We’ll spare you “the world of online publishing is changing” speech, but, well, it is. And we’ve always tried to stay ahead of the curve. Which is why, starting today, you’ll see Queerty push forward with more original content than ever before. Most visibly, you’ll see this through our new design changes. Up top we have a feature block, showcasing our most recent and most important exclusive features. Along the sidebar you’ll find a running list of our most recent features. And in the main blog column, well, our “blog,” where we’ll do our best to keep you updated on the day’s news that other people are reporting. You’re welcome to bitch and moan, or you can take a step back and realize the new Queerty is a better Queerty, because you’ll find content — from interviews and entertainment packages to opinion and analysis columns — here that nobody else is bothering to produce. Not staid gay print magazines. Not other gay blogs. And certainly not what passes for gay television programming. We certainly hope you like it! But of course, we’re ready for you to bitch about anything, including improvements, because if there’s one thing we expect from Queerty‘s readers, it’s that you’ve got something to say. Have at it if you must.
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Yes, Queerty Has a New Look
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Trenton
First to say that it’s kind of fugly, but still much better than the gaydar ads from last week. Still, I don’t come for the aesthetic anyways, and it seems fairly SFW for now. Carry on,
teddy
it’s terrible, muriel…
so junky and chaotic…
jon
i love it. so much cleaner than before. i can find old articles. it just feels more spacious :))
dgz
i really don’t like it — it doesn’t display correctly in my IE. and honestly, the organization (unless it’s just a symptom of my earlier complaint) is haphazard. please revert.
(but i don’t mind the color change.)
Darryl
MY GOD it’s ugly… My eyes, my eyes! Who designed this mess? FIRE them… Please, change it back…
Anon
As a Design Management student at a respected design school with completed courses in color theory, digital design, typography, design innovation, the philosophy of design etc. I must say that it is neither user friendly nor better looking. I sure hope the interface, if you switched, is cheap as hell to justify the change.
get a tinted background instead of offwhite, center the header, move login to the right and use borders between content descriptions.
I could provide further information and analysis if you email me.
Schwanksta
I think I kind’ve get what you were going for, but I don’t see it translating well into practice.
You need a lot more visual content separation. Everything looks kinda jumbled. When I first saw it, I thought you were having CSS issues.
Also, that giant featured article image on the top-left of the index page is very…ummm…Geocities of you. There’s a lot going on up in the header in general, and it confusingly disappears on the article pages.
The right/bottom/top rails definitely need to have a different background color though.
All in all, I like the old one better. But I do like to see you guys trying something different. I certainly hope you can find a more visually pleasing and friendly theme with the same right-hand bar idea.
//This comment brought to you by exam week: Why study when you can critique your favorite blog’s new design?
Rafael
I feel its a but “busy” on the side pane and top. The layout previously at least looked cleaner and ‘professional’. (Which in no way means I surfed you while at work! *cough**cough*)
mark
It saves space to look for previous threads. It’ll take some getting used to, but it’s your site, do it as you like it.
Smokey Martini
It looks like Richard Simmons exploded onto my computer. What’s up with this redesign, guys? It’s poo-poo.
Michael W.
It’s certainly better than before (maybe I was just tired of looking at it), but at the same time there’s plenty of room for improvement.
I’d speak with that “Anon” person above. He/she seems to have the qualifications to help get this place in shape.
Craig D
What is up with QUEERTY feeling the insessent need to constantly revamp its look? I have never seen a website that feels like it needs to change its layout so frequently! Stop already.
And no, I do not like this latest version. With the exception that you can actually click on the image in Morning Goods and it gets bigger!
dairyqueen
WAY too much going on. The White background is HORRIBLE!
Bill S.
form/function.
I’m looking right now at the far right column.
When I’m browsing for articles, do I really care about the number of responses (jumping out at me in highlighted yellow?
When I’m reading the postings, and there’s no divider between this column and the article list, my eye gets distracted. Black text/red text doesn’t really make my eye say “stay over there until you’re done reading this”.
At least before, you had a signature: ORANGE. I knew from across the room if someone was reading queerty. Other than dissolving the little brand recognition you had, what function does this redesign have?
For me, it’s making it harder to read, and feels sloppy.
GayBobVT
I’ll give it a few days to get used to it before critiquing/commenting on the new look. But I hope that the reason there have been fewer daily posts is because you were concentrating on the change.
tin tin
If you must keep these new design at least use some sort of borders or lines to separate things, it all feels random and confusing.
Greydation? Color schemes? Black borders?
something?
ruggles
Reminds me of a Bobs Furniture store commercial. Sloppy and cheap. I’ll keep reading though, as I am sloppy and cheap, it speaks to me.
Joe Moag
It must be a gay thing to constantly feel the need to redecorate. My boyfriend does it all weekend long, which is fine, as it keeps him from standing in front of the TV and blocking my view.
faghag
You’re a bunch of morons and this layout is craptastic.
I’m off to towelroad.
anyone wanna join me?
porsha
Oh dear, Queerty, what have you done? Looks like you dropped your tray of goodies and scattered them all over the place. Some organization is needed, and quickly!
Matt
This is why I subscribe to RSS feeds
Nate
@Joe Moag: I’ve never related so much to a fellow queerty-user. Thanks for the laugh!
Tom
Was excited when I read this item on my RSS feed; thought “wow they’re finally ditching the horrible bathroom signs and 90s rave album typeface for the logo”, but no it was just the layout, which yeah isn’t all that visually appealing either. I’ll go back to RSS. On a positive note, Japhy: you’re doing a real good job. Keep it up.
Alexa
I like having access to more stories without having to wait for ever for page two to load (and pages previously did load very slowly). However, I don’t like that there is only one page and so you can’t access older stories (not that I did it very often, but if I’m away for a few days it looks like I now can’t get to all the stories I missed).
I like the color scheme. I agree with whoever said there’s no need to highlight the number of responses, it looks messy. The page does look a little cluttered, but maybe a divider between the main column and the right hand column would take care of that (it would have to be subtle, though). But overall I like it.
Nate
Oh, and as a web and graphic designer, this is terrible. Sorry guys, I LOVE this site, but I just can’t believe that someone did this and thought that it was a perfect combination of information display and design aesthetic. I was sure that your RSS hadn’t loaded and I was looking at raw content. Please either revert, or create a more functional spacing between all the information. Also, I HATE the right side bar. if someone wants to read an old article, let them go click older posts. it’s distracting and bulky. Again, love the site though. love it.
Gary
Japhy, are you deliberately trying to ruin this blog?
This layout is absolute shit.
my_kalm_organ
My only real problem is the white background is way harsh on the eyes.
mike7
well it’s a whole lot better than whatever the huffington post passes off as design.
get over it guys. stop being so quick to criticize like little bitches.
Sam
I hope this is work in progress because the layout looks awful and you need something other than a white background.
Joe M
Sorry – but a huge misstep. Way too busy and cluttered, with no easy eye flow. The side panel is a bit too overwhelming.
Psychofag
It kind of sucks…and swallows
jack
chiming in…
at first it seemed “chaotic” as several have put it, but eventually the design sorted itself out in my mind. i like being able to skip back without wading through, and i think it IS a bit more user friendly.
n
i it redundant to point out that the all white, and lack of distinction between the main body and the sidebar added to the confusion? a border and a few color adjustments and i think you have made a more readable site.
as an aside, i know most people dislike change, but what a bunch of shrill whingers hang out here. chill…
harberdasher
“wwwaaaaaaaah waaaaaaaah waaaaaaaah!”
that’s the sound of Queerty readers always bitching and complaining like infants. don’t like the site? stop fucking coming!
do you really need your hand to be held all across the internet?
