El Reg Redesign - leave your comment here.

December 19 Update no.4 - changes Changed screen outside site background colour from white to grey. Top Art in stories - now editorially selectable - in response to feedback about relevance (see above). Reduced headline font size on Hero “story” at top of front page, articles and forum pages. Masthead - entirely …

[Irongut]

Yuck

Ugh you've gone all Office 2013 / Win 8 with far too much unbroken WHITE and no shading / gradients / lines to separate the different sections of the page. My first thought was that the stylesheet had failed to download for some reason so I hit refresh before spotting the redesign story.

Could we please get an alternative theme with an off-white background or even an inverse theme with black background for those of us with a bit of Mogwai in our genes? The current one makes me want to put shades on.

[Philip Hands]

Ick

I didn't think much to the old thing with the changing content at the top of the screen that's just a repeat of the stories listed in a sane order below, but at least it was easy to ignore.

This is much less easy to ignore -- although I guess I'll manage it by not bothering to look at the site.

I'll check back in the new year to see if you've regained your sanity.

[ZSn]

sod the refresh why no https?

Not sure why you went for a 'refresh' how about an https site? You do bang on about security quite a bit you know - go on, make it a bit more difficult for NSA.

[Vulch]

Fixed bars bad

Dump the fixed menu bar or if you won't get rid of it at least give it a permanent hide setting. The only thing it does is make you lose a line or two when you page down and breaks the reading flow as you jog back and forth.

[Anonymous Coward]

OH FUCKIN DEAR, ANOTHER MIDLIFE CRISIS!!!???!!!???

CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGR IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK, CHANGE IT BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also, no new ICONS.......where's my football ICON? Change it fuckin back for fucks sake.

Were you bored? Is that it? fucking hell!!

[chivo243]

Re: OH FUCKIN DEAR, ANOTHER MIDLIFE CRISIS!!!???!!!???

Icons, yes, where's the tinfoil hat?

[Anonymous Coward]

pictures at the top

The pictures at the top aren't big enough. Can we have them bigger please

[Anonymous Coward]

Is this site now NSA approved?

Cause they've fucked everything else up too.

[A Long Fellow]

Not good in either usability or readability

Love el reg, having been with the site almost from the very beginning. That said, I'm not too keen on the design; the more I live in it, the more I dislike it.

I was okay with the "five featured stories" at the top of the main column -- the single headline story is going to be a hit-and-miss proposition, now. With five stories, there was a better chance that at least one would be interesting.

In general, it feels as though the information density has dropped a lot.

I also dislike the black > grey link status. The grey-on-white combination fails 3 out of 4 accessibility standards. This is important: the design is hostile to users with non-optimal eyesight.

And finally, I take issue with the 'live popup' sections at the top of the screen -- particularly since they're pinned to the top of the window. This means that going up to any of the browser application menus or the browser window's buttons will probably -- unless I'm very quick about it -- cause irritating visual interference with what's on the screen. Putting that kind of thing left or right would be better, since it would not interfere with browser activity.

All in all, it's quite off-putting. Sorry.

[Adrian Taylor]

Too Many IMages

too many images, once you go above a certain number the eye will cease reading all the headlines and its difficult to know you have seen averything

annoying pop down menu

i dont see any reason for top stories or most read section

i like simple, scroll down in date order

you have made the site less more like any other media/tech site...

i used the old register design to show friends that you dont need all the garbage to make a decent useful web site... ho hum...

and information density is much poorer !

[Trevor_Pott]

Things I like about the new design:

1) Articles have pictures on them. Yay! Pictures add a lot to the experience, I think.

2) New masthead: the awesome motto of awesomeness is now nestled under "The Register." Biting the hand that feeds IT, forever!

3) Social Media buttons are more visible on article pages, make more sense, aren't blocked by my anti-spam stuff. Works out well, looks very nice.

4) I like the new footer. All the info you want, but not crammed so close together the links feel claustrophobic. Much nicer.

5) Articles on the front page have little counters for comments. It's cute. Shows the community engagement.

