Welcome to the new whathifi.com!

[hawardn]

Initial response: I don't like it (for pc).

-Website is slower (just about the worst thing that can happen to a website)

-Too much 'going on' on the screen, making it 'messy'

-Website has a fake feel to it, as if it's one big advertisement.

-With respect to the comment editor: additional spacing between lines when pressing 'enter' is annoying.

These are exactly the sentiments I fed back via the feedback tab when I first saw it.

The speed to load the pages is close to paralysed slug speed... and worse during that loading process the whole screen jumps about as the pictures / animations / adds start up

 

[relocated]

SO ANDY,

IS the website going to work with Windows Phone or NOT?

 

[daveg56]

I don't like it either, everything is just too large and unsubtle. It feels like an advertisment. There is no finesse in any of the design elements. Somebody suggested tweakers.net as an example of a good tech website design. Yes, I totally agree.

Sorry to be so damning about it, but I've got to say how I feel. It's a bit of an assault guys and I don't feel compelled in any way to explore it further.

 

[simonlewis]

I like the news section at the top of the page, *clapping* but you haven't added any today. *sad*

 

[simonlewis]

I like the news section at the top of the page, *clapping* but you haven't added any today. *sad*

 

[Vladimir]

I'd lose the blue color altogether. Red and yellow is all you need. The blue just adds confusion to the brand identity.

http://oi58.tinypic.com/ml2udt.jpg

 

[Deleted member 2457]

At the moment I don't like it either. Please sort out. *help*

 

[simonlewis]

At the moment I don't like it either. Please sort out. *help*

A tip, as me and cnoevil have done is reduce the page by 75-80% and it's slightly better, imo

 

[Crossie]

Still don't like the new site. Please change back. Too many pop ups. Looks like a site for children. What was wrong with the old site that it had to be changed?

 

[CnoEvil]

FWIW. Here are my suggestions:

1. As has been said, the print size is too big....am finding screen set to 80% isn't far away.

2. The list of Active Threads needs changed ie.Topics should be in black in order to make them stand out, with the ancillary info in a smaller font size. ATM it's just a mass of similarly sized light blue writing.

3. The light blue should be made darker.

4. The "Click On" buttons (Quote/Edit/Post/Reply/ Save etc) should be made a little smaller.

5. The grey print should be made darker, especially if making smaller.

6. Minor point - I don't like the American style date.

Personally, I think a couple of tweaks on size, layout and colour will make a big difference to the feel of the site. As it is, the improvements are being overshadowed by the look of it and so aren't being given a chance.

 

[simonlewis]

I'd lose the blue color altogether. Red and yellow is all you need. The blue just adds confusion to the brand identity.

http://oi58.tinypic.com/ml2udt.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68ugkg9RePc

 

[sublime]

and change the dark grey to absolute black. Looks much better and black has always been a part of the brand.

 

[tino]

Any reason for the Proxima Nova font? It looks a bit grainy on my PC presumably because I don't have it installed. I tweaked the CSS in Chrome and played about with the forum text size and font - a 2 minute job - I think with a little bit of work you can at least make the text sizes and styles work for the majority of people and still maintain legibility.

 

[Electro]

Is it just me or is the forum not working yet ?

When I click on Forum I jiust get " page not found " as in the link below

http://www.whathifi.com/news/site-offline

If I am doing something wrong please help me *help*

Apart from this I quite like the new look *good*

 

[tino]

Any reason for the Proxima Nova font? It looks a bit grainy on my PC presumably because I don't have it installed

Looks like it maybe the Chrome browser that's mangling my fonts. And after a quick web search I learnt that Proxima Nova is quite a ubiquitous font and used all over the place. Still prefer Arial though

 

[Joe10155]

Sorry, but this new site is no good at all.

It reminds me of those old Fisher-price toys for children under 2 (other makers toys are available); where everthing is huge, chunky, overly bright with lots of rounded corners.

It's really difficult to pick out the subject lines as you scan down the forums pages as so much of the type is in the same size and weight. There is a lack focus, some things need to be made prominent not everything.

Similarly, the News page, you cannot easily scan down to pick out what is "new" particularly as I can't see the date of the news, only large blobs with "News" in the top corner of each blob which isn't really needed as we are on the News page! And, the top three news items are currently covered by........ Beckhams Mug, unless I close him down.

In theory I should like the extra large size as I have my browser set to 125% to to poor eyesight, but I now have to reduce it for this site and only this site. I've currently got it set at 100% but its still too big! I think 90% would be about right for me but thats a custom setting which means I have to type it in every time (BTW its IE11 on a 24" screen set at 1920x1200).

I hope you have a Plan B

 

[professorhat]

Is it just me or is the forum not working yet ?

When I click on Forum I jiust get " page not found " as in the link below

http://www.whathifi.com/news/site-offline

If I am doing something wrong please help me *help*

Apart from this I quite like the new look *good*

You need to clear your browser's cache (or offline files) out - I was getting the same on one machine today until I completed this.

