Registered: Aug 1999
Location: Inverness, FL
Posts: 428

Here is a sneak peak of the new VisorCentral frontpage:

http://v3.visorcentral.com/

It is still early in development, so please post any comments you have on the design, navigation etc.

The site's major new concept is that news/articles/reviews are all treated the same on the frontpage. News and articles now go under the header "Stories," which is broken up into several categories:

Commentary
Hardware
Software
Business
Rumors
Special Reports

The layout of the Frontpage isn't going to be time specific like it is now (ie latest articles/news are at the top) - but rather it will be sorted by importance.

The day's most important piece (whether it is a news story like todays MSN partnership, a review, or commentary) will be featured at the top, with less significant pieces below it.

Eventually the story will drop off the frontpage center and show up under "Recent Additions," and after it drops off Recent Additions it will be available from the section index.

The Modules and Accessories Listings have been combined with our review index into "Product & Reviews". Rather than just list all the various products, each product will have its on page with pictures, description etc.

If a VisorCentral review is availble, it will be available from the product summary page. We will also link to 3rd party site's reviews if available.

The Guide section will focues on in-depth comparison and contrast of the various modules/accessories/visor models.

Stories like "Which Visor is best for me?", "What should be my first module?", "Which storage module should I buy?" will be filed here.

The support area - based on our current FAQ which draws information mainly from the discussion board - will be maintainted and updated to a greater extent than it is now.

And finally we will create a real About page with staff bios, pictures etc.

Couple of more features are planned but we will keep the secret for now

Expect vc3 to go live June 1st.

Thanks,

Marcus

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<B>Marcus Adolfsson</B>
Editor

Registered: Apr 2000
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 604

Layout looks very nice. This is by far my favorite site, mostly because of the work put in by you folks, and the quality of the discussion board.

Now that I've got the kudos out of the way, onto the constructive criticism.

The one concern I have is the proposal to change the way articles/news are sorted, away from "newest on top" to "most important on top." I visit the site several times a day. I like being able to just glance at the top of the articles and news sections on the front page to see if anything has been added - on my way to check new posts on the discussion board.

Registered: Aug 1999
Location: Inverness, FL
Posts: 428

One of those secret features should address your concerns to some extent.

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<B>Marcus Adolfsson</B>
Editor

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Them Twin Cities
Posts: 1758

quote:

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Originally posted by VTL
I visit the site several times a day. I like being able to just glance at the top of the articles and news sections on the front page to see if anything has been added - on my way to check new posts on the discussion board.

---

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Don't like somebody? Click "Profile" on a post and then click "Ignore "so and so's" posts". Voila!

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Them Twin Cities
Posts: 1758

quote:

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Originally posted by marcus
One of those secret features should address your concerns to some extent.

---

Can we guess? I think I know...

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Don't like somebody? Click "Profile" on a post and then click "Ignore "so and so's" posts". Voila!

Registered: Apr 2000
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 604

OK, I look forward to being let in on the secret.

Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

marcus, looks awesome! Are you changing the look of the mobile page as well?

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-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

Registered: May 2000
Location: St. Paul, MN
Posts: 1429

Marcus - Great Job!

1. I'm still unhappy with your logo!
2. I love how fast it loads! !!!!!!
3. I'll IM you lator..

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-miradu

Registered: Mar 2001
Location:
Posts: 347

New site looks nice and clean.

a few thoughts.

1) I might make the rollovers a bit brighter. The subtle look is nice, but a tad bit brighter would make it better for those users who have Macs and/or older computers. PC's display tends to be darker than Mac's

2) I personally think that the strokes that you have around things is a bit too thick. It appears to be a 4-6 point stroke. I like thinner cleaner lines. It makes things look more refined and less heavy.

3) The Headers ("GrinderGear Basecamp") for the stories are a bit large. I would bring them down a size or two.

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

I don't like it as much as the current site.

The current site is actually quite nice. It seems as if you are just redesigning the site for the sake of redesigning the site.

The new site certainly isn't bad, but it seems to have a lot of unecessary chrome.

Or maybe I just don't like change )

I do think the stories should remain time-based in hierarchy...that's the most intuitive for those that visit the site daily.

Anything new with the software section? Any chance at adding user reviews?

Otherwise, I look forward to seeing what's new!

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We're all naked if you turn us inside out.
-David Byrne

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: at work...
Posts: 736

1. I like the new VC logo
2. I like the overall look/design -- it's not too cluttered
3. I think there are too many BLUE, BOLD links. I like the way links appear on the current page better (news items are simply underlined, in normal black text, and articles/reviews in red underlined text). I would try to save BOLD formatting for titles, category names, etc.

Last edited by Rob on 05-16-2001 at 02:28 AM

Registered: May 2000
Location: St. Paul, MN
Posts: 1429

I'mg going to be bad. Here is one of the secrets, that is their, but you have probably not noticed. Stare at the center of the screen, and relax your eyes, so you are not focusing on anything. Notice anything?

__________________
-miradu

Registered: Dec 2000
Location: Elkins Park, Pa
Posts: 577

That's amazing.

That said, I want to add to the comments about the sorted news and articles. There aren't enought new news items and articles for this to make sense. I'm not saying there aren't enough right now, and the quality of them are great, but there aren't enough to be sorted.

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-Bernie

"One word sums up probably the responsibility of any vice president, and that one word is 'to be prepared'.
-Dan Quayle

Registered: Dec 2000
Location: Elkins Park, Pa
Posts: 577

Also, I like how the logo at the top takes up less space. One thing I like about the current VC, is you can almost see everything new without scrolling. The mostly remains true with