New homepage

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No Life

I used the filters. It still sucks. I like having a news feed and video section to the side. The only way I'll get used to this is if it's at least organized. Like categories being bunched together based on our filter selections.

Oct 30 2012 7:34PM

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p-fo

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Crazy Fool

I definitely agree with this. The random scattering kind of sucks. I also wish I could scroll over stuff and have the description and when it was uploaded pop up. Something like that would be nice too (if it's already been mentioned, disregard).

Oct 30 2012 8:02PM

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family_vacation

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No Life

I often select content based on who uploaded it. Could the uploader's name be incorporated into the frontpage for videos and photos?

Oct 30 2012 8:25PM

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eheath

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Play Ball

noticed that on a tablet if you go to landscape mode it pulls up regular tabs from the desktop site and portrait its mobile. really cool that it changes with screen size

Oct 30 2012 8:31PM

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Barefootin_Fiend

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Crazy Fool

i definitely agree with this. date info on the homepage would be clutch, for sure!

Oct 30 2012 8:34PM

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paige.

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Insane

I really like the mixed content on the homepage. It makes it a lot easier to find stuff that I likely never would have stumbled on before. The filters etc seem super intuitive and I like having the control.

Mobile is a little slow at the moment but works great. Having threads and messages separate is huge.

But that said I hate that this tiling thing that is taking over the internet. It's why I've avoided pinterest like the plague from the start. It's led to me avoiding certain peoples tumblrs. It's led to me avoiding profiles on facebook ever since the timeline was introduced. Having to keep track of three different columns and having stuff start at all different levels means my eye is constantly having to jump up/down/side with no natural flow. It is something that confuses me visually and I find generally unappealing. I'd like to think that it'll grow on me as I use it more, but it's been months/a couple years on these other sites and I still find it painful.
Is there a way we could have an option to change the layout in our settings such that we could have it in one column if we prefer? It'd create a lot of empty space which isn't ideal but is something I could then see myself making a lot of use of.

I also would like clicking on things to open on a separate page or something. It's a problem without this because if I want to read/watch something I lose my spot in the feed and have to start scrolling down from the top. I can see this as being a problem for images too because people won't want to rate them if it means losing their spot.

Oct 30 2012 8:59PM

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HamFaceGirl

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No Life

Videos are super slow, to the point where they don't load at all. Other than that things are seeming to be running pretty smoothly!

Oct 30 2012 9:01PM

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No Life

This too.

And more emphasis on the categories thing...

Oct 30 2012 9:03PM

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Stose

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Crazy Fool

I love the update! You have to constantly change to stay ahead of the curve, and just like every site when it changes people will slowly learn to love it

Oct 30 2012 9:07PM

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No Life

I fully agree but there are some definite flaws. We need to admit this and perfect it until the new new comes along.

Oct 30 2012 9:11PM

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ChrisMercer

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Loner

wow....good stuff with this update. I might start using this site again. solid work.

Oct 30 2012 9:13PM

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Crazy Fool

It appears as if you have neglected to hire a graphic designer with a degree.

Oct 30 2012 9:13PM

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J_MAC

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Ridiculous

WHAt about video of the day>?

Oct 30 2012 9:14PM

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@th1337

Uh oh, JP gonna get mad.

JP is an amazing graphic designer. It actually takes a really talented designer to be able to work outside of the box, and follow function and not only form.

Oct 30 2012 9:20PM

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@th1337

Thanks man!

The Sammy thing is an advertisement, and henceforth it shows on every view. :) It won't always be Sammy, but Nike is doing a solid package to support NS right now.

Oct 30 2012 9:21PM

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Stose

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Crazy Fool

Yeah I fully agree with you as well

Oct 30 2012 9:25PM

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Crazy Fool

I'm sorry but everything from the lack of typographic hierarchy to the awkward spacing of the different elements just screams amateur to me.

Oct 30 2012 9:32PM

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@th1337

Ok, but you're horribly wrong. JP is a very well educated designer, and was involved in this from the very beginning.

You can see the work their company does here - http://cresusdesign.com/en/home

Maybe I don't know anything about design, but I'm relatively sure they're pretty talented guys.

The issue that you're seeing is the fact that a website (especially one as massive as NS) is not only about design. There is incredible amounts of functionality that have to come in, and sometimes we force the design rules to be bent, broken or re-written to accommodate.

