You will have noticed a change to the F1 Fanatic home page today as the new style which was previewed last week has gone live for the first time.
Redesigning parts of the site always presents problems, particularly as it’s not as if I was being inundated with complaints about the old site. But that didn’t mean there was no room for improvement.
A big part of the thinking behind the changes to the home page was to present more stories to visitors without forcing them to scroll down. The new home page is less than half the height of the old one.
It should also allow new content to be visible on the home page for longer. This had become a particular problem on race weekends, where articles added to the site late on Sunday had disappeared from view on Monday.
Where they are used, images now act as links to articles. This should make navigation easier for all users but particularly those using touch screen devices.
The introduction of sub-headings is a small but important change which will allow a clearer distinction between news, features, comment and other types of article.
Lastly, page size has been further reduced (by up to 50% in some tests, though the average saving is likely to be considerably lower), meaning faster loading times.
Having said that there is scope for expanding the home page and I’m considering adding some extra elements further down the page to do things like promote new comments and the most popular stories. This won’t be done until the off-season however.
Also among the future plans for the site is re-organisation and re-design in the top level menus to make the site easier to navigate.
Among your initial feedback to the site was a concern that the race information box would be lost. This will be replaced with a similar facility in time for this weekend’s race.
As ever, please share your feedback on the changes to the site below. Inevitably there may be a few teething problems with the changes and although we have done our best to ensure it works on all browsers please do point out any problems.
Thanks very much to Richard Homer (website, Twitter) for his excellent work turning the design into code.
Robbie
1st November 2010, 14:12
This will take some getting used to but it looks quite nice and intuitive.
matt90
1st November 2010, 20:03
The home page archives description says ‘go in back time’ instead of ‘go back in time’
Keith C in NY
2nd November 2010, 0:02
Good catch. I rather like it. Sense an odd metaphisical sort it to.
Ronman
2nd November 2010, 7:45
It looks good Keith… will take a few minutes to get used to it, but great move forward…
Spectator
2nd November 2010, 22:25
yes it is good looking but not funtional
joe
1st November 2010, 14:13
looks great, looking forward to using the site during the upcoming race weekend!
dirgegirl
1st November 2010, 14:19
Personally I love sites where you don’t get “scroller’s knuckle” from whizzing up and down a long list of posts – so this looks great to me. I’ve always liked the clean design of this blog anyway.
The sri lankan
3rd November 2010, 1:24
this site looks dumb
TIFOSI FERRARI
1st November 2010, 14:20
lovely look,
i like it.
macahan
1st November 2010, 17:07
yes looks great will make easier to find older articles for sure. Most of the time I access pages from the RSS feed but occasionally I tried to locate a older pages from a few days ago and it is no longer visible one the RSS feed so need to go to the main page and this will then be very handy.
Great job Keith I love this site.
Hare (@hare)
1st November 2010, 23:36
seconded. Love it Keith, wd.
One thing I hope happens, is that we have more space on the live blogging. As it feels very 1995 having that much textual space. :)
However, I’m always appreciative of the effort you’ve put in and long may it continue!
Bigabbderboom
3rd November 2010, 8:55
Agreed, looks smart Keith, far more profesional and easier to navigate. 10/10
RobertG
1st November 2010, 14:21
Looks great, but i will need a time to be sure. Its hard to find sth, but i think it will be ok
hawkfist
1st November 2010, 14:23
Can’t say I’m a big fan, the boxes look a bit…out of place (need rounded corners maybe, less angles), and the grey background on the third set of stories looks a bit random, looks like it would either work better alternated by story (ie, like a chessboard) or just not there at all and keep the mouseover-highlight.
Not complaining at all, nice to see you’re continually trying to evolve and improve the site, but a little feedback never hurt.
(Also, I think every time I visit the site is off an RSS feed anyway so I barely ever see the front page anyway :D)
polishboy808
1st November 2010, 14:26
Fantastic! The Gp Update thing could be improved as its kinda squished but everything else looks awesome!