Nitesurf
I like it. Cleaner, easier to navigate, faster loading. I’m already used to it, but with all these complaints, I better prepare myself for the possibility of more changes.
MattD
My first reaction was to reload the webpage…twice…because it looks like a jumbled mess of script.
If you want to change the layout go for a few subtle changes over time, not some chaotic mishmash of links on a white background.
I think, for now, I’ll switch to an RSS feed of the site.
ajax
I’m glad the Gaydar banners are gone.
I think I ran out of nice things to say. Sorry.
thisismikesother
i’m going to lodge my vote, but it’s really just going to be an echo of earlier. i feel like it looks really cluttered. i thought part of the page wasn’t loading (the CSS actually, not the RSS like an earlier commenter) and that’s where there was all that free floating text, but nope, it’s apparently supposed to be there. i’m not going to demand an overhaul like others, but a few lines dividing up the space would be nice. i like the mainly white aesthetic, but i feel like everything is bumping up against each other and there’s no logical way for the eye to follow the page.
i guess this is why i stick to my good ‘ol google reader.
ahoke
it’s awful and barely legible. way too much “noise”
Darrell6tt
Too cluttered. Too much overall. Part of the attraction on yesterday’s Queerty was the simplicity. I don’t need more stuff to read.
jesse
This is a jumbled mess, absolutely scattered looking and the white background is burning my eyes.
Also, I feel that the content of this site has been degrading and the tone of posts is bitchier/queenier than it was before.
I am finding that I frequent this site less often and find it less engaging. I used to visit every day and now I’ve dropped off to once a week. If this design is the direction you’re going for, then I think you may lose me altogether.
Adam
Hi Japhy,
Since you took over as editor, there has been a dramatic positive change in the quality of content. Thank you for that.
And thanks for the continued effort to improve the blog. But as it is with anything – some things work, and some things don’t. This new layout is not really working on several levels. Layout, color scheme, etc. are clashing in a way that’s very distracting and ultimately detracts from the rich content you’re obviously working very hard to curate.
I’m not sure how you do things on the back-end, but maybe you should consider creating a focus group with your bet users. Maybe they could critical feedback before you launch something that’s not going to be very well received.
Just a thought.
jorge
I, for one, love it. And I’m excited to see what kind of things Japhy is going to be offering. I think it’ll grow on everyone over the next few days. Besides, would you rather be on Out.com? Everything else is a fucking joke.
Tony
“The side panel is a bit too overwhelming.”
I agree.
Where is the link to previous posts?
jd
Frankly it gives me a headache. Too much, too much, too much.
Mad Professah
I actually like it. I think the new design increases navigability, while sacrificing “look” slightly, but I’ll take it.
I think you’re closer to a final look, but this isn’t quite it,, yet.
Can we get some DARK-SKINNED Morning Goods models now?
CommentDouble
Horrid layout. Change it. And while you’re at it take the log cabin republican off the top of the page.
Alan down in Florida
Without reading the other respondents all I can say is it is too bright and too busy. Everything barely fits on my 24″ monitor – I can only imagine the lack of readability when everything is squashed together to fit a smaller screen.
JH
The new content is great. The new design is not; it looks cluttered and unprofessional. For example, the graphic for your feature up top — do you think that’s the best that you can do? It’s unpleasant to look at, which is unfortunate since it’s for a really great interview. My first instinct was to scroll down to get it out of my field of view. If you’re going to put together graphics instead of using photos, do a better job. Get some decent software and someone with design training (plenty of people willing to freelance I’m sure!). If you want to take Queerty to a new level, I completely support that — I think it would be great if it was more like an online magazine than a typical blog. But it shouldn’t look like a sub-par student-run website, or else it will hide all the great content.
I’m not going to stop coming to the site just because it looks bad, but I think you can do better.
Woof
As I said in the MG, the left justified is too much and almost cuts off the first byte.
Ray
it’s fine
Smokey Martini
All of a sudden, Queerty is starting to remind me of THIS
http://coverawards.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/j14coverawardsmarkpasetsky.jpg
I feel dirty for even coming to this site. Zero pride.
adzomelk
its become SO usa today sort of ugly but hey its your site do what you like with it as long as i can read its all good
flightoftheseabird
This sucks. I am not opposed to change, but this is just awful. I have no idea where the main content ends and whatever the sidebar thing is starts. I can barely discern between posts. There is a huge ugly graphic, that I initially thought was the new logo. Then I realized the logo was to the right. Waaaayyyy toooooo much white………. We have this thing called color. Check out the “Color Brewer” website for colors that are pleasing to the eye and easy to read.
JonBoy
I’m sorry, but this redesign is so bad that I can’t continue to read this blog anymore. That’s really disappointing to me because I enjoyed it…but this is so disorganized and…well, amateurish that I just can’t do it.
🙁
m.alpha
Yeah, it’s um, it’s pretty bad. Like, really bad. As in, a complete and total travesty stabbing 1000 needles in my eyes. At first I figured it must be a passive-aggressive joke to all the people who had complained about the half-naked guy on the sidelines and that it wasn’t really the new layout, but then I checked Jossip to be sure and it looks just as bad.I actually fired up my Windows virtual machine to see if you guys had used some screwed up, non-standard coding that didn’t work with Firefox. I completely agree with the person who said the page looks like your stylesheet is missing.
The actual post page is not that bad, although the sheer amount of whitespace is absurd and the column to the left looks really dumb. I also agree that losing the orange demolishes your brand recognition and the yellow highlight on the comments is really childish. Plus, the section for “Related Posts” seems to be missing. I checked it by going to one I know had it (since it showed up in my reader) and it doesn’t have it anymore. I think it’s a better way to highlight relevant content that sticking a bunch of articles down the side (and across the bottom, Jesus, WHY?!).
As for the front page…wow, I hope you didn’t pay someone to put that together, my apoologies to the webdesigner. Why are you highlighting a discussion topic using a graphic that looks like it was hacked together by my 7 year old sister in Paint? I mean, at least the horrible graphic of the straight couple kissing is off to the side, but the one with the Republican is huge, hideous, and staring me straight in the face.
Also, why do you have one long sidebar devoted entirely to listing the people running this site? There is nothing else on it, so when you scroll down the page, all you see is a bunch of white space that could be used to help separate the main blog posts from the gratuitous sidebar on the right. What you’ve basically done is condensed and overshadowed the reason why people come to this site: to read the latest blog post. It is all the way at the bottom underneath a huge banner and even larger highlighting section that is so cluttered, you actually made the font of the items on the far right tinier so you could fit that much crap into that space. I mean, what resolution are you guys running this site at? 1600x? 1920x? I’m going at 1024 (off from my normal widescreen of 1280 as I’m hooked up to an external) and the stuff on this page doesn’t actually fit in the window. There is a horizontal scroll on the bottom.
I mean, I usually read off my Google Reader because it’s easier to manage all my sites that way, but often times you guys have a cut that Google also includes, so I have to make the jump over here and this is just not pleasant.
m.alpha
Sorry for the long comment. I, too have been up all night studying for finals and am prolonging my current procrastination, sorry.
Mikey
The layout is very busy. You say the changes are about content, but if Queerty provides such great content that other places don’t produce, it doesn’t really matter how you present it…
So please come up with a less cluttered and busy way of presenting it.
