tomwarren Veteran Posted January 20, 2009 Veteran Share Posted January 20, 2009 OK so I've seen a few criticisms of our front page recently from subscribers. I wanted to ask: Do you like the new front page layout? Do you dislike there being no "source" link at the bottom of our articles? If you dislike the no source link, do you prefer it when the articles are clearly sourced with longer inline links? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATGC Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 <> Yes. Yes. Yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markwolfe Veteran Posted January 20, 2009 Veteran Share Posted January 20, 2009 I really like the changes to the Front Page News a lot! I also prefer (to a smaller degree) that Neowin clearly link to the source article, if one or more articles is used as a source. I'm not a big fan of the "I used several articles, so just embed a small link in the article text somewhere" that seems to have sprung up, but I don't have a strong feeling about that. Yes, I like the separated source link. (unsolicited) I really, really like the original articles coming out of Neowin's News staff lately! (Y) Re-hashing existing stories as "semi-original" appeals to me about as much as yesterday's meat loaf, warmed over for lunch today. It gets the job done, but lacks the appeal of truly original content. And dressing it up to present it as something more than it really is... It doesn't fool many people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steeley Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 Do you like the new front page layout? Absolutely! Looks awesome. I do have some concern with a comment I read that in future the forum design won't match the front page design - I think that would be crappy. Do you dislike there being no "source" link at the bottom of our articles? If you dislike the no source link, do you prefer it when the articles are clearly sourced with longer inline links? No, I prefer there being a source link at the bottom. Most of the time I've found the source article offers more detailed coverage and at the very least can't be taken out of context. I'm indifferent about inline links - they do the job and I'm not offended by them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rappy Veteran Posted January 20, 2009 Veteran Share Posted January 20, 2009 Yes. Yes. Yes. Any room for improvement then? other then just yes? :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATGC Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 Any room for improvement then? other then just yes? :p Sure. On the matter of layout of the articles, it can be improved on the alignment of the text. Adding related news, and other quick links below the ad box. >>> http://localhostr.com/files/f4d3df/Untitled.png On the matter of the content of the articles. Source everything properly and don't hide anything - nothing wrong with using facts and opinions by others. Footnote or Reference link at the bottom of articles would nice, and would look professional for Neowin's Unprofessional journalism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomwarren Veteran Posted January 20, 2009 Author Veteran Share Posted January 20, 2009 Appreciate the feedback :) Maybe we could have something beneath all the article saying "further reading" and then linking the sources of information there too just so it's clear. We don't want to be seen to be "stealing" content, it's just a different way of doing things and we always try to be clear when we are writing stories that bla bla has posted about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Symons Veteran Posted January 20, 2009 Veteran Share Posted January 20, 2009 I like the new page layout, gives Neowin that more modern feel. And I think the "further reading"/"continue reading"/"read more" idea is good. Would make it very handy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emil Valsson Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 Ofcourse there should be a link to the source. Stealing news from other sites without stating source is just plain plagiarism. Otherwise the site looks fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomwarren Veteran Posted January 20, 2009 Author Veteran Share Posted January 20, 2009 Ofcourse there should be a link to the source. Stealing news from other sites without stating source is just plain plagiarism. Otherwise the site looks fine. I think you're missing the point, we're not "stealing news". If you look at any article the articles are all written by ourselves using our own commentary and wording. We inline link the sourced articles from where we heard the news and sometimes quote something they may have quoted a spokesperson as saying. Either way there is inline linking to the articles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NienorGT Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 I do like the new front page, very professional. About sources, is all articles written in-house or there some copy-paste here and here? Anything not made in-house NEED a source link. It would be also way better to have a proof that it's an In-House article. Ex: Source: Neowin.