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
2nd November 2010, 8:45
I think it looks good too, it’s just I am struggling to navigate to articles now. I am not sure whether this is because the new interface is not as user-friendly, or I am just too used the the old layout. It is probably the latter though. (Or at least I hope it is.)
foocode (@foocode)
1st November 2010, 14:26
Absolutely love the new design. Very modern and utilitarian. Looks great on my mobile too (Android). Well done to all involved and I hope you realise great traffic benefits from it!
Now just get a less regional domain name and you’ll be well on your way to world domination! :)
US_Peter (@us_peter)
1st November 2010, 19:41
looks like the .com version of the url might be for sale…
homer
1st November 2010, 14:27
i miss the old “brief articles” and “in depth articles” lists that was always easily available…
i guess the “More from F1 Fanatic” replaces them both.
sato113 (@sato113)
1st November 2010, 14:58
also i can’t find the ’round ups’ anymore from a main article page. the naming has changed for the worse (i think)
for example ‘F1fanatic roundup 1/11/10’ is now called ‘Jerome D’Ambrosio tipped for race seat’…
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
1st November 2010, 15:11
All the round-ups have ’round-up’ in the subtitle.
DeadManWoking
1st November 2010, 16:25
But they are not identified as ’round-ups’ in the ‘More from F1 Fanatic’ Navigation List that is alongside the article that you are currently reading.
sato113 (@sato113)
1st November 2010, 17:00
yes exactly. it means I have to return to the home page every time if I want to find a round up.
DeadManWoking
1st November 2010, 17:07
Round-ups are a collection of many different things and should be identified as such rather than titling them from just one of their many components.
Ned Flanders (@ned-flanders)
1st November 2010, 18:07
Yes I agree with this, it’s a bit confusing
US_Peter (@us_peter)
1st November 2010, 19:42
Yeah, it would be nice if roundups were still labelled as such in the More from… list.
Hare (@hare)
1st November 2010, 23:37
Patience men! I’m sure he’s on it.. :)
Jim N
2nd November 2010, 12:46
I agree with this. It’s about the only thing I don’t like in the new format. The one thing the old site was very good at was easy navigation no matter where on the site you were. This new format has lost some of that. But I’m sure it will get fixed.
Ned Flanders
1st November 2010, 14:30
Well, my mother always said if you can’t say anything nice then don’t say anything at all! Haha, sorry… hopefully it’ll grow on me
NomadIndian
2nd November 2010, 7:40
Same here… Always loved the clean, light look of F1F… Will also not be as easy to browse on my mobile too…
Maciek
2nd November 2010, 8:41
Hahaaa – Ned listens to his Moooom. Sorry, I think that’s Nelson talking. Seriosuly, though, I’m not crazy about the new layout either. But I get the feeling it won’t stop me coming here.
Journeyer (@journeyer)
1st November 2010, 14:33
To be honest, I preferred the old layout a bit more. There are some pro’s to this layout (looks cleaner at the top, more visual means it’s easier to see articles that catch the eye). But it’s also harder for me to see what articles are new (i.e. what I haven’t read yet), and the layout can disorient a bit if you’re looking for something specific. The layout at the bottom of the homepage can be cleaned up too.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
1st November 2010, 15:12
New stuff will always appear at the top first.
dianna
1st November 2010, 22:45
K.Take no notice of the moaners,it is much easier to read and navigate.The right hand layout is a big improvement.
10/10 in my book,thanks :)
Mike
2nd November 2010, 1:08
That’s a bit unfair, some people, (I’m still deciding) find things with the new lay out that doesn’t suit them, or they find hard to use, I think it’s fair that they can explain what they do, or in this case, do not like.
The only thing I can think of picking on, is that I liked the boxes that used to exist on the right, (in brief, in full, and GPupdate).
That feature was quite useful I think, to quickly find what I have or have not read.
But apart from that, I like it, and if it helps articles staying readily available or more than a few hours on race day! then I’m all for it! Great work!
Journeyer (@journeyer)
2nd November 2010, 0:41
Well, yes, new stuff always appears at the top first, but it takes me a few more seconds to figure out what was published today or yesterday or the day before that. I like having an anchor in terms of what stuff I’ve already scanned through and what I haven’t yet.
xabregas
1st November 2010, 14:34
lOOKS REALLY NICE, GREAT WORK
Cacarella
1st November 2010, 14:40
Great work Keith and thank you so much for providing an excellent site where Fanatics like myself can spend their days keeping up and learning about their passion.
You provide an incredible service to us all – Thank you!
Dan Thorn (@dan-thorn)
1st November 2010, 14:41
I liked the old layout and this’ll take some getting used to. Being able to differenciate between the main feature articles and the round up’s/brief articles was a huge plus and doing that isn’t quite so easy anymore.
Then again I always moan and complain when things change as I’m a stickler for continuity but give it a week and I wont even remember the way it used to be.
Dan Thorn (@dan-thorn)
1st November 2010, 14:46
The previous ‘Articles in Brief’ never used to appear in the main article feed. Now they appear to do so, which surely recreates the old problem of major articles potentially disappearing from the home page quickly?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
1st November 2010, 15:14
Yep but there are more places for articles to appear now which is the key benefit.
The other problem with the in full/in brief split was it tended to give ‘in brief’ better promotion than they sometimes deserved. As well as being a bit of a pain to arrange, to be honest.
Dan Thorn (@dan-thorn)
1st November 2010, 15:31
That’s true, some of the in brief ariticles tended to get a low number of comments whilst being just as accessible as moe popular articles.
Does this mean that you’ll be changing the type of articles you post or will they just appear lower down the page?
I have to say that after an hour or so of using the new layout I’m really liking it. Great job by all involved!
wasiF1
1st November 2010, 14:53
It will take sometime to get used to it. At first I thought that I have mistakenly entered on a wrong site.
Great work Keith thanks for making things better for us.
sato113 (@sato113)
1st November 2010, 14:54
nice, but where are ‘articles in brief’ and ‘articles in full’? is it one thing now?
Calum
1st November 2010, 15:00
Looks good from the screen shots but I’ve been forced to use mobile on my iPod touch ever since the laptop packed it in, are there any planned updates for the F1F mobile site?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
1st November 2010, 15:14
Definitely, but probably not until the off-season.
Anagh
1st November 2010, 15:04
nice n more organised!
Like it! :)
Jesus
1st November 2010, 15:09
Still too difficult to navigate the site and find the information you want. If what you want isn’t on the first landing page then you’re eff’d.
Also the content seems to merge into one big mass of text amongst a dull, grey landscape, making it hard to read.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
1st November 2010, 15:15
I intend to address that with the changes to the menus, would be useful if you could give me some examples of what you’re talking about.
Mike-e
1st November 2010, 15:19
F1 fanatic appears on my android phone as just a list. Previously (earlier today even) this list included articles in full and articles in brief, but without being able to distinguish which was which. This was fine as I read them all anyway. Now though the daily roundups and various other articles seem to have disappeared, bringing me to the conclusion that the articles in brief have now been removed from this list. It’s a shame as it means I won’t be able to read these now I suspect. Is this planned or a ‘teething problem’?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
1st November 2010, 15:36
They haven’t disappeared, they’re still on the home page.
CarsVsChildren
1st November 2010, 15:20
I’m not a massive fan of the layout. I can’t articulate why but it seems clunky.
Lets see if it grows on me.
Thanks for all the hard work!
Mike-e
1st November 2010, 15:25
Scratch what I just said, they have just changed name. Instead of ‘1/11/10 roundup’ etc. They are now just called whatever the first link on the page says, just confused me, ignore me, I’m an idiot.
goWebber
1st November 2010, 15:31
I like the new 1000 pix wide design. I like having access to more info on the home page level. Not to drastic of a change from the previous version to get lost. Great work!