It just feels way too busy, it’s hard to figure out what is what. Maybe it just takes some getting used to. But also, just a little headline and pictures isn’t enough for me to click on things unless they are extra-interesting… so I think a lot of people will simply ignore everything that’s going on outside of the main box because that’s what we come for and everything around the side links to stuff that isn’t really click-worthy… like sure it’d be fine to read news items if you got to read the first few paragraphs… but it’s not worth clicking on a picture and headline to get to it.
We’ll see how this works out… but it’s just so goddamn busy that I think I will just ignore everything from the sides unless something looks really, exceptionally interesting.
Chris
I’m with others that the content has been really improving since Japhy came on board here, but this redesign is a mess. It’s cluttered and the lack of anything to divide the various types of items on the page makes it look even more so.
xiquet
I have to agree. It’s not great. Maybe if you took the stuff out between the queerty logo at the top and where the blog starts it would look a little cleaner… more like this comments page. I don’t know, but it’s pretty jarring now.
axn
Yes, the content is more visible. But the site is messy and looks unprofessional. It looks like you threw up every story you’ve ever posted on one page.
Define your spaces better. Help us find what we’re looking for – this site looks worse than huffpo.
Ben
@Smokey Martini:
definitely agree. some borders. define spaces. what the other 60 comments are saying. it feels cluttered and confusing. little details could fix that for sure.
also, i wasnt going to comment because i know it’s important that you guys keep fresh, even if people might not welcome the change. but did you really need the cynical, smart ass introduction? fundamental rule of business, if you’re rude to your audience, why would the audience come back? this place is really just starting to foster bad vibes. i guess you’re trying to be better though?
Dawster
here i go!
okay, over all i’m okay with the look… even with the number of responses. MORE ORIGINAL CONTENT is good. i like it. go with that. i’m also for more commentary, more bitching, and more back handed lashings…. if i can put that in there. good for you, i’m very proud to be a reader of this website.
so, for the not-so-good:
along the right side, the wording and the pictures of links need to better associated with each other. it looks like you have two separate lists going… it’s confusing.
the number of responses would look less “odd” if they were in parenthesis rather than highlighted in yellow.
the front page should be a little more defined in its separation of it’s front-page features. everything blends together and it can be overwhelming visually.
speaking of visually, there is too much white. it almost hurts the eyes. the border that you had before was fine (albeit somewhat large). the last thing you want to give your readers is a splitting headache due to eye fatigue. i’m sure there is some way to calm down the electric effects of pure white.
other than that… it’s not that bad.
that’s my two cents!!
ILOVEZ
I didn’t like the new layout. It is very busy! Anyway I will keep reading Queerty.
Leo
Dont worry Queerty, trend setters always get critized, just look at Cher and her different looks, think of all the weird looks she got stepping out on the red carpet and now everyone is trying to copy her.
Happy Holidays and thanks for all the hard work….
Joe Moag
Mr. Hauslaib: Don’t ask for comments and then bitch about the comments you receive.
We’re not here to congratulate you regardless of what we actually feel. That’s what your mom is for.
I actually like the new layout more than not, but I feel like shit telling you this, after your little snark in the post.
michael
FAB – U – LASH
looking good for the new year !
Rob
Okay, so the new design is pretty bad, and it’s hard to look at. It seems that everyone that has commented here has said about the same thing. Some things are easier to find, but since everything looks much less interesting, I’m less inclined to look through the list to see if I’ve missed something.
However, I have less of a problem with the new so-called “design” than I have with the condescending attitude of “David.” While I love Japhy’s posts, and I think they’ve really improved the appeal of the site, the comments left by David constantly infuriate me with the insulting tone. For example:
“You’re welcome to bitch and moan, or you can take a step back and realize the new Queerty is a better Queerty.”
In other words, if we agree with him that this is better (which a quick glance through the comments here will tell you that it is actually worse) then we are right. If we disagree with him, we are just “bitching and moaning.”
Way to respect your readers again, David.
There are hundreds of good gay blogs on the internet, and I don’t have to continue to visit a site that blatantly disrepects the readers, and constantly throws these catty little insults out to us.
I’m not into this kind of abuse, name-calling, and disrepect. ‘
I won’t be back to this site again.
So, David, thanks for ruining my favorite blog for me. I hope that the fun you get by insulting your readers makes up for the number of readers you are losing.
Scott MF
I’m not opposed to change. When facebook went through all it’s image changes this past year or two I initially wasn’t a fan. Now I’m really enjoying the new Facebook layout and find it really useful.
In regards to Queerty’s new layout, I was really shocked at first. I don’t think this shock will last too long, but I do have a few bits of constructive critisism.
First, the white background is pretty hard on the eyes. I think I liked the orange border before because it wasn’t just a big, plain white screen.
Second, the picture links on the side are nice, but it does make the page look messy (and as one user commented, “chaotic”). I think a simply text link would work better. Also, centered justification for both the text and pictures makes it look less clean. I would left or right justify the right link toolbar and it won’t look as chaotic as you have it now.
Otherwise, I’m looking forward to continuing reading Queerty. Good work gents!
Jeffk
I hate it so much that I probably will stop visiting this website. With all the great interfaces available I do not know why you chose something that has no visible structure. Yuck.
Lydon
First of all, I hope you don’t consider this few lines as petty “bitching and moaning”. May I say that that comment was an awful way to ask for your reader’s opinions. This is the first time ever that I’ve actually rolled my eyes when reading something in your site, or felt disrespected, and that’s a real shame.
As a designer, I have to say that I agree with the majority of comments here when I say that the new layout doesn’t have any sense of functionality or aesthetics. I’m all for the new content you have proposed, good in theory and could be a great advantage to your site, but this web layout makes everything seem completely cluttered and amateurish. More importantly, there’s no hierarchy in the information, both old and new, and that is a terrible mistake when shoving all of this new content down your readers’ throats.
A brand is the single most important intangible asset a company can have, and I’m afraid to say that you have certainly lost your brand recognition and value with the redesign. What used to be a logo is now simply a graphic scattered everywhere without any real thoughts behind it, and your trademark color (which not only functioned as a brand identity before, but was used as a clever way to distinguish all the different types of information and content) has been replaced by the dangerous use of white. No, it’s not minimal or streamlined design if you’re pasting everything on top of a white surface as if you were working on a collage. In that context, it’s the sidebar that requires the most attention. It now has a vital function in your site, and the fact that there are so many different widths and sizes due to the use of unedited pictures is confusing and disturbing to the eye.
All in all, it’s a real shame that the changes have been executed so poorly. I’m all up for the new content you’re offering, but only in a more thought out layout.
Bob
Blech. It looks like a sixth-grade girl’s scrapbook.
Bob
Hate it….nothing more to say from this old queen who hates all change!!!!
M Shane
One of the first and formost aspects of good web design is the ease with which the site can be navigated. I have the impression that a chimpor turkey put this together.
It’s impossible to move around at all. Hardly woth the effort, I’m afraid. Different is not necesssarily better. This is a great object lesson. A place to come to be lost.
damascene
have you ever heard of the word ergonomics. The page is painful to read.
mark
ON second look I agree the solid white is harsh and sterile, get yourself the BIG box of crayons and pick one.
mark
Also the fushia text of the names of other threads…uh….ICK
seitan-on-a-stick
This is now worse than the revamped 365Gay.com. If you’re that bored, hand out turkeys to HIV homeless. I miss the vomit-colored old look already.
timmyweb
Usability. Look it up, because whoever put this cluster?%#k together knows nothing about it.
retrofit71
@lydon:
First of all, I hope you don’t consider this few lines as petty “bitching and moaning”. May I say that that comment was an awful way to ask for your reader’s opinions.
