Perspective: Note from the editor: Your new News.com

A Web site redesign is always fun--that is, until you show it to readers. Then the real fun begins, especially when you roll out a beta version two weeks ahead of the official launch and the comments come rolling in--nearly 1,500 in our case.

If you feel excluded, don't. In our first experiment of this kind, we intended to expose the redesigned site to only 1 percent of our readers, selected at random. But because bloggers and others pointed to it, the actual number ended up around 15 percent. The experiment was well worth it and my sincerest thanks to all of you who wrote in. The responses showed you care about what we do, and your passionate feedback helped us make many improvements that you see on this live site. Of course, I am sure (and am hopeful) that many, many more of you will write in with additional comments.

Here's a sample of pro and con responses:

"I'm still in shock for what I'm seeing in your Beta. Beautiful! Everything is there, at the click of your mouse. (I am) very satisfied with your innovation. With this you have dwarfed the competition. Wow!"

"Why change something we are already used to? Change simply for the sake of change is unnecessary." (The more common refrain from readers of this ilk was "it sucks.")

The good news is that, when we asked these people to specify what they disliked, they invariably responded with detailed thoughts and suggestions. And as noted above, we have heard you loud and clear.

Interestingly, not many remarked on the editorial direction of the site--which is a good thing, because it means that our transition from "Tech News First" to "News of Change" is not much of a surprise. This reflects the evolution of the news we report: Rather than cover technology simply as computing, for example, we now delve into the myriad changes that it has effected in business, law, politics and culture. I do want to underscore one important point: We are broadening our focus and tech coverage, and we will do so with the same relentless pursuit to be the first with big, breaking stories such as this one.

Technology today is all-pervasive. Increasingly, there's a blurring of lines between what is called "enterprise" computing, or business technology, and the consumer world outside work. Today, everything is interconnected on the same technological "platform" that is the Internet, personally or professionally.

Even corporate computing leaders recognize this shift, as described by Sun Microsystems President Jonathan Schwartz: "There's no single definition of 'user' that encompasses the diversity of constituencies we serve, or our means of doing so. From 12-year-old girls to system administrators to CIOs to naval officers to sell-side analysts, Sun's audiences are as diverse as those watching TV or listening to the radio."

But rest assured that amid all the editorial, technical and cosmetic changes to News.com, there is no change in our unwavering commitment to our guiding principle: providing you with credible and timely news.

The visual changes you can already see. We decided to go to a wider format because a large majority of you already have 1024x768 screen settings. Although we want to take advantage of this larger real estate to showcase more content, we also recognize that some of you may choose to have your browser open in smaller windows and may find the width a bit unfriendly. And we are going to disappoint some of you because your PC won't allow for higher resolution, but we beg your indulgence in our effort to serve the majority.

The primary theme behind our redesign was to make it about "editors, readers and me." Under the umbrella of "Top Headlines," "Readers' Choice" and "My News," you will continue to find our award-winning editorial content, what other readers read and discuss, and the news that you choose to read, from us and elsewhere on the Web.

This theme continues on story pages as well. We are also excited about introducing two innovative visual editorial tools: "The Big Picture" and "What's Hot." The "Big Picture" provides depth to each story by giving readers the ability to navigate from the article they are reading to related stories, topics or companies. This feature is made possible thanks to the effort put in by individual reporters and editors who take great pain to select the most relevant and related news items to the new story. "What's Hot" uses reader popularity, timeliness and editorial judgment as its guide to provide readers with a graphic display of what's important on News.com at any given moment.

Judging from the feedback we have received, we know that readers so far either love them or hate them; I can't wait to get your thoughts. But before you start writing in, please understand that we are letting you choose other, more "traditional" news options.

Finally, we are debuting News.com's Blog 100--a selection of blogs our editors and our readers found to be most interesting. This index is the latest feature added to our growing list of third-party content that is filtered by our editors, not by "bots." As many of you may know, News.com pioneered the concept of pointing "out" to other people's content when we introduced "More News Around the Web" with our initial launch back in 1996. Since then, we have continued to build on this concept, using our editorial judgment to separate the signal from the noise. To that end, in the past year alone, we have introduced such features as "News Extra," "News.Blog," "Newsburst" and "Blogma."

