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You are here: Home / z-Retired Categories / Previous Site Maintenance / Re-Design This Site

Re-Design This Site

by John Cole|  January 7, 200810:10 pm| 89 Comments

This post is in: Previous Site Maintenance

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Partially inspired by this comment, but in large part because I think it is time for a change, I think I am open to the idea of one of you (or a collaboration of you) re-designing the site.

What do you all think? Is it time for a change? If so, we can figure out how to go about it.

And WVU would have beaten either one of these scrub teams in the National Championship.

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Previous Post: « Which Is More Pathetic
Next Post: Change: An Open Thread »

Reader Interactions

89Comments

  1. 1.

    Ned R.

    January 7, 2008 at 10:17 pm

    Well personally I really like the ‘text in the middle column’ approach — I use the same for my blog — so I’d strongly suggest not changing that! But beyond that, much as I like the hot air balloon/ranting guy logo, maybe time for a change there?

  2. 2.

    Krista

    January 7, 2008 at 10:19 pm

    I’m pretty content with the site the way it is, although it might be nice to have a “recently commented” sidebar, or some such thing. Not a big deal, though. Other than that, my only request is that it be kept nice and clean — I can’t stand cluttered-looking blogs where you practically need a sherpa to help you figure out how to navigate the damned thing.

    And if you keep the logo with the hot-air balloon, can you get a teeny-tiny Tunch photoshopped into the balloon basket? It would amuse me.

  3. 3.

    Ed Drone

    January 7, 2008 at 10:21 pm

    I hate to say it, but I like the design of this site, from the way comments “come up” lined up below the text of the article, so if you need to re-read it, but off-screen if you don’t need to. I suppose there are other elements that could be added, but I can’t think of them. Clean, simple, straight-forward, all them good adjectives — that’s this place.

    And the company is pretty good, too*. Don’t change just for the sake of change. You might upset some kind of karmic balance or some such shit.

    Ed

    * Even the trolls are interesting.

  4. 4.

    Porco Rosso

    January 7, 2008 at 10:21 pm

    I like the site fine as is. I’m afraid the redesigned firedoglake site doesn’t seem as inviting as the old format they had.

    But thinking of firedoglake… Maybe you could use some visuals for your posts.

  5. 5.

    r€nato

    January 7, 2008 at 10:22 pm

    What? You’re not blaming the current site design on the Vast Left-Wing Web Geek Conspiracy™??? ;-)

  6. 6.

    Dennis - SGMM

    January 7, 2008 at 10:29 pm

    Changing the color scheme or the graphics would be okay. Otherwise, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Firedoglake is an example of what happens when people get carried away. I was a long time habitué of TBogg’s old blog but after the move to FDL I rarely stop by.

  7. 7.

    annagranfors

    January 7, 2008 at 10:30 pm

    yah, if you do anything, make it strictly cosmetic–FDL’s compacted post redesign is sucky. (esp. TBogg–I mean, you just wanna see the full-on multipic bassetts with the quickness, not have to get clicky.)

  8. 8.

    lee

    January 7, 2008 at 10:30 pm

    I really like the clean simple design of the website. It is a refreshing change.

    But if you are really interested I’ll think about it and see what I can come up with (or shamelessly copy from another site ;)

  9. 9.

    demimondian

    January 7, 2008 at 10:32 pm

    I have one (and only one) suggestion: your main table adds to more than 100% of the browser pane width on FFox 2.0, which means that there’s always a horizontal scroll bar on the bottom. I think that there’s a space on the far right of the table, which, since it’s got a width of 100%, means that the “line” is too wide.

    — demi “not a web designer, but I play one on Mondays” mondian

  10. 10.

    Breschau

    January 7, 2008 at 10:35 pm

    Sorry, I’m a systems architect: I make things work, I don’t make them pretty. I leave the “bells and whistles” stuff for the librul arty-farty types.

    But off the top of my head, some kind of shading on an “every other comment” basis might break up the longer threads easier. And in fact, any kind of color might help make it a bit more pleasing to the eye – just resist the temptation to over-do it. And some kind of variance in the font sizes would put an ease to the visual monotony – e.g. at the very least, make the date/time stamp 8 point instead of 10.

  11. 11.

    r€nato

    January 7, 2008 at 10:37 pm

    I don’t think you need to change… look at Eschaton. It’s ugly as shit. It’s the content that counts.

  12. 12.

    demimondian

    January 7, 2008 at 10:38 pm

    There’s a major problem with the design of the blog, but it only shows on IE on truly well-Darrelled threads: the IR table control starts choking for great goodness when it has more than a couple of hundred entries on it.

    Don’t fix it. Convince people to use a different browser, instead.

  13. 13.

    UnkyT

    January 7, 2008 at 10:39 pm

    I of course am willing to help out since you recently joined the Democratic party and are now part of the vast left wing conspiracy. Being part of this conspiracy entitles you to new and amazing blog benefits that those on the right obviously do not enjoy. Expect readership to increase 1 billion percent yet you will never have to worry about server crashes again.

    I do agree whole heartedly with Dennis, the layout is great and easy to read, colors and a few graphics will be nice.

  14. 14.

    Ranger 3

    January 7, 2008 at 10:40 pm

    And WVU would have beaten either one of these scrub teams in the National Championship.

    Yeah. So long as one of those scrub teams isn’t Pitt.

    I think I am open to the idea of one of you (or a collaboration of you) re-designing the site.

    Just don’t fall into the trap of using liberal software, cause then it’ll crash all the time and you’ll never be able to upgrade.

  15. 15.

    Zifnab

    January 7, 2008 at 10:44 pm

    Um… I do have a simple suggestion for the comments section. Can you let us edit our posts after they’re on the page? I’ve committed enough typo faux pas and plugged enough bad links that the ability to come back in and mop up my mess would be infinitely appreciated.

    Format-wise, however, this site is as good a blog as I ever visit. You’ve got a clean, readable set-up. Black and White is a bit stark, I’ll admit. Perhaps throw up a little yellow, blue, and red? Maybe a Steely McBeam logo on the top right? I’ll leave the aesthetics to someone with better taste, perhaps.

  16. 16.

    Anne Laurie

    January 7, 2008 at 10:45 pm

    Oh, gaaah, please not another “upgrade”, aka “lake of happy drone pee”!

    I started hanging around here when TBogg converted to a State-O-Teh-Art hipsterness festival that keeps blowing out my antiquated dial-up capabilities while simultaneously strangling the fierce snarkiness of TB’s commenters.

    Admittedly I am probably not representative of BJ’s Most Desired Demographic, but for the sake of all that is readable, at least stay with the center-columned, low-graphic, black-on-white basic format. People who hunger for dancing graphics and flash videos are too busy with YouTube to read political snark, anyway!

  17. 17.

    VidaLoca

    January 7, 2008 at 10:47 pm

    I’d agree with the sentiment expressed by several others: it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

    And whatever you fiddle with while you’re not fixing it, DO. NOT. bring in whoever the Jane Hamshers of the Left brought in to fix their site that wasn’t broken; they’ve managed to turn it into a bright & shining example of suckitude. Or as revenge we’ll make sure that the first five comments on every post are “Hi John/Tim/Michael :) :) :)”. And wouldn’t that make you feel special.

    Tunch in the gondola under the balloon would be a nice touch though.

  18. 18.

    Voice of Reason

    January 7, 2008 at 10:48 pm

    Well before you redesign anything, just make sure that your content is approved by the liberal engineering conspiracy so they don’t plant a fifth column trojan horse in your code designed to take out your website at the slightest criticism of Hillary’s shrewness.

    Seriously, your format works, I wouldn’t fix it.

  19. 19.

    JGabriel

    January 7, 2008 at 10:49 pm

    John Cole:

    Partially inspired by this comment, but in large part because I think it is time for a change, I think I am open to the idea of one of you (or a collaboration of you) re-designing the site.

    Do we get to ask for $25,000 in donations?

    Cuz if so, I’ll do the redesign. I’m all up for that.

    And no, I don’t have any experience in web-site design. But, hey, you only became Democrat recently, you can’t have started caring about competence already, have you?

  20. 20.

    Ranger 3

    January 7, 2008 at 10:50 pm

    a State-O-Teh-Art hipsterness festival that keeps blowing out my antiquated dial-up capabilities

    Which is why I recommend an option to use a dial up version of the site. That way, the site can be brought into the 21st Century while those of you who still don’t have broadband will still have something to use until you get your shit together.

  21. 21.

    STEVEinSC

    January 7, 2008 at 10:52 pm

    I would like to support the idea of a collaboration among the readers. In that way the result might very well be the blog eqivalent to the Yellow River Concerto and represent the creative influences of the masses. When such an opus would be ready for roll-out, would, unfortunately be anyone’s guess.

  22. 22.

    r€nato

    January 7, 2008 at 10:52 pm

    I’m a great fan of April Fools’ Day, so I think you should come up with a really wretched site design – blinking text, nonsensical 3D icons, etc – and post it on 4/1 as the new site design.

    The rest of you, forget you read this comment.

  23. 23.

    myiq2xu

    January 7, 2008 at 10:57 pm

    And WVU would have beaten either one of these scrub teams in the National Championship the Steelers.

    Fixt

  24. 24.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    January 7, 2008 at 10:57 pm

    I don’t think you need to change… look at Eschaton. It’s ugly as shit. It’s the content that counts.

    Mega dittoes. But I think the Fair Tax pig could use a little lipstick. (Sorry Michael, but I have to fill my daily snark quota.)

  25. 25.

    myiq2xu

    January 7, 2008 at 11:01 pm

    And whatever you fiddle with while you’re not fixing it, DO. NOT. bring in whoever the Jane Hamshers of the Left brought in to fix their site that wasn’t broken; they’ve managed to turn it into a bright & shining example of suckitude.

    My visits to FDL have declined to less than 25% of what they were before the “improvement.”

  26. 26.

    Jake

    January 7, 2008 at 11:01 pm

    No offense, but this site crashes. A lot. Even when compared to other WP sites. I’d focus on finding a fix for that and screw making it purty.

    But if you had to go for something extra, find a way to send an electric shock when people post long ass links that make the page five feet wide.

  27. 27.

    Woodrow "asim" Jarvis Hill

    January 7, 2008 at 11:01 pm

    your main table adds to more than 100% of the browser pane width on FFox 2.0

    3.0 Beta 2, as well.

    But, coming from a web designer — site looks good. Tweak if you want, but no need to overhaul the damned thing. :)

  28. 28.

    John Cole

    January 7, 2008 at 11:02 pm

    I am a fan of keeping it simple, so if we redesigned anything, it would not be a radical departure.

    Remember, this is the guy it took two seasons to recover when they changed the Monk theme song after Season 1. It will not be drastic.

  29. 29.

    Voice of Reason

    January 7, 2008 at 11:07 pm

    Do we get to ask for $25,000 in donations?

    I would like to put myself forward as the Iraqi reconstruction company of website design. Give me $25,000 in cash and I will redesign your website without any oversight or metrics of improvement. In fact, I will ask congress next year for an additional $400,000 in funds to improve your website some more.

  30. 30.

    PaulW

    January 7, 2008 at 11:12 pm

    One word: flamingos!

  31. 31.

    demimondian

    January 7, 2008 at 11:13 pm

    I’d love to see the back end code stabilized. I wouldn’t love to do it, although, yes, I regret to admit that I have the technical wherewithal to contribute.

    Me, I volunteer Herb. He knows ALL ABOUT databases. He’s told me so.

  32. 32.

    demimondian

    January 7, 2008 at 11:14 pm

    flamingos!

    Yes! Black and white ASCII art pink flamingos!

  33. 33.

    Voice of Reason

    January 7, 2008 at 11:15 pm

    One word: flamingos!

    And more cow bell.

  34. 34.

    VidaLoca

    January 7, 2008 at 11:17 pm

    Me, I volunteer Herb. He knows ALL ABOUT databases. He’s told me so.

    Make him the team lead. Then put Darrell under him.

  35. 35.

    myiq2xu

    January 7, 2008 at 11:17 pm

    And more cow bell.

    Yes! Gotta have more cowbell!

    And a jackalope filter.

  36. 36.

    demimondian

    January 7, 2008 at 11:22 pm

    Seriously, John…what would you be looking for in a web-site redesign? From a functional viewpoint, I’d like to see a better search function, but, hell, there’s always Google. I’d like to see an RSS feed for the comments, just because. I’d also like to see the comment section reject reallyreallyreallylonglineswithoutspaces — links being my particular bete noire.

    But graphically, this really is a great layout. I suppose that you could improve it slightly by moving the balloon-and-man graphic into the main column so that the article itself wrapped around him (tough CSS problem, but a fun one, I think), and could then move most of your right-hand column into the left hand column. That would clean up the layout a bit, and brand the experience a bit better. But those don’t really seem like redesigns to me as much as they are small clean-ups, and questionable ones at that.

  37. 37.

    libarbarian

    January 7, 2008 at 11:31 pm

    No offense, but this site crashes. A lot

    For me it doesn’t crash but sometimes it takes 20 minutes to load and appear on my screen.

    It always sayssomething like “waiting for ads.websense.com” or something when it happens so I think it is your ad-server and not your site per se.

    Still, Balloon-juice is the only blog I read that hasnt changed yet and I kind of like it.

  38. 38.

    myiq2xu

    January 7, 2008 at 11:32 pm

    Can something be done about teh stupids?

    Cuz people who think they know it all are very annoying to those of us who really do.

  39. 39.

    libarbarian

    January 7, 2008 at 11:32 pm

    Actually,it just hit me that if you want change…..

    how about you start that porno career mentioned in a previous thread.

    Come on, you know you want to. It will make you feeeeeeeel good.

  40. 40.

    grumpy realist

    January 7, 2008 at 11:39 pm

    Put me in the “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” column, John. We come for the snark, and there’s nothing I really want to tear my hair out over.

  41. 41.

    Dustin

    January 7, 2008 at 11:45 pm

    Talking as someone who’s helped implement and optimize one badly coded design and create another one from scratch I agree with some of the other commenters: don’t fix what isn’t broken.

    Other than narrowing your content middle column about 15-20 pixels so you get rid of the sidescroll there’s nothing on this site that needs to be changed… at least as far as visuals. Don’t know about code server performance optimization, but from the readers perspective this is an excellent wordpress design.

    Add features like the previously mentioned comment background alternating color if you want, but I’m not sure even that’s necessary.

  42. 42.

    Dustin

    January 7, 2008 at 11:48 pm

    Oh, and I second the “FDL’s new design sucks, don’t use their designer” comments… They’re an example of what not to do.

  43. 43.

    over it

    January 7, 2008 at 11:50 pm

    Keep it simple!

    I like it just fine the way it is. I use Firefox and don’t have any problems with the site crashing or with slow loading. If anything, it is one of the few sites I can count on on coming up quickly.

    Just my (less than) 2 cents worth.

  44. 44.

    Tsulagi

    January 8, 2008 at 12:11 am

    From a functional viewpoint, I’d like to see a better search function, but, hell, there’s always Google. I’d like to see an RSS feed for the comments, just because. I’d also like to see the comment section reject reallyreallyreallylonglineswithoutspaces—links being my particular bete noire.

    Demi hit it. Personally I don’t care about the RSS feed. But when someone dumps a BIG ASS link blowing the margins all to hell, I don’t bother reading comments. I just quickly backspace.

    I’m in the “if it ain’t broke….column. I have fast connections, but I don’t care to see dancing graphics.

  45. 45.

    JC

    January 8, 2008 at 12:11 am

    You’ve already answered this, buy yes, it needs to stay simple. No artsy-fartsy colors for this blog! Keep it Google-like!

    Now, in terms of simpicity, what would help?

    Now, it would help if Tim listed some of the other blogs he reads – according to “blogs Tim reads”, he only reads 3 blogs.

    What a maroon!! You’ve clearly got Tim beat to shit, in this new-fangled thing called “reading blogs”.

    Tell Tim to get him, one of those, what are they called, “edjumacations”.

  46. 46.

    JC

    January 8, 2008 at 12:15 am

    Hey, I do like the idea of having pictures embedded, every once in awhile.

    I’m thinking a weekly open thread post called “Fox Female Anchor Money Shot of the Week” of the week.

    Seeing as this is the only look that Fox goes for in their female anchors, is the hot-blonde-just-got-out-of-porn, so let’s-pair-her-with-old-white-dude”.

  47. 47.

    Conservatively Liberal

    January 8, 2008 at 12:18 am

    Hmmm, RedState is griping about a vast left wing conspiracy to keep them from updating their site, and John all of the sudden decides that now may be a good time for a revamped blog?

    Veerryy interestink. Could there be a chance that John may be switching back to Republican party in the future, so he figures that now is the time to get the left wing coders to do some freebie work for him? Could this be a new chapter in the vast right wing conspiracy?

    Inquiring minds want to know! ;)

    About changes, I agree with what others have said. If it ain’t broke then don’t fix it. Maybe a few cosmetic changes, but this site works fine for me as it is now.

  48. 48.

    Lurker 2.0

    January 8, 2008 at 12:20 am

    (long time lurker first time poster…I think). I must echo 2 suggestions made by others:
    1: Don’t do whatever FDL did-I stopped reading it regularly after that horrid change.
    2: Alternating colors (I’ve seen white and a light gray work well) do wonders for the eyes in the comments section.

  49. 49.

    Pb

    January 8, 2008 at 12:21 am

    Is it time for a change?

    No.

    If so

    Ok, you convinced me–switch to Scoop. Anything that baffles the morons over at Red State must be awesome.

  50. 50.

    The Other Steve

    January 8, 2008 at 12:22 am

    I’d help with feedback. To busy to do much technical. I’m trying to build my own blogging community website from scratch. But that’s cause I’m overthinking the damn thing and trying to come up with something that’s unique and cool that people might want to use.

    And then I remember how horrible myspace is, and I get depressed.

  51. 51.

    Evilbeard

    January 8, 2008 at 12:31 am

    If anything I would like to see an end to the PJ media ads in the sidebars.

  52. 52.

    The Other Steve

    January 8, 2008 at 12:32 am

    Ok, you convinced me—switch to Scoop. Anything that baffles the morons over at Red State must be awesome.

    Don’t do it. Don’t share the super secrets of the liberal blogosphere with him, he might give it all to redstate!

  53. 53.

    srv

    January 8, 2008 at 12:32 am

    More Ponies.

  54. 54.

    srv

    January 8, 2008 at 12:35 am

    Oh, and how about some real search/archive function. It takes hours to dig up your silliest posts when we are want to.

  55. 55.

    Darkness

    January 8, 2008 at 12:36 am

    The clowny guy needs some bright stripes on his pants. That’s always seemed lacking. And the “o” and the “e” and part of the “s” of the logo did not get the grey when the paintbucket was dumped on them. Hint, when your text is black, use “multiply” to an underlayer of your new background color. That works great. But I’m with most. Just cosmetic changes please.

    …although, it would be nice to see (as an option) only new posts since last visit. It would cut the bandwidth too.

  56. 56.

    srv

    January 8, 2008 at 12:42 am

    What do you all think? Is it time for a change? If so, we can figure out how to go about it.

    I think the best solution to preventing the slide into echo-chamber blog is to start paying your students again to troll here.

    Or an even better idea. How about you have a Trollers Convention at your college and have DougJ speak? You could have lab sessions where they practive under his guidance on BJ.

    I mean, obviously DougJ is just rolling around in all that money in Rochester (or wherever it is), and all that trollart is being lost.

  57. 57.

    JC

    January 8, 2008 at 12:42 am

    Agree with srv – we should be able to find the silliest posts as quickly as possible.

    As your customer, I must say, I am very displeased you haven’t fixed this yet. What am I paying you for?? Pretty soon, I’m going to take my business elsewhere, fair warning!!

  58. 58.

    null pointer exception

    January 8, 2008 at 1:10 am

    Can you somehow make this site accessible on blackberry or other mobile devices? Right now if I try to access it from my blackberry, I get a script error and the site refuses to load.

  59. 59.

    null pointer exception

    January 8, 2008 at 1:25 am

    Also, I second (third?) the suggestion about alternating colors in comment. Rest of the site doesn’t need any change whatsoever.

  60. 60.

    Justin

    January 8, 2008 at 1:39 am

    Don’t change a thing, it looks fine!

  61. 61.

    Pooh

    January 8, 2008 at 1:40 am

    I’m disappointed that there are only two comments seeing the obvious Red State influence at work here…

  62. 62.

    Kewalo

    January 8, 2008 at 2:07 am

    No! I hate change. Your blog is perfect just as it is. This is going to be a tramatic year and I can only handle so much trama. Please just stay the same. TIA

  63. 63.

    Kewalo

    January 8, 2008 at 2:13 am

    Wow! I posted my last comment before I read the others. I’m astounded at how many people feel the same way I do about FDL. It was a must read for me and I hate the changes. Just hate, hate, hate them and never go there anymore and it makes me sad. John, please don’t make any changes.

  64. 64.

    Walker

    January 8, 2008 at 7:05 am

    I have only one request. I would like the side-bar to contain the recent blog posts. As it is, to go to another post, you have to go out to the main page and back down into the other article.