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomwarren Veteran Posted January 20, 2009 Author Veteran Share Posted January 20, 2009 I do like the new front page, very professional.About sources, is all articles written in-house or there some copy-paste here and here? Anything not made in-house NEED a source link. It would be also way better to have a proof that it's an In-House article. Ex: Source: Neowin.net Thanks :) Everything you see main page (unless it's on the right in around the web (ATW) is written in house and sourced relevantly throughout the article. We may link back to old articles as reference, external sites and quotes from different sites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raa Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 I'm still not feeling the front page, even after the length of time it's been up. Auto refresh of the forums topics is gone. (Was told that it's not coming back - noted, but my opinion still counts. And yes i'm aware I can click the refresh button just above it.) The 'Main' menu when hovered over, will stay there even after moving the pointer away. A dev said this was due to a programming bug + IE compatibility issue. No fix yet? (Please DON'T start with the <use X browser!> comments.) A second bug, when commenting on a post - if I edit that post after making it using the edit button, it edits. If I do it a second time, it breaks the page. I have to reload before I can edit again. The layout isn't expanded to the bigger width. I know theres a button, but could this be the default? Not a big gripe, but again, it's opinions that count. The Adverts. I won't continue with that one, but there it is, i've put it out there. (I've heard all the arguements both sides for this one) Source links should always be included at the bottom of articles, imo. I'm not sure if i'm keen on it being inside the article, but I could live. And thats all just off the top of my head, I could probably go on more, but I feel bad complaining that much already! I like the colors (Y) So yeah, it's a pretty damning post I know, and i'll probably cop a lot of flaming, but you did ask (and I was blunt) so apologies if this post offends anyone as it's not meant to! As it stands now, my sub is about to expire, and im not intending to renew it at the moment. I've heard a few friends say they've stopped going to Neowin - i'm not going to go that far, but I do hope that the front page is "looked at again" at least :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomwarren Veteran Posted January 20, 2009 Author Veteran Share Posted January 20, 2009 I'm still not feeling the front page, even after the length of time it's been up.Auto refresh of the forums topics is gone. (Was told that it's not coming back - noted, but my opinion still counts. And yes i'm aware I can click the refresh button just above it.) The 'Main' menu when hovered over, will stay there even after moving the pointer away. A dev said this was due to a programming bug + IE compatibility issue. No fix yet? (Please DON'T start with the <use X browser!> comments.) A second bug, when commenting on a post - if I edit that post after making it using the edit button, it edits. If I do it a second time, it breaks the page. I have to reload before I can edit again. The layout isn't expanded to the bigger width. I know theres a button, but could this be the default? Not a big gripe, but again, it's opinions that count. The Adverts. I won't continue with that one, but there it is, i've put it out there. (I've heard all the arguements both sides for this one) Source links should always be included at the bottom of articles, imo. I'm not sure if i'm keen on it being inside the article, but I could live. And thats all just off the top of my head, I could probably go on more, but I feel bad complaining that much already! I like the colors (Y) So yeah, it's a pretty damning post I know, and i'll probably cop a lot of flaming, but you did ask (and I was blunt) so apologies if this post offends anyone as it's not meant to! As it stands now, my sub is about to expire, and im not intending to renew it at the moment. I've heard a few friends say they've stopped going to Neowin - i'm not going to go that far, but I do hope that the front page is "looked at again" at least :) Thanks for the feedback :) Auto refresh is enabled in the forums but not main page due to some performance and practical reasons. The main page hover bug is fixed, we fixed this last week :) do a hard refresh in IE7 and it should be fine. We are working on the edit bug where it doesn't "add" the comment or edit in, it does it on the fly without the need to refresh the page. I'll let a dev comment on this one as they are working on that to try and find a fix but we are aware of the issue :) In terms of the layout yes there's a button and I guess we could query the resolution and set it on a per session basis but so far most people have liked the new layout and those that don't just toggle that button. It doesn't offend us, we appreciate the feedback that's for sure. We always need to make sure we're doing things that people like :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven P. Administrators Posted January 20, 2009 Administrators Share Posted January 20, 2009 I'm not a fan of putting a list of sourced links under the article, because unfortunately it confuses other websites into thinking we've lifted the article rather than submitted it ourselves. If you look at any other (popular) news outlet they source within the article by either embedding the link in the source site name, and in many cases they cite the site name and don't even link to it! We have a clear separation of whats ours and what isn't now, whatever is in Around the Web, has been lifted from elsewhere and is clearly sourced (old school style) with the source link under the article text, and our own stories (in the left column) have embedded inline links where we have used it as a reference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vykranth Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 The only thing I would change to the front page is to make a bigger emphasis on the most commented articles. The red 'Hot!' is a little bit too small for me. Very important articles are highlighted but others might be highlight worthy too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Lyle Global Moderator Posted January 22, 2009 Global Moderator Share Posted January 22, 2009 My comment might be bias, but I definitely read a lot more stories on the front page for a few reasons: 1) they are shorter, I hated clicking a news link and seeing a few pages of copy and pasted text, it deters me from reading it. 2) I'm liking the original articles, and copy and paste articles (sorry hum) but Hums Real world news isn't interesting, simply because it is copy and paste. Look at all the views, less then 100, and on average, 3 or so comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unto Darkness Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 I'm not a fan of putting a list of sourced links under the article, because unfortunately it confuses other websites into thinking we've lifted the article rather than submitted it ourselves. If you look at any other (popular) news outlet they source within the article by either embedding the link in the source site name, and in many cases they cite the site name and don't even link to it!We have a clear separation of whats ours and what isn't now, whatever is in Around the Web, has been lifted from elsewhere and is clearly sourced (old school style) with the source link under the article text, and our own stories (in the left column) have embedded inline links where we have used it as a reference. But don't you think we need a source so that people know where we got our information and judge its credibility? It's fine if the information was plucked out by the news team themselves. Sorry for posting here, not being a Subscriber. Just my $0.02. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+shift. MVC Posted January 25, 2009 MVC Share Posted January 25, 2009 My comment might be bias, but I definitely read a lot more stories on the front page for a few reasons:1) they are shorter, I hated clicking a news link and seeing a few pages of copy and pasted text, it deters me from reading it. 2) I'm liking the original articles, and copy and paste articles (sorry hum) but Hums Real world news isn't interesting, simply because it is copy and paste. Look at all the views, less then 100, and on average, 3 or so comments. That and mainly because most of the stories posted there are not of exceptional quality; or are obtained from questionable news sources. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Lyle Global Moderator Posted January 26, 2009 Global Moderator Share Posted January 26, 2009 That and mainly because most of the stories posted there are not of exceptional quality; or are obtained from questionable news sources. Did you reply to my #1 or #2? But don't you think we need a source so that people know where we got our information and judge its credibility? It's fine if the information was plucked out by the news team themselves.Sorry for posting here, not being a Subscriber. Just my $0.02. I would have to say absolutely. People wanna know where the news sources are coming from, and not roam the internet to find that story. Neowin may not be a huge name like Cnet or anything, so linking back to the information is important. I wish neowin was big enough to have us full time reporters looking for tech related press releases and do a report with exclusives interviews with presidents and CEO's, but it's not happening :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markwolfe Veteran Posted January 26, 2009 Veteran Share Posted January 26, 2009 ^^^ There are a few newsies doing email interviews with some movers and shakers in the tech community. Not at the CEO level, but interesting people, none-the-less. :yes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Srugie Veteran Posted January 26, 2009 Veteran Share Posted January 26, 2009 I know I'm not a subscriber. (As much I'd like to be) I noticed these weird lines on the front page recently: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Lyle Global Moderator Posted January 26, 2009 Global Moderator Share Posted January 26, 2009 I know I'm not a subscriber. (As much I'd like to be)I noticed these weird lines on the front page recently: Post a bug in Site and Forum issues, along with your browser, and OS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Srugie Veteran Posted January 26, 2009 Veteran Share Posted January 26, 2009 Post a bug in Site and Forum issues, along with your browser, and OS. Will do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I love the front page. It looks amazing. However, not clearly sourcing seems a bit misleading. I prefer when the source is properly identified. "Source: Whoever" at the bottom of the article or whatever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts