[Feedback needed] Atlas, the next version of Neowin

[Steven P. Administrators]

We have been working on a new backend and theme for quite some time now, as you'll see it is almost completed but comes with drastic changes.

Firefox: IE8:

Rounded edges are supported on Mozilla, but not IE because we don't use images to emulate the corners.

The "Zune promo" image below the leaderboard ad is one of 2 promo images that slide in and out and Dave has worked his socks off making the news page completely custom in such a way that a reader can select different filters to display their news of choice. for example (if I remember correctly) www.neowin.net/news/microsoft/windows7 would be a valid filter link which would only display news relating to Windows 7.

I'm sure Dave can add some important points to this topic, but for now I have had clearance (for some time now) to post this preview image so we can get some feedback.

[Max Veteran]

I like it. The only thing that takes my eyes away from anything else is the font used where: All, Software, Gaming, Apple, etc is and along the top as well (News, Downloads, etc). It just looks too 'standard'.

[That Guy Veteran]

I really like the idea of the Editorial box instead of that 'orrible "around the web" one :)

Looks really good, the thing I'm looking forward to seeing most is the News CP.

[DaveLegg Developer]

We have been working on a new backend and theme for quite some time now, as you'll see it is almost completed but comes with drastic changes.

The "Zune promo" image below the leaderboard ad is one of 2 promo images that slide in and out and Dave has worked his socks off making the news page completely custom in such a way that a reader can select different filters to display their news of choice. for example (if I remember correctly) www.neowin.net/news/microsoft/windows7 would be a valid filter link which would only display news relating to Windows 7.

I'm sure Dave can add some important points to this topic, but for now I have had clearance (for some time now) to post this preview image so we can get some feedback.

You don't remember rightly ;) It'd be www.neowin.net/news/tags/windows_7 for just windows 7 news. You can combine multiple tags to see exactly the news you wish, eg: www.neowin.net/news/tags/apple/windows_7/xbox You can also get an RSS feed of your custom view at www.neowin.net/news/rss/apple/windows_7/xbox Once we get the Javascript work started on the dev site, there will be a nice pretty UI to do all this through :)

I think you folks know about project Ignition? Well this is it, everything here has been re-coded from the ground up, so brand new code, far easier to work with, more efficient, and BUG FREE :D

[Calum Veteran]

I think the overall design makes the website look much more professional for a news website. I really like it :)

[metal_dragen Veteran]

I'm really liking it. It's a lot cleaner and easier to see the important stuff at a glance. I really love the idea of being able to create a "custom feed" of the news, rather than having just the options of the different "channels" if you will.

[Antaris Veteran]

I do think its great too, obviously us members wont be seeing the mod-bar at the top, but the whole design is polished quite well. Whats the deal with the neowin logo and member drop down next to the search box? Also, I take it the 3-ball icon is for an advanced search?

Is the top of the news container going to be implmented in flash? or something like jQuery goodness?

I agree about the font though, but its kinda hard to describe because the majority of the design is all text anyway, maybe lessen the impact so much?

Keep up the good work :)

[DaveLegg Developer]

I do think its great too, obviously us members wont be seeing the mod-bar at the top, but the whole design is polished quite well. Whats the deal with the neowin logo and member drop down next to the search box? Also, I take it the 3-ball icon is for an advanced search?

Is the top of the news container going to be implmented in flash? or something like jQuery goodness?

I agree about the font though, but its kinda hard to describe because the majority of the design is all text anyway, maybe lessen the impact so much?

Keep up the good work :)

The Neowin Logo you mentioned is where it shows a thumbnail of your Avatar. The dropdown provides quick access to things like your forum profile, messenger and so on. The 3-ball icon at the moment provides access to alternative colour themes, I'm not 100% sure if they're staying.

I assume you're referring to the Zune promo in your next comment? That's purely jquery.

[That Guy Veteran]

I just realised how much spare space we have on the bottom right side. It could of course be good to have the free space, but if you wanted something to go there, surely you could have a Twitter feed or something.

[Calum Veteran]

I have a suggestion. I think the logo used in this post is much better than the current one. I believe it looks cleaner and is just nicer on the eye. DaveLegg mentioned to me that it is an old logo, but is there any reason why it isn't used? Could it be used?