Adam Smith
1st November 2010, 15:36
Looks like it will be great on a proper browser. At work I’m on Internet Explorer Version 6. The actual content doesnt start at the top of the page, it lines up with the bottom of the “More from F1 fanatic”.
As for the mobile edition, is this meant to look like the desktop version? Because mine just renders the names of the articles. It is a Palm Pre so is a touch device.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
1st November 2010, 15:37
There haven’t been any changes made to the mobile site – is your phone showing you the desktop version of the site?
Adam Smith
1st November 2010, 15:39
No its not. How do I change it, there isn’t a link to do that is there?
LosD
1st November 2010, 23:25
Which reminds me, is there a way to go to the full site?
Once upon a time, sites didn’t recognize an N900 as a mobile device. That was good times. Now every other site has this “lovely” mobile site, made for phones with a handicapped browser, most of them offers a way to get to the proper site, but I seem to have missed it here.
hawkfist
1st November 2010, 15:50
If you have to use IE6 at work get someone (IT or just DIY) to update, as not only is IE6 absolutely horrible and out of date (lots of websites won’t work in it anymore) but it has more security holes your average string vest – none of which are being updated.
Adam Smith
1st November 2010, 16:48
Tell me about it, but then I work for the Council, and for some reason that means no update!
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
1st November 2010, 17:54
Commiserations to anyone whose work has them stuck on IE6, I’ve been there!
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
2nd November 2010, 11:21
The IE6 glitch should now be fixed.
Bleu
1st November 2010, 15:40
I have to wait for the first race weekend to get really see how it looks, because then there’s more blog posts every day.
Wallou
1st November 2010, 15:51
Definitely better User Interface. Nice to see wotk is being done.
I agree the top of the site deserves improvements , especially the menu.
i will miss the “article in brief” and “article in full” panes.
Wallou
1st November 2010, 16:16
few things to add reagrding Mike-e’s post:
IMHO once there will be a dynamic menu it will be easier to access the current season calendar,tracks, standings, teams…. or other information.
for exemple this page : https://www.racefans.net/f1-2010-season/ shouldn’t exist and be mandatory to acess information or data.
In the same way you redisigned the homepage to prevent users from scrolling the page, the menu would link to apropriate pages : tracks, teams… not everything on the same page as it is right now.
Furthermore i think you should swap the menu and google adds places. but then the adds will be less visible i understand that. the menu looks actually “cheap”.
well i dont want to be too harsh,i dont have enough good english level (i’m french) and dont choose appropriate words. i come here for the content anyway, big fan and daily visit since three years now. thats why i give my opinion. otherwise i wouldn’t have bothered.
Wallou
1st November 2010, 16:36
one thing again regarding previous/older posts
the homepage content should implement a button/link to show the older posts. i understand it is the meaning of the “More from F1Fanatic” pane. But it will definitely look better to have the whole homepage updated with previous posts thanks to an appropriate link.
Furthermore we can’t go through time in the “More from F1Fanatic” pane. it would be a nice feature to add imo.
Wallou
1st November 2010, 16:40
it was Jesus post actually
codesurge
1st November 2010, 16:01
Hmm, I miss the simple index of articles on the right hand column of the page. It made it easy to do a quick scan to see if there was anything new posted – I reckon it’ll take me awhile to adjust to looking at the new format. Any chance a simple article list can be kept in the right column?
Wallou
1st November 2010, 16:17
yeah i miss that too.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
1st November 2010, 17:55
You do have that on the article pages.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
1st November 2010, 19:53
Keith, my only suggestion for the “More from F1 Fanatic” menu would be to still have roundups listed as roundups, and to have slightly more contrast between the link color and the visited link color. I’ve always used the Articles in Full/Brief lists to navigate what I have and haven’t read yet, and it seems like the link colors are harder to differentiate now. Maybe the text is smaller? Otherwise the whole thing looks great!
Oliver Queisser
1st November 2010, 16:04
I like it. I just wish I could view it more often. But being stuck in this mobile version prevents me
Superted666
1st November 2010, 16:06
Looks great! Thumbs Up.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
1st November 2010, 16:37
Holy… took me a while to realize it was our beloved F1F site.
