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New site design

Page 42 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
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May 5, 2009
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Ninety5rpm said:
It's like the bad restaurant in the touristy part of town... when you're the only game in town you can get away with serving crap... serve cycling news the way it should be... like CN used to be.

CN -you're alienating a lot of people. Wouldn't you like to hear a great "hurray" from all of us by simplifying? Eliminate columns! Make page viewing easier! Put less boxes on each page! Make it simple! Take more clues from the old site. Bring back the familiarity and ease of use! Please!
 
May 5, 2009
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BBRoberts said:
It's certainly... unfair now that... these same fans have spoken quite clear and with one voice to return to the old style touch and feel, while allowing them to keep their new generators that they still won't even consider to meet them halfway. It's really a thumbing of the nose at the fans, and a real corporate hardline stance... Sad... End of an era sadly.

The old style touch and feel warmed our hearts. It was like an old neighborhood bar which somehow became a Hard Rock Cafe. The music is louder. A DJ is blaring in your ears. The hometown feel is gone. Your favorite booth is gone. There's TV screens everywhere, each turned up louder, each competing with the other. And all the old patrons feel uncomfortable and "out-of-place" here. It's no longer fun and easy and charming. Yuck!
 
Jun 18, 2009
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Improving

manolo said:
...all the old patrons feel uncomfortable and "out-of-place" here...

Not all: I've just used the new site for the second time since it was launched (and I started complaining about it; see my other posts if you want). I am pleased with the usability improvements that have been made since then:
- It's more information-dense (except for the carousel), back towards the quality that positively differentiated the old site UI.
- It's less confusing than it was - it's visually easier to scan a page and zero in on what I want.
- It takes a lot fewer clicks to get where I want.
- Moving around the site is easier.

Pending more thorough use, the new site now has crossed back into the world of sites that I will visit. This is a big relief. Also, it shows some responsiveness to user feedback - much appreciated.

Thank you Laura especially (for your great attitude and the RSS feeds), and whomever else is responsible for the improvements. It would be nice to know specifically who directed, designed, and implemented these improvements so those people can be acknowledged. Keep up this good work please.

One thing that I would do differently:
- Given the assumed requirement of the carousel, how would it be to make it just one headline tall? If the corresponding images need to exist and be taller than that, put them in the far right column. This would gain valuable content space right in the sweet spot (and be much less annoying).

Thanks.
 
Jun 18, 2009
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Another thing...

I know it's a hard problem, but there has to be a solution to the column 2 white space issue. It would be SO much better to be able to use that space for content/text. Thanks.
 
Jun 18, 2009
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Less than a week before the Tour and...

Still no written descriptions of the stages. No profile button (I eventually found the profile in the "photo" area, though it's not a photo). Click on the large blue stage font which you would think would give you everything about the stage and instead get a blank page. Click on the accompanying postage stamp sized photo (completely illegible, by the way) and get a blank page. Talk about "not ready for prime-time"...
 
Jun 28, 2009
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I have found the new design cumbersome and irritating to navigate. With a little reflection though some (not all) of that irritation is unfounded.

I used to visit the website frequently and curse that updates weren't there. Now they are there more frequently I curse because it fragments my day more! From a commercial perspective well done as it means I spend more time on your site!

I do miss the news editions having the most prominent position. Maybe that is a future enhancement - the ability to set the page as your own portal - a la igoogle or the new British Cycling home page.

A appreciate you having to fund the site but I find it hard to concentrate on a page that keeps flicking between columns to make way for adverts. Some news web sites do that as well and I find I gradually move away from them as a source as it detracts from what I am there to do - absorb news quick and easy.

Another suggestion (I'm sure discussed internally at least) is a subscription model. I pay you £5 per year/century for a cleaner page. If I don't pay I get whats there today.

Is it my imagination or are the articles actually shorter or less in depth or more tabloid in their nature recently. Maybe its the lull before the Tdf and you need to keep people coming.

