October 22, 2008
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Frontpage Redesign
We made a few tweaks to the frontpage:
Mostly, the changes are to really focus the page on blogging:
- The Featured Weblogs section is moved up higher on the page, with more posts (10 instead of 5)
- We now show 10 Top Blogs on the right side… instead of just 5. We also added titles and snippets to the links.
- We’re putting a hold on Featured Photos and Videos for now. We may find other ways to promote those feature, but we want to focus on weblogs for now!
We also made some design tweaks to match the look of the Top Blogs page, which we launched a few weeks ago. Some people mentioned that the font looks a bit big? We’ll try it out for a few days and if it still seems big to everyone… then we’ll tamp it down a bit.
The HTML and CSS for this page is much cleaner and smaller. We’ve made similar tweaks to other pages, and pageviews shot up 10% since the pages loaded faster! So we’re excited about that.
Overall, we’re trying to focus the frontpage on weblogs and make it load faster. What do you think?
Comments (179)
It is really “big” but definitely a clear focus.
Although I can’t tell, if I was a new user, what the site is ‘about’ besides blogs and I don’t readily see where to sign up/join on.
I think it’s fantastic. GREAT JOB you guys!
It looks really big and kind of disorganized. Maybe because I use Firefox? Anyways, I really enjoy reading the recently updated and I haven’t been able to find it.
I wish I was a fan. Just a few things I noticed first off.
1. Font too large? I don’t know if this is just my computer but other people have mentioned it seems large to them too. Larger fonts are harder to read. Maybe one thing in large font (like XANGA!) and the rest in normal font. The colors are also way way too distracted. Too much brightness, I feel like my eyes are going in every direction at once.
2. Too much. Maybe this is just me but I like simplicity. Like google. One little search bar. I know xanga is about the blogging but throwing a ton of blogs all over the place just confuses and overwhelms. Couldn’t the front page be just “sign up for xanga, this is why we’re awesome” and then once you were signed up the front page could be more about YOUR own blog? Like your stats and stuff. If people want to see top blogs they can go to a specific page for that.
3. As far as the top blogs go, I agree with everyone else when I say you should have better sorting. Like on youtube. Sort by reqs, stars, comments, views… and then by day, week, month, year, or ever. This way people could get in on the classic posts, the new and upcoming posts, or posts that are just doing well. A lot of the posts I’ve seen in top blogs are horrendeous. A rant about someones day or one photo. They may be good to the 20 people who have viewed that blog but if we’re talking TOP BLOGS OF XANGA it doesn’t represent our content very well.
Just a few things I’ve been thinking about.
I think it’s really nice, though I personally liked it better before I am totally happy with it the way it is now! =] It does put more focus on blogs.
@RaVnR - Well that’s probably because you’re signed in when you’re looking at it. If you were signed out, there is a “join up” button underneath the sign in boxes. Also it says “Start Blog” in big letter at the top of the page.
I looks good,going back to the roots of blogging.
@AirForceVirgin - aah. Thx.
@suggestivetongue - I agree with the top blogs idea.
boo! bring back photos!
I like it. Cleaner. More streamlined. Well done.
It’s not bad. The load speed was a major issue.
All I can say is
What happened to the plugs? I was finding some interesting people on there. Although when trying to make my own, I found it quite tedious to resize the photo to the exact size and make sure I didn’t go over on pixels.
@moritheil - I never had a problem with the load speed.
@suggestivetongue - Very true. I’ve seen a lot of vapid content posing as human-interest articles. I’m aware that bloggers are mostly not professional journalists, but it wouldn’t hurt to have some sort of objective standards. blackspiderman recently posted about a hypothetical plan to create a large number of cloned accounts and use them to boost ratings, recommendations numbers, etc. If five people on fifty accounts all liked someone’s random pictures of their cat, should we all be redirected to see that? I’m not sure.
@EaTxYoUxALivE - Well, I don’t mean for everyone.
keep it up!!!!!!!!
@moritheil – They should have categories for cat viewing. I get your point, but a lot of people really like cats…
1. What suggestivetongue said about search and sort functions. We need more of those. Also, we need a way to categorize posts better. Categories help people find the stuff they’re interested in, but make the categories relevant to the type of topics that people blog about.
2. I’m not sure if I like the drop down menu on the top combined with the big fonts. I think you should get rid of the drop down and just have 3-5 basic links at the top that’s bright and easy to find. I don’t like how the color is grey for the links. The top links are still important.
