A New Look For SBN Blogs
by Joe Dunman on Nov 3, 2009 7:07 AM MST
in Site News
Email
PrintYour eyes are not deceiving you. MHH and all other SBN blogs have undergone an aesthetic overhaul.
You'll notice many things look different, and many things seem out of place. Also, you'll notice that comments no longer have paragraph breaks where they should for some reason. We're currently working with the SBN tech team to iron out the problems and concerns we have, so bear with us.
Also, there are apparently issues with Firefox Adblocker, so if you're having problems posting comments or seeing content, that could be related.
My initial response to the new look is: why? What was broken about the old look?
But that's just me.
Feel free to belly-ache below.
131 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Hey this isn't half bad
No, It’s ALL bad. Bwhahahahahaha
The New Improved Avalanche. Now with Real Coaches!
Jibblescribbits: C'mon over and waste some time
by Jibblescribbits on Nov 3, 2009 7:10 AM MST reply actions 1 recs
I thought it was FF
Missing half the coding or something!
This is the worst layout I’ve seen for MHH so far.
I’m with you. It looks cheap as hell.
Mile High Hockey: Hoping for the best, expecting the worst, hating the Wings.
There’s a lot of unnecessary dead space
The New Improved Avalanche. Now with Real Coaches!
Jibblescribbits: C'mon over and waste some time
by Jibblescribbits on Nov 3, 2009 7:12 AM MST up reply actions
Well whatever it's called
It’s awful. Modern design should adjust itself.
The New Improved Avalanche. Now with Real Coaches!
Jibblescribbits: C'mon over and waste some time
by Jibblescribbits on Nov 3, 2009 7:15 AM MST up reply actions
haha. I don’t claim to be a designer, but the one I work with always preaches the white space. So I get pretty used to it.
What they should really do is get rid of the dumb narrow wide thing and make it always wide.
That helped some. But there’s still way too much white noise…er…space
The New Improved Avalanche. Now with Real Coaches!
Jibblescribbits: C'mon over and waste some time
by Jibblescribbits on Nov 3, 2009 7:19 AM MST up reply actions
I'm fine with some white space
I understand its need in design philosophy, but right now all the sidebars except “Recent Posts” are either white or gray. That isn’t white space. That’s obnoxious.
I thought you knew that algebra was all razzamatazz. A Globetrotter always saves the good algebra for the final minutes.
Actually...
After browsing around some other SBN Blogs I have to say MHH doesn’t look as good as some of the others.
Yeah.
I’ve been hard-pressed to find one I DO like. White space may be important, but when it’s this distracting it’s completely failing to do serve its purpose. The comment sections on all these sites look like the Denver Post comment sections.
I thought you knew that algebra was all razzamatazz. A Globetrotter always saves the good algebra for the final minutes.
To do serve its purpose.
Nice. Brain had two sentences colliding and hopefully among the fiasco that was that sentence I’ll find the remains of my delete key.
I thought you knew that algebra was all razzamatazz. A Globetrotter always saves the good algebra for the final minutes.
weird. I actually feel there’s not enough white space. posts are all smooshy
Hyphens cause writers more trouble than any other form of punctuation, except perhaps commas.
by David Driscoll-Carignan on Nov 3, 2009 7:53 AM MST up reply actions
Yeah, the posts look crammed together. And everything being left-justified is ugly.
Mile High Hockey: Hoping for the best, expecting the worst, hating the Wings.
in other words, new design is unipronish
Hyphens cause writers more trouble than any other form of punctuation, except perhaps commas.
by David Driscoll-Carignan on Nov 3, 2009 8:22 AM MST up reply actions
I can't stop looking at it.
The enormous chunks of space just sitting there. It might be easier if everything else was a different color. I think that’s probably what bothers me most.
The comments are really crammed together, though. It’s gross to look at. This whole change makes me sad. I hate change =(
I thought you knew that algebra was all razzamatazz. A Globetrotter always saves the good algebra for the final minutes.
I hate change without a good reason behind it.
Mile High Hockey: Hoping for the best, expecting the worst, hating the Wings.
Change for change’s sake?
The 2009-10 Avalanche: It's like having a banana split while all the other kids are getting an ice cream cone.