 

[Ravey Gravey Davy]

Andy - don't let the B*******s grind you down.It will get there . I am sure you are disappointed at the feedback but it is unnecessarily vehement and I cannot believe the number of undead who suddenly leap out of the woodwork to criticise. If these undead had tried the beta ,they would have known what they were about to receive.If some want to ignore the site forever after this reconstruction,then they can carry on with their blinkered life but I bet they'll be back for the increased info when it has settled down-and there will be no apology-rest assured because they will remain undead.

Of course there are things that need tweaking,but I suspect a lot of these people haven't gone beyond the forum and into the expansion of a lot of other parts of the site ,especially the product side.

Keep on tweaking.(yes the colour scheme could be a little less Fisher Price)

Oh- and despite the problems,that t**t Beckham still made it through.

 

[Alec]

Some didn't know anything about a beta, as previously stated. As also previouly stated, some things were raised as a result of the beta, and seemingly ignored. Sorry, it just didn't need to happen.

 

[radiorog]

20 minutes of use. Thoughts so far:

First couple of tines I quickly looked at site the last 48 hours when getting ready for work....I presumed there was a fault with site because the home page looks Sooooo terrible.

Took a little more brain power to actually find where forums are..not much,but why make it harder?to new people visiting,they must just presume the site is still under construction,because it looks empty....and I would prob just move to another HiFi site.if there was a real competitor.

When the homepage loads up,there is strange overlapping, like you get from spam sites trying to infect your computer or sell you stuff you don't need.not a good look. Once loaded,several seconds,the home page looks unexciting,and like a child's book.only one full text block is visible at any one time, so you have to scroll.now,I know its the digital age and we all like our toys,but I would rather use my eyes to scan say five or more stories at once (the original homepage probably had links to over 20 follow up pages) than scroll through one at a time. This is my main dislike.scrolling one at a time is not efficient for my brain or my time.I have better things to be doing thank you.

On the reviews section,it shows what I presume is the latest 5 or 6 reviews,then followed by the choose your category section. Surely this section should be first.it is confusing and annoying to be having to find your way without a map around a website,to find the most obvious things.I understand you have to advertise, but there should be at least a header or link to the choose a category section at eyevlevel as soon as the review section loads up.

I like the fonts. Less harsh, and less dramatic.although,I think when viewing the HiFi forum main page,the individual topics should be more prominent than light blue.I like the light blue tho once inside an individual topic.

I don't like the subheadings at the start of each response on a forum,I don't see why this is necessary.I don't start my conversations at home or with friends with a subheading.it would make me look like i was constantly reading the start of the news.

I'm sure it has potential tho.

 

[Leeps]

The sizing looks like it's been primarily designed for mobile phone use; then again I've never viewed this site on a mobile phone.

Lots of empty areas on screen with small columns you have to keep on scrolling to see. It was easier with the old site to get an overview from each screen and immediately see the point you wanted.

Similar thoughts about the Home Page. Would prefer text lists with small thumbnail pictures rather than scrolling and scrolling through large pictures. Something like HIFI Choice's Home Page is far easier to navigate, as was the Home Page of the old version of this site.

The overall colour palette is an improvement though; much less garish with the things you need to stand out suitably highlighted, like the blue function buttons that are easily seen.

So overall, if you took the layouts of the old site with the colourway of the new one, that would have been just about right.

 

[KiwiMoto]

News page is my favorite, i pop in and read it several times a week.

Now it barely loads up on my PC and it looks like an unfinished project.

Um, thats not 'new and improved' , it's just taking the p*** really!

 

[jmjones]

Sorry folks, you have managed to turn a well-made, easy to manage website to one of the worst I have ever seen. It is NOT a case of getting used to it. The amount of information available on a screen is halved, navigation is difficult and the tiles effect on the home screen is laughable. It has become a joke. Who on earth decided this was better?

 

[Jota180]

Sorry folks, you have managed to turn a well-made, easy to manage website to one of the worst I have ever seen. It is NOT a case of getting used to it. The amount of information available on a screen is halved, navigation is difficult and the tiles effect on the home screen is laughable. It has become a joke. Who on earth decided this was better?

Have they said that this is the finished artcle or work in progress? All it's going to take is a bit of tweaking on layout. Hardly the end of the world.

 

[Jota180]

I agree. There's some bugs that need fixing and a bit of tweaking here and there but this site is a big step forward from the old one.

The old forum was by far and away the worst I have ever used and I've been/am a member of shed loads. I'd have to go back 20 years when the internet was in it's infancy to get a forum like the one we had. This one is much faster and less buggy.

Cleary we have some grumpy old men who don't like/can't cope with change moaning about it but they better learn to deal with it as change is happening faster every year in all aspects of life.

Our guild just changed the website and forum we use and I know from the guy doing it, there's mega loads of work tweaking everything to get it the way you want.