I'll forgive the redesign if the news articles are detailed, absorbing and treat me like I'm intelligent - despite any contrary evidence on my part.

I want interviews where the rider really speaks, where there is structured critique and review. Not bothered about tech items.

Also I want the ability to skip events off my web page that are irrelevant to pro racing. I want the old Pro coverage not the new fancy UCI races in every country round the globe.

TTFN
 
Mar 16, 2009
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mintcake said:
Traffic stats are showing a downward trend...

3 month change -3,004

Doesn't look like things are going too well for the new 'wonder site'!
the stats are worse that. take away 40,000 views on this forum and all the clicks that end up nowhere. the site has lost it's usefulness. it is no longer cohesive, comprehensive, or competent.
 
Jun 18, 2009
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Ninety5rpm said:
By the carousel, I assume you mean the pointless space-consuming Flash box with the headlines at the top of the main page.

If so, please vote about whether to get rid of it here.

Yes, I think that's what they are calling the carousel; I already voted to take it out. There must be some mandate to have it even though it's a terrible, useless waste of space and a flash eyesore - the poster child for web trash. Thus I proposed a compromise of making it only one headline tall instead of 5....
 
Jun 16, 2009
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lucybears said:
Why are our hosts not bringing us this info ?
http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/96th-tour-de-france-gt

well, they try to, but don't give a link at the above
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tour...roster-summary

Who said the new site was easier to navigate...

Yep, another 404 error, and this comes two weeks since the launch and six days before the tour starts.

They claimed the old site was cumbersome to update because it lacked a content management system. Errors like this make that argument weak. They don't understand how to use their new system, and they don't seem to be making any effort to learn how. They are not even bothering to test the updates to their content to see if they work.
 
May 5, 2009
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My opinion of what nice clean designs look like:

BEST RESULTS PAGE EXAMPLE. Two columns:

http://www.roadcycling.co.nz/Results/tour-de-suisse-results.html

BEST STAGE PROFILE AND DESCRIPTION Clean:

http://tour.cyclingfever.com/stage....18&detp=view&_ap=omschrijving&etappe_id=16271

They were both presented at the 'Alternatives to Cyclingnews' thread by Lones1 and titan_90.

DECENT NEWS ITEM PAGE?:

http://www.velonews.com/article/93916/european-championships-boonen-claims-belgian-road-crown

BEST NEWS ITEM PAGE?:
http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2009/jun09/jun15news

I put these out here to see if we could get something like this here.
 
Jun 29, 2009
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Stage profile info??

Where's the profile info (climbing/elevation) hiding for a Tour stage now?

New site is way tougher to navigate. Can't find the info that was EASILY available before. :confused:

Can anyone suggest another website to use?
 
Jun 22, 2009
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BigShot says no to CN

I have a friend who goes to all the big races in Europe for top pros, as he is an official photographer for many of the race organizations. I think he has shot like over 90,000 photos in the past from the top races in Europe and he works at least 4 of the big cycling organization websites as well as runs about 4 private sites on the side, including his own. He doesn't have time for nonsense, and he is always on the move. I talk to him regularly as we are friends for many years since the beginning when he started in the business many years ago. I asked him about CN, and he expressed what many people also express who don't have time for nonsense. He simple said, "You can't find anything", and that he won't be returning. In other words he doesn't have time for all the run around. That's what CN doesn't get, is that most people don't have time for all the run around, and this is why the simple straightforward navigation of the previous CN was such a hit, because everything was accessible on the homepage, and simply so without all the run around. Race reports, photos and results were all neatly laid out on one page and this is pretty much one of the big reasons so many people have left. They just don't have time for such nonsense! If CN doesn't think they will go elsewhere, they are sorely mistaken.
 
Jun 17, 2009
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Sounds like

Sounds like my friend GWatson...I was a Dulich Paragon way back in 70's when he rode for Norwaood Paragon....that was long before Cyclingnews...but cyclingnews came and went too...things change. I am logging onto cyclingfever now and VERY happy.