I'm The Canary - but I'm not cute nor cuddly, and I don't sing.
by Americanario on Nov 3, 2009 11:17 AM MST up reply actions
Yeah, I absolutely hate any rationale that includes “that’s what everybody else is doing.”
Modernist architecture was goddamn awful, and yet everybody clung to it for years because that was the hip thing.
Mile High Hockey: Hoping for the best, expecting the worst, hating the Wings.
All at once, the clouds are parted
Light streams down in bright unbroken beams...
by Pinchy The Lobster on Nov 3, 2009 12:08 PM MST up reply actions
jeez, that’s terrible. no one would use that. it’s hideous
Hyphens cause writers more trouble than any other form of punctuation, except perhaps commas.
by David Driscoll-Carignan on Nov 3, 2009 2:52 PM MST up reply actions
As a web developer I think it looks nicer...
And more importantly it loads way faster. Content loading before ads and all those promotion links is a huge plus for me.
Part of my initial complaint about deadspace was because I didn’t realize there were Ads there being blocked.
The New Improved Avalanche. Now with Real Coaches!
Jibblescribbits: C'mon over and waste some time
by Jibblescribbits on Nov 3, 2009 10:20 AM MST up reply actions
Agree
The top bar looks completely out od place without the Ads.
The New Improved Avalanche. Now with Real Coaches!
Jibblescribbits: C'mon over and waste some time
by Jibblescribbits on Nov 3, 2009 10:27 AM MST up reply actions
Also, I can’t really tell the difference in loading time. I reckon that’s mostly to do with system specs.
or the fact that your internet is run by windmills
Hyphens cause writers more trouble than any other form of punctuation, except perhaps commas.
by David Driscoll-Carignan on Nov 3, 2009 10:46 AM MST up reply actions
WINDMILLS DO NOT WORK THAT WAY!
The Savage has spoken. Let it be done
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference"
R. Frost
It definitely has more to do with the ad servers then system performance.
Running a test on the home page I got a 45 second download time with 186 requests. Granted the time would go down if I was not tracking it with Firebug.
The slowest things to load? The two sitemeter.com tracking images, google analytics(of course), specificclick.net javascript (ads?), quantserve.com javascript and image (tracking), and all the technoratti stuff.
Everything on the SBN CDN is really fast.
Is the MHH crew in charge of any of this? Can we lobby you guys to remove some of worst offenders?
I don’t think the download time is really all that problematic. I have a slow ass machine and the only time I’m really bothered is during GDTs.
2009-2010 Avs: a game away from being up on blocks
by BeachNSnowGirl on Nov 3, 2009 3:02 PM MST up reply actions
Actually posts are pretty good
This page loaded in 18 seconds, but the content loads first so who cares if the side bar takes a little longer.
And like I said, if i wasn’t recording it then it would probably be less. Maybe 10.
It’s the home page that is the worst, with all the stuff that loads before the content.
All that said, I love the SBN app, especially the commenting. I am just chiming in with opinions on my expertise after enjoy all the hockey expertise provided by this wonderful community.
No, we are not in charge of any of this.
Mile High Hockey: Hoping for the best, expecting the worst, hating the Wings.
Wow.
I thought you knew that algebra was all razzamatazz. A Globetrotter always saves the good algebra for the final minutes.
I was pretty upset at first, cause I thought Firefox had screwed up again. I’m way too tired to be pissed about it though.
I guess I can, just can’t reply or do any other actions. Good times.
"I know everyone has their own opinion, but your opinion is wrong. "
Ahahaha.
This is fun to watch.
I thought you knew that algebra was all razzamatazz. A Globetrotter always saves the good algebra for the final minutes.
Remember, it’s still 2 years before I can do your divorce, so pace yourself.
Mile High Hockey: Hoping for the best, expecting the worst, hating the Wings.
2 more years?
lol’d. Courage Wolf will guide you. He’s pretty wise, you know.
I thought you knew that algebra was all razzamatazz. A Globetrotter always saves the good algebra for the final minutes.
Narrow looks better, but I still don’t care for it. I get the white space concept. But I don’t think it’s been used well here. nonetheless, I’ll still be around, website layout be damned!
2009-2010 Avs: a game away from being up on blocks
by BeachNSnowGirl on Nov 3, 2009 8:51 AM MST reply actions
Obviously we’ll all get used to it even if they don’t address some of the worst parts of the new design. But as a fellow SBN blogger said in our administrator group discussion: we went from a unique, professional and branded aesthetic to something that somebody could toss together with Wordpress.
