The new header layout is a regression

[ohmslaw]

Using IE 11 on my desktop computer I get a message about "long running script" and the page takes a long time to load. Is there something I can do to speed things up? Does this have anything to do with the new design? I'm not the best educated with things like this.

 

[John Doe40]

Thanks for the continued feedback folks! Have noted areas of concern for tech to tackle!

James, how about just giving a choice to your customers? People who actually like to "beta test" new aesthetically unpleasant layout with random sliding/popping elements can continue using it and people who don't (regardless of the reason) should be allowed to switch to previous layout instead

 

[James Falconer]

Will definitely suggest that for future iterations.

Change is hard.

 

[James Falconer]

Almost two weeks later and little change beyond the header now disappears when scrolling. Sorry guys, that's plenty of time to get things fixed in my book. Not going to waste any more of my time here, but to say I'm done. I'll get my Android news somewhere else. So long and thanks for all the fish.

This makes me sad

Truth be told, tech has pushed countless changes and bug fixes to the new layout over the past two weeks. We care about each and every one of you, and have been busting our butts to fix as many items as possible.

As most have been doing, if you have an issue or problem on your computer or device, let me know the specifics (issue, browser, OS, device, etc.) and I'll make sure our tech team addresses it asap! Heck, even contact me directly if you like (my email is below), I'm more than happy to help!

 

[ram1220]

What OS/Browser are you using on your PC?

IE 11, the latest Chrome, and the latest Firefox. Happens on all of them. Plus today the site is extremely slow. Having to click on topics 3 or 4 times. Honestly thinking about leaving too.

 

[BWBlackett]

New site is a backwards step....

Two main points:

1.The header takes up far too much space - on my 15" widescreen laptop I can just read the first line of the heading of the first article.
2. At work I'm stuck on IE8, the formatting is rubbish, I don't get the header bar at all and I have to scroll through at least 10 screens of rubbish before I get to the first article.

Please sort it out. :'(

 

[B. Diddy]

Re: New site is a backwards step....

Thanks for the feedback! Doesn't the header disappear when you start scrolling down?

And I have also noticed that the new site doesn't play well with older versions of Internet Explorer. The hospital where I work is still stuck on IE9, and there are plenty of sites that don't work well with it. Pretty silly. I've started bringing my Chromebook to work and connecting to the public wi-fi there so I can use Chrome!

 

[James Falconer]

In regards to the dropdowns, you're referring to this menu at the top of your screen, correct? Is this what appears when you scroll up?



Are any of the dropdown menus expanded down from that menu? For example, is the 'forums' dropdown expanded, or is it just that first level of navigation that appears?

Thanks for the continued feedback. We will get this sorted.

 

[ram1220]

In regards to the dropdowns, you're referring to this menu at the top of your screen, correct? Is this what appears when you scroll up?

View attachment 124969

Are any of the dropdown menus expanded down from that menu? For example, is the 'forums' dropdown expanded, or is it just that first level of navigation that appears?

Thanks for the continued feedback. We will get this sorted.

Yes. that's exactly what I see.

 

[Relgoshan]

In regards to the dropdowns, you're referring to this menu at the top of your screen, correct? Is this what appears when you scroll up?

View attachment 124969

Are any of the dropdown menus expanded down from that menu? For example, is the 'forums' dropdown expanded, or is it just that first level of navigation that appears?

Thanks for the continued feedback. We will get this sorted.

In multiple browsers on my phone and my windows based laptop, the header breaks whenever zoom level changes. Scrolling up/down a couple times usually resets the layout to the current zoom level.

Especially on mobile browsers, the header should cleanly adjust itself to just the green droid (for home) then a category expander, search icon and the hamburger. No way more than about four icons should be displayed on a phone in portrait mode. Especially if zoom is applied for any reason.

The damage to page speed....my phone has a Snapdragon 800, and now it feels like the site is running on a Pentium II. This seems to be related to the 'long-running script' errors that sometimes appear in desktop browsers when viewing the site.

I can honestly say I have not seen any site go live with a more performance-impacting navbar in at least five years. The easily demonstrated reflow issues show that whatever template was used is not a very good foundation....I will say again these problems had been demonstrably solved years ago.

And it seems I'll have to make a little time for pulling together another post on the technical issues after examining things more closely on my laptop.