There's more, of course, as you'll see--and please tell me what you think along the way.

Biography
Jai Singh is the founding editor and editor in chief of CNET News.com.

More Perspectives

[aabcdefghij987654321]

Resolution - TOO BIG!

Your new site uses too much space. It requires a fully maximised browser window to see all the content :(

[albrown]

Looks good to me

Step up your resolution. Monitors today are so much better than they used to be.

I work at 1600 X 1200 on a dual monitor setup and can put a webpage on half of one monitor and have tons more room to do other things.

[sadchild]

resolution too big indeed

hey we dont all have 24" widescreens

[TucsonAlexAZ]

Are all your readers getting too OLD?

I have my resolution set correctly and my Font size is fine in my browser. Other web pages are fine but this one has huge fonts. Perhaps your web designers or editors should invest in an eyecare plan and/or buy new contacts.

[aabcdefghij987654321]

Resolution - TOO BIG!

Your new site uses too much space. It requires a fully maximised browser window to see all the content :(

[albrown]

Looks good to me

Step up your resolution. Monitors today are so much better than they used to be.

I work at 1600 X 1200 on a dual monitor setup and can put a webpage on half of one monitor and have tons more room to do other things.

[sadchild]

resolution too big indeed

hey we dont all have 24" widescreens

[TucsonAlexAZ]

Are all your readers getting too OLD?

I have my resolution set correctly and my Font size is fine in my browser. Other web pages are fine but this one has huge fonts. Perhaps your web designers or editors should invest in an eyecare plan and/or buy new contacts.

[zenjazzplayer]

Critique of website revision

1. The speed of the rotating news stories at the top is too fast to read. If you're just reading the headlines, it's okay, but not if you're trying to read the article summary.

2. There's too much information on the front page.

3. The font of the headlines for the stories in the left column is too large.

[zenjazzplayer]

Something's wrong with the Talkback

My profile name is "News.com Fan and Faithful Reader," but my name shows up in the comment posting as "immujan." I have no idea what that is or why it's happening.

huh?

The font size was the same as before.

I love having this much information on the front page. The old news.com page had too little information.

I do agree the rotating ads go too fast.

[zenjazzplayer]

Critique of website revision

1. The speed of the rotating news stories at the top is too fast to read. If you're just reading the headlines, it's okay, but not if you're trying to read the article summary.

2. There's too much information on the front page.

3. The font of the headlines for the stories in the left column is too large.

[zenjazzplayer]

Something's wrong with the Talkback

My profile name is "News.com Fan and Faithful Reader," but my name shows up in the comment posting as "immujan." I have no idea what that is or why it's happening.

huh?

The font size was the same as before.

I love having this much information on the front page. The old news.com page had too little information.

I do agree the rotating ads go too fast.

[sghanna]

Can't please all the people

I agree with what many of your users must have said (since it has already been changed from Beta). The scrolling picture of headlines was too fast. However, once I realized I could mouse over the headlines once the scroll through finished I liked it.

Now I've lost my mouse over ability...dang it, that was cool. I think it took me a full week to get used to the mouse over option for the headline images. Maybe just wait a little longer before making changes...ask users if they still hate it once they get used to it.

Oh ya, thanks for keeping Firefox as a preferred browser for your re-design. I use both at work, but for fun browsing and searching I prefer Firefox simply because I haven't install Flash on it, so I get fewer wacko adds.

Lastly, I did notice the new moniker "News of Change", but it fits, so no need to comment on it. I like the suttle shift in direction you have made over the last 18 months. Also bravo on highlighting Podcasting. Once that new Nano arrives at my house I'll have a fun ritual to add to my morning coffee.

[sghanna]

Can't please all the people

I agree with what many of your users must have said (since it has already been changed from Beta). The scrolling picture of headlines was too fast. However, once I realized I could mouse over the headlines once the scroll through finished I liked it.

Now I've lost my mouse over ability...dang it, that was cool. I think it took me a full week to get used to the mouse over option for the headline images. Maybe just wait a little longer before making changes...ask users if they still hate it once they get used to it.