Mile High Hockey: Hoping for the best, expecting the worst, hating the Wings.
I don’t know why, but it kind of reminds me of the Bleacher Report layout. That’s not really a good thing.
The New Improved Avalanche. Now with Real Coaches!
Jibblescribbits: C'mon over and waste some time
by Jibblescribbits on Nov 3, 2009 9:03 AM MST up reply actions
Some of the other administrators complained that the new look is too “Fanhousey”
Mile High Hockey: Hoping for the best, expecting the worst, hating the Wings.
we went from a unique, professional and branded aesthetic to something that somebody could toss together with Wordpress.
Thank you. That’s exactly what I would have said if I could get my brain working more eloquently this morning. It’s ordinary around here now…well, at least with the way the frames look. I don’t think MHH will ever be ordinary.
2009-2010 Avs: a game away from being up on blocks
by BeachNSnowGirl on Nov 3, 2009 9:11 AM MST up reply actions
This is the worst thing to ever happen to me ever…or..meh, whichever you want.
This team will make the playoffs and upset the Sharks in the first round...it's our turn.
by An Unmitigated Disaster on Nov 3, 2009 9:13 AM MST reply actions
Off Topic
You know you work in a nerdy Engineering field when you get and e-mail with this as the subject line in your in-box:
Subject: Pocket protector with items in it was left in Conference Room 7
The New Improved Avalanche. Now with Real Coaches!
Jibblescribbits: C'mon over and waste some time
by Jibblescribbits on Nov 3, 2009 9:15 AM MST reply actions 1 recs
One of our office’s main web design guys put out a request for pocket protector buying advice on FB the other day. We all had a hearty chuckle.
Mile High Hockey: Hoping for the best, expecting the worst, hating the Wings.
wow
I just don’t even know how to respond to that. I actually thought that whole pocket protector thing was made up.
2009-2010 Avs: a game away from being up on blocks
by BeachNSnowGirl on Nov 3, 2009 9:50 AM MST up reply actions
To me it looks more cluttered.
Mile High Hockey: Hoping for the best, expecting the worst, hating the Wings.
first impressions, it’s alright….i like how it loads a little faster
i dont like all this damn white… esp on the right side of my screen..damn left justified…
i think it will need some getting used to..though i think we’ve lost our ‘uniqueness’
Make Me A Milkshake, Malkin! - Mike Lange
Definitely less unique now. And the team colors have been minimized to the point of exclusion. There’s not much difference between how MHH looks and how the rest of the sites look, which is a shame.
Mile High Hockey: Hoping for the best, expecting the worst, hating the Wings.
KHAN!!!!!
This team will make the playoffs and upset the Sharks in the first round...it's our turn.
by An Unmitigated Disaster on Nov 3, 2009 9:50 AM MST up reply actions
definitely.
2009-2010 Avs: a game away from being up on blocks
by BeachNSnowGirl on Nov 3, 2009 9:52 AM MST up reply actions
Wow
Open mirtle’s blog in another tab and ALT+TAB between the 2. Apart from a few colours and letters they’re identical.
Okay, I know that sounds weird, but just load both mainpages and get ready to be disappointed.
that was the first thing i did. i cried a little when i saw it.
2009-2010 Avs: a game away from being up on blocks
by BeachNSnowGirl on Nov 3, 2009 10:27 AM MST up reply actions
I wish I could go back and look at the old layout to cite specific things that I liked from before that are now missing/changed.
2009-2010 Avs: a game away from being up on blocks
by BeachNSnowGirl on Nov 3, 2009 10:29 AM MST reply actions
There's got to be
Google Cache
The New Improved Avalanche. Now with Real Coaches!
Jibblescribbits: C'mon over and waste some time
by Jibblescribbits on Nov 3, 2009 10:40 AM MST up reply actions
Cached MHH pages aren’t loading for me at all.
Down the memory hole!
Mile High Hockey: Hoping for the best, expecting the worst, hating the Wings.
