[hayesk]

It looks nice, but the headlines are harder to pick out, and the visited links should be changing colour. Fix those, and I won't have much of a problem.

[brossow]

In reply to:

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I have also had (past tense) your site as my default link for as long as I can remember... 3/4 years?

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My condolences. Have you been huffing or just smoking pot that your oldest memory is at most four years ago? /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[machineman]

Wow... how can it have been such a big step backwards? Where do I start? Yes, I know people don't like to change, but this goes beyond that. It's clear you did no user focus group testing at all, but rather let a web builder go to work an emerge with whatever they thought was good.
The interface is cluttered, and each section is non-discernable from the next
MacCentral is devauled as a news source, and will certainly be pushed to the bottom of the lists I check for Mac news, and I rarely make it to the bottom because everything worthwhile is covered by the first few sites (of which MacCentral used to be one).
Hope you bring the old design back, and go back to the drawing board with this. Remember what happened to MacNN for a while? Take a lesson.

[MacGizmo]

In reply to:

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MacCentral is devauled as a news source, and will certainly be pushed to the bottom of the lists I check for Mac news, and I rarely make it to the bottom because everything worthwhile is covered by the first few sites (of which MacCentral used to be one

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I stopped coming here for new years ago when Stan Flack sold MacCentral to MacWorld. I've been using MacMinute for my mac news since then. Quick, news listings, and very little advertising.

[davis157]

Third attempt at posting...tab key keeps moving focus out of text area and subsequent keystroke typically takes me out of posting page...arg!
A few problems:
1) As already addressed, link style needs to be adjusted so that link text is discernable from normal text by just looking at it. An alternate color should be used to indicate when links are visited.
2) Green menu bar at top of page has a couple problems:
o Under IE 6.0 and WinXP (SP2), the first time the pointer moves across/over
the menu bar, the entire window seems to get redrawn, causing a flashing
effect which is MOST disconcerting.
o IE 5.1.7 under Mac OS 9.x can't seem to render the menus in the menu bar.
In this context, the menu bar is just a "button bar."
3) In some cases, I'm forced to use a proxy to access the Web, and the proxy server seems to have problems with .../includes/style/udm-gdom.js. Perhaps if this file was reformatted to include line breaks at the end of each logical line, this might help matters.
Regards,
Mike

[dhwn]

This is a huge drop in usability. The old site was wonderful in that I could VERY quickly scan the headlines (with the occasional BOLD headline particularly catching my attention) for something interesting with very little investment of time.
the new site is cluttered, oversized, and requires far too much scrolling and clicking to get what I want to see. MacCentral Classic was my go-to site for news. Now, it is an also ran.
I'm off to MacMinute now. Still not as good as the old MacCentral, but MUCH better than the new.

[jayslash]

yes, short span memory /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[FredFred]

As someone who has been hitting this site since the beginning, I am sorry to say that your redesign has formally condemned it to the bookmark-graveyard.
The popup ads were quite annoying enough and had me on the verge of leaving anyway.
But this isn't just the straw that broke the camel's back -- this is a 10-ton insult to all of us.
The clean utility of the old site was its major value and the easily-scanned comments and forums presented a slight advantage over other news sites.
I have no inclination to spend my valuable time filtering out all of your useless clutter while trying to find the rare news story on your colorful blog. Neither am I inclined to start from scratch with new user-information on this site when anyone with any intelligence to read and understand my comments will have left long ago.
Whatever commercial reasons you had for adopting this disgusting apparition of all things wrong with the web, you are welcome to them. They do not excuse you.
The comparisons to MacWeek are unfair -- the folks at MacWeek deserved real respect.

[Nobody]

WHERE is a link to the MacCentral Forums?... especially the Lounge?????? This is an unconscionable omission and, if not corrected, I'm out of here.
Read Shooshie's post, and read it AGAIN!
/forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

[adzoox]

"Pardon me for not feeling sorry that the redesign has impacted your parasitic use of MacCentral. Sheesh. Only an idiot makes a "MAJOR INVESTMENT" in a website over which he has absolutely no control."
You don't think it's a valid investment in a website to be linked and crosslinked for answering questions and addressing common consumer issues?
In my opinion, only an idiot calls some an idiot on the internet, they never know what the accusation could cause ..... hmmmmm .... might want to think about that!
And to note that you calling me an idiot seems odd coming from someone who has a blog about a truck, mentions his home address, and where his wife and kids are on his webpage. I'm not calling you an idiot, just asking you to step back for a second and think.
On a separate note: I appreciate MacGizmo pointing out that the old MacCentral Forums are NOT gone, but it does seem odd that the database was not transferred to the new forums. Again, this wasn't explained very well. Either way, this a step backwards and I think it's been noted by MANY MANY people here. I also agree with a post that said a beta or focus group should have been tested first.
I see that the link to this page was moved on the front page and into a what's different block (hard to find at first glance as is everything else now) - is this because MC/MW has gotten such a sour reception?

[Jason Snell]

It's still the first post in Web Site Feedback.
We haven't added it to the MacCentral home page, but we will soon.
The forums themselves aren't going anywhere.

[brossow]

...

[adzoox]

Somebody's trolling! All of your comments have been combative with name calling and off topic remarks.
See, this is a negative too! In the past I would have easily been able to able to spot this troll in the old forums, now it's hard to tell where he'sposted.

[jmincey]

Even though I'm less than thrilled with this new design, I for one would think it would be unwise of MacWorld to return instantly to the previous MacCentral format. We should all give this new design a fair test drive -- at least a couple weeks (if not one month). At the end of this trial run we can revisit this topic and if the consensus is STILL that the redesign falls short, THEN our collective voice would have much more credibility.
It's human nature to have an emotional equity in the status quo; but let's give this new design a chance to show its advantages. There are trade-offs to everything, and 24 hours is hardly enough time for any good-faith evaluations as to whether this new design represents a step forward or not. A thoughtful review is one thing; a reflexive visceral reaction quite another.
Now if pressed, I would have to say this new design does not add NET value over the previous one. This new format is more click-happy and does impose on readers and participants alike more onerous procedures for the site's use -- all without providing an appreciable or measurable advantage in the process. But I'm also mindful of how I could be mistaken in this view. After all, I have not fully explored the site nor weighed the pros and cons. I suspect none of us has yet done so.
So let's not forget the folk wisdom about first impressions, and let's not be so quick on the trigger. A few weeks won't be such a big deal, will it?