3. The sections on the main site blend together too much. Maybe try playing around with some light background color or more distinct divisions. The all white background combined with the text heavy page now makes areas blur together.
4. I don’t like how the bottom just cuts off and 4 random boxes appear for the subsites. Looks really weird.
Anyway, I’m glad you guys are listening to some of our recommendations. I think it is a step in the right direction. Tho I also believe that besides page layout and functionality, some of the core strategies of Xanga need to change as well.
I love it! I like the size of the print and the less cluttered look with more blogs featured.
I’d like to see smaller font, with more content. And a better table. It needs some serious organization. I can’t find anything that was on there before.
@Yosho - The random four boxes are quite strange…
It really looks great. It’s got a neat, clean feel to it. Good job!
I like that it has more focus on the blogs, but I don’t think that the photo blogs should be totally cut out. They’re a big part of Xanga.
Way to go. This is very good.
My one qualm is that it is a bit cluttered; I imagine a slightly smaller font will assist in that. As it is, I imagine new users coming over would be slightly overwhelmed.
Also, I would switch the revolving previous featured blogs widget and the powered by xanga squares.
Dear Team Xanga,
This is not entirely related, but partially.
Today, when I went to check my Xanga, I noticed that not only had you changed the frontpage, which I’m… kind of okay with, you had featured one of my posts. Now, usually, getting featured is amazing. Tons of new readers, etc. However, the post that had been featured was a pissy little rant I wrote about a political topic that was nothing other than a rant that would only serve to piss people off that didn’t read me.
Not only that, but you changed my title.
I was forced to change my content because I did not feel like being hammered by the massive wave of hate that would soon come my way, and replaced it with a post that I felt was not only a lot better (I put extensive thought and research into it, and it was meant to be impartial and unbaised), and would also encourage thought provoking discussion, not just insults and trolls.
WHEREAS the old system has been criticised by many, I hereby propose the following new addition:
Ask Xangans if they are okay with a post being featured. Have you ever considered the possible implications of putting someones blog on the front page without consent? What if its something that I don’t realize is going to become widely seen (like my aformentioned post), and its something that I don’t really want to be seen outside of my readership? You should ask me first.
You should also ask me to change my title, or if its okay to change it.
Sincerely, and with warm regards,
Mike / TheNightManager
It does seem pretty big to me, but I don’t mind. I say do as you wish; I’m happy here.
The font definitely looks big.
I agree, the fonts are a bit big/distracting. Great job overall.
I’d like to see a feature where you could search your own blog with keywords – it would make it easier to find old posts.
Keep up the good work and thank you for providing such a great site!!
duh! i found the plugs. i’m not impressed with the change though. the pictures and quirky sayings people posted were what drew me in. now the list is making me uninterested. there should be a widget for the them. it doesn’t make sense to have a place for featured web log and then a widget for it too.
@EaTxYoUxALivE - By all means. I don’t want photoblogs cut out; I just think that the current system favors the five-second-laugh blog over the “too long; didn’t read” ten-minute-discussion-of-issues. For that matter, the internet as a whole favors that. But focusing on that doesn’t do Xanga itself any favors; when people come to find out what Xanga is about they’ll see a tepid sea of inanity, or in other words, more of the same.
All this is second-guessing at Xanga’s strategic vision, of course, which we mere mortals are not privy to
Awesome. But, if you really want to make it load faster – set the default to “pause” on the scrolling box at the top. That constant refresh kills load time for the poor folks still using dial-up (which is a significant portion of HOUSTON and South East Texas where 99.9% of the DSL lines are NOT working yet…).
@suggestivetongue - We used to have lots of sorts for weblogs and no one used them. Also, most comments and most view sorts would result in a very similar list of posts. Most recs is interesting, and I actually use that for finding featured weblogs.
@suggestivetongue - I agree!
I like the focus on writing. I don’t know how you might use photoXanga better. You might take some tips from JPGmag.com, but their interface is hard to use in some ways, so no doubt you guys could come up with a better way to photoblog.
Kudos for simplification, but yeah, the fonts are a bit big.
Personally, I’d relish the idea of a more manageable redesign of the unibox. [link]
@TheNightManager - Uhm… it’s on the internet. If you don’t want readers, don’t put it in public…
Now as far as the changing the title thing – that I do think is a bit much and I don’t understand why they would do that.
@TheNightManager - I took your post off the frontpage. The new system will ask for permission before featuring your post.