Things I don't like about the new design:

1) Articles have pictures on them. Boo! This means I have to pay a lot more attention when choosing my article images. Work, work...

2) Author info, posting time and social media buttons are below article picture. It seems counter intuitive. I keep looking for them above the picture.

3) The whitey whiteness of whitening. My kingdom for a black theme.

[Anonymous Coward]

Pictures get in the way

I have to scroll down before reading even the first line of story, because a (mostly useless, generally stock) image is in the way. Do you want me ask if it is worth the trouble?

[Anonymous Coward]

First reaction..

... was that the site had been hijacked in some way, but it appears that it wasn't but is meant to look as if it is.

On a large screen 1920x1200 it is horrible, too much white round everything. Not enough contrast to show what articles have been read awn what haven't.

This might work on a smart phone when you have people stabbing at it with thick fingers, it does not work on desktop or laptop screens.

A rethink is necessary on the part of the designer because only a little change was possibly needed from what was existent.

[marky_boi]

WTF !!!

fixing for fixings sake , site is crap Where is the auto scale good. I think my cat could do a better job.... hang on i hva no cat !!! seriously i will ditch the site if this steaming stays on....

[Orange Skydiver]

comments

Getting rid of the left hand column - ok.

Adding the picture at the top of the story - waste of time - get rid.

The bar that hovers at the top of the page when you scroll - hate these on every website that does them - get rid.

Visited link colour - needs higher contrast, it's not as obvious what you've looked at.

Generally de-cluttered - ok.

Personally I wish you'd put a fraction of this effort into proofing your articles. Not a day goes by when I don't notice typos and mistakes in the copy. This is a real problem. There were no real problems with the old layout.

[trance gemini]

i warned you

... that all that phonefondling and slabslapping would make your eyes go bad

just put a light grey background on the article boxes and that should take the edge off the whiteout effect

or how about start flogging Reg sunglasses in your shop?

[Uffish]

No complaints

I use an old, underpowerd 32 bit laptop and No Script and it still displays correctly (ie I can read it easily) .

Must admit that my primary concern was that the Registerwriting style had not been affected - quick look at the headline and all the eyecatching smutty inuendo is still there so all is ok.

Even with NoScript off everything seems to work quickly and clearly - well done.

[Benjamin 4]

I don't think there's any part of this that I think is an improvement.

Everything is too big, with too much white empty space so its hard to differentiate between stuff on the homepage. The always on top title bar means that using page down to scroll chops off a line of text.

I miss the carousel on the homepage, it was helpful to easily find some of the more interesting stories, as were the links at the bottom of artucles.

Why do companies repeatedly feel that they need to change something that works as it is? I don't want a 'more modern and fresh experience'. Pretty soon we'll just get blank screens with nothing on them because it's too difficult to use otherwise. Come on, give your readership some credit, we're not complete idiots.

I regularly read, but don't normally comment, however I feel I have to make an exception here.

[Greg J Preece]

I just came here to watch people nerd rage over a fairly minor update. Looks fine, though not adding responsive in any redesign these days is deserving of a whippin'.

Now, back to whiner watching.

[Adrian Taylor]

if you had asked

if asked about it i think many readers (yes readers) would have told you that the lack of annoying click bait pictures is one of the main attractions of the register

what's wrong with reading stuff ? We're not as stupid as you think we are !

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: if you had asked

> We're not as stupid as you think we are !

Speak for yourself. :-)

[Camilla Smythe]

Did Murdock... Icon --->

Spring the GeoCities wing from the Asylum during his latest escape?

[Bloodbeastterror]

What exactly was wrong with the old one?

End of message.

[John LS]

Me no likee

Top article way too big and white everywhere stop now please

[Chad H.]

Oh Gawd. Change it back, now, this is horrible.

Why on earth did El Reg get the Windows 8 Designer to redevelop the site? It was fine as it was.

[Mike48US]

Nope, I don't like it. Pretty pictures are nice but I come here for the articles. Will I learn to live with it? Probably, as this isn't my first redesign experience. But like the saying goes"You're getting it for nothing.. quit your bitchin".

