* Posts by Sl1ck

13 publicly visible posts • joined 12 Feb 2013

El Reg Redesign - leave your comment here.

Sl1ck

Re: Joseph @diodesign

Fair correction :-)

Sl1ck

Re: Joseph @diodesign

Vimes,

I guess if the blockers are stopping the requests before they load as opposed to stripping them out at render time what you're saying makes sense. In either case the click response rate might get whacked depending on the use.

Maybe a micro charge to have an ad-free site would be good. I for one like the Reg and would probably pay a nominal fee to keep it going - say £5-10 a year (I'm in Canada so that's about $10-20 bucks depending on the exchange rate swing and something I could justify to my accountant wife!). It's not a lot, but likely more than the revenue from ad clicks the Reg would get from me and all but guaranteed. I am a very passionate believer in net-neutrality and would refuse to pay for a 2-tier internet service, but as a developer I like to earn my pay, and am willing to pay for quality to the right provider to support the team and work behind a worthwhile effort. The Reg would be one of these.

Sl1ck

Re: Joseph @diodesign

I understand and encourage change, but sometimes you have to take a step back and evaluate whether it was the right thing. For the most part (now) I am neutral on the redesign save for the ridiculously large adverts and hero pics, and especially the banner ads.

We don't pay for the Reg, so income has to come from somewhere thus I am not against advertising, but the banner ad and side bars are a step too far.

With regards to % of ad blockers in use, it's an interesting point. I would think though that it's not of concern to the Reg. If most of the technically savvy Reg faithful are using ad blockers (present company included), the Reg still gets ads served - we just don't see it. Sure the click rate might suffer, but I suspect not by anything huge.

One could argue that by using ad blockers we are sanctioning the change in design...

Sl1ck

Re: Any more changes planned?

So, given no change, and no response, it looks like the damn advert banner at the head of the page is here to stay then :-(

Is there anyone else who thinks that this, and the hero pic are probably the only two major issues remaining?

If these were resolved, I'd gladly return to viewing more than just the comments section on the reg.....

Sl1ck

Re: Any more changes planned?

Hi Reg Team,

May I assume that this will go answered, and thus indicate the end of any changes?

Thanks,

Richard

Sl1ck

Any more changes planned?

Drew and Co.

Just wondering if there are any more planned changes to the design of the site and if so what time frame this would be in?

I (and I believe others) would like to see the ad at the top of the page above your logo removed, and it sounds as if people are asking for the "hero article picture" on the front page to be smaller.

The changes of late have helped make the site far more usable, but is this the end of the changes based upon the feedback from the Reg faithful?

Many Thanks,

Richard

Sl1ck
Meh

Getting There

Dear Reg Team,

Getting there - thank you :-) Not just for the changes over the past 48 hours or so, but also for providing feedback and proof you are indeed listening.

I primarily read the site on 1080p monitor, with a scroll-wheel mouse, and large volumes of black coffee.With this configuration in mind (less the coffee I guess), just 2 more updates and I will be far more accommodating of the new design path (although still mournful at the loss of an old friend)..

1 - Ad at the top of the page.

Please, please, please, please remove the ad from the top of the page. It's distracting not only to my eyes, but it also forces the important stuff down the page, makes the site less usable, and in my opinion devalues your brand image. This is especially the case given it's the same target product at the ad that's under the Top Stories column on the right......

2 - The Hero picture on front page

This is probably for the 900th time in this thread and you are no doubt bored, but significantly reduce the size of the hero pic. How about (assuming my target viewing environment of course), making it only two columns wide and reducing the size of the text a little, whilst letting the 3rd column take what would now be the vacant space?

The white space issue *appears* to be improved a little, but the article blocks still seem a little spaced out/wasteful, but not sure what to suggest there.

Thanks,

A *Potentially* Calmer Reader :-)

Sl1ck

Re: 16 Page Limit On Forum Comments

Anonymous Coward:

Guessing not then - I think I was thrown off by DrewC's comment being the first in the list.

It looks like I got it wrong.. (See ElReg - it's not that difficult ;-)

As for that comment from J. R. - I think another upvote it in order :-)

Sl1ck

16 Page Limit On Forum Comments

Has anyone else noticed that you can only view 16 pages of comments - everything prior to that has gone "missing".....

Sl1ck
FAIL

You guys are reminding me of children...

....The team @ The Reg that is.

If you pretend it's not there, it doesn't go away. 767 posts concerning the redesign within a forum that has 3567 posts over 208 topics (quite a weighting for one subject that's barely a week old...) - and the vast majority of them saying you've got it wrong on so many levels.

DrewC - you are the "face" for this, but so far have done little to address the concerns of your customers. Please give us an update, and preferably of the kind that restores our faith (i.e. revert back or correct the design, not just "update 2" or "thanks for reporting a new bug").

By this point in time it must be clear that this was not a good move. I'm trying to use the site with adblocking the large pictures, but it's crazy we should be doing this - especially when so much of the underlying design in also flawed. By not reacting or showing you are listening to the core concerns, you are going to lose the advertising revenue you so desperately need - either by decrease in visits, or through people using adblockers to attempt to use the site. And as for us, we lose a much valued and treasured resource.

As I've said to Executive Teams in the past when providing less than favourable feedback or news;

"Just because you don't like it, it doesn't make it wrong".

And for the record, I'm referring to the overwhelming feedback (bad news). The site IS bad, and it IS wrong.

Sl1ck

Goodbye!For!Now!

I've already posted once, and thought I'd visit back after 24 hours to see if I had acted the same impulsive way my 2 year old does when something happens she did not instigate..

I did not.

For now, it's goodbye Reg :-( The experience of visiting the site is visceral in nature. Sense and structure has been usurped by style - and poor style at that. We collectively come to the Reg for information, humour and a reality check on the industries that pay our way in life. It's a friend we can rely on. Or could.

I'll pop back in a week - hoping that things have changed for the better. It doesn't necessitate a reversal back to the old style - change it not a bad thing, we certainly rely on it in our professional lives in the IT sector, but it does need an approach to design that is inline with our needs.

TTFN

Sl1ck

Oh Dear,,,,,

Where to start?

- Too much white and white space.

- Too much scrolling.

- Too much white and white space.

- Pop up pics too large.

- Too much white and white space.

- Would prefer Reg bar to be @ the top of the screen, not the advert.

- Too much white and white space.

- Fixed width not my idea of fun.

- Too much white and white space.

- The Reg just became very hard work to read :-(

Other than that - very poor showing.

Apple releases fix for iPhone 4S iOS 6.1 connectivity cockup

Sl1ck
FAIL

Another issue - GPS

There is another issue that I have found with the iOS 6.x updated on an iPhone 4 that appears to be affecting other users as well - very poor GPS accuracy. Sometimes Google Maps, Waze and Apple Maps all have issues with GPS accuracy being as much as 500m out from the correct location. Downgrade to iOS5.x and all is good - never skips a beat which leads me to think that it's not a satellite location issue, but another "feature" of the new iOS.

Come on Apple........