@moritheil - I agree with you about the short web logs vs. the longer ones. But I think that the front page gives more publicly to the people who get all the comments and views vs. the newly updated and plugs. I think us “little people” with less attention need more chances to have our names show up on there.
I enjoy reading a lot of the featured people but there’s not much of a chance to connect with any of them.
@dan - everyone’s or just his?
Looks great. A change is always nice
Thank you! LOAD FASTER would sure be appreciated and might extent to other functions please. For now I take the knitting with me when I am xangering. As long as there is no shortage of yarn I promise to be patient
.
@EaTxYoUxALivE - everyone
@radicalramblings - I agree with you! Night Dude’s profile should be on friends lock if that’s how he wants it. Some people would die to be on featured and he’s bitching because it wasn’t the perfect web log. Well guess what Night Dude… YOU WROTE IT! DEAL WITH IT :]
@dan - How long will someone have to respond to it before it’s passed over and someone else get’s the spot?
@EaTxYoUxALivE - Well, the entire mechanism of featured content works like that. I was featured when I was out of town, on a satirical post that many of the readers did not recognize as satire, and basically wound up responding to no one that I didn’t already recognize. How could I have done so politely?
“Hi! I don’t know you, but I want to let you know that you missed my point entirely! Thanks for your friend request, which I shall now reject, as it is a creepy picture of someone half-naked, and your site has no posts or pulses whatsoever.”
Yeah, that would have gone over well.
On the positive side, I did see a lot of people respond for me, and it is that – the community involvement – that may be Xanga’s greatest asset.
@EaTxYoUxALivE - Not set. A week? Also you can submit your own items to the queue, in which case you’ve already given us permission.
@earlybirdie_chewingworms - I don’t want my visual experience to be corrupted because you people have slow computers/internet. I don’t know what you people do when you go on other site’s, but when I had dial up, Xanga was the easiest page to load. My phone loads Xanga faster than my computer and I have Cable Internet.
@Yosho - If more of the posts were tagged by people, then we could organize tags into categories. The problem is most people don’t tag their posts. We’ve looked at some automated ways of suggesting tags to people and that might be a solution.
can’t find photos or videos, don’t like it. at least put a little dropdown menu to take you to them.
@moritheil - I can see where you’re coming from… I don’t expect them to respond to everyone’s comments. But it would be still be nice to have newly updated for people who are more likely to respond.
@dan - i think it’s also the chicken and the egg dilemma, people don’t tag posts because they see no point in doing so. If you created a page that lists various categories of posts that people can search and sort through, it would create an incentive for people to organize and categorize correctly.
@Yosho - I don’t think I can agree with that particular point; I know I’ve searched by tags before and had visitors who came searching by tags.
@Yosho - I could see that page being useful, but how many people would actually use it? In the short term, I don’t see something like this moving the needle.
Wow! It looks great
it no longer fits on my 15″WS laptop screen. =
@dan - Thank you very much! Problem solved.
@dan - Sort by rec! do it! also, have a most viewed and most eproped for the day, the week, the month, and all time…that’ll make things really interesting!
i’d like to see more variety of web logs on the front page. its always the same people on featured, and i know a lot of them are amazing writers, but i also know that there are a lot of other amazing writers on xanga who need a chance to get discovered. it’s hard to do that when half of the page is dedicated to the featured.
Honestly, it doesn’t scream homepage to me. It ses more like I was linked to a subpage of the website.
@Yosho - sorting by the most recent would be LOVELY.
and i think the most eproped is an excellent idea. you dont always have to have the most cultured writings, and getting an extraordinary amount of eprops is an accomplishment.
@sarahb_86 - yeah, i dont see anything too thrilling that would attract new users to the site.
You won’t like my opinion.
As for the layout, it seems to still be ‘pushing’ all those hosted by Xanga blogs…you have two datingish in the featured list, plus they rotate all those other sites through the very top box AND there are ads/links to them in the middle…and at the bottom. You’re not doing much to promote Xanga, you’re just using the Xanga front page as an even bigger ad for those other blogs, at the expense of our posts/content being seen on the front page.