SO TRUE! Egads, how rude.
I, too, am a marketing and editorial designer for Wenner, so I kind of know what I am doing, and the new look and flow of information isn’t great guys. I’m a huge advocate for ‘white space’ in print design and at times in web, but here things are just floating randomly and it’s confusing.. I read this blog every day about 8 times a day, and I’ll probably continue because I like the information provided, but you guys need to rethink the design.
Not ‘bitching’ and ‘moaning’ for the sake of it, we do this for a living.
ninebone
I agree with Joe Moag’s Comment #65 above.
***********************
The ‘new’ layout is easier to navigate. Especially when I want to read another article and its comments without, first, having to go back to the ‘front page’.
But I also echo all the other critiques:
1) Change the ‘eye-splitting’, headache inducing White background color.
2) Return the Left Side Bar with the Editorial team info to its original Right Side Bar position. This will give you more space/font size for your articles.
3) Since you do not have a ‘Welcome/Enter/Log-In page remove the Top Side Bar with the “most Recent posted articles”. All I have to do is scroll down to see them so this is redundancy and is taking up “editorial line space”.
4) Delineate all your articles and side bars with lines, to help guide the reader’s eyes to the content they are currently reading.
5) Remove the Highlights from the Response numbers. It is very distracting.
6) Put the links to the ‘Morning Goods Guy/Girl’ in the Bottom Side Bar, for those who would like to view the pictures first before reading the articles. 😉
7) Put the links to the ‘Morning/Afternoon Aural’ at the bottom of the Right Side Bar, below all the past articles links.
8) Make the ‘Title’ of your article/photo sets/music videos the link to the ‘full/complete’ text and the comments page.
So the layout I envision:
Header Bar – Your LOGO and the log-in box
Left Side Bar – All your articles/photo sets/music videos
Right Side Bar – Your Editorial staff listings, (line break) Your current/past postings navigation list, (line break) Your current/past Morning/Afternoon Aural posts navigation list.
Footer Bar – all your photo sets of the Morning Goods Guy/Girl navigation list.
robert
The new layout is not reader friendly-it’s too busy and looks like you have a bad case of ADD-It’s like the jossip layout which is horrific as well-I suggest you go back to the original or find a better alternative.
angelo
its really, really bad.
Kid A
It’s by no means perfect now, but I appreciate the effort to switch things up. Designing my high school paper resulted in some pretty fugly stuff, but once it was ironed out it was worth the effort.
Rigso
Putrid, i’m sorry but its awful! I could have designed something better and I don’t have a background in web design, I’m sorry but just go back or I have to stop reading, it’s hurting my eyes
Distingué Traces
After the massive swimming-pool splash of the past few days, I don’t see a single ad.
Is that really the plan going forward? Or will some of the white space bee used for background ads?
Generally, I like it, but I’m not a designer. I was recently reading about how successful the Drudge Report design is – with all its crudity – in keeping readers.
And I’m very pleased to hear we’ll be seeing more original content.
Ewwww
DO NOT LIKE IT AT ALL. Not very well designed at all
Kieren
Plain bad. Is the new editor to blame for this? If yes: be gone!
Distingué Traces
Okay, here’s my first concrete criticism. Every time I move the mouse over to the scroll bar, I have to move over that column of links and a big grey rectangle flashes at me. That’s annoying, turn it off.
Distingué Traces
Just a note to everyone: the main Jossip site has exactly the same redesign, so this is most likely something that’s been handed to Japhy, and not something he can alter on his own initiative.
Ewwww
I hope they fix it…nothing drives away readers more than an uncomfortable layout. I can’t even get past the masthead banner. I’ll keep my distance and see if it has been properly remodled in two weeks.
John
HATE IT. Fucking ugly. Confusing. Go learn about usability.
Emily Sors
The new layout makes it really difficult to read – and I have damn good eyesight!
Adam
For a minute I thought it was just my browser fucking up. It looks terrible.
Lukas
Well, I see what you were aiming at with the redesign, but it doesn’t work for me. The new layout is rather confusing (way too much text, small pictures and article links) and the white background looks kind of cheap and makes it uncomfortable to read with all its shininess. The old design was so much better…
Joe Moag
Mr. Hauslaib: The more I think about your attitude and comments in this matter, the more I am convinced that you are clueless as to some basic concepts of marekting and brand development. When your heavy users – people who use your product a lot – make comments, pro or con, as to the substance and appearance of your product, they are doing so as a sign of “ownership” and “buy-in”, two things that you should WANT and CHERISH as you develop your brand. (By the way, brand loyalty is how you get to jack ad rates with advertisers).
Insulting your heavy users – like Coca-Cola changning its recipe and telling it’s heavy users to shut up and gag it down – is beyond smug. It’s simply stupid.
retrofit71
Wow, there’s a lot of “bitching” and “moaning” about the new look and functionality of the new site guys.. Looks like Queerty readers are really bitter and spiteful today and secretly LIKE the new site but prefer to PRETEND they don’t. Yeah, I bet that’s it.
John
I like it, though it’s a bit too long. I like the fact that you can read old news and stuff like that. It feels more interactive and like a ‘news’ site, instead of an insular blog with insular comments by insular people.
It feels more ‘open’.
Jaroslaw
I don’t know if it is easier to find old articles or not, but I find I have to scroll to the left and right all the time because it doesn’t fit on my screen anymore.
I do not like it. please revert to old format.
John
@Joe Moag:
Joe, it works both ways. The commenters on this subject are INSANE. Get a grip. At least they are being asked about it???
It’s so sad, if this was a huge company, like NY times or any other news site, you wouldn’t be asked in this open manner…
I’m no wet sap but some of the reasons I stay away from this site are the people who comment. And hopefully this new update may bring in more people who are genuinely interested in news and not being incredibly offensive or mean to the editors or other posters…
Thor
Too much white space and not enough lines to divide the layout.
Joe Moag
@John: Actually, when the Chicago Trib did a re-design a few years ago, it asked for and posted all manner of comments from its readers, pro and con, without any editorial snark. Last time I checked, the Trib was a major national corporation.
I happen to like the Queerty re-design as well. My point is that Mr. Hauslaib is an insufferable twit to ask for comments and then bash those who disagree. Moreover, it shows a complete lack of common sense business savvy to insult those who use your product, especially when you ask them to comment. Petulent little brat is what it reminds me of.
Lydon
@John:
I agree with Joe. Like I said in my prior comment, not once had I been insulted by a writer on this site, much less the editorial director. Mr. Hauslaib was defensive and condescending from the get-go, even before receiving one SINGLE comment on the new layout. Even if all the comments had been sugar and spice and everything nice he had already called us “bitchers and moaners”.
Having said that, I truly hope that TPTB take all this matter into serious consideration and learn to take a hint from other sites like AfterElton. I truly hate comparing one blog to another but in this case I feel it’s necessary. Recently they decided to change the format of a regular and popular column on their site, much to the dismay of their readers. After reading the whole lot of comments on the issue, they went back to the way things were without complaining about bitching and moaning ONCE. I think it would be healthy for Queerty to take real recommendations and work with them so that we’re all happy, and never again disrespect serious readers who want to help like that again.
John
@Joe Moag:
Fair enough..
RainaWeather
It looks like the HTML got messed up. Clean but ugly.
John
@Lydon:
But you want to go back to what it was???
Jeez, I really didn’t like it. After Elton has a similar feel to this one-it relays news items all over the site…
I loathed the last one and felt it was very basic and junior blogish. It didn’t have the feel of a ‘news’ site. A ‘relevance’. A ‘now’ factor.