Really good designers who don't work with the technical people build really, really bad websites.

Oct 30 2012 9:45PM

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@th1337

Got it... should be fixed now.

Oct 30 2012 9:45PM

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1337

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Basement Dweller

someone is used to reddit

Oct 30 2012 9:46PM

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manutdsaol

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Insane

Looks great, like the reddit approach

Oct 30 2012 10:00PM

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Crazy Fool

Their company website and portfolio is beautiful. So I think they just got lazy with this design. I think the design for NS works fine for what it is, but if you put it in front of a panel of designers they'd probably have similar sentiments.

And, just to clarify, design and functionality are not two separate entities. They need to live in the same realm in order to be "good" design. If there is no functionality, then it simply becomes art, not design.

Right now the site looks like it was created in 2005, which is a long, long time ago in web terms.

Just my two cents though.

Oct 30 2012 10:01PM

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@th1337

I'm curious where you get your design expertise from? Seriously, not attacking - just need to know so I can better sort my arguments.

I also would say you're being completely overdramatic by saying 2005. I mean come on, even facebook looked like this:

This is what NS looked like in 2005:

http://web.archive.org/web/20050208023700/https://www.newschoolers.com/NS2/News/ViewNews.php

Here's the New York Times in 2005:

http://web.archive.org/web/20050327004900/http://nytimes.com/

I also couldn't give a fucking rats right testicle if NS has perfect design. I'm not applying for a design award for the website, and frankly function is much more important than form.

I'll have JP come in here and debate you on this anyway, but please post up your credentials so that he can see who he is talking to.

Oct 30 2012 10:15PM

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Lavieille

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Insane

I think it's nice!!! I appreciate the time it took into making this, I'm stoked!

Oct 30 2012 10:44PM

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JPFortier

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Loner

We are redesigning parts of the website every year (since I started in 2007). If you look at the old website, you will feel the difference. However It's super hard to make drastic changes to a big website like this for multiple reason.

Example #1 - Traffic load & Compatibility
We can't put Jquery animation and Fancy embed Font everywhere. Our design need to be simple and quick to load. Back in the days we used images to do make gradient and round corner. Now CSS3 is starting to be compatible with the majority of user so we are starting to implement a «web2.0» look to Newschoolers. If you compare our site to some site you see on Awwwards.com or any other design contest, you will be disapointed. 99.99% of the awards winning website doesn't render correctly on IE6 or IE7 and can't be optimize for the traffic load NS have. For us, browser compatibility is super important, so that's why sometimes we make compromize on the design.

Example #2 - Market & the community
You have to listen to the community and the market. You can't change all the functionnality and the design at once when you have 800 000 Unique visitors per month. You can loose so much traffic by fucking around with the design. We have to make change little step by little step. However, this winter I'm planning to make the design better.

Example #3 - Grid
The main issue with Newschoolers is the lack of a design grid. We are currently working on this to make the site better. You can also try our responsive design. It's still beta, but it works.

However, we are working hard everyday to make this site looks better!

Hope you understand!

JP

Oct 30 2012 11:02PM

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Crazy Fool

If NS had "perfect" design it would be a ton more functional.

I'm just a junior in the design program at Montana State with a good amount of real world experience but I'm willing to defend my design principals always. I bring all of this criticism with the best intentions because I truly love skiing and NS and hate to see it represented in any way that isn't stellar.

Oct 30 2012 11:03PM

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No Life

Bishop with the usual narcissism

Oct 30 2012 11:07PM

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JStrathern

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Crazy Fool

Well hey there fellow bobcat

Oct 30 2012 11:08PM

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@th1337

Take JP's responses into account, and then suggest what we can do better?

Seriously - tell us what we need to fix, and we can either fix it or tell you why we did what we did.

Oct 30 2012 11:11PM

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No Life

I understand you do all this stuff for skiing and I really do appreciate it. However, it really does sometimes seem that you're pretty tough on taking advice.

(yes I saw the post you deleted)

I, along with several others actually really like the concept behind the new design. However, I think the different filters should be grouped together instead of the clusterfuck it is now.