To ME, if you are going to use the center section as a link/ads to all those ‘other’ sites, AND have thier content rotating in a special box at the top of the page, the rest should be about Xanga, and there should be a place where OUR content isn’t competing with those other sites for notice. But that’s not going to happen…
@dan - I’m not sure how useful it will be immediately, but eventually the aim is to have the functionality available just for the sake of managing and organizing blog posts better for searching and sorting capabilities within the backend system. Maybe automating categories might be an option like you said. Either way, the ability to find good and relevant blog posts right now is severly limited to word of mouth, recs, and top posts, there needs to be a better way of finding good content that everyone can easily use. And even though it might create more popularity whores that just seek attention, that’s not always a bad thing.
@Yosho - In terms of finding good stuff to read: How about showing you the most rec/commented posts from your 2nd degree network (your subs and their subs).
@dan - that might be cool! try it
@EaTxYoUxALivE - Please contain your ire. I am not bitching. I merely have a problem with the system and I will kindly thank you to stay out of my business. The issue was referred to the Xanga people, it was addressed, and the matter is now over. I do not take kindly to this sort of talk.
@TheNightManager - You made it a public issue, therefore I was publicly commenting on it.
ic…whatever is more functional and faster
@EaTxYoUxALivE - Public issue or not, that does not give one leave to be an asshole.
@TheNightManager - it’s not a big deal. calm down.
@TheNightManager - maybe you rant too much.
@Yosho - I’ll agree with that – as long as they have actual content (and they can’t stay popular without some actual content) it’s good for the community.
@EaTxYoUxALivE - And… maybe you randomly insult other users in another users comment list, but who knows.
@TheNightManager - maybe, but i dont make my problems anyone else’s, and then expect people not to comment on it.
just drop it dude. no one gives a crap about your war with featured.
I guess I need to pay more attention. It all looks good to me. I always like yall trying to make things better and easier for computer illiterates like me.
I don’t like change. Any change. You can never please me, because I will always long for what I cannot have.
@NikBv - haha, you said it!
yeah,it’s quite big
anyway, im still waiting for u guys to tweak on javascript…
there’s tons of javascripts not allowed in here…
I don’t really like it. The font is huge as nearly everyone said, I know how to adjust my browser fonts so tone it down some eh. The page is is bland and boring as all heck (where’s the COLOR!!), I feel like I’m reading the front page of a newspaper which I do not like.
There still needs to be a front page section showing newly updated blogs, popular ones or not. Also for added safety there should be a place to check whether you want posts on the front page.
I could care less about the popularity contest as most of these bloggers write to get readers. I read to get into peoples thoughts so the little people interest me more.
I really like the new setup, good job!
Great work. The front page loads real fast for me.
I honestly wish they would stop constantly changing that front page. It seems like every other month there are major changes to it. It is very annoying where we get used to something, then you change it. We get used to that, then you change it. Can’t it stay the same for awhile?
Plus, I wish you wouldn’t have taken away Newly Updated. I know a lot of people who are tired of looking at the same featured blogs, since it is often the same people over and over. With Newly Updated, it gave the chance to look at random people’s new posts instead of posts that a very small group of people decided was worth looking at.
The fonts are definitely too big. As for the redesign… I don’t really remember what it was like before, so I can’t comment. However, all of your recent changes have been good, so I suspect the same is true of this one.
it’s huge. but it’s good. more focus on the bloggings. kudos.
@mark3905 - I agree about the Newly Updated part. I think it’s a great way to find some good, fresh content, and to (possibly) get on the front page. (Though, if it didn’t have it before, definitely would need a “don’t put me on the front page” option. I can’t recall.)
Also, don’t I know you from somewhere?
It is a little… “big” as you say. So round and soft. I wouldn’t mind it to be edgier.
For the past several months the main photo page has been dominated by less than stellar pix. Maybe the algorithms are off a bit?
I like the emphasis on “Top Blogs”. Reminds me of old-school Xanga.
Pete
the font seems too big to me, too.
yeah, the font on the front page is definitely quite large
Seriously …. I love all the changes you are making. Featured and Top Blogs are a FANTASTIC way to read new stuff…and be introduced to new people….! Some of the blogs amaze me at how talented some people are……
….but – (yep there’s always a but) ….lol – I see the same people being featured and top blogged time and time again. Some people get every single blog they write top blogged. I admit some of their writing etc is fantastic but not every time. And to be honest some of the ‘other’ top blog topics covered are rather lame.
I would suggest giving ‘other’ people a go. Just because they aren’t getting the hits, views, or comments doesn’t mean they’re not read worthy or top blog worthy. There seems to be a mate-ship enforcing some people and that’s great – but I believe xanga is and should be for everyone. Having said that perhaps expanding the top blog to 70 or 80 blogs would help.