It just seems too busy, and I generally like to click on things in order to have them respond. The automatic nonsense just irritates me.

[Anonymous Coward]

YOU SHOULD HAVE EASED US INTO THIS CHANGE WITH MORE FINESSE.

Not slap us in the face with it.

[Anonymous Coward]

I'VE HAD TO TURN THE BRIGHTNESS DOWN ON ME MONITOR.

FUCK YOU VERY MUCH!

[Ben Boyle]

Might just be me but on my 1680*1050 screen the logo in the banner is looking a little jaggy.

Won;t stop me reading but I'm in the "Ewwwwwwwwwwww!" camp too. I like the overall layout of the articles on the main page but for me there's too much bright white space and it feels almost... unfinished?

And those popup/flyout leaders when you hover over the subnav are crazy annoying :/

[Tempest8008]

BOFH yourselves...

Honestly, "modern and fresher"?

AND you're going to have a consultant firm in to give you advice on further changes?

In both of these cases the BOFH would have to have multiple situations where inconvenient falls clear the way for common sense. And there's always the server room halon system...

Add another vote to the "Don't like it" column. I find it harder to read, and you're forcing me to relearn a bloody website.

I found The Register easy to navigate, clean and simple before. It got me to the MEAT of the site, which were the articles. Now I'm having to work harder to get to the information I want.

There's style and then there's simple function.

I'd prefer El Reg to be about the latter.

[Terrence Bayrock]

Re: BOFH yourselves...

Here here......

[David1]

Effing awful!

It's terrible. Please revert to the old design while you do a rethink.

[Anonymous Coward]

Some Constructive Suggestions

1 - Put section headers on Top Stories, Most Read, and Spotlight.

2 - Cut the Spotlight picture in half and move the text to the right of it to show more per screen.

3 - The Top Stories header (at top right) should link to the Top 20 Stories.

4 - Add Week's Headlines to top navigation bar (change items to initial caps if need to reduce space).

5 - Aesthetically it's really black and white. I'd consider blue for bolded text that is now black.

[Anonymous Coward]

Thank you

For leaving "this week's stories" alone since that allows me to do what I really want, which is to quickly peruse stories that are new since my last visit to see which ones I'm interested in reading.

[Alister]

Sorry, I'm not a fan. The large picture and headline of the featured stories take up too much room, the top menu is annoying when you move your mouse anywhere near it.

Also, the pagination on the comments seems to carry over two or three stories to the next page.

[Salts]

Err...

Is it April 1st?

[ma1010]

Fairly horrid

As has been pointed out by others, it wasn't broke, so why "fix" it? The old site gave me a quick way to look around and see which articles looked interesting to me. I never felt the previous layout was "cluttered," but the extra-big pictures on the new version *do* look cluttered to me. I would vote to go back to the way it was before. It just worked better.

[Return To Sender]

No. No, doesn't do it for me

First up, it would have been nice if you'd posted an article at the same time as pushing out the change so I didn't waste 20 minutes trying to work out what I'd done to my browsers

Second; there's a huge amount of wasted space on my main screen. Either make the page aware of what it's rendering on and use the space accordingly, or don't bother. And please don't make the header pic a third of the screen, it's pointless and irritating. I read the articles for the information, it's not a picture book fer chrissakes.

Third; not opening the article in a new tab? That's so basic I can't believe it's a deliberate design choice rather than a cockup, kindly fix it forthwith (edit: ah, it changes from black to a dark grey. Didn't spot that on the screen set the way it was. Grey. Really? C'mon...)

Fourth; what have you done with the 'visited' CSS so's I can see which articles I've already read? I use that sometimes as a fast-scan when looking for an article, not to avoid the article.

Fifth; article spacing on the main page; too much. I'm spending far more time scrolling up and down than before, it's a pain. And if you've got to have pics for the article, leave 'em in the rotating banner, or on a mouseover or something, don't throw another another possible row of article headers away just to look exciting and funky (or whatever).

