NewsBusters Design Improvements
You may have noticed it already but in case you haven't, push reload on your browser. We've implemented some long requested changes to NewsBusters tonight including the much-requested "wide screen" format that expands the left side of the page to fit your browser window width.
Also included in the fixes:
- Easier to tell the comments apart from each other
- Snazzier buttons on the comment action buttons
- Slightly larger font size for all text elements
- Our popular "Editors' Picks" feature has returned right below NewsBusted
- Border on sharing tools at the top of each article
- Bigger thumbnails for blog posts on the homepage
- If you are a registered NB member, indicators on homepage to help show you how many comments there are on particular pieces and whether or not someone has posted a new comment since you last read the page (this count is delayed a bit to help the server not get overloaded)
Tell me what you think of the changes. I think we've gotten most of the popular requests in this NB update. There are going to be a few additional changes as well in the coming days to make it easier to find videos.
- Matthew Sheffield's blog
- Login to post comments
Comments
Improvements
Submitted by Prowler-Getz on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 8:30am.
While I like the new format, I am disappointed in one thing that was taken away. I like to scroll down the headlines, and if there is an article I wish to read, I would right click the link and open it in a new tab. This allows me to review what's new and then when I'm ready to read the articles, they are all loaded and ready. A while back, this was disabled on the title, but I could still right click the 'read more' link. Now even this is gone.
It would really be nice to have this right click ability back.
Read More is back as well.
Submitted by Matthew Sheffield on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 9:06am.
Read More is back as well. Try clearing browser cache if you don't see it. Headlines have always been clickable as well.
works for me..
Submitted by dmacleo on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 9:07am.
done many of them this morning.
browser I use is firefox 5.
Like it so far
Submitted by RESTLESS 1 on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 8:30am.
But I would like to see the recent comments return to the home page.
Thanks.
Restless, Just hit the blogs button...
Submitted by upcountrywater on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 12:28pm.
You will never use the home button again.
You Didn't Build That.
It's fixed
Submitted by Matthew Sheffield on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 12:32pm.
I put it back on the homepage
Thanks Matt
Submitted by RESTLESS 1 on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 12:34pm.
Hello again home page. :)
Thanks UPC
Submitted by RESTLESS 1 on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 12:33pm.
Sayanara home page.
Is the new PM
Submitted by shawn. on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 8:33am.
......notification back?
Inbox PM notification - would be nice
Submitted by MaximusBraveheart on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 10:18am.
Looks great!
Agree would be nice to have a mail box notification feature of some sort. Something that pops up by My In Box and at the top of the page.
Thanks.
-- Maximusbraveheart -- Is TRUTH knowable? Moral Relativism is the abandonment of Truth. Truth is knowable. Truth conforms to Reality. Reality is observable by evidence & witness in this day & from history. Relativism is Sesame Street play land.
Curious: why are the sharing counts identical for each article?
Submitted by SickofLibs on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 8:50am.
example: on page 1, all articles show FB Likes=14, Tweets=108, Share=31.
Then on page 2 and beyond, it's FB Likes=0, Tweets=0, Share=1
I really like the comment counter.
Submitted by wizardjr on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 8:56am.
I've been asking for that to come back. Thanks for restoring it.
wide screen?
Submitted by dmacleo on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 9:03am.
not seeing this on firefox 5
If you're not seeing the
Submitted by Matthew Sheffield on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 9:05am.
If you're not seeing the changes, be sure to clear your browser cache.
not the issue
Submitted by dmacleo on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 9:08am.
I see all new stuff except its in a narrower format.
will try different browser.
Ah, well that is likely
Submitted by Matthew Sheffield on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 9:14am.
Ah, well that is likely because your screen resolution isn't that big. The expansion only works for browser windows that are about 1100 pixels or wider
1600-900
Submitted by dmacleo on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 9:20am.
not the issue either then, 1600-900
Do we need to do something to
Submitted by motherbelt on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 9:57am.
Do we need to do something to initiate the wide format? And what does that mean?
My article/comment section takes up just over half the screen, and then the ads etc. on the right..is that how it's supposed to be?
Nope. The way you can tell if
Submitted by Matthew Sheffield on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 10:13am.