Oct 30 2012 11:14PM

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@th1337

I'm not bad at taking advice - I'm actually amazing at it. The problem comes when the entire team and I have been thinking about something for literally a year... and we've gone in and out on every angle - and someone who has thought about it for one hour tells me that my team isn't skilled? Of course I'm not going to take that advice easily.

What people miss is that I think this stuff through incredibly deeply, and I'm not about to just give up an argument without a solid debate.

The post I deleted was done so because I didn't give a chance for JP's post to be read, and it wasn't appropriate for me to post.

What do you mean by 'grouped' and 'clusterfuck'? Seriously, I don't know what you mean in the slightest.

Oct 30 2012 11:23PM

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JPFortier

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Loner

All the staff is super open to discussion. That's why we are here at 23pm working our ass of. We listen to our community, we will take all the advices and make decisions. Sometimes, we can't make everyone happy.

Oct 30 2012 11:23PM

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@th1337

JP please respond to Mr.Yung_Gnarley above.

"If NS had "perfect" design it would be a ton more functional.

I'm just a junior in the design program at Montana State with a good amount of real world experience but I'm willing to defend my design principals always. I bring all of this criticism with the best intentions because I truly love skiing and NS and hate to see it represented in any way that isn't stellar."

Oct 30 2012 11:24PM

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JPFortier

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Loner

Hey!

I'm open to suggestion.

Send me an e-mail jp@newschoolers.com whenever you want with what you think could be changes regarding design and functionality. If design is your passion and you truly love skiing, I can listen to you.

I'm working on make Newschoolers more functional all winter. So I hope you will enjoy our work.
Peace!

Oct 30 2012 11:29PM

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No Life

I didn't say your team wasn't skilled. I really admire what you do. Thank you.

When we select our filters to get certain types of media, it all shows up in no real format other than order. This is very random and makes it tough to look through. It'd be nice if each type of media was put into one row, group, or column. As of now, the concept is great, but it literally looks like a clusterfuck. That is the only word I can use to describe it. Group the media based on our filters, and it'll be great.

Oct 30 2012 11:30PM

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@th1337

Post it right here! We can vote on it as a community. We're way more open than you guys might think.

Oct 30 2012 11:31PM

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Barefootin_Fiend

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Crazy Fool

Yeah man! And I kind of figured that's what was going on there. i think that the repetitive advertising looks a little rough imo...it look almost like it's filler overload. i think it'd be nice to have different versions of their advertisements as opposed to the same thing over and over and over again on the same screen. That would still provide the necessary hits to fulfill their campaign, yes? I dunno though...there might be more to it than that. Just a thought.

I love what you guys are doing. I'm sure you've thought this stuff through and through. And you obviously have a lot more to take in to consideration than just the aesthetics of the site. I think some people have a hard time seeing the big picture when it comes to a project like this.

keep up the good work, boys! newschoolers.bomb.com

Oct 30 2012 11:49PM

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eheath

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Play Ball

You realize this is the front page, not the video/news/photo sections, right?

Oct 30 2012 11:56PM

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@th1337

Theoretically its supposed to change, so we'll look into that. Coud definitely be a glitch in there - it will take a few days to get absolutely everything totally ironed out. Sometimes the same ads show as the advertiser has chosen to block off a lot of space at once - which as well could be causing it.

Thanks for pointing that out though, we'll look into it for sure!

Oct 30 2012 11:57PM

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No Life

That doesn't make the front page work any better now does it. Obviously I do.

Oct 30 2012 11:58PM

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Crazy Fool

I actually was typing my response when he posted so it's funny we both mentioned a grid.

My one thing would be to have a better horizontal grid for the box elements on the front page.

Oct 31 2012 12:00AM

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@th1337

Please explain in more detail - I still have absolutely no idea what you want grouped.

eHeath's point was that the homepage isn't segregated. The specific pages are definitely so.

Oct 31 2012 12:01AM

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Sklar

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Crazy Fool

Now that latest new doesn't show up on the home page (unless you organize it that way)
do you think latest should be an option when you mouse over news on the top bar?
i do

Oct 31 2012 12:02AM

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No Life

The different filters. The groups don't even have to look different or be unequal in any way. There would simply be a grouping for each filter instead of it being a random clusterfuck. Read my post like 2 posts up or so. I thought I explained that pretty well.

Oct 31 2012 12:03AM

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