Proposed HM redesign

Take a look and let me know your thoughts.....

I would like to know your opinions on:
general layout
color scheme
ease of navigation
speed of page loading, etc.

Plus any other constructive comments!

Thumbs up!

I'm going to go out on a limb here...
I like it!

It follows a lot of the layout that print newspapers are using for their online content. Colors are good, and the load times are not too bad on my 56k frame relay circuit.

I like the links on the left side of the page. The initial splash page is good. And it appears to have much more content than the current online H-M website. Navigation to other sections is a lot easier.

It's got a good beat, and it's really easy to dance to <whoa, flashback!>.

Seriously, it looks very good. I give it somewhere between an A- and a B+.

Anything that eliminates pop-ups gets a huge thumb-up !!!

I don't know about the "Coming this Week" content being
right where I'd expect links to more current news...

Less scrolling is better !!!

The 'banner' at the top doesn't 'grab' me...I guess your
existing one doesn't either...it needs something more polished...

A big improvement. Maybe we are trying to catch up to some of the other newspapers.
Now if you can just stop the flashing ads on the sides...

Looks great!

Wouldn't load. As soon as I clicked on the link I got an error window telling me there was an error with the scrip and did I still want to run scrip on this page! huh??

Well, thanks WVD! I think I got those errors corrected. Let me know if I missed any.

To everyone else: thanks for taking the time to check it out. the logo part at the top is basically a placeholder and things will be changed a bit here and there, so keep those comments coming!

Your opinions are extremely important to me.

Oh yeah, about those ads...I agree that all of the flashing, blinking ads are a bit rough on the eyes...but it helps keep our online edition free. So take a little time here and there and click on a few of the ads, or better yet - make sure to visit our site's sponsors and mention that you see their ads on the Herald-Mail Online!

Hi Webmaster! I am a graphic desginer and I think you did a first-rate job! The color scheme is great, the flow good, but I agree with 5Scar that I would like to see the current news before upcoming stuff. Also the type in the blue bars is a little hard to read, but I am on a Mac, so it might make a difference. Also, something that bothered me with the old site that is bothering me with the new site as well is I had to look ALL over the place for the weather. I expected to see it listed under the left hand column somewhere, maybe under services. Hope these ideas are helpful!

Overall a great job! Keep up the good work!

Didn't like it.Looked like an expanded version of the Journal"s on-line.Very basic and institutional.Sorry.

I have to say...the current site looks better than the proposed new design. The new site has a professional look that looks like a designer created vs. the proposed design looks like someone that only new how to program created it. I am from Hagerstown and enjoy the website and I think it would be a big mistake to go with that look! I must admit, the url says it all "newbie.herald-mail.com" Sorry, just trying to be honest!

Looks good to me... got those pesty advertisements off to the side out of the way.

I think with a few alterations this new layout could be great. It's easy on the eyes and the color combination is nothing short of pleasant.

christopher--what is your icon? a hat on a snowball? or am I blind? (this is possible--I have been accused of this by my kids)....
Love the new design--could we teach the Girl Scout Council??huh Christopher?

Thanks again for the replies, please keep 'em coming!

I am confused, a little...mappenzellar wrote:


I am guessing that the mappenzellar meant that the current site looks like a designer created [it].

mappenzellar, are you referring to the slickness of the graphics, or are you referring to the layout and color palette? Would the "big mistake" be because of the layout, because of the color palette, or because of the ugly graphics, or is it something else?

Everyone, please note: This site is a testing site. It is not intended to be perfect. Some of the articles do not show up where they are supposed to because the new site pulls from the same database as the current site and I have to have the story placement correct for the current HM site. Also, I am NOT a graphic designer, I am a programmer. We have a whole staff to create logos and slick-looking graphics. So please do not base your opinion on the look of the top banner, for example, that is a placeholder.

I realize that I cannot please everyone with any site design, regardless of the color or layout. But I would like to hear all comments so I can make the site as pleasing to the majority as possible. At some point, I hope to have the site set up to be personalized so that a registered user can choose his or her own layout and colors

LOL, I swear I go through this on every forum I use this avatar with..seriously, I'm changing it!

p.s. Here's a thread that talks about it briefly:

http://www.herald-mail.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=558

I actually thought it was Darkwing Duck! At least I was in the ballpark.

looks much better than the one live now.

i would get rid of the pop-up scripts. those are very annoying.
that pop-under script is horrible.

i think a:hover is a little too dark. it's hard to see what's underneath.
also, all of the tables and all of the html attributes on the pages can be removed and replaced with something in your css.
there is no level 1 or 2 heading but should. don't just use h1 h2 for text size.

you should offer an xml feed of your news so i can easily get it when im out.

--possibly offer a different stylesheet for mobile devices?

That's a great idea, pasty. I love browsing WAP-enabled internet sites whilst on the go with my T610.

I am working on the RSS/XML feeds.

Thanks for the comments!

O.K. what darn foreign language are you people speakin!! I've only had 24hrs. of Russian and even I know that ain't what your talkin!

Two months ago I could'nt spell computer geek now I are one
Just funin yall

Yes, I apologize, I meant that the current site looks as if it was created by an actual designer vs. your test site looks as if it was designed by a programmer. Yes, I think the graphics are the big thing. On the current site, its not great, but it has some what of a professional look to it. The test site has big fonts, etc instead of using nice graphics. I now get a "Red Hat Enterprise Linux Test Page" so I can't be more exact, but you may want to check out the following newspaper sites:

http://www.gazette.com

http://www.fredericknewspost.com - Simple yet professional looking

http://www.indystar.com/ - Again, simple yet professional

I like it better than what's up now...just keep those advantage realty ads out or aleast tell people not to use pics of themselfs...

And I want to sponsor the temp and weather report.

I just use the Weather Bug I down loaded from News 4 in D.C. I can find the weather any where in the area. It's great for traveling.