Nope. The way you can tell if it's working for you is to resize your browser window, making it bigger or smaller horizontally. If your monitor resolution is big enough, you'll notice the left column of NB expand or contract accordingly.
Awsome Matt
Submitted by Boudin on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 7:45pm.
Looks great
screenshot
Submitted by dmacleo on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 9:22am.
shows what I see
http://share.macleod-web.net/NB.png
grey bars on sides.
chrome, opera, firefox, IE8 and 9, safari.
That actually looks wider to
Submitted by Matthew Sheffield on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 9:31am.
That actually looks wider to me. What happens as you resize your browser? It should expand/contract the left column.
nothing
Submitted by dmacleo on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 10:10am.
nothing I do affects the left side on multiple browsers.
there a device id string looking for specific info?
thought it may have been an extension issue, so I disabled all and no change.
I always have a 1.5" or more grey bar on left side that never moves/changes it position.
I will try a different pc in a bit.
I can force IE8 to reduce BOTH sides bars by zooming 120% or so but nothing I see affects left side.
chrome, firefox are always bound inside the borders, can zoom the content but always stays within confines of the grey borders which does not change.
The gray bars will always be
Submitted by Matthew Sheffield on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 10:15am.
The gray bars will always be the same width up until your window reaches 1300 pixels wide. I think it is working for you
well i should be above that
Submitted by dmacleo on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 10:19am.
maybe you could post a screenshot of yours for comparison so we know if we are thinking along the same lines?
reminds me of the default joomla/smf/drupal themes but they often have an arrow to click.
Here are two screenshots for
Submitted by Matthew Sheffield on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 10:53am.
Here are two screenshots for you, one wide window and one narrow window:
http://tinypic.com/r/r1ahbs/7
http://tinypic.com/r/2uieyvn/7
I see
Submitted by dmacleo on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 11:27am.
I (and maybe others) was under the impression the left side expanded fully (as other cms style themes) to do away with the grey border completely.
Go on Matthew, say those
Submitted by RMR on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 9:05am.
Go on Matthew, say those immortal words "but wait, there is more". I know you want to.
HA!
But wait! There's more...
Submitted by Beukeboom on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 9:54am.
...you'll get the bamboo steamer and the ginzu knife set ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!
blockquote still missing
Submitted by mom_rox on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 9:09am.
Thanks Matthew,
I guess adding a blockquote option for comments was not near the top of the list. Perhaps it is closer now.
Minor request: add an NB favicon. Just makes your site look a bit more professional.
regarding the home page font size - nice, but I use the blogs page as my bookmarked site. note: I like the font size of the blogs page as is.
edit: one more item: Please change the Save button to Post.
mom_rocks: I guess adding a
Submitted by Matthew Sheffield on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 9:13am.
Does that work for you? I just added it.
Hey Matt
Submitted by Blonde on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 9:56am.
Any chance that when we click to comment, it DEFAULTS to Rich Text, rather than having to click the "switch to rich text" link?
Also, I've been running the Stylish skin w/your 2nd set of code....might this need to be updated/changed as well?
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
No need for Stylish any more
Submitted by Matthew Sheffield on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 10:16am.
You can disable it for now.
Cool. Except I can't
Submitted by motherbelt on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 10:26am.
Cool. Except I can't remember where I EN-abled it! :-)
How to disable Stylish
Submitted by Matthew Sheffield on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 10:57am.
How to disable Stylish (ignore this if you don't know what Stylish is):
Go to Firefox Addons box, Tools Menu -> Add-ons
Click User Styles icon on left side
Click "Disable" button on right side
What about comment default to Rich Text?
Submitted by Blonde on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 11:02am.
That's the one that really is annoying, having to remember to click Rich Text every time I comment.
Thanks, Matt....I know all this stuff is a nuisance. We DO appreciate your hard work (even though sometimes we sound like a bunch of four year olds!).
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
There's a bug w/our text
Submitted by Matthew Sheffield on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 11:10am.
There's a bug w/our text editor that causes the page to jump down when wysiwyg is enabled by default. It is on the list once we get all the kinks worked out of this change iteration.
Edit: You don't need to enable wysiwyg for every comment do you? Or are you do just doing it for the signature?
Every Comment, Matt
Submitted by Blonde on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 11:44am.