Also – re credits – how about introducing 1 credit point for pulse comments. More and more people are responding to pulses…and it would be a great way to earn extra credits.
Okay – that’s my 2 cents worth. Hope you don’t mind my honesty…….I’ve been here since 2002 and it’s the first time I have really spoken up! … V
What a great improvement! I don’t think that the new font is too big at all. In fact, the old font was much too compact. There should be a clear emphasis on attracting new users and the big font for “Start a Blog” is much bolder and easier to find.
Just one thing. The pull-down menu for the “more” tab is too skinny and cuts off the words. See screenshot here: http://xc8.xanga.com/77cf1b6558232216962913/w169786206.jpg
Dude. I should have waited a few hours until the redesign to post my comments on your last update. I had some ideas about how you could improve the layout of the homepage, particularly by placing “recently updated” blogs more prominently, but now it looks like you killed that altogether. I think that’s a big mistake considering your new focus on “community”; right now the only community you’re promoting is the stuff put out by your “sponsored” blogs, which I actually think are kind of a pain because they work by limiting their demographic, when some people would prefer to expand their interests and interact with something new.
I really like how you scooted the Datingish/Revelife/etc. blogs into that little column thing thing, but they still dominate the Featured Blogs and that weird MS Word ’98-ish grey stuff at the bottom, in addition to their own space.
This is part of what I said earlier:
I think in some ways the homepage better served you (and us) when the Recently Updated bit was front and center. Sure, Datingish and the handful of others that are always Featured get a lot of pageviews, but I think the way you’ve sqeezed everything else into below-the-scroll-line sidebars detracts from the real fun of stumbling across random new people and ideas.
It also re-figures the Xanga “identity” as almost exclusively made up of teen christians and people with babies. Maybe that’s true, but it’s a little alienating for the rest of us. Maybe you can develop something (new search tool? new central box on the homepage?) that would prioritize the featured posts that had anything to do with our interests and all that other largely un-utilized information from our profiles.
I feel like this place is getting off track from the reasons I joined in the first place: finding new ways to come across interesting/random/new people and ideas and perspectives. In terms of functionality that would enable me to do any of those things, these changes are not helpful.
Way to go guys! I think the size is just right. And oh, I’d like to see xanga plugz on the frontpage too.
So how do you search for videos and pictures?
I don’t like not being able to search for videos and pictures. Please give us something like a drop down menu that will take us to the old page that has most viewed vids and pics etc.
First off, you missed an “s” in 3. other ways to promote those features.
I use Opera, the faster browser on earth, so it’s hard to tell if there’s a true performance gain. I also have a 5Mbit connection at work and standard cable at home, so it’s hard to tell. The page took about a second to load. It felt a bit latent, but nothing to worry with I wouldn’t think.
The Featured Weblogs and the Top Blogs should start on the same latitude. I imagine that the ads have to stay on the top so maybe instead of having the other Xanga properties in the middle forming a column, you could turn them sideways and make them them reach the bottom of the ad then have the Top Blogs and the Featured Weblogs be on the same latitude.
Something’s got to give. The front page works as is, but it could use some cleaning up. You need more white space between the elements…let the page breathe. Maybe you could take out the scroll, move the Featured Question and search to the scroll’s place on the left side of the page and then let the Featured Weblogs and Top Blogs start on the same latitude. Getting rid of the other Xanga properties from the top of the page wouldn’t be altogether bad because they are still at the very bottom of the page. By removing them from the top of the page all together, you will reduce traffic to them from Xanga, but you will keep Xanga focused on Xanga.
Take a lesson from Google. Look at how they present Gmail. Each separate element breathes. The email pane has a thick border. There is whitespace between the chat and the email pane. The chat has a thick border too, but not next to the email pane. The navigation at the top is set apart by the alignment. They could clean the interface up by getting rid of the lines underneath the text. The search box at the top has it’s own unobtrusive place as do the links to the account and setting on the top right. The bottom of the page presents information in a concise, clean manner.
I do like the watermarked numbers on the Top Blogs. That’s great. Don’t change that one bit. It works, it’s clean, it’s unobtrusive.
You’re getting better, but you’ve still got a ways to go. Web design isn’t easy nor is it for the faint of heart. Keep up the good work.
@dan – How do you submit posts to be featured? Also, is there a limit on how old the post is or if it can be backdated?
I am not sure whether I like the new look of the Xanga front page, will take a while to get use too.
