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AlterNet's New Look

By Don Hazen, AlterNet. Posted July 27, 2006.


We've made a few changes to AlterNet's design! Don't worry, nothing too radical -- just some new features that will help you get the most out of our site.
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Dear Reader,

You may notice some design changes on the AlterNet site, executed by our technology director, Michael Gharabiklou. We haven't done anything too radical, because it's clear you're happy with AlterNet's content and the ease of our site.

The biggest shift is that we have made video more prominent. More than half of you have said you're interested in watching video on AlterNet -- and before long, we'll all be watching moving images on the web. (Those who are especially keen on video can sign up for our video newsletter.)

What other updates have we made?

Sometimes, news on the web moves too fast for even the fastest news junkie. So, we'll keep our stories on the front page longer to give you more time to read them. You will also be able to quickly access our most popular story (by page views), our most-emailed story and the most-discussed. And you can "digg" AlterNet at the end of each article and blog post. Digg.com is a hugely popular site where you can nominate your favorite AlterNet stories to be read by people all over the world.

We hope you like our changes. In any case, if you have opinions, please let us know.

Sincerely,

Don Hazen
Executive Editor

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Change?
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Tom Degan on Jul 27, 2006 3:16 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Change? Change? But I don't like change. Please let me stay fat, comfortable and stupid. I'm an American citizen and I have my rights too, you know. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to FOX and Friends.

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
The Daily Rant

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harder to read
[Report this comment]
Posted by: rsaxto on Jul 27, 2006 3:23 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
You have made alternet harder to read by splicing the text through different-colored backgrounds. That is not an improvement, it is a degradation.

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» RE: harder to read Posted by: Basenjis
More ads
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Crazy H on Jul 27, 2006 11:29 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
fewer navigation tools. 'nuff said.

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narrow the left margin
[Report this comment]
Posted by: larry278 on Jul 27, 2006 12:18 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Ads pay for expenses which are not covered by reader's donations but ads now make it impossible to read the text without moving margins ever 5 sentences.
Back to the drawing board.

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nice job
[Report this comment]
Posted by: mom'z the word on Jul 27, 2006 4:08 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
nice feel. thanks for the heads up. keeping it simple always works.

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Change for the worse
[Report this comment]
Posted by: casual_observer on Jul 27, 2006 4:46 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Taking the "Top Stories" button off the bar at the top of the page was not a good idea.

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» RE: Change for the worse Posted by: Shawn Sutherland
It all seems fine to me
[Report this comment]
Posted by: deejayvee on Jul 27, 2006 5:26 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I really like that you're keeping stories up for longer. That was the one thing that irked me about Alternet - if I missed a day because I was too busy or whatever, often I'd completely miss a story.

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» RE: It all seems fine to me Posted by: aurora2484
really good
[Report this comment]
Posted by: aurora2484 on Jul 27, 2006 5:31 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
best on the 'Net

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Alternet's simplicity is its genius
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Bobsays on Jul 27, 2006 11:06 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I like your look. And I think you guys 'get' web design and layout when so many others don't. I find it an easy site to get around and it works for what it wants to do.

I don't have a problem with the ads. I like ads. Keep up the good work - this is an important initiative that we desperately need now!

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feature request
[Report this comment]
Posted by: wli on Jul 28, 2006 12:26 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
If by some chance you could arrange to give posters a way to find posts they've made, or more importantly, replies to them so they can further follow up, that would be very helpful.

Thanks.

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» RE: feature request Posted by: Michael Gharabiklou
layperson's critique
[Report this comment]
Posted by: mokidugway on Jul 28, 2006 2:46 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I liked the old format better. It was simpler. Only the five most commented articles stayed in circulation after the first 24 hours, which made it easier to follow threads, where superfluous (but sometmes interesting) conversations develop. With so many conversations simultaneously in play, it gets harder to focus.

Also, I went into dailykos once out of curiosity. Who wants to read those threads? Ánd the busyness of the format is a big part of what makes it annoying.

You have a good thing. Don't mess with it too much.

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Biggest thing you didn't change
[Report this comment]
Posted by: yoursfaithfully on Jul 28, 2006 6:01 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Ads for Lincoln SUVs? AT&T?

A freakin' CREDIT REPORTING AGENCY? LOAN SHARKS?

That's blood money that you're taking, AlterNet.

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Thinner-width text columns please
[Report this comment]
Posted by: YogiBear on Jul 28, 2006 6:35 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The wide columns really suck. Ever wonder why newspapers don't go over two columns? It's because they know people will get tired of it and eventually put the ppaer down. That doesn't help with ad visibility in the least.

You had it perfect before.

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800X600
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Ghoulman on Jul 28, 2006 8:49 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Try viewing this site at 800X600... and you'll see what I see.

I realize all the kids just LOVE to cram thier faces into a high rez screen, but many of us keep the monitor at a proper setting of 800X600... so we can see the letters.

With this new configuration, half of the Alternet website is off my screen to the right. I have to scroll over to see it.

It's my experience that this sort of thing causes people to find a website that doesn't look broken.

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» RE: 800X600 Posted by: snorty
» RE: 800X600 Posted by: Ghoulman
I Like It
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Gentlewoman on Jul 28, 2006 10:18 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Much easier to read. Thank you!

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Nice but...
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Ian B. on Jul 28, 2006 12:06 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I wish you would get rid of the nested comment thread thing. I hate having to click deeper and deeper in to follow a conversation. It's like being rudely interrupted. Why not just keep it open so I can see everybodies comments and maybe have a lively dialogue in real time?

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» RE: Nice but... Posted by: Michael Gharabiklou
» RE: Nice but... Posted by: Ian B.
Nice job
[Report this comment]
Posted by: particle on Jul 29, 2006 2:53 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Not wild about the extra cookies though.

(Yes, I decline them.)

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A comment from a lurker
[Report this comment]
Posted by: fixdapge on Jul 30, 2006 4:04 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I've read Alternet articles and readers' comments for months and have never felt the need to respond. But now I must...

One of the things that make Alternet so great is the ability of readers to leave comments. I occasionally learn as much from the comments as I do from the articles.

Sometimes there are MANY comments that show up as links, each link reopens the page thereby forcing the page back to its original position. This gets monotonous and irritating because...

THE PAGES ARE TOO WIDE

Would it be asking too much to PLEASE correct this?

Thank you

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Search engine blows
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Habaro on Jul 31, 2006 8:07 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Again: search engine blows

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» RE: Search engine blows Posted by: Shawn Sutherland