Under the comment box, regardless of whether I'm using the one at the very bottom of the page (a stand alone comment) or in reply to another poster....the option under the box is "Switch to Rich Text Editor".....in order to get the WYSIWYG comment box with all of the icons, etc., it's necessary to click the "switch".
Also (testing now)....if I've entered my text and done a Para return (two spaces), once I Switch to Rich Text, it runs on the paragraphs and removes the breaks. (Still doing it, I just did that here and am now in Rich Text Mode).
One final question/request: Will it be possible to get the INDENT icon(s) back? They are really useful when copy/pasting text to indicate a direct quote, rather than using all italics.
Thanks!
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
I second that request!Also,
Submitted by motherbelt on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 10:25am.
I second that request!
Also, when I try to paste something in the box using Ctrl-V..the whole page jumps to the bottom. Is this a site problem, browser problem, or what?
Please don't say "operator error." LOL
Paste something into what
Submitted by Matthew Sheffield on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 10:58am.
Paste something into what box?
Y'know...Elmer's glue...onto
Submitted by Beukeboom on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 11:38am.
Y'know...Elmer's glue...onto the little white box on the computer screen-dohickey?
[Sorry, couldn't resist.]
Bad Blonde Jokes, Beuke!
Submitted by Blonde on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 11:51am.
Blonde Word Processor
Blonde Prints a Word Document
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
ok Blonde*
Submitted by cajun2 on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 1:41pm.
Maybe Beuke's post was a bad blonde joke, but it was the only post on this thread that I could understand.
HEY! I didn't mention
Submitted by Beukeboom on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 2:56pm.
HEY! I didn't mention "blonde" anywhere in that joke. LOL!
still not seeing blockquotes or a favicon
Submitted by mom_rox on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 11:18am.
I'm using IE9. (and yes, I've restarted the IE application.)
my rich-text editor shows (L to R): bold, italic, number, bullets, link, unlink, about CK editor.
blockquote
Submitted by mom_rox on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 5:12pm.
I am still not seeing the blockquote icon in the editor, but I'm glad that I can get there with code. Thanks.
...nor the favicon, as well. I'm glad others can see it. I made my own NB favicon for my favorites bar, but it would be nice to see it on the actual page tab.
i see favicon
Submitted by dmacleo on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 10:21am.
actually a nice looking one too.
The font size/style is a
Submitted by Satchmo on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 9:21am.
The font size/style is a little too much. It's like the Large Print edition of a book.
That's so that you visually impaired trolls can read the site
Submitted by Dave. on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 9:31am.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
hey LOL
Submitted by dmacleo on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 10:21am.
I use larger fonts LOL
I think that may be due to a
Submitted by Matthew Sheffield on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 9:33am.
I think that may be due to a setting on your computer. Are your fonts about the same size as in the screenshot posted by dmacleo above?
Yes.
Submitted by Satchmo on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 9:57am.
Yes, although slightly different (but that is probably due to his font setting vs. mine).
yeah I use larger fonts
Submitted by dmacleo on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 10:04am.
no squint on firefox to zoom fonts about 5%.
Browser settings
Submitted by Matthew Sheffield on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 10:16am.
The setting for the new format is based on your browser settings. If you think it's too big, you should adjust your browser. Other websites that use relative font sizes are also looking too big I'd bet
Hmm. Can't say I've noticed,
Submitted by Satchmo on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 10:34am.
Hmm. Can't say I've noticed, but that maybe the sudden change here. My settings are the default settings for Safari: standard - Times 16, fixed width - Courier 13, but the font here in the comments section seems to be Helvetica or some other sans serif font. Adjusting the standard doesn't effect the headlines or the text under the headlines, only the things like NB Extra, or Editors' Picks, etc.
Clicking on the "change font size" at the top of this page does not change the body of your post or the comments. The only thing that seems to change is your byline.
Ask the librarian for help.
Submitted by SickofLibs on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 9:38am.
.
Ahhhhhh!
Submitted by The Vet on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 12:05pm.
Iz funniz germanzeez joke of all time! Iz roll floor. Get dirty. Pop Pop Pop iz buttz! Iz go look butt now. Iz say bye bye.
I do like the improvements
Submitted by dmacleo on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 9:26am.
beyond my widescreen oddity I like the improvements, especially the font stuff.
*This is a test post (under the new format).
