell us how you really feel! Of course, if I were a website developer, I'd probably have a lot to say too.

Webbie - I like it. I think it looks more modern than what is currently the HM website. Plus the colors are better too. I also think it's easier to navigate with the drop down boxes.

Heather - good eye on the misspelling.

It`s very nice Webbie, Even old people like me can follow it.

I know. I didn't want to sound like a jerk, even though I know I probably came off that way. But, it WAS constructive.

I give credit to Webbie though, its not an easy job!

Where's the archives?

Other than that looks fine.

I see you switched to the new web site. Big problem: it doesn't display ANY of the classified ads at all for me. Guess I'll take my business elsewhere. The Frederick News-Post web site seems to be working okay,

I hope nobody's paying you for those ads thinking they're being displayed on the internet, 'cause they aren't!

No problems here. I see them all just fine.

works for me

I'm with B. I press on Today's Ads and nothing is listed, only big blacks dots lined up vertically. And when I press on Classified Ads, I can get the lists ok (like Pets, yard sales, etc.) but when I press on a topic, it only brings up the topic with numbers under it. I can not click onto the number to actually see what is for sale.

From the H-M website:
PLEASE NOTE:
Ad-blocking or pop-up blocking software will prevent our classified ads from displaying properly.

In order to view these pages, we recommend that you disable the software while visiting our site.


You might want to clear your cache as well.

I am using FireFox 1.5.0.1 with AdBlock enabled and the website works fine

Ok, thanks, CPD!




Darn, I tried it....turned off the pop-up blocker. But still can't get into the ads. Will keep trying.


You might want to clear your cache as well.



City Park Dad,

What does that mean? Is this something I can do on my computer, or are you talking to the Webbie??

Is that where you clear your internet files,history and cookies?

Found the archives and can see the ad's.

Good job, Webbie

I am referring to your local cache. If you are using IE go to TOOLS>INTERNET OPTIONS>and click on delete files (and offline files) and clear history.

CPD,

Thanks, I did clear out all the files and turned off the pop up blocker but still can not bring up any thing under the ads or classifieds. I'll get my home techies to look at this site sometime later. My DH said he has to update some virus protection, so I can get him to figure it out. I hope!

Where's the Police Log? I also agree that it looks too busy.

slager,
Click on news, then on Maryland. It`s on the bottom left of the page.

Thanks for the info Mcgee, it was easier to find before.

I get newsprint so large that as I scroll down an article one word fills the entire screen.

The on-line edition is now unreadable except for the cluttered front page.

Isn't it customary when designing a new webpage to check to be sure it works with different web browsers?

I haven't changed anything on my computer.

I hit the herald mail website in mornings to read the news, and I don't like this new website.
This new website looks like junk. A big collection of free scripts found on the internet all compiled into one, and just thrown on the page in any which way.

One guy said about making pages conforming to the w3c. You guys should really take the time and learn how to do this.

You should also shy away from free scripts on the net. When you combine all different kinds of scripts from different languages, you're going to look goofy. And this website certainly looks goofy.

Just my opinion, from someone with over 10 years www design experience.

a nice clean interface, with nothing but the NEWS is desired.

Firefox tears you guys up, doesn't render correctly. You should beta test using it as well as IE.

solve all of these problems here, http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=www.heraldmail.com and you will have something worth bragging about.

I have no problem with the new site in Firefox, Opera or Internet Explorer (all used on an Intel pc, not Mac).

Looks good, clean and no problems.

If folks are having problems rendering the pages in a particular browser, make sure you have the latest release and don't have any weird plugins or extensions.

Pop up blockers will sometimes wreak havoc with page renders, also.

I have not changed anything on the classified section. For those of you having problems, check to see if you are using Norton Anti-Virus. It has a pop-up blocker enabled by default and is usually the cause of the behavior you describe.

pasty(1) - FYI there are less free script on this version than the last. I inherited the previous design when I got here and I am making great headway getting the resources to get rid of the free stuff.

The content management system we use (which was in place also when I got here) has some issues with validation, which I am aware of.

Thank you for you professional opinion.

Webbie,

Heads up --- You might want to check the banner advertisements (Social Study, etc.) on the site. When I click on any of the banner ads (using the latest version of Safari) I am NOT taken to the advertiser's website, rather I am redirected back to the HM website.

Good job on the new look. Hang in there, most people HATE change even if it is for the better!

Thanks! Well, at least you are using a decent browser!

I got the desired result when I clicked, it went to:

http://www.socialstudysneakers.com/

I will bang on it a little and see if I can duplicate that (I am also using the latest safari, but will re-test in others.)

Works okay from work on my work PC. I'll check from home again tonight. I do have Norton A-V and Firewall on my home PC, which could be the cause

Just MO, but it seems to me that if your website doesn't work right because it's incompatible with one of the most common software programs that are designed to protect against annoyances and viruses, then you should fix it, NOT ask everyone to shut off their protection.

hey, i just love the new h.m, everything works real good, things are in better places, easy to find , news for the other states is right there in a row , real good job,nbc25 got bad, hate how i have to reply to a news story now.

Thanks for letting us know you love it!

What happened to the Blogs link that used to be under the Chat header?

The Blogs are being re-vamped. I think all of our forum members will love the changes. Should be a few weeks.

Is there a reason the classifieds haven't changed?

that change is coming up soon :-)