That's from five minute's worth of browsing, so first impressions. But I'm concerned that as it stands it's not going to grow on me. The value of El Reg to me is the content, not the presentation so much. By all means make changes, but please don't lose sight of what people come here for. We enjoy the tabloid humour, since by and large it's not accompanied by tabloid-level journalism; let's not have the tabloid presentation style suited to limited attention spans for people who struggle to reach the end of a sentence, let alone a whole article.

[Johndoe888]

As an Admin of a popular site I know we have a makeover in the pipeline because the sysop / coder has put a poll on site about it and we have been shown a preview (black), YUCK, another black site :(

Fortunately our coder is currently far too busy with other work to finish the job :)

The best that I can say about the new look Reg is at least we escaped web 2.0 (lots of flash and other stuff that is heavy on the clients browsers), and thank F*** it's not all TIFCAM !

I want the old style back, why not have a preferences option as to which version of the the site we see and let us choose ?

Edit, upon clicking Submit, the top of the page showed ~

"Grey (mostly)  axed from colour palette  -  site is probably too monochrome now - but where better place to start than black and white? Top ad moved  - "

Is this &nbsp a bug or a &nbsp &nbsp glitch ?

[EndianX]

Not your finest moment

1. The enormous image at the top of the stories is too much. I want to see the words. I'm not so dim I need a large picture of Putin / Soldiers / A Printer in order to appreciate what a story is about. Between the header, the large text and the image I can't see *ANY OF THE BLOODY STORY*

2. Blank and white, and black and white, and black and white. Too monochrome

3. I don't need enormous text to tell me which stories I should read. I can choose that for myself.

4. That bloody menu bar....

5. The 'more stories' bit at the bottom looks just like the 'more from around the web' crap you see on many sites these days so (a) it instantly aggravates me and (b) it looks awful.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Not your finest moment

The more stories unit has been there for a long time. We have simply removed other related stories unit.

[Zog_but_not_the_first]

And more..

I don't like the drop down ribbon at the top of the page. More hindrance than help.

Overall, a few niggles that I dislike, but importantly nothing that makes me say, "Gosh! That's a lot better". Sorry.

Suggestions: https please, and a few more icons.

[Anonymous Coward]

The new style is okay BUT:

- I'll agree with the others regarding constraining yourselves to the centre of the screen. A lot of wasted space at each side.

- The new aspect ratio used for displaying images makes me feel I'm peering through the slot of a letterbox. A bit more height is called for, right now there isn't sufficient area to show a full face without chopping bits off or making it a flea circus.

Browser here: Firefox 33 (self-built) on Gentoo Linux/AMD64. Resolution: 1366×768

[Adrian Taylor]

and the in text links are too blue and off putting

and the in text links are too blue and off putting

[Chris Gray 1]

Confusing colours

Sorry, I've only read the first page of responses, so this might be a duplicate. I run with JavaScript disabled nearly everywhere, so on the home page, a have-read article's headline is in red and so is a headline the mouse moves over. I would actually prefer that moving the mouse over something *not* change that something at all, but can you at least make the move-mouse-over be less jarring, or at least some other colour?

[Julian Bradfield]

Tend to agree with most of the above. The immediately obvious thing is that it takes up more space for less content, and yet it's harder to distinguish one block from the next. Fixed sidebars are wasteful. Fixed width is always wrong.

[aBloke FromEarth]

Yes

Lovely and clean! The layout's really improved.

Added bonus: not a hint of joss sticks or whale song.

[E Haines]

Top nav bar a bit broken

I use the minimum font size feature in Safari which prevents sites from obnoxiously displaying 3 pt type, and this apparently causes the nav bar to make the "Weekend edition" bit hang down permanently on the next line, covering up anything that might be there. Same thing in Firefox. You'd want to fix it so it doesn't break if the user changes font sizes. Also get rid of the ALL CAPS...nobody likes that. Nobody, ever. (And yes the popup thingy is quite annoying too.)

[DJV]

No...

JUST

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[Mage]

Terrible

I feel like I'm using 640 x 480 screen instead of 1600 x 1200

Bring back the old site.

It's like a design for TV?