I like it! tho it’ll take some time to get used to it.
Lets see how it works this action-packed F1 weekend :)
Nixon
1st November 2010, 16:38
Excellent work Kieth, you deserve a good pat on the back :)
Josef
1st November 2010, 16:56
Hi Keith, I don’t mean to sound horrible or anything but I think I prefer the old layout of the website more. The look of this new version is nice just as in pure looks, but the old one seemed a bit more ‘organised’ if you know what I mean. Easier to navigate through or something.
dianna
1st November 2010, 22:50
Cheer up Josef,you’ll get used to it before Brazil :)
Raj
1st November 2010, 17:12
I feel much better & quite trendy compared to old one which looks like 10yrs back designed site.
Xibi
1st November 2010, 17:24
Can’t fault it! Very good work!
sumedh
1st November 2010, 17:30
Love. It.
I was never a fan of the categorization of articles into “full” and “brief” articles. I mean, the articles seemed to be of equal length, attracted same number of comments, dealt with the same topics, then why the difference.
Another incredible feature is the new “Categories” box at the bottom right. Now, I can browse all technical articles in one go and view all the ‘Poll’ articles – which usually have the most number of comments and fiercest battles between fans – easily.
As someone suggested above, rounded edges should definitely be implemented for the main articles.
But I don’t know how you will keep the ‘race information’ box with the new format. Keith, while this new format definitely keeps more articles on the front page and keeps them for longer, I still don’t think it is sufficient enough. You churn out 12 articles regarding team reviews on a monday in less than an hour. So, in just one hour, the entire home page is going to change, isn’t it?
Also, I would like to see the empty white space on the right to show a timer to the next race and the championship standings. One should not have to click to get to something as important as championship standings.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
1st November 2010, 17:57
That was part of the plan :-)
Championship standings are at the top of the categories box. A timer is a ‘nice to have’ but it requires build time and resources that I’d rather dedicate elsewhere right now.
And the race information box will be back later this week, albeit inevitably with some changes.
Deurmat
1st November 2010, 17:55
don’t like it,it’s just all over the place :/
d-d
1st November 2010, 18:14
seems better for the news, very nice.
d-d
1st November 2010, 18:22
By this occassion I would like to give feed back about two things –
More and more I tend to enter this site via my andoird phone browser – and while design was nice, the fonts were two small to read (I have 3,5inch screen) and comments that were replies were not listed below the post they related but buried under earlier posts, all posts were filtered by publication time. Hope this will improve also.
Bud
1st November 2010, 18:20
Very nice Keith, no complaints, impressive, a definite improvement IMO.
Thanks for the best F1 site on the web.
MATEUSZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
1st November 2010, 18:41
I like it! good job Keith!
marco
1st November 2010, 19:54
I prefer the old layout ;(
ukk
1st November 2010, 20:11
i personally loved the old design – was easier to see what’s new in all sections. Was also tidier, like the mobile version. This one looks cooler, but less convenient. maybe it needs some getting used to.
Battledrill
1st November 2010, 20:25
I think it looks spiffy. Great job Keith, hopefully this streamlines everything.
Stuart
1st November 2010, 20:29
Utterly brilliant new design – clean fresh and looks altogether more professional, as well as easier to use etc as per the stated aims. Well done.
Bev
1st November 2010, 20:46
Really like new design – easier to find things and looks better than old one. One suggestion I would make is to possibly put further links in space on left hand side so people can reach areas with one click: eg Next F1 race (details), Silverstone (advice for attendees), GP2 (info and further links), Twitter (who’s on), F1 Gift Ideas (details – or things like links to drive experiences, books, events, Unlap stuff), Potential New Drivers (details and from where, GP2, GP3, DTM) etc.
sugafree
1st November 2010, 21:14
love it. good job!
eskopeso
1st November 2010, 21:21
I enjoy the fresh look, though I’d suggest using three columns for the article previews. It might make the layout seem less cluttered.