To me this has, though I think you shouldn’t have to scroll so far, far down-that makes it seem clunky..
Lydon
@John: In all honesty, I thought that it was a lot more functional and organized better. I like the new features they’re trying to bring to the site, but I detailed my comments from my designer perspective in one of my previous posts if you want to give it a further read. It’s funny actually, I had the opposite reaction to the new layout vs. the old one, I feel THIS ONE to be “very basic and junior blogish”, not the other way around. Just shows how different we all are from one another. 🙂
But no, I’m not trying to make them go back to what it used to be exactly, but I certainly do hope they realize that not all of us are mindless twats who complain for the sake of complaining. Some of us actually have this site’s best interest at heart.
P.S. The AfterElton thing I talked about was about weekly column, arguably the most important one on that site, and they tried to change everything about it only to change it back when readers didn’t like it. They were very nice about the whole thing, considering how dissapointing it must have been for readers to hate your new work.
m.alpha
I actually think my problem with it is that it does look more like a news site. Part of my like of this site (and dislike of AfterEllen) is that it is easier to gleam the news bits from it and is a lot more focused on things besides celebrities and television. AfterEllen is a huge website with terrible organization that makes it difficult for me to rss to, since I’d have to rss to about five different portions of the website. A simple design is not really a problem for a blog that people like and which features good content. Racialicious, AngryAsianMan, Disgrasian, AngryBlackWoman, and more all have simple layouts and are extremely popular. That said, that is because they function as actual *blogs*, which is what I’ve always treated Queerty as. Now, apparently it wants to move past being a blog to competing on a level with other bigname gay websites that I generally dislike. And you know, that’s fine, I just hope this doesn’t result in such a shift of focus that the site loses its value and I’m left searching for another blog.
Anthony in Nashville
Call me crazy but I like this look more than last week’s design.
John
@Lydon:
Yes I remember re After Elton! It changed like after a day! Power to the people!
@m.alpha:
But surely this IS a news site??
Dawgson
I honestly thought it was a mistake with the stylesheet. I reloaded a couple times before I saw this post.
I skimmed the comments, so I apologize for repeats, but here are my two cents:
1. There is a lot of space wasted, esp. on the home page in the right rail. It looks like that space is reserved for ads and that you don’t have any.
2. I like the general idea of the right rail — not 100% sure of the execution but it’s a great way to browse.
3. The font size on the home page seems small — Your css is telling me it’s not, so maybe my eyes are going.
A lot of the people (including myself) who have commented on this are professionals — Maybe you should take some of the constructive criticism to heart.
–md
Dawgson
Sorry. In #1, I meant left rail. Need to edit better before I hit submit.
abelincoln
Love the sinner = Queerty :kisses: for you
Hate the sin = new page layout no :kisses: for you
🙂 Love the blog though
m.alpha
@John:
“But surely this IS a news site??”
Well, yes, in the sense that it delivers news. Of course by that defintion, many of those blogs I listed could be said to be “news” sites. However, it’s different from a “newsPAPER” site in that it tings this news with relevant commentary and many blogs have a specific focus. Unlike newsPAPERS, which cover National, Local, Business, Sports, Entertainment constantly in a very general way, blogs tend to examine some of those things as they relate to what they’re generally about. So, when I say I viewed Queerty less as a news site and more as a blog, that’s what I meant. It means, not being something something like CNN, but also not just being something like an “entertainment blog”, sidetracking its focus on gay issues (politically, socially, culturally – minus those Morning Goods posts I skip over) for things like Movie Top 10 Lists, Celeb Pages, celeb interviews that a phrase like “entertainment packages” screams out to me.
al reid
Are you high?
Rick Heintz
Where do I look? What’s going on? I like change but this is not easy on the eyes!!!
Geoffrey
My first thought was “WTF”…..but that’s always the knee jerk reaction to something new. Your last format was much more straight forward in my opinion, but after a minute I understood the navigation. NBD. I do think you could clean it up though.
John
@m.alpha:
“It means, not being something something like CNN”
You know what, you’ve brought a good point up. I guess if I’m honest…I DO want a more ‘News’ site-that can still inc gossip, entertainment OR morning goods but I do want the feeling that I’m entering a level of informative debate be it serious OR light hearted.
And I didn’t feel that with the other….
But the aesthetic of a site is very important and I didn’t like the ‘cliquey bloggy feel’.
But to Joe Moag and the others. Do you not feel David’s comment about the commenters on this site to be justified?? How many times have people irrationally insulted you on a simple point you were trying to make?
Or made crazy racist comments? OR insulted someone because they are too or not enough queeny?
Come on people call a spade a spade. I think his generalization was pretty apt.
I don’t feel you get this amount of bitchy people on other sites. Think back to when Japhy was first appointed and the stuff that was said about him before he even posted anything!!?
Come on..
Stuartsez
Too busy, and there doesn’t seem to be any navigation from the front page for “Next Page” or other way to get to older posts. However, it’s no longer crashing my IE, so there’s some improvement.
Joe Moag
@John: I absolutely feel fed up sometimes with some of the hair-brained b.s. comments and snipes that come floating my way from people deliberately misunderstanding/mischaracterizing me on these threads. Agreed.
But, several points of difference here. Hauslaib is the publisher, not me. His knee-jerk, negative reaction to negative comments (comments that he asked for) is simply, in business/marketing terms, foolish.
We who comment are Queerty users who feel attached enough to the site to bother to comment. We are this site’s base. That base is how Hauslaib sells ads. So, while he snarks at us, he turns around and tells his advertisers, “look, look how invested and bought-in my readers are, they even make 120 comments on site re-design, so, Mr. Advertiser, I got brand loyalty, and you gotta pay more to advertise here to get access to my brand loyalty.”
He gets THAT aspect of the equation for brand loyalty correct (the part that he makes money from), but not the other half of the brand loyalty equation, the part where he should pay attention to the sentiments of his heavy users, or ignore them in peace and quiet.
Don’t insult us. Then again, it costs him nothing to insult us.
Coromandel
David, It’s not really new; you’ve just given it the same Jossip makeover. Couldn’t you have paid for a different look? It’s a different site. By the way, the redesign is seriously ADD.
timmyweb
I’d suggest, to all that read the blog and dislike the new design, use an aggregator to read it. Then the design is moot.
I have to say, I’ve liked the editorial direction with the “new blood”, but this redesign almost guarantees me not coming to the actual site to read the posts.
Jim
Sorry guys, this is A.D.D.-inspiringly busy and very amateurish-looking. There must be some sort of organization you’re going for, but it’s coming off as busy, confused slop. Why are you repeating things along the bottom which are already in the sidebar area? Overall, inane. After 20 years in advertising, as a designer and production specialist, it all boils down to one question: why aren’t blog designers required to use focus groups for testing layouts before going live? Content-wise, Queerty is still my favorite daily catch-up spot, but this glarinly bright mess should’ve been left on the drawing board, so to speak.
Am I stupid?
I really don’t think so, but, i can’t figure out how to get to previous posts. And I am not an internet novice by any means. This layout does confuse me a lot, and not just because I’m used to the old one. But REALLY, I can’t find how to get to previous posts. And it’s kind of driving me nuts.
John
@Joe Moag:
You know a similar thing happened with Gawker and their is a fine line between the relationship between the site editors and the readers..