@ProfessorTom - I’m interested in that Q too – let me know when you find out…. thanks V
will do.
I love how it looks so far! It’s awesome the way it’s laid out and all. I like how it’s simple and clean and easier to read, navigate, and browse!
i like it!
looks much cleaner but it is “big” but i don’t think that really matters. good job!
You all do a great job..I looked ..the only thing at least in my browser is there is quite a bit of space between featured and your mamroo, healthkicker etc..they are way at the bottom and someone new would have to scroll down..they may not…otherwise it’s always great…take care all…hugs, Lee xo
Oops..never mind..just saw them on the right side…:)
It definitely looks cleaner. I would like to see recently updated and the other box (maybe it was called featured content) come back because both of those were updated a lot more frequently than either featured content or top blogs. I found both of those boxes useful in finding blogs that I was interested in reading and in some cases subscribing to. I do like the direction that you guys are going in though.
@spiritedsherry - thanks for that screenshot! Could you please message me to let me know what browser you’re using. We’ll get that issue fixed up quickly – thanks!
Keep up the top work The Xanga Team
I LIKE THE NEW DESIGN.
@marc - I was using Firefox on a MacBook Pro. I actually find a lot of little troublespots with the Xanga interface when I use a Mac (including photo management). I hope to discuss these issues soon with John.
@spiritedsherry - thanks… looking into it now.
My site name is cooler than yours.
love it
I LOVE IT! Thank you.
One small suggestion: can you feature a more diverse variety of Xanga members? I like to read all different sorts of people’s blogs, not just the same small bunch.
Love it!
I’m…. disappointed. Xanga isn’t just about recognizing the “blogging masters”, but also about introducing us to new people through what they just posted, and you guys
COMPLETELY REMOVED THE RECENTLY UPDATED BLOGS BOX.
I understand your aim, but you’ve essentially removed the entire motivation people would have had for meeting new people and sites, leaving only the feeling of needing to eprop hoard in order to be noticed as a result of being featured. I am not liking where this is going at all, XangaTeam. You really need to bring back the features that let people who have just posted have a chance to be seen without needing to spend Credits in order to be Plugged.
Please.
so when are you guys going to change the front page???
I agree with EaTxYoUxALivE when she said, “I like that it has more focus on the blogs,
but I don’t think that the photo blogs should be totally cut out.
They’re a big part of Xanga.” - Don’t focus so much on blogs and blogrings that you sacrifice photo blogs and video blogs. They are also a very important component of the Xanga community.
The front page seems to load slower.
And yes the fonts seem a little large.
10 Featured weblogs, instead of 5 nice idea, hopefully we get a nice mixed of entries now.
@dan - Why did you guys change his title? I think that is what really irked him (and scares me).
it’s good, but the font is way too big, it kinda shocks you WEBLOGS
other than that, i like the focus on the blogs. the other links got pushed to the sidelines– maybe you should change that.
thanks anyways =) and great job =D
I don’t like at all. It’s TOO BIG and in my face. My eyes can’t adjust and see what the site is acually about.
I really dislike the move away from the photos and vids. The new design makes it tough to even find them now!
I do not like it.
@radicalramblings - I didn’t change the title of his actual post. I changed what showed on the frontpage because the title of his post didn’t make any sense to me.
In then it is our frontpage, so we should have control over what shows up there. In general, I believe he doesn”t want his posts featured, which in the future will be completely up to him.
not a big fan of changes…but i always get use to them
I like the general concept of the frontpage, but there are some things that bother me, as well:
Good:
- I like the banner-type thingy (yeah, not webpage literate, lol) that says “xanga the blogging community,” and all the tabs/links to the right of it
- the scrolling box of featured weblogs is much cleaner and streamlined than it was before
- the scrolling box also pauses longer than it did before, so now it actually gives you time to click on a link before it moves on!
- I also like the column that has the icons/links to your xanga powered sites
Not so good:
- the font for featured weblogs and the featured question is large. the font isn’t the problem itself, but when you compare the font for those two items to the font of everything else on the homepage, it’s very distracting. kinda looks… unfinished?