Submitted by Grumpy in Arizona on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 9:32am.
End of post.
*(Had this been an actual post, you would have been directed to hide under your desk and tune to the Grumpy Emergency channel on your homemade quartz radio for further instructions).
Hmmm.
Submitted by Grumpy in Arizona on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 9:54am.
Guess I’m too computer illiterate to figure out how to use the “rich text editor” feature... so will just stick with the plain text thing.
Still can't "edit" an original comment once a reply has been made to it.
I have no idea what a "blockquote" is so can't comment on it.
Overall, I kind of like the new format.
Looks great!
Submitted by Soldat44 on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 9:43am.
Looks great!
Nice!
Submitted by mwsasser on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 9:44am.
Oh yea, much better layout. Thanks a lot guys!
One other thing: when
Submitted by Satchmo on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 10:40am.
One other thing: when replying to or editing a comment, the page will sometimes load and then jump to the middle of the page, well below the comment field.
Whoops. I wandered into the wrong forum.
Submitted by The Vet on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 12:09pm.
I did not realize this was the Introduce Satchmo to modern computing devices forum forum.
We will get right on your problem. Here take a number. You wait. You wait right there for your number to be called. Ok? Wait now. Wait I said. We will call it. Honest.
Nice! Looks much better.
Submitted by d1carter on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 10:43am.
Nice! Looks much better. Thanks.
Thank you!
Submitted by CobraMan on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 11:48am.
Thank you for the changes. Now it can be possible to have a multipost dialog with others without that annoying
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format.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
I'm using
Submitted by misterbee241 on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 11:49am.
Firefox 5.0 too. Looks good to me.
One suggestion
Submitted by CobraMan on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 11:51am.
I have one suggestion: let the viewer have the ability to re-size the left pane. That's a rather simple script.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
Thanks for the info.
Submitted by RocktheJungle on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 12:14pm.
I scheduled an eye appointment and was going to take the computer to the shop because the font really got ginormous.LOL
I like it.
Submitted by The Vet on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 12:46pm.
Do we have the sly touch of MrShy?
The read more button
Submitted by Jackrv on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 1:11pm.
On the old system, when I first started reading this site, when you clicked on the "read more" button, you were taken to the first paragrah after the lead in. i.e.
You may have noticed it already but in case you haven't, push reload on your browser. We've implemented some long requested changes to NewsBusters tonight including the much-requested "wide screen" format that expands the left side of the page to fit your browser window width.
Also included in the fixes:
Clicking the read more button would take you to the line following "Also included in the fixes:" line.
Now it does not do that. Instead you are taken to the page as if you clicked on the headline.
Jackrv
My 2 cents
Submitted by Ashrak on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 1:18pm.
Very nice.
Great job NewsBusters!
Nice job. This is definitely a major improvement
Submitted by Dave. on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 1:58pm.
But I still miss the "who's online" display from the old days because I always liked seeing who was around.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
Not sure if it's related to
Submitted by lnthomp on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 2:42pm.
Not sure if it's related to the page changes, but I just took out the picture I previously had for my account profile page, and I can't seem to add the new picture I want. Each time I select the new file, and select "save" at the bottom of the screen, I get back the old picture I had in there. This is Firefox 5 on Ubuntu Linux.
[edit] Right after I wrote this, I tried again and it worked, so ... never mind!
Lee T / USN(ret) /Midland, TX,
I *LIKE* the return of
Submitted by Quasi-socialist on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 2:40pm.
*new marker. Thanks a bunch!
I think I like this new
Submitted by marpel on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 3:13pm.
I think I like this new configuration. I'm glad the New Comments appears again. That's helpful.
"Deep within my heart lies a memory. A song of ol' San Antone..."
I like the wide screen and
Submitted by irishguy on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 6:48pm.
I like the wide screen and the type seems to be larger as well. I don't miss those little links for twitter, facebook, etc. that were always in the way either. Good Job NB
Now this is what I'm talkin' about!
Submitted by MightyMouth on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 7:07pm.
Good job NB! It's more and more like the old days! Keep up the good work guys!
Good job with the new format---
Submitted by matthewdean on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 9:03pm.
I like being back to the alternating color bands.
Now if I could just get my computer to either black out or block out trollspeak.
MD