It’s a blurred line,that I don’t know how it can be solved….you have a snarky site were you are opinionated and friendly in your rapport with the readers….you joke bitch, they joke bitch…until SOMEONE crosses the line…
Is this a service type of company? Or more like a co-op/social network? If it’s the latter, the editor has the right to joke around with his readers surely?
Basically, we WANT the openess in the delivery of the site, so we feel part of it but we don’t want to be brought up on our responses or actions as readers…?
I’m hearing you but I think this is ‘grey-er’ then we can discuss regarding the concept of ownership…
John
@Jim:
Yeah the job has been done sloppy to be fair…but why not more constructive criticisms called?
Don’t tell me you can’t read the ‘glee’ in some of the post above?? The arrogance of readership power reeks through…like a bully who knows what they say or do will have an affect on your livelihood…
Urgh.
Really nasty.
Joe Moag
@John: Could be – that’s an interesting point. Certainly, these sites are newer and different forms of news, etc…
However, I still think it is a long-term strategic loser to attack one’s base…
Just my two cents.
And, I think, based on the overwhelming amount of calm and negative feedback, I agree with the commentator above who said that this whole effort would have benefited from a focus group. Hauslaib has the names and IP addresses of all his Queerty heavy users. He could have tested it with us/them…but, considering his obvious disdain for our opinions, it is little wonder that he chose not to.
TBSJR
HATE HATE HATE this new layout It sucks. period
chuck
@jon:
> “it just feels more spacious”
But it is, Blanche. It is.” *grin*
Seriously, however, the new layout is nice. Not all bunched up like my underwear sitting on the bleachers on a hot summer day.
The old site looked like someone had given it a wedgie. Now, we can check the buns out in “widescreen”. 😉
Smokey Martini
@Bob:
Hey Bob, your pre-teen scrapbook description pretty much confirms my post above.
I’m RSS feeding this site from now on.
Nice doing business with ya, Queerty.
John
@Joe Moag:
“from a focus group. Hauslaib has the names and IP addresses of all his Queerty heavy users”
Focus group?? Okay.
I guess it seems the majority of users saw this as an ‘open business module’. Instead of hierachel, hence the anger in the change and the lack of notification of the site….
So, it’s in the owners interest to detirmine what it is as a business..
John
@Smokey Martini:
Sheez, aren’t you the bully??? My way OR no way!!
Yeah, that’s right. Leave that EVIL sit that dare to report about news from the gay (minority) community BUT decided to change its frigging lay out!??
Am I in the twighlight zone??
John
@Smokey Martini:
Yep.
You’re not being too irrational and bully like in your behaviour.
I don’t get MY way, so I will LEAVE you.
No wonder the gay community couldn’t string if it tried an effective campaign to beat prop 8!!?
Ha! Way to go!
Joe Moag
@John: Well, your business is what your customers say it is. That goes for old media, new media, and media forms yet to be brought about.
If the heavy users of this site are saying one thing, it might have done Hauslaib well to have tried and paid attention to that dynamic prior to the release, and, in lieu of that, acted with a modicum of respect towards their views once the changes were up and running.
I like the new layout. If anyone had asked me, I could have said why I like it, at length.
Smokey Martini
@John:
I’m not completely cutting of my ties with the site, John. RSS feeds allow Queerty updates to be sent to my Google Reader and saves me the trouble of visiting this design disaster to seek them out. December 15 2008 with forever mark the day when Google Reader became more efficient and user-friendly than Queerty. And that, my dear, says a lot!
Having said that: I invite other gmail users to do the same if they’re really disappointed with the re-design. Given that David has already dismissed our feedback as mere ‘bitching’ (and you call me the bully, John?), now is the time where we can show the execs that actions DO speak louder than words.
John
@Smokey Martini:
All I was saying that it isn’t so nice to say you won’t go back to a site you’ve liked simply because of its new layout. I’m hardly the bully because I broght you up on that?
@Joe Moag: Like I said I do see your point..
I just don’t think it’s constructive to insult one of the ONLY gay websites (as well as others), that reports news on what it internationally happening (more US) in our lives…
People need to be brought up on things but to me there’s too much satisfaction in someone’s misfortune/mistake/bad consuduct/poor perceptiveness..
Redheadguy
David, I love you and Trent dearly. However, this very Web 0.5. 🙁
Joe Moag
@John: I am not now, nor have I ever insulted this site, once. Ever. Ever.
I like this site a LOT! Enjoy the hell out of it, bullies and all.
I am taking real issue with its publisher, his approach, and his attitudes towards his customers, on this issue specifically. That’s all.
I dig this site. Regardless of the man who publishes it and what I see as his less-than open minded perspective towards the views of his base. In all sincerity, I bet that he is an extremely decent person – I have no reason to suspect or expect otherwise.
He’s just a dick when it comes to customer relations.
Smokey Martini
@John:
Well, I do like the content, so I don’t want to lose that. But as a professional in the publishing industry, the design really offends me. BIG TIME.
Google Reader will be the lesser of the two evils at this point, until the next re-design comes along — that is, IF one ever does…
RobT
As a web designer myself, I have to agree with many commenters that the new redesign is lacking in usability and aesthetic. It looks unprofessional and just downright clumsy. The content appears mixed up on the page; at first glance, I can’t seem to understand the significance of order with the items in the header, sidebar, and footer. I recommend restoring the older layout while you attempt to have a new theme created. But, this time, please employ someone with experience in web design to design Queerty’s theme.
Actually, I came upon an article today that your web designer should read: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/12/15/10-useful-techniques-to-improve-your-user-interface-designs/
Thanks for the content, though!
pickles
I just got to the bottom of the front page and looked for the good ol’ ‘next page’ icon, which is GONE. Uh.. am I missing something or are you? It’s only a one-page site now?
Keep on redecorating.. but it all seems for not. The right side seems messy. Look at Towleroad. It’s nice and it never changes.
Jazzlow
HATE IT!!!
patrick
The new design like many others have noted is very stark an difficult to navigate visually. Like others have mentioned I’ve been very disappointed with the decrease in content since the editorial change. Maybe less time should be spent on design and more on whats going on….really miss the awesome music that used to be one of my favourite features of your blog. All in all not happy with what has been my fave blog.
Charles J. Mueller
@pickles:
Pickles, you don’t need to wade through page after page any more to get to the article you want to peruse. Just click on one of the pics on the right side of the page and it will take you to the older articles of your choice.
Greg
As a web designer, I have to say that this is a huge step backward from the old design. I think some constructive criticism will do a lot better than bitching about it though, so here are my recommendations:
1. The different areas of the website need to be better defined. The background on either side of the site needs to be a different color, not white. And the header and sidebars need to have a different color background as well, or at least some sort of physical separation.
2. The list of posts on the right side needs to be reformatted. The varying widths of the thumbnail pictures combined with the fact that the headlines are centered makes it look very cheap and confusing. The text there needs to be aligned to the left, not centered. And all the thumbnails need to be the same width (or better yet, removed entirely). If you’re going to keep the thumbnails, you might also try putting them on the left side of the article titles to they act as more of a physical separation between the actual posts.
3. The top section with all the features needs to be reorganized. Right now, it just looks very awkward.
4. The site needs more uniformity overall. There are way too many different fonts, different color titles, the font sizes in various places are awkward…
If you would like further description, or even help actually redesigning the site, email me.
-Greg
Etienne St.Jean
I think the new layout is an improvement.Keep it.
scott
Bad design.
It’s chaotic. Stuff is all over the place. There is no linear order. I’m not going thru all 144 posts. I’ll agree with post no. 144 tho. And i’m just skimming his.