Oh ya, thanks for keeping Firefox as a preferred browser for your re-design. I use both at work, but for fun browsing and searching I prefer Firefox simply because I haven't install Flash on it, so I get fewer wacko adds.

Lastly, I did notice the new moniker "News of Change", but it fits, so no need to comment on it. I like the suttle shift in direction you have made over the last 18 months. Also bravo on highlighting Podcasting. Once that new Nano arrives at my house I'll have a fun ritual to add to my morning coffee.

[grabaclue]

Nice

I like the new layout just fine. What I don't like are that a number of the links from the Dispatch newletter emails are broken. That almost never happened with the old layout, but I've seen more than a handful just this week.

[TV James]

Will be fixed

I complained about this on Tuesday and I was corresponding with someone back and forth yesterday. I think the problem was identified, so I'm betting money it will be fixed in the next few days, if it's not already.

When you click on a link and it fails, look at the URL. Most likely, the title of the article has a question mark. Remove the question mark and it should proceed on to the article with no problem.

[grabaclue]

Nice

I like the new layout just fine. What I don't like are that a number of the links from the Dispatch newletter emails are broken. That almost never happened with the old layout, but I've seen more than a handful just this week.

[TV James]

Will be fixed

I complained about this on Tuesday and I was corresponding with someone back and forth yesterday. I think the problem was identified, so I'm betting money it will be fixed in the next few days, if it's not already.

When you click on a link and it fails, look at the URL. Most likely, the title of the article has a question mark. Remove the question mark and it should proceed on to the article with no problem.

[landlines]

From useful to just another Tabloid...

Layout and Fonts are all wrong: have to scroll left and right to see the whole page.

Instead of being able to peek at the front page and see a dozen headlines, now you have to scroll everywhere: a giant step BACKWARDS.

I thought everyone had abandoned flashy-fluffy "dancing baloney" front pages by now: they are dysfunctional, annoying, and virus-prone hacker bait!!

[landlines]

From useful to just another Tabloid...

Layout and Fonts are all wrong: have to scroll left and right to see the whole page.

Instead of being able to peek at the front page and see a dozen headlines, now you have to scroll everywhere: a giant step BACKWARDS.

I thought everyone had abandoned flashy-fluffy "dancing baloney" front pages by now: they are dysfunctional, annoying, and virus-prone hacker bait!!

[TV James]

So maximize your browser.

I recommend Stroke-It. Great program, horrible name. Hold down the right-mouse and drag north-east to maximize, repeat to un-maximize, or drag south-west to completely minimize the window.

I have the Start Menu docked to the right side of my screen, and then the Google Sidebar next to that, and I still have room to see the entire news.com window.

[JoeF2]

Why should I?

Any site that requires me to have the browser in a specific size, e.g., maximized, is broken.
On the Web, the user is in control.
I am not going to maximize my browser just because some size thinks I should. I rather avoid that site.

[TV James]

So maximize your browser.

I recommend Stroke-It. Great program, horrible name. Hold down the right-mouse and drag north-east to maximize, repeat to un-maximize, or drag south-west to completely minimize the window.

I have the Start Menu docked to the right side of my screen, and then the Google Sidebar next to that, and I still have room to see the entire news.com window.

[JoeF2]

Why should I?

Any site that requires me to have the browser in a specific size, e.g., maximized, is broken.
On the Web, the user is in control.
I am not going to maximize my browser just because some size thinks I should. I rather avoid that site.

[sfjase]

More room for ads?

Overall the new design is a welcome one. It's more of a point release than a major redesign, so it seems like a natural evolution.

News.com said: "We decided to go to a wider format because a large majority of you already have 1024x768 screen settings. Although we want to take advantage of this larger real estate to showcase more content..."

Well, I'm not a fan of overly-wide sites, but the larger real estate seems to be used more for advertising than for additional content (at least on article pages), so it's an added bonus that the right side of the page is cut off for those of us who prefer portrait-sized browser windows instead of landscape ones. Don't most people instinctively ignore the ad-side (right-side) of web pages these days anyway?

[assman]

a tip for removing all ads

one word: Ablock.

once you have that you can go ahead and use my filter: http://home.ripway.com/2005-10/460963/adblockfilter.txt

this will make the world wide web ad-free.

to support cnet, you might want to use internet explorer every once in a while and click an ad or two..