As I said a few days ago I will stop posting by the start of Tdf I don't want to give these guys any clicks, even on the forum. We have tried. They are not listening. The site is a mess and will always be until it is sold off in time.

I am seeing others that post on cyclingfever, so I guess I will meet you all on the other side.

So long cyclingnews!!!

Kind regards

Pedrospeeps in sunny Monterey
 
Jun 29, 2009
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I am not one to worry about the visuals of a site. I do however worry about the navigation and information posted each step of the way. One of the best features of the old site was that a user could browse through the site without ever seeing race results until making that choice. The new format posts the name of the winner along with a picture before I can even find out how long the stage was. PLEASE change back to the old ideal where users could browse stage descriptions, maps, profiles, etc. . .without having to see the winner. Some of us don't get to watch stages until well after they have occured but enjoy the other information you offer like the stage write-ups, profiles, etc. We also like to check the results of the pervious stage before watching the next, as it is now if I go to check stage two, I am going to see the winner of stage 3. It was the genius of your old format.
 
Jun 16, 2009
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User update

Unfortunately this still isnt working for me (and I wasnt a bad user: lots of time on pages, 2 visits per day, 3-5 clickthroughs a week). Too difficult to navigate, too slow and even though you aggregated the news, there seems to be less content and fewer photos. Hate the results page format
 
Apr 8, 2009
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Ninety5rpm said:
They should be criticized for squandering profits by creating a terrible website, and we should be focusing on helping them fix it, not leaving. We're all on the same team.
If you set down and read the over 100 pages of feedback you will see plenty of people have tried to help them fix it, they are really not interested in fixing any of the problems that are really frustrating people. I think leaving is exactly the way to make them wake up and realize that if they don't respond to these problems they will be destroying what they have worked so hard to create
 
Jun 17, 2009
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The only thing we can do

nmwildog said:
If you set down and read the over 100 pages of feedback you will see plenty of people have tried to help them fix it, they are really not interested in fixing any of the problems that are really frustrating people. I think leaving is exactly the way to make them wake up and realize that if they don't respond to these problems they will be destroying what they have worked so hard to create


This is the only thing we can do. I have kept on the forum because I like the people here, but the website has not changed since the first day the put it up on the 15th, leaving is my only option, which I will do by the end of the week, never to return!
 
Jun 16, 2009
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change.

>> but the website has not changed since the first day the put it up on the 15th

eh. what apart from the articles, editions, new rss feeds? unless of course you are looking at autobus.cyclingnews.com

:cool:
 
Jul 1, 2009
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Where has the archive gone?

Someone may have voiced this opinion before but anyway....
One of the rarely used but useful featues of the old site was the fact that you could look back at race results from before the previous week or two, and in fact you could look at race results from several years previously. (maybe only hardcore cycling nuts would do so but then I have used it on occasion so I guess I would fall in that group). Although the original archive is still there results from any recent races such as the Tour de Suisse appear to have vanished. Either that or, as most people are saying the site is too difficult to navigate around to find such info, and I can't find it.

Another two cents....
I have the same beef with the new headline format for news. I think most people only access the site maximum a few times a day to skim the news. If you miss it then you check it the next day and in a digest-style format it is possible to check to see if any of the previous few days stories are of interest. Now the chance to do this is lost.

I certainly am gravitating toward disappointment with the new format.
 
Jun 17, 2009
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Eh?

brightstorm said:
>> but the website has not changed since the first day the put it up on the 15th

eh. what apart from the articles, editions, new rss feeds? unless of course you are looking at autobus.cyclingnews.com

:cool:

I wish I was looking at the old site. No one I know can use the new site, which includes a lot of riders here in CA. I am not sure what site you are looking at, but if you can get around the new CN site without pulling your hair out, then you are a better man then me....Kungadin!!

What made the old site great was that it was easy to use, and you could find everything you needed. I have tried...but I just can not navigate this new site. I guess Bike radar must have users, but they must have been conditioned like rats to use the site, us fresh rats are unable to find our way through the maze.
 
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