Almost as good as Mr. X’s website
All at once, the clouds are parted
Light streams down in bright unbroken beams...
by Pinchy The Lobster on Nov 3, 2009 11:18 AM MST reply actions
I'm getting more used to it
and the more I do, the more I dislike it. /sigh. Change sucks sometimes.
2009-2010 Avs: a game away from being up on blocks
by BeachNSnowGirl on Nov 3, 2009 11:25 AM MST reply actions
Ugh.
I thought you knew that algebra was all razzamatazz. A Globetrotter always saves the good algebra for the final minutes.
by A.J. Haefele on Nov 3, 2009 11:34 AM MST up reply actions
Yes, yes I can
I would have to say not having a baseline on the left side makes it tough to tell what is a new comment and what is a reply to an above comment.
Load speed? Can’t tell. Takes forever at work because I have no adblock there. Never takes long at home.
Speaking of Adblock, I used to have a lot of white space anyway due to blocked out portions. This seems like more.
Don’t like Left Justify.
You guys don’t like change? I thought everyone around here voted for Obama? See what you get? :)
Get rid of the loser point
09-10 Avs- Nowhere to go but up!
Adblock (or maybe it was Greasemonkey) also removed the actual frames on the old website, so it’s highly unlikely you had a lot of white space.
And even if it wouldn’t do that, the adspaces would still be background-coloured, not white.
I think you're right on that.
And now I have a gray border so my first bitch has been solved.
Get rid of the loser point
09-10 Avs- Nowhere to go but up!
I think you’re sig answers your question well.
The New Improved Avalanche. Now with Real Coaches!
Jibblescribbits: C'mon over and waste some time
by Jibblescribbits on Nov 3, 2009 1:19 PM MST up reply actions
This is the mobile version, right?
Hey Peter McNab, I'm starting to see sunshine and rainbows here.
by Bob in Boulder on Nov 3, 2009 2:36 PM MST reply actions 1 recs
+1
tho i think the mobile version looks better now in comparison
2009-2010 Avs: a game away from being up on blocks
by BeachNSnowGirl on Nov 3, 2009 2:43 PM MST up reply actions
New Format
Man…the wheels are falling off SB Nation right now.
by HugoAgogo on Nov 3, 2009 2:41 PM MST reply actions 2 recs
rec’d
Hyphens cause writers more trouble than any other form of punctuation, except perhaps commas.
by David Driscoll-Carignan on Nov 3, 2009 2:53 PM MST up reply actions
Where do I go to complain to SB Nation about this? I started out with a “meh” attitude, went to a “that really isn’t attractive” style of thinking, and have settled on a “that is just ugly” sentiment. They should know how I/we feel, shouldn’t they?
2009-2010 Avs: a game away from being up on blocks
by BeachNSnowGirl on Nov 3, 2009 3:01 PM MST reply actions
support at sbnation dot com is a good place to try. But posting comments here is also worthwhile.
Mile High Hockey: Hoping for the best, expecting the worst, hating the Wings.
Thinking all day
I’m convinced that graphic web designers at companies continually roll out website redesigns to constantly justify their jobs to their superiors. Because really, there do not need to be nearly as many website re-designs as there are right now.
If done correctly it seems like there should be a re-design every 3 years or so, or more. Anything else is just superfluous. Yet websites are constantly getting new designs, probably under the guise of “Well this kind of layout runs better” then they throw out a whole bunch of computery terms that people in power don’t understand, but don’t want to feel stupid and they let their web designers do it, because they don’t want to feel like a cave-dwelling troglodyte.
Even if the new design runs better, the loading improvement is minimal, at best. And SBNation was already one of the best running sites on the interwebs. And the aesthetic downgrade is substantial.
In the meantime I will do what I normally do, cynically compare any bad thing I can to the layout design in the hopes that just the thought of the new design will have such a negative connotation that there is no going back and it has to be changed. When it does it will take it’s rightful place next to the Buffaslug, the Unipron and SBN’s Mr. X layout as examples of poor change for the sake of change.
The New Improved Avalanche. Now with Real Coaches!
Jibblescribbits: C'mon over and waste some time
+1
for mentioning the troglodyte
All at once, the clouds are parted
Light streams down in bright unbroken beams...
by Pinchy The Lobster on Nov 3, 2009 3:54 PM MST up reply actions
Ha.
In all reality most changes come from the top. When the CEO starts bitching about this, or the Sales and Marketing people start asking for stuff.