[Denis W. Veteran]

Hmm, I just noticed the screenshot here has rounded corners. But on my end the edges are all square. :huh:

[Timan Veteran]

Hmm, I just noticed the screenshot here has rounded corners. But on my end the edges are all square. :huh:

May as well address this now :p.

Firefox, Safari & Chrome will have rounded corners + drop shadows.

IE & Opera will not

[DaveLegg Developer]

May as well address this now :p.

Firefox, Safari & Chrome will have rounded corners + drop shadows.

IE & Opera will not

To sum that up, get a proper browser :p

[Calum Veteran]

Hmm, I just noticed the screenshot here has rounded corners. But on my end the edges are all square. :huh:

Heh. I started using IE when I installed the Win7 RTM, just to try it, and I didn't realise Atlas had rounded corners until Dave Legg visited and he was like "What are you doing with IE?", baha :D

[Denis W. Veteran]

To sum that up, get a proper browser :p

Opera not a proper browser? Screw off :p

On topic, without knowing anything about web coding I opened up the error console and found errors relating to webkit-border-radius and moz-border-radius. Is this the reason why the rounded borders will work in only Firefox/Safari/Chrome?

[Rob Veteran]

Opera not a proper browser? Screw off :p

On topic, without knowing anything about web coding I opened up the error console and found errors relating to webkit-border-radius and moz-border-radius. Is this the reason why the rounded borders will work in only Firefox/Safari/Chrome?

They're not errors per se, just warnings, but yes this is to do with the border-radius support; Gecko and Webkit are the only two rendering engines that support border-radius (in their own proprietery -moz and -webkit extensions).

[Stephen Veteran]

I think you folks know about project Ignition? Well this is it, everything here has been re-coded from the ground up, so brand new code, far easier to work with, more efficient, and BUG FREE :D

I am gonna keep that and use it against you at some time :p

The Neowin Logo you mentioned is where it shows a thumbnail of your Avatar. The dropdown provides quick access to things like your forum profile, messenger and so on. The 3-ball icon at the moment provides access to alternative colour themes, I'm not 100% sure if they're staying.

what?! it better be, I miss my graphite and midnight ;p

but yeah, look sweet atm :D

maybe bottom right put the fancy javascript tag dohicky there? or podcasts?

[Sam Symons Veteran]

To sum that up, get a proper browser :p

:rofl: (Y)

[Owen W Veteran]

Flip I can't wait for this..

[Calum Veteran]

maybe bottom right put the fancy javascript tag dohicky there? or podcasts?

Great ideas, in my opinion (Y) :)

Our members love our podcasts and we have a 'Latest Editorials' box, so why not a 'Latest Podcasts' box down that side? :happy:

[DaveLegg Developer]

Great ideas, in my opinion (Y) :)

Our members love our podcasts and we have a 'Latest Editorials' box, so why not a 'Latest Podcasts' box down that side? :happy:

Ignition makes things simple, so we can add a box for a hot topic without having to add loads of code, so we can feature topics that are hot at the moment, they, like most other things, are based on tags, so we could feature all the latest windows 7/snow leopard articles in a single box in the sidebar to draw attention to our coverage of up-coming OS releases etc

[RadishTM Veteran]

Love it and keep going :yes: (Y)

Radish?

[Denis W. Veteran]

They're not errors per se, just warnings, but yes this is to do with the border-radius support; Gecko and Webkit are the only two rendering engines that support border-radius (in their own proprietery -moz and -webkit extensions).

I see.

Something interesting that I just dug up:

The engine used in Opera 10 is Presto 2.2.

Presto 2.3 will support border-radius – which version of Opera that may be.

... perhaps it'll come before Ignition/Atlas is rolled out to the public. :p

[the evn show]

It's excellent: from a pure usability stand point looks like a major step forward.

EDIT: Comment removed, I see it's just a different version of a feature we already have.

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

The mockup looks very similar to Ars Technica and Slashdot to me; not a criticism, just an observation.

Have you thought about copying the page number and navigation controls below the list of articles to above them?

Regards