Can’t find an article about it right now, but I remember learning three visual elements can be processed by most people instantly – four may be pushing it for many of us. At least that’s what I use as a guideline in my graphic work.
Basically, we’d be seeing rows (groups of three), instead of a matrix of preview boxes. Using a few more pixels of space between the rows might also accentuate the effect.
I might be wrong of course. But, layouts are quite similar to typography – visual perception greatly affects how the actual text content is perceived. So, I’d say it’s worth testing. :)
MDawg
1st November 2010, 21:22
Change is always a difficult things. My critique would be the font page has little structure. There is just a mass of text.
Also black text on a white background is a problem. Sufferers of dyslexia struggle most with black text on white, an off white or slight grey would be easier on the eye. I find the font is quite small. These are issue that I think effect usability and accessibility but design is of course a subjective thing.
Rob B
1st November 2010, 21:47
I really like the new layout Keith. It’s fantastic to see the site growing and improving all the time
Ollie (of BF1 that is still on hiatus)
1st November 2010, 21:48
Looks great Keith – nice to see F1F develop further and further. Might need a little touching up in places but I’m loving the idea and from the comments already it seems to getting a fair amount of praise. Keep it up. :)
Journeyer (@journeyer)
2nd November 2010, 0:45
Ollie!!! Where have you been!!!
:)
Ollie (of BF1 that is still on hiatus)
2nd November 2010, 8:07
Still around. :) Put all sites on hiatus for a year for many a reason. I’ll be back – you know I can’t stay away for too long. :)
schooner
1st November 2010, 21:56
I’m always a bit taken aback when one of my favorite web sites pops up with a major change to a layout that I was perfectly happy with, for a new and improved version. That said, the new setup looks good, and I’ll no doubt be able to navigate it properly before too long. Good on you for all your hard work, and striving to improve what is already the best interactive F1 site out there.
Regis
1st November 2010, 22:02
I find that the front page is too busy, there’s way too much going on, i prefered the old one a lot more as the latest news were at the top and then scroll down for the older stuff.
This to me is just a big wall of text, thats all i see and i don’t like it… sorry :)
Andy
1st November 2010, 22:03
Not liking it at all. And I know it’s not a question of getting used to for me. Just feel cluttered. Now in order to see what’s going on you have to scan not only up and down but also left and right. It feels like a news aggregator to me now rather than a blog.
Mark Hitchcock (@mark-hitchcock)
1st November 2010, 22:22
I’m usually one of the annoying people who can’t handle change on my regularly visited websites, but for once this is almost a complete improvement.
Will definitely use the homepage more than the RSS now.
The only thing I really don’t like is the “round-up” title change because they’re one of the first things I check every day but the new way of naming them makes them a bit of a hassle to find quickly.
Other than that well done on a great redesign!
Mandev
1st November 2010, 22:24
I wonder how many other F1fanatics remember the change from orange+green colour scheme to the current silver+blue+green.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
1st November 2010, 22:48
I have to say … I was very confused when I logged on this morning. It’ll take me a while to get used to it.
K
1st November 2010, 23:48
I’m not really a fan. It looks unstructured, unfocused.
Matt
1st November 2010, 23:50
This is a very messy and busy layout. Everything is crammed on to the home page very difficult to navigate.
Keith C in NY
1st November 2010, 23:56
This goes in the “wish I’d thought of doing it this way” class. Really really well done.
Most of the F1 sites I use are not that good at navigation; difficult or linear front ends and back arrow to home. gpupdate.net carries the news index with every article and I like that. But hat would sorta work against f1fanatic’s emphasis on group involvement / comments layout. In fact, just seeing that big graphical index may send me to f1fanatic first.
Well done
Keith in NY
Sai Sudharsan
2nd November 2010, 1:14
It looks cleaner and easier to navigate. Keep up the good work.
Vincent1972
2nd November 2010, 1:57
I like the site improvements and the new design. Loads faster and access to other great stuff. The “categories” is the best part for me. Thanks to all contributors to the success of this site! I always recommend this site to all F1 fanatics I know.
MtlRacer
2nd November 2010, 5:16
I think I like it ;) As with anything new, it’ll take a few days to be sure.
One thing I do not like: the Daily Round-Up is harder to find as it doesn’t have the same title as before.
MtlRacer
2nd November 2010, 17:13
Maybe I was too tired and didn’t see them yesterday, but I see subtitles now which is good.
wong chin kong
2nd November 2010, 5:31
The contents of the comments column still occupy only less than half-size page, the other half is empty, sure waste of page utilisation. My suggestion is to increase the horizontal width of the comments box by 10 to 20 percent, less effort scrolling down. Also, consider highlighting ten best comments for the article as readers might not have the time to read all comments especially those articles attracting over 50 comments each.
Maciek
2nd November 2010, 8:46
“consider highlighting ten best comments”
Seems to me like that would just lead to people bickering about whose comnments are ‘best’ (whatever that means) + realistically, can you imagine the time it would take to do that?
Bruno
2nd November 2010, 6:47
Wow, nice improvement! I like it.
Bruno
2nd November 2010, 6:51
Nice improvement but where’s the menu if we would go back to homepage? maybe on the top left side…
Vincent1972
2nd November 2010, 9:36
click the F1Fanatic logo. Just found out today.
MHK
2nd November 2010, 7:16
The new design is surely more convenient. It looks great too. Bravo!
Ben C
2nd November 2010, 8:01
As any marketer will tell you, if you invite comment to any change then it tends to be the complainers that get over represented. Same when you run a risky or funny ad, the call centre gets all the people who take issue as you generally don’t call to say well done. Same with new websites – more so infact because it involves a change in learned behaviour too.
That isn’t to say that criticism is wrong and shouldn’t be listened too and acted upon, just that the positive feedback is often under represented.
So I think I’ll join the swell of positive reinforcement here, which is great to see, and say bloody good site improvements which not only all make sense, but make the site look even more professional and reflect the fact that it is my first point if reference before all of the more established news sites such as newspapers ( which i’m sure spend a great deal more time and money).
Also looks great on the iPad.
Maciek
2nd November 2010, 8:51
The more I look at it, the more I like it. I can certainly see the logic of including more information in a smaller space. I really like the ‘Categories’ box – perhaps one easy solution for the complaints about the daily round-up being harder to spot would be to add a ’round-up’ category in the box.
Maciek
2nd November 2010, 8:57
PS. ok, so it’s not so much a box as a menu, mais bon.
Something I’ve noticed since maybe a week or so, using Safari on 10.5 Mac, and which was never there before, is that whenever I click on any link on the site, it’s like the browser freezes for a second or two before opening the link. Not anything really important, but maybe the info can be useful in further changes to the site.
KS
2nd November 2010, 9:20
Nice but prefer the other look because it is confusing. anyway. very good website :)
Vincent1972
2nd November 2010, 9:33
Because the main site is new, i am looking for “HOME” link but instead I found out that by clicking the “F1Fanatic logo” – returns me to the home page. Nice. I normally use my favorites shortcut. (but I dont want it in my office browser) :)
Icthyes (@icthyes)
2nd November 2010, 9:40
I like it aesthetically but after a day I have seen a few problems.
First of all it’s not that easy to tell when there’s a new article. Before, with the lists on the side, the ones you hadn’t read will have been a different colour because you haven’t clicked on the link (I’m aware that’s something the browser does, not the site). Without that you just get confronted by a lot of photos and don’t immediately register a change.
Secondly I don’t like the round-ups having proper titles. I think they should go back to being called F1Fanatic Round-up etc. because it’s harder to pick them out from the list you do get on the right when you’re in an article.
Funkyf1 (@funkyf1)
2nd November 2010, 10:21
Hhhmmm not sure how I feel,, information overload in my opinion, but i’m sure it will grow on me! Can’t knock the effort Keith, keep up the good work :)
Tim
2nd November 2010, 11:51
It looks really great! Change is a good thing. I like the design
LeRoy
2nd November 2010, 12:37
Nice job Keith. Didnt take long to get used it it at all! Love the thought of keeping more information on one page without the need to scroll down.