[sfjase]

More room for ads?

Overall the new design is a welcome one. It's more of a point release than a major redesign, so it seems like a natural evolution.

News.com said: "We decided to go to a wider format because a large majority of you already have 1024x768 screen settings. Although we want to take advantage of this larger real estate to showcase more content..."

Well, I'm not a fan of overly-wide sites, but the larger real estate seems to be used more for advertising than for additional content (at least on article pages), so it's an added bonus that the right side of the page is cut off for those of us who prefer portrait-sized browser windows instead of landscape ones. Don't most people instinctively ignore the ad-side (right-side) of web pages these days anyway?

[assman]

a tip for removing all ads

one word: Ablock.

once you have that you can go ahead and use my filter: http://home.ripway.com/2005-10/460963/adblockfilter.txt

this will make the world wide web ad-free.

to support cnet, you might want to use internet explorer every once in a while and click an ad or two..

[Jimmu411]

Is this redesign what has made talkback unusable?

One of the things I really enjoy about CNet is checking out the user comments. It's now taking way too long to load each comment.

[Jimmu411]

Is this redesign what has made talkback unusable?

One of the things I really enjoy about CNet is checking out the user comments. It's now taking way too long to load each comment.

[PerfectCr]

Too much going on

Every here the comment "Less is More". Obviously News.com does not subcribe to this.

[assman]

Less is not always more..

in regards to news, less is not more.

the front page of news.com acts like a portal to all current/important tech news. news.com has revealed that they are broadening their reportage from narrow, strictly computer-type news to news that has to deal with all types of technology - because tech applies to our lives in many forms.

because of this, there is more news going on in the portal. it no longer is as specific as it used to be. in order to lessen the info spread on the page just click on a specific category you are interested in the navbar.. also there is a new feature called "my news" which allows you to filter news stories that display on the front page.

news happens all the time and in today's world tech produces a massive amount of news each day. luckily news.com organizes the content wonderfully for us.

[jamie.p.walsh]

They are keeping up with their audience

The readers here tend to aggregate most of their news into one site. I myself am one of those people. If you like the other sections such as pulse(now Reader's Choice), Extra, Blogs, and their News articles, this new format is great for seeing the latest from all of them at once. They have done this in the previous format, but only to a small degree.

If you like less "clutter" log into Newsburst and add only the sections you want to see. The format is much less "cluttered" and tailored to what you want.

From a technical standpoint, I can't figure why anyone would have a harder time loading the pages in this new format. The code is actually lighter than before.

[PerfectCr]

Too much going on

Every here the comment "Less is More". Obviously News.com does not subcribe to this.

[assman]

Less is not always more..

in regards to news, less is not more.

the front page of news.com acts like a portal to all current/important tech news. news.com has revealed that they are broadening their reportage from narrow, strictly computer-type news to news that has to deal with all types of technology - because tech applies to our lives in many forms.

because of this, there is more news going on in the portal. it no longer is as specific as it used to be. in order to lessen the info spread on the page just click on a specific category you are interested in the navbar.. also there is a new feature called "my news" which allows you to filter news stories that display on the front page.

news happens all the time and in today's world tech produces a massive amount of news each day. luckily news.com organizes the content wonderfully for us.

[jamie.p.walsh]

They are keeping up with their audience

The readers here tend to aggregate most of their news into one site. I myself am one of those people. If you like the other sections such as pulse(now Reader's Choice), Extra, Blogs, and their News articles, this new format is great for seeing the latest from all of them at once. They have done this in the previous format, but only to a small degree.

If you like less "clutter" log into Newsburst and add only the sections you want to see. The format is much less "cluttered" and tailored to what you want.

From a technical standpoint, I can't figure why anyone would have a harder time loading the pages in this new format. The code is actually lighter than before.

[assman]

avoid because your browser isnt opened large enough?

ok.. so why are you still here? i dont think news.com will miss your useless complaining much.

[assman]

avoid because your browser isnt opened large enough?

ok.. so why are you still here? i dont think news.com will miss your useless complaining much.