- also, there’s a big white space under the list of featured weblogs. that also makes the page look like it’s still under construction. maybe add more featured weblogs so they reach all the way to the bottom, or take stuff out of the far right column so they end at the same spot
- the search bar seems awkwardly placed, and it’s hard to find without really searching for it. even tho I now know where it is, I still have to look for it every time because it gets lost in the clutter
- as far as the featured weblogs go, I feel that they should feature blogs only from xanga, and not from datingish, momaroo, etc. the links to those pages are featured twice on the homepage (middle column and at the bottom), so people who are interested in them can find their way over to those sites and find those sites’ featured blogs there. if you must feature blogs from revelife, healthkicker, etc, then keep those to the scrolling box only. the rest of the page should focus on xanga and the xanga community
I use firefox if that makes any difference…
thanks in advance for taking my thoughts into consideration.
I want the newly updated page back. I want to see a link to it on the front page. I am tired of seeing the same ol blogs over and over on the front page.
cant find xanga search to do profile searches and themes so basically i cant change my profile theme like before. apparently xanga search is only for premium members? xanga…you suck. you shouldnt have changed cause when you keep changing and changing thinking things will be better, its really not its just worse. wheres the old xanga before this new one. im not a fan of the new xanga.
Too big…way to big.
I’m sorry, but frankly I think the new design is ugly.
i’m glad that you guys are trying to make xanga better and faster for us.
now i think it’s time to focus on improving on the layout part for xanga bloggers!!
now its TOO focused…theres no theme or profile search section.
i love it
When you make layouts for your page what program do you use because i have Dreamweaver MX 2004 and i want to know if you think that will work and also what to know what script you guys use i think its Java or CSS but i am not sure so if you could reply as soon as possible that would be great.
Sean
i think Xanga is a soul-less piece of crap now
So far I really like it. Glad to see that you guys are always working hard to make everything better.
i like it. it needs a little tweaking, the font is just a bit too large, just a tad. the other boxes still need work. i like the ad placements. over all, all i like it. good job.
Smaller font.
thanks for the welcoming it was nice.
Comment** =)
Ummm… It really does not matter to me that you have made the initial pages of the xanga home page load faster…
What does matter is that in the last 2 or 3 weeks it has become virtually impossible for me to comment on more than a few sites each day because of all the miscellaneous ad counter sites that get called up after the initial page content is loaded.
I have a high speed internet connection, and even on xanga sites that are heavily loaded with graphics, the initial page load is rapid – but before I get control of my cursor back after the page loads I have to wait a full 30-60 seconds for various miscellaneous sites to be visited like:
w.sharethis.com
google-analytics.com
googlesyndication.com
googleadservices.com
pagead2.googlesyndication.com
There are others.
I keep my computer updated with antivirus and spyware removal updates and scans. Its a clean system. All other content I visit load rapidly. You need to check this issue out.
This is making xanga useless to me – it is wasting my time and quite frankly – pissing me off. My wife just said to me this morning: Xanga is not fun anymore. She was talking about the fact that every time you click to comment on someone’s site, after their page loads, there is an interminable wait to get into the comment box.
YOU HAVE BROKEN XANGA! IT IS TORTURE TO USE NOW!
Nasdaq index fell quickly, Xanga now also follow – like US economy/stock price go back to XX years!
Now feel like go back to 90′s BBS (Bulletin Board System) ages with 2400bps modem – only have text, but no multimedia – photos pool, video pool!
Is this a “Xanga Recession”?!
it looks great, but after awhile i noticed something seems to be missing on the frontpage and that is the ‘new updated entries or blogs’ section.. you know, where it lists and scrolls the newly fresh entries that are updated by the minutes.. or another idea is to have a section on the frontpage too, to welcome the newly created xangas so they get more readers to welcome them besides having them appear in our private page only… just my 2 cents..
one more thing… i think the featured section and the top blog sections are kind of redundant in the sense that they are very similar to each other in terms of popularity due the amount of views or comments they received. those sections can shrink down a bit and make more rooms for other regular bloggers to appear or have a chance for fame on the frontpage at least for 5 seconds if not a minute..
we’re also missing the photos and videos sections on the frontpage too!
also it’s kinda hard to find new blogs to read anymore on the frontpage ’cause it features the same blogs there over and over again for far too long.. i’m running out of new blogs to read these days ever since the updates.. now, i’m kind of going back to google to search for and to read more newly updated blogs from other blog hosts..