Designers typically want to build one nice clean thing then move on to a new project. Not redo the same work a million times.
I would guess that there are some very good reasons for the redesign. Maybe we should ask?
Some of you people are as bad as the “OMG I HATE THE NEW FACEBOOK” groups. ;-p
What is wrong with a little change? I still like the new layout better!
I could care less about the new facebook. And I’m not typically one of those who reacts negatively to change.I like change, but positive change.
The New Improved Avalanche. Now with Real Coaches!
Jibblescribbits: C'mon over and waste some time
by Jibblescribbits on Nov 3, 2009 4:10 PM MST up reply actions
What’s this “facebook” thing you’re talking about?
The 2009-10 Avalanche: It's like having a banana split while all the other kids are getting an ice cream cone.
I'm The Canary - but I'm not cute nor cuddly, and I don't sing.
It’s where you “friend” people you haven’t talked to in 10 years and won’t talk to at any point in the future, just because they asked and you don’t want to be mean and ignore them.
by ShaneG on Nov 3, 2009 6:32 PM MST up reply actions 4 recs
Haha.
All at once, the clouds are parted
Light streams down in bright unbroken beams...
by Pinchy The Lobster on Nov 3, 2009 6:58 PM MST up reply actions
Pages are loading faster.
That alone is good enough reason. The end.
Never trust the lunch lady.
by Hardshell_Taco_del_Lowayne on Nov 3, 2009 4:37 PM MST reply actions
So instead of 2 seconds it took 1.8.
Mile High Hockey: Hoping for the best, expecting the worst, hating the Wings.
Now if this were porn site, every .01sec would be valuable.
All at once, the clouds are parted
Light streams down in bright unbroken beams...
by Pinchy The Lobster on Nov 3, 2009 6:57 PM MST up reply actions
“a re-design every 3 years or so”
That’s pretty much the cycle we recommend to clients. And the one we typically observe too.
The look is far more cluttered because there is less visual separation of elements. It just looks like everything is jammed together.
The home page having a left bar then the individual posts not having one is jarring and just bad design IMO.
The Google ads in what I would count as the main header is a terrible choice. Maybe not for ad clicks, but visually it’s a bit repulsive.
It’s too bad, I really liked the old look. It felt Avalanche. This feels…nothing. It’s not evoking passion at a glance. Obviously the content hasn’t changed and that’s the ultimate quality indicator, but you can’t deny the influence design has on people’s emotions.
And while I’m at it, why don’t they roll Fanposts and Fan shots into one feature?
Meh, I like it. It’s allright.
"The bottom line is we have to make the playoffs and whatever it takes, that's what will happen."
- Craig Anderson.
I like this guy's attitude.
Hey, we finally got one of those icon thingies for browser tabs/bookmarks, although it’s just the default SBN star right now. Joe, you should change that to something MHH related. I vote that it be that one Arnason picture. That would be pretty sick.
"The bottom line is we have to make the playoffs and whatever it takes, that's what will happen."
- Craig Anderson.
I like this guy's attitude.
It had one before didn’t it? At least on my computers it always showed the little Mile High Hockey skater dude, same as what’s in the top left corner.
The 2009-10 Avalanche: It's like having a banana split while all the other kids are getting an ice cream cone.
I'm The Canary - but I'm not cute nor cuddly, and I don't sing.
I had one for a while, then it changed to the btjunkie tab (no idea how that happened), now its the star.
Get rid of the loser point
09-10 Avs- Nowhere to go but up!
Mine’s the star now as well. Every once in a while it got screwed up and I’d end up with the pic for “Die by the Blade”.
Still the star is lame.
The 2009-10 Avalanche: It's like having a banana split while all the other kids are getting an ice cream cone.
I'm The Canary - but I'm not cute nor cuddly, and I don't sing.
by Americanario on Nov 3, 2009 10:32 PM MST up reply actions
Mine has always been blank. When I go to Mirtle’s blog, it has his rink thing, and Pensburgh has the penguin. But MHH has always been just a blank sheet of paper for me.
"The bottom line is we have to make the playoffs and whatever it takes, that's what will happen."
- Craig Anderson.
I like this guy's attitude.
by Mike, (Avs Fan) on Nov 3, 2009 10:22 PM MST up reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