PJA
2nd November 2010, 13:05
Although initially I still prefer the old layout I will give the new look some time. One of the main things I miss is the box with the list of all the recent articles at the top on homepage as well as the other pages, but I am sure I will get used to it.
However one thing I would change would be to have the main title of the daily round-up as “F1 Fanatic Daily round-up 2-11-2010” rather than the title of one the articles linked in the round-up.
When you are not on the main page and have the list of articles on the right it only shows the main title so you can’t tell which one the round-up is.
I also think something similar for regular features would be better, such as free practice analysis and the team race reviews so that is the main part of the title which people see on the More from F1 Fanatic list of articles on every page.
Daffid
2nd November 2010, 15:52
First impressions very positive
Good to see someone breaking away from the straight jacket of standard layouts – which are mostly appalling
Thumbs up
Mark
2nd November 2010, 15:56
Really good… love the changes.
sheep
2nd November 2010, 18:04
Like it!
(comment too short…)
pete
2nd November 2010, 18:13
My initial reaction is that I don’t really like it. It’s like a shotgun blast of information straight to the face. I almost feel overwhelmed.
HOWEVER, it will not stop me from continuing to regularly visit the site.
Younger Hamilton
2nd November 2010, 18:22
Good look it adds a new feeling for me and to the Website.Hope F1 Fanatic improves a lot in the Future
Rufrus
2nd November 2010, 21:46
Congratulations on the new graphics. I still make the news of the containers of the same height, to give a linear smoother.
Sorry for not correct English but I am Italian.
Hello everyone.
Rufrus.
stuart
2nd November 2010, 23:05
Hello you too Rufrus. Your English is better than my Italian – well done…. there’s no possibility I would ever read an Italian F1 fan site (and it’s not just because Ferrari seem too keen on drivers who need a sidekick to help them win).
Sammy
3rd November 2010, 3:44
Dont really like it…seems a bit cluttered. Preferred the ease of access of the previous, Was more a fan of the short articles really.
Still an excellent site though Keith.
MadGP
3rd November 2010, 6:09
Looks nice. But it’s damn slow… takes ages to load a page!! Not sure if only I am facing it.
Steve
3rd November 2010, 8:12
Too cluttered !! switch back!
Soeren
3rd November 2010, 18:06
Ah I see … the round-ups are still there, they’re just harder to find and access … I always used to access these via the RSS feed – and since they now have varying titles I don’t see them there anymore. And the RSS feed doesn’t show subtitles, so that doesn’t help either. Can you help? :)
I would also like it if the RSS feed showed much more articles – on a GP weekend it’s almost impossible to access all new articles that way because there are more articles per day than the RSS feed is listing.
Overall I really like your site, Keith, but I can’t really comment on the main page redesign, because … I have never seen the old version. Don’t know what it looked like. Ahem. You know, using the RSS feed … :D
Martin_B
3rd November 2010, 20:56
Damn. My comment vanished. Re-typing, I prefer the old layout but the new one is growing on me.
A couple of suggestions:
1. The article boxes have a “patchwork quilt” appearance. Give all three boxes in the top row the same background. Highlight the lead article (if you must) with a border or a slightly contrasting colour.
2. ALT: Give the top row a pale background, the second row a slightly darker background, and the third row a darker background still.
3. The bottoms of the boxes are at different levels, giving a raggedy appearance. Make all the boxes a fixed height with the date and no of comments at the bottom, and a varying no of blank lines between the text and the date.
4. Put the date and no of comments of the lead article on the bottom line, same as the others, not under the subheading.
5. Make subheadings (“Debates and Polls”, “2011 F1 Calendar”) a more contrasty colour to clearly differentiate between heading and text.
arulworld
4th November 2010, 12:01
hi keith,
the site looks cooooooool.