I think the blogrings have been oversimplified. It took me a minute to find how many members my blogring has, the date it was started, etc. And I can’t find the weblog pool and recent updates at all. =(
Thanks for the welcome
i find it hard to locate the TheXangaTeam updates
like not convenient as it used to be
I’m so over all these featured contents and plugz about abortion. I’m
just sickened by it. Everyone has an opinion. Everyone is welcome to
their opinion. I don’t care what your opinion is. I don’t want to
know. I really don’t. And I don’t want to see pictures right there…
pictures of tiny, apparently aborted babies. It’s probably the most
offensive thing to me. I miss the safety I used to feel logging into
Xanga. Now I have to look at something that really, really, really
offends me very personally. It’s horrible. And I’m disgusted. This
will sound ridiculous, but it is enough for me to shut down my site
after 4 years. Wasn’t Xanga once more family-friendly than this??? Is there no way to keep these things at bay?
i think the redesign looks nice just that the side bar is longer than the main content so there’s empty space below the featured blogs, just my opinion.
I like it ,but I liked the Question of the day/ week as well.
well i miss seeing featured photo’s.
@furyyes - I TOTALLY agree with you, I think xanga should change that.
I think the front page of xanga should be PLAIN. A link to start your blog, and to view the top blogs. When you log in, it takes you to your own stuff. That way I don’t have to read why a lady is having abortion # 52. I think the front page has too much going on, and that THIS blog should be there on the front page. It’s so tiny, and out of the way, that I often forget it’s there. Not good.
@Jet_Force_Gemini_Vela - Thank you! I was sure I wasn’t alone!
i love the work you guys put into xanga. just don’t go taking away the photos and videos completely. i like to blog, and sometimes i blog about what i see. thanks.
I appreciate the focus on blogging and the elimination of photos and videos. I like the crispness (look and feel.)
thanks for putting the search bar back on the front page!
I really loooove the front page now. Great job, guys!!
HEY XANGA TEAM! I APPRECIATE THE SITE! i made soooooo many friends online just because of xanga! GO XANGA! I love love love love love love love love love love love love love the site. ByE! comment back if you cAn!!
It blows. I hate how you guys took away the little random update box that was found in the blogrings.
I’m also tired of the same featured people over and over again.
This isn’t related to the new design, but I just wanted to make a suggestion about credits:
I think you should make an option of transferring credits from one member to another. Or making it a gift option. I know a few people who are looking to get more credits but don’t want to buy them because they don’t have money; and getting them on their own is a slow process. On one of my older sites, I have so many credits that I’ve never used; and instead of them going to waste .. I would like to give them to some of my friends.
Do you think this is possible to make this an option??
I am voting “for” KEEPING PHOTOS AND VIDEOS THAT I LIKE, THAT MY FRIENDS POST, AND NOT DOING AWAY WITH THEM.
THANK YOU.
It really looks great. It’s got a neat, clean feel to it. Good job!
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Faster is always good in my book. I just wish I could get my videos to upload. They used to load slowly but now they won’t load at all. What’s up with that?
I just wanted to let you guys know that I appreciate the change.
I prefer this one very very much!
Thanks!
10% is a massive leap for pageviews.
Keep up the good work.
Are you kidding me Xanga Team? It’s complete BS that you conveniently FAILED to mention the gigantic advertisement on the right side of the the screen for “Yes on Prop 8. Protect Marriage” when you “tweaked” the front page. I understand you have to advertise for money, sure. But using THIS banner to do it?? Are you kidding me?? You don’t even bother to advertise “NO on Prop 8″ ?? How can you blatantly expose all your bloggers to one side of the issue every single time they go to xanga.com? I thought Xanga was more open-minded than this. I had way more faith in xanga than this. I thought you guys were based in NYC. I thought you had the ability to think beyond the profits and reflect on the potential damage your advertisements make on all sorts of impressionable young minds. WTF?? Seriously, I want a response to this issue. This is enough for me to boycott xanga and tell everyone I know about it the same thing. This is ridiculous, irresponsible, unconscionable, and simply WRONG.
@furyyes - I totally agree with you.
The front page does seem faster! That’s much appreciated.
I find the front page to be too asymmetrical (see those four sites at the bottom; also see how the right hand column extends much farther than the left hand). This might point to another problem–there is so much going on (there).
I liked the “browse people” feature. Is there any way to do that still? I enjoy the small-timers more than the people on the front page.
I noticed there a huge difference in the speed, and looks more organised and cleaner.
About trying to put photos and videos back onto the frontpage, how about using tabs? (But then it’s just an idea that popped up in my mind and I don’t know how Xanga’s system works so just leave it up to the Xanga Team to figure it out.)
Keep up the good work.
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