 

[monofurioso]

I don't like having to drag the top story banner left and right to see the full range of highlighted features. There should either be some hover areas on either side or left and right arrows to click to scroll laterally through the features.

Otherwise, seems good!

 

[Relgoshan]

I don't like having to drag the top story banner left and right to see the full range of highlighted features. There should either be some hover areas on either side or left and right arrows to click to scroll laterally through the features.

Otherwise, seems good!

+1 I mentioned this earlier. Very basic missing feature.

 

[ram1220]

I just wish the headers and drop down could be turned off by the user. Or at least only show up when I tab back up to the top of the page. As it stands now anytime I scroll or tab up at all I get the headers and drop downs showing up. Extremely annoying. Again they should only be there if I scroll back up to the top of the page.

 

[wizzrah]

Almost two weeks later and little change beyond the header now disappears when scrolling. Sorry guys, that's plenty of time to get things fixed in my book. Not going to waste any more of my time here, but to say I'm done. I'll get my Android news somewhere else. So long and thanks for all the fish.

I think that's a slight overreaction on your part.

Sent from my AT&T One XL

 

[wizzrah]

I just wish the headers and drop down could be turned off by the user. Or at least only show up when I tab back up to the top of the page. As it stands now anytime I scroll or tab up at all I get the headers and drop downs showing up. Extremely annoying. Again they should only be there if I scroll back up to the top of the page.

The idea is that once you finish reading the article, you don't have to scroll back all the way up.

Sent from my AT&T One XL

 

[Relgoshan]

The idea is that once you finish reading the article, you don't have to scroll back all the way up.

Sent from my AT&T One XL

This has literally NEVER been an issue on the PC since the beginning (Home key), and any android browser worth downloading should have a skip-to-top and skip-to-bottom gesture. It makes a little sense on Bing image search but only due to infinite scrolling..

 

[wizzrah]

This has literally NEVER been an issue on the PC since the beginning (Home key), and any android browser worth downloading should have a skip-to-top and skip-to-bottom gesture. It makes a little sense on Bing image search but only due to infinite scrolling..

I was simply stating the concept of the disappearing and reappearing header.

 

[ram1220]

The idea is that once you finish reading the article, you don't have to scroll back all the way up.

Sent from my AT&T One XL

It is annoying. What I do is click on the forum I want to read. If I see a topic I want to read I click on it. In order to see the most recent posts I hit end on my keyboard. this takes me to the end of the posts. I then tab back up to get to the most recent posts (new posts). If I do it your way and tab down from the top I have to wade through all of the posts I have already read. My way makes more sense. But that's when I keep having the problem with the headers popping up again. It is annoying! And this is the only site out of many that I read daily that is designed this way. I can honestly tell you that I am at the point of just logging out and not coming back. I can get my Android information from other sites. You have asked for our feedback but fail to take any action on any of it as far as I can see. The new layout is a regression.

 

[Aquila]

It is annoying. What I do is click on the forum I want to read. If I see a topic I want to read I click on it. In order to see the most recent posts I hit end on my keyboard. this takes me to the end of the posts. I then tab back up to get to the most recent posts (new posts). If I do it your way and tab down from the top I have to wade through all of the posts I have already read. My way makes more sense. But that's when I keep having the problem with the headers popping up again. It is annoying! And this is the only site out of many that I read daily that is designed this way. I can honestly tell you that I am at the point of just logging out and not coming back. I can get my Android information from other sites. You have asked for our feedback but fail to take any action on any of it as far as I can see. The new layout is a regression.

James has indicated that they are working hard to iron out the bugs. What is the action you're expecting to see?

Nexus through spacetime.

 

[Relgoshan]

At this time I am avoiding the entire news system and only participating in the forums trying to work with people who have technical problems or questions.

James seems like a nice guy, I've seen him pop in very occasionally these few years since I joined. It just feels right now like somebody made promises to him and now they are in over their head. No shame in it, but this is what a "beta." period is intended for. Without the original design side by side to the new one it is harder to demonstrate, but the whole site loads and runs much slower. The news bar is unintuitive and very poorly designed for mouse users, while the nav bar is a terror for touch users and I have had to redo many posts because I accidentally clicked a link while selecting text in my composition.

Someone needs to take over or be brought in for consultation before this goes on much longer. Please. I will have my promised new material regarding how and where the system breaks down, before the end of this weekend.