I’m an Art Director… have done web and print design. And this just doesn’t cut it. It’s so clunky. My eye doesn’t know where to go. I agree, if the right photos must be there, make it left align and all the images should be the SAME SIZE.
Greg (no. 144) was correct on the uniformity.
Seriously, this design does NOT want to make me read Queerty anymore, mainly because it’s too chaotic.
Charles J. Mueller
@Etienne St.Jean:
I read your very thought provoking article under the So, Did You Call in Gay thread.
We are facing a problem very similar to the one we faced before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and the “Purification of the German race” that Hitler advocated and practiced in Europe.
We turned our back to the problem then too…and look what happened?
Six million Jews and hundred of thousand of other human beings had to perish before they were finally stopped.
Perhaps we waited too long to drop the bomb? One could argue the point successfully.
burton21
Yeah, I’ll throw my two cents in, if for nothing else than to hopefully be one more voice that inspires the editors to fix this trainwreck design layout.
I opened this page after a two day hiatus (which for me, is rare, because I read this site every day) and could not have been more confused. What the hell happened? This new design is the perfect definition of “hot mess.” I feel like there are articles exploding at me from every direction. Please revert to the old way, or at least format this one so it is more organized and easy to use.
I won’t stop reading this site, but I will say that the “bitching and moaning” sentiment struck me as a little fucking rude. Don’t ask for opinions and then brand the dissenting ones as trite or petty.
Sorry this is so long… but I need to add that I agree with those above that the editorial content has been so vastly improved with Japhy’s addition. Keep up the good work!
Casimir Kozina
Says Louise Hogarth, director of the 2003 documentary film The Gift, which explored bug chasing and “gift givers”: “I want to see less death out there and more life. No one really knows anymore what it means to get HIV. Herb Ritts died but nobody mentioned HIV. There’s great denial. We in the gay community have almost made it positive to be positive. People don’t discuss their status, and when they’re negative they’re kind of ashamed, but when you’re positive you’re out and proud.”
Doug Hitzel, who features in Hogarth’s film, moved to San Francisco when he was 19. “He was too young to get into bars, wasn’t a bodybuilder, and the one community he was accepted into was the barebacking community,” she continues. “You weren’t allowed to reveal your status, and if you asked to use a condom you were told to leave. Doug was gay but totally accepted it in his high school. His family supported him. It was the gay community that was the problem.”
getreal
I love you guys but this is a mess!!It looks so CLUTTERED and unfocused.I am all for change but this gives me a headache!
B Dog
for the love of god pay someone who knows what theyre doing!
bdyn
As far as I can tell no one has mentioned that we’ve lost the ability to look back in posts. The buttons at the bottom “Next Page” and “Previous Page” are GONE!
I don’t get to read Queerty everyday and sometimes I like to navigate to the main page, go back a few pages of posts and read them through in order. I can’t do that anymore. I *think* I could probably find all of the articles in the yucky looking vertical bar on the right, but that’s like looking through the Table of Contents of a magazine, rather then skimming the magazine itself.
Go back to the old format! But if you don’t, PLEASE bring back the “Next Page” and “Previous Page” buttons.
Robert-Chicago
Wow. How many different fonts can you fit onto one page?
I’m no expert, but there are way too many fonts on the new home page.
michael
After the comments Mrs. Hauslaib made about the readership of this blog I won’t be back. If you find that your readership is excessively bitchy or opinionated then maybe you should take a look at yourself. Fish rots from the head down and you set the tone.
There is nothing sophisticated or superior about the content of this blog including the presentation. I have seen better writing in high school newspapers and there is a snarky attitude that abounds. An earlier poster offered you professional design advice but I am sure that you made sure that you hired the best set of award winning web designers in the business. If so they have managed to create a site that is in tune with your attitude, they both suck.
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but some folks are just plain blind”
chuck
@bdyn:
“As far as I can tell no one has mentioned that we’ve lost the ability to look back in posts. The buttons at the bottom “Next Page” and “Previous Page” are GONE!”
BDYN, they’ve been replaced by the hot buttons to the right of the page. Just click on the pic and that will take you to any of the old articles you want to view.
David Hauslaib
Hi all – Your comments are certainly appreciated, and we’re reading all of them. We’ll be making some design tweaks in the days and weeks ahead as we analyze how you use the new site, and what works and what doesn’t. Some of you will never like the new layout; we’re prepared for that, and that’s what a thread like this is for. Our main focus, however, remains on delivering content you won’t find anywhere else, and I hope you walk away believing we meet that commitment.
Cheers
Ruben Weisbaum
One of the many inherent inconsistencies within liberalism in general and theological revisionism in particular is the self-ascribed vanity, embraced universally amongst the “anointed ones”, that liberals “speak truth to power,” stand up for the poor and impoverished, befriend the outcasts, and work tirelessly on their behalf.
This self-image is zealously guarded and maintained…it seems a psychological necessity–in the face of cold hard facts that belie it–namely that the “poor” are generally quite conservative…especially when it comes to religion. Few things irk the liberal soul more than this glaring truth. They deal with it in a variety of ways. The emphasis on “awareness” and “sensitivity training” among liberals is, I think, one outgrowth of this concern. The problem, they persuade themselves, is not that liberalism/revisionism is bankrupt and unworkable (and therefore unpopular), it is just that people are “uneducated”…they have yet to be enlightened…they still are too ignorant to “get it” but once they do we can take our proper roles as the people’s vanguard.
The thrust of this particular vanity tends to run headlong into just the sort of paternalism, racial and otherwise, that they claim to despise and oppose…bearing in many ways a quite distinct similarity with the infamous “white man’s burden”…
But what happens when those who “stoop low” to help the “uneducated” find that the “ignorant” masses reject the lessons of their betters? What happens when, say, the minority vote makes up a large percentage of the voting electorate that defeated Proposition 8 in California?
Rage. Blinding, ugly, disgusting rage.
Jaxson67
We homos are begging for change to legislations regarding our rights but it seems we can’t even accept a change to a website. Embrace the change that is how we grow. Imagine if nothing had changed since 1954……
Dawgson
Jaxson67: All changes aren’t good. The passing of Proposition 8, for instance, was a change for the worse.
Queerty has seen a lot of redesigns over the last few years. This one just happens to have a large number of issues.
Smokey Martini
@David Hauslaib:
Thanks for addressing the design problem. But how about addressing the elephant in the room: you know, your belittling of user feedback as “bitching and moaning” as well as the condescending tone that has offended so many people above? I think many users are expecting an explanation (i.e. “I was being facetious”) or, if dead-serious, at least a formal apology. That is, if you actually care…
PJ
I admire all the hard work and intention that you have put into this website. I would really like to tell you how much I like it, but I can’t. The white backboard is too stark and it makes it hard to read.
I am sorry, Japhy, I don’t like the new layout.
WTF
Do you guys always try to design the website yourself, get called out by your readers and then cough up the cash for a real designer to fix it?
Seriously, have you ever heard of spacing? What’s the header doing all the way up in my bookmarks bar? How about that sidebar? It looks passable by itself, but when you roll over, you’ve got images that have no space above, but space below and text that doesn’t come close to resembling thought-out vertical spacing.
The columns have no definition, the spacing between the center column doesn’t match on the left and the right and things get downright confusing once you scroll past the useless left column and the poorly spaced right.
And the graphic teaser? Seriously, don’t try to pull something like this off unless you have at least ONE person who knows how to use Photoshop. Not only is the text clearly stretched (that means you made it wider without making it proportionally taller), but there’s no logic in its spacing. I see that you tried to justify it all to the right, but there are different amounts of space between the last letter and the right side. Also, please learn about MARGINS and PADDING. They make things (both graphics and webpages) look like they’re not thrown together by a blind person.