  65. 65.

    cd6

    January 8, 2008 at 8:23 am

    The truth comes out!

    You only became a democrat to get in with some free site redesigns, because as we know, all programmers are libruls!

    Once you’ve got a free $25,000 redesign, you’ll rip off your mask, and underneath you’ll be some douchebag like Bryan Preston, and you’ll giggle yourself silly as you pully an election handle for Mitt Romney.

    We should have seen this coming.

  66. 66.

    cleek

    January 8, 2008 at 8:33 am

    one thing i’d really like is a way to identify people using duplicate IDs.

    i wrote a tiny little WordPress plugin for my blog (as a proof of concept really, since i don’t get enough commenters to have a problem with handle abuse). it puts a little 8-character code next to the comment time stamp for example:

    Comment by cleek – CA5E039A — January 7, 2008 @ 12:50 pm |Edit This

    that code is the IP address of the commenter, run through a simple one-way hash. it won’t catch people with multiple IP addresses, but it’s good enough for most uses. and, it’s trivially simple – like four lines of code.

  67. 67.

    RSA

    January 8, 2008 at 8:48 am

    in large part because I think it is time for a change

    Oh, great. Like any other liberal Democrat, John wants change for the sake of change, with the unintended but probable result being the destruction of the moral fiber defensive capabilities economic performance bloggy integrity of this site.

    Seriously, though, for changes beyond bug fixes and minor functionality enhancements, it’s worth figuring out (1) any new or continuing expectations for the revised site and (2) how you can tell whether such expectations are met or not. (I could go into great, boring academic detail on this, but I’ll forebear.)

  68. 68.

    Chris

    January 8, 2008 at 8:53 am

    I’m similar to the guy whose comment started all this. Strong in programming, somewhat experienced in graphical design… so on so forth

    No. Do not redesign. Your blog has the same appeal as Google’s front page does. Do not fix what is not broken.

    You might want to consider doing what Fark does, which is add features little-by-little. But if not, that’s fine too.

    Simple is always good.

  69. 69.

    grandpa john

    January 8, 2008 at 8:57 am

    whatever you do, DON’T screw with the font size. the main reason I have made balloon Juice my most read site is because the print size is large enough that my 70 year old eyes can actually read what people say, and yes FDL is the prime example of overkill and change where change was not needed.

  70. 70.

    HeartlandLiberal

    January 8, 2008 at 9:09 am

    Over the holidays, I had three weeks off, so in one week, I figured out how to install PHP, MySQL, and WordPress, all free downloads, on my Windows server at home. I then spent a few days, figured out how to download then modify two different WordPress themes (free downloads from users/designers), to achieve the style and look I wanted for two of my personal web sites.

    Although I am a database programmer of many years (well, decades, almost 62 years old) experience, I am not a designer. And I had never done PHP. Or MySQL. I just found a couple of good FAQs, and hacked my way through using the native intelligence and experience I possess in at least adequate measure.

    Needless to say, I am less than sympathetic to the RedState whining. What a bunch of pathetic losers.

    This is NOT rocket science, given that the true geeks have created off the shelf software that will do the job and is highly configurable by even non-techies.

  71. 71.

    Bob In Pacifica

    January 8, 2008 at 9:26 am

    Some sites allow you to edit your posts for a certain time period after you post, a half-hour or hour. It would enable us to fix up misspellings and would also encourage those of us who post while intoxicated to actually read what we write.

  72. 72.

    Punchy

    January 8, 2008 at 9:26 am

    MAKE THIS FUCKER BRIGHT FUCKING ORANGE

  73. 73.

    bryanD

    January 8, 2008 at 9:38 am

    “demimondian Says:
    I have one (and only one) suggestion: your main table adds to more than 100% of the browser pane width on FFox 2.0, which means that there’s always a horizontal scroll bar on the bottom.”

    Has anyone suggested Opera? It has great “view” options. And it’s fastfastfast. No autocomplete, though.

    oN-TOPIC: SURE! Change everything! An amusement park of pix and dueling scrollbars! Knock PajamasMedia off their psychedelic perch! Trade this ’66 Chevelle “up” to a ’74 with them cool safety bumpers!

    Seriously, when the saleman calls again, just hang up.

  74. 74.

    bryanD

    January 8, 2008 at 9:39 am

    Punchy stole my thunder!!!

    Damn you, Punchy!

  75. 75.

    Chris

    January 8, 2008 at 9:40 am

    MAKE THIS FUCKER PENTAGRAM BRIGHT FUCKING ORANGE AND BIG

    Fixed.

    /Great Orange Satan, har har

  76. 76.

    Chris

    January 8, 2008 at 9:44 am

    cd6 Says:

    The truth comes out!

    You only became a democrat to get in with some free site redesigns, because as we know, all programmers are libruls!

    Only when it comes to sex. We beggars can’t be choosers.

  77. 77.

    Ron

    January 8, 2008 at 9:45 am

    Don’t change anything. The site works fine, looks good, is easy to ready, and has content worth reading. It isn’t broke, so don’t fix it.

  78. 78.

    The Other Steve

    January 8, 2008 at 9:47 am

    Pay Homage to your Great Orange Satan master!

  79. 79.

    Tim F.

    January 8, 2008 at 9:48 am

    Some sites allow you to edit your posts for a certain time period after you post, a half-hour or hour. It would enable us to fix up misspellings and would also encourage those of us who post while intoxicated to actually read what we write.

    I can’t speak for John, but neither of those sound like a bug to me. For one thing, allowing people to change their entries midway through an argument renders the entire thread partially incoherent. After-the-fact corrections work fine for me. Better, they serve as a public reminder to use the real-time preview.

  80. 80.

    peach flavored shampoo

    January 8, 2008 at 10:25 am

    outlaw swearing. For 1 day. If for no other reason than to watch TZ’s head explode upon hearing the news. For extra explosion, add a link to something in Israel and to that gay website that advises Teh Ghay which airport bathrooms offer the best blumpies.

  81. 81.

    Svensker

    January 8, 2008 at 10:46 am

    Ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

    Ditto re FDL “upgrade”, I spend very little time over there anymore. But *good news* — TBogg’s window now has the first 3 items fully up without having to click on anything. I was missin’ me some TBogg.

  82. 82.

    John S.

    January 8, 2008 at 11:04 am

    John-

    I’m all for it, and I would be happy to lend my expertise as an Art Director. I definitely think simple is good, and that is the mantra which my ad agency lives by. I presume you’ve got my email address, so drop me a line and we can talk.

  83. 83.

    UnkyT

    January 8, 2008 at 11:27 am

    Simple and clean. Don’t assume that a redesign would add a bunch of unneeded shit or put it in the same boat as RedState and fdl. A good design will have nobody bitching about it being too flashy and will also be easy on those of you with dial-up (why is anyone still on dial-up?).

  84. 84.

    Rudi

    January 8, 2008 at 11:27 am

    If you do add the latest asinine bells and whistles please add check boxes or some other option to limit said graphics. Those with a preference, dial up or older PC’s and IE may not like the diskspace memory waste associated with extra graphics.

    If more is added, please allow a choice for those happy with more text and less graphics.

  85. 85.

    UnkyT

    January 8, 2008 at 11:34 am

    Just so I am not misunderstood, I think a new design would be great, so long as it is done right, but will not affect my hourly visits here whatsoever.

  86. 86.

    Pieter B

    January 8, 2008 at 11:54 am

    Changing to a serif type face such as Georgia would make the text much more readable. Sans-serif is for headlines, not body copy. Other than that, I’d say don’t change a winning game; the current layout is clean and uncluttered.

  87. 87.

    Ed Drone

    January 8, 2008 at 11:55 am

    “MAKE THIS FUCKER BRIGHT FUCKING ORANGE”

    So we would become a colony of Naranjistan? I don’t know about that. It’s tempting, and here might be advantages in it, but I would hold out for actual statehood; Once granted, you could rename the site ‘East Naranjistan’ and change the color scheme (or colour scheme, for our Brit fellows) to the appropriate orange hue.

    Now, that would be a case of ‘hue and cry,’ wouldn’t it?

    Ed

  88. 88.

    Bombadil

    January 8, 2008 at 3:05 pm

    outlaw swearing. For 1 day.

    Fuck that.

  89. 89.

    Dustin

    January 8, 2008 at 4:16 pm

    outlaw swearing. For 1 day.

    Fuck that.

    Ditto. I might not swear often here, but when I do I damned well want to know it’s not going to get me into trouble.

    Those sites, who shall remain nameless, who ban people for swearing need to grow some fucking balls.

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