Why is all the text it on black bars? If your background image is too busy to put text on, don’t do it! Maybe make it more opaque or something, but don’t resort to bars.
Finally, if you’re going to be rude and snarky about your re-design, have something to back it up. Seriously. I understand your concept, but it looks like shit. If you had a gorgeous design to go along with your radical ideas, then maybe you could have told people to bitch and moan all they want, but this is just pathetic.
So, in summary, you first need to apologize to your readers. You don’t say “have at it if you must” if you really value people’s opinions. You do value us, right? Second up, you need to take just about everything everyone’s said in these comments (no, this thread isn’t just for us to bitch and moan and get over it, as you implied in your reply) and either pass it along to your web designer (you, or your 14-year old cousin?) or you fire their ass and cough up the 20+ grand a real web designer will cost. Seriously.
P.S. – A comment in this thread doesn’t count as acknowledging what everyone says. You’re going to need a full-on post for this. Oh, and the grey box that shows you wrote it should go the full width of the column , not stop at some arbitrary point and leave the top border going all the way across.
JLH
@WTF: You’re a douche. The design sucks, but try for some constructive criticism, not your preachy attitude.
WTF
Wait, didn’t we have an open invitation to be bitchy?
Jaxson67
@Dawgson: yeah! so what do you do now to change prop8, but CHANGE the tactic that didn’t work for prop8. come on we are smart creative people, work it!
retrofit71
you should NEVER have to scroll left to right on a website. Design101. Ahh, so much fun to bitch and moan!
Rob
Yesterday, I posted that I would not be coming back to this site again because of the rude remarks by David Hauslieb. This morning, I thought, well, maybe I was being too harsh, and that surely he would have responded on the site about his ridiculous, bitchy comments. So I came back and read through all the comments…
Yes, David commented that he was indeed going to listen to the advice about the horrible new design. However, regarding the real problem, HIS ATTITUDE TOWARD HIS READERS, he just ignored them all.
I don’t support business that donated to Prop 8 because they didn’t respect me with their actions. Why would I continue to support a gay website that is owned by someone who doesn’t respect me, or any of the other readers?
My visits to this site — and I visit this site multiple times everyday — help this man to sell advertising space on the site. And NO ONE should continue to support a person who doesn’t respect us.
I give up. You win, David. The site used to be great, but you have personally destroyed it.
I hope that your bosses see a severe drop in traffic to this site, realize that you and your condescending attitude are the reason for that drop, and replace you with someone who treats your customers and this community with the respect we deserve, so that this site can once again be a great place to spend my time online.
Alexa
@bdyn:
Actually, a couple of us had previously noted the inability to get to old posts. Yes, we can get to old posts that are on the sidebar, but if they’re not there the only way to get them is to search – which is fine if you know what you’re looking for, but not if you just want to see what you missed if you weren’t here for a couple of days.
reverseanx
@David Hauslaib: Nothing about this redesign works. It’s awful. One of the worst redesigns in the history of the web. Seriously… it totally SUCKS! Check out Gawker.com or Jezebel.com to see examples of successful blog design updates and then go back to the drawing board and start over.
concretepinata
“Redesign”
Oh lawl.
Jesus Mary
Calling this new site layout a redesign is charitable. Yikes, what a visual messterpiece.
Don'tCareAsLongAsItIsADemocrat
Okay, I waited a whole day to let it sink in, but I still don’t like it.
Problem one is that the PAGE IS TOO WIDE for those of us with average screen sizes. It’s way over the standard width suggested by most webdesigners. I usually keep my web window open at a size that seems to be large enough to view yahoo, google, juno email, etc. But even when I open it to a full screen, I can’t see the whole width of the page. Making users scroll horizonatlly is one of the cardinal rules of web design. I would either adjust it down to a smaller width or use a liquid page design.
I also agree with everyone who has said that the all white background is horrible, the page looks chaotic, and the yellow highlighting on the number of responses is incredibly lame.
MEEKO
I sort of feel like it must be David’s Father or Lover who designed this, you’d think after hundreds of comments saying how hard it is to read and disorganized looking they’d scrap it and do something better, but there seems to be some pride at play here.
For christ’s sake, just spend a couple thousand bucks on a good designer and do a new one. This is clearly not working for ANYONE
Ian
I really don’t comment on very many blogs in the first place, so for me to be writing this means something.
I am really disappointed in this “new look.”
It’s truly unfortunate. It is busy, cheap and where is the next page/previous page navigation system?
Please reevaluate this change for everyone’s sake.
Pragmatist
Yikes! I mean, YIKES! The new layout is really user-unfriendly. I was trying to page back to read some older posts, and after a few minutes of trying to locate the link, I just gave up.
Also, what’s with all the gratuitous onMouseover effects? I don’t need, or want, my browser to be flashing a huge gray square at me every time I drag my cursor over an image link.
Nice new content, though!
burton21
Ok, I know I already posted, but hearing that David is actually reading these comments inspired me to get a couple more things off of my chest.
1) I’ll concur with someone above and state that you definitely need to get rid of the highlighted yellow comment numbers under each article link. Not only is it visually unappealing, but on your Jossip page (which is a barren, virtually comment-free wasteland), the numbers really make the site look paltry and unvisited… which we know CANNOT be the case because the vastly superior Mollygood was scrapped in lieu of keeping Jossip. Which brings me to my second point.
2) We need to hear more from Cord. Each day that passes I miss MG more and more, and specifically miss his clever commentary on our inane popular culture.
3) Please have a “back” button so we can peruse the older articles. This also has been mentioned by others but bears repeating.
Ray
Queerty is boring today
Chet Holloway
I don’t think David Hauslieb responded in a condescending or high handed manner.I think he was aware of your concerns and is willing to consider them.For all you groan and moan queens I think you have rushed to judgement.I do not know David personally but I think he has received a “bad rap”.As a human being he will need time to put corrections in to place.As for you other crab apples you can sit on it and rotate.
hyhybt
Could you possibly explain what throwing stuff semi-randomly across an undivided page and (much worse) removing the “previous page” button have to do with the “changing world of online publishing”?
hyhybt
@Charles J. Mueller: Yes, you can get to a limited selection of older articles by clicking on them either on the right or at the bottom of the page, but you can’t skim through to see which of them you *want* to read like you can on the main page (and, until recently, on all the hundreds of pages the site’s run; a couple of months ago I found the site’s beginning and went forward from there), and if the article you want isn’t listed anymore you’re out of luck. I don’t care too much how a page looks as long as the text and background contrast well, the font is readable and reasonably sized, etc., and preferably without involuntary sounds, but useful as the sidebar thing may be for its purpose it can’t really replace basic forward/back buttons. The page seems to start at the beginning of the day each time; if that’s so, a navigation system that lets the user go back and forth a day at a time, better yet including a way to jump to a specific date, would be a great improvement, but leaving *absolutely nothing* just won’t do.
The site’s *content* is fine.
And I apologize for the double post.
Chris
Just found another problem with the new design – where the hell are the archives? I just tried to get past the first page of posts and couldn’t find any link to a second page, nor could I find any archive links. If there’s a way to get to older content is on here and it’s just not clear where to find it, that’s a pretty big problem. If there’s no way at all to get to older comment that’s an even bigger one.
Chris
Oof, apparently hyhybt was posting about this at the same time I was.
hyhybt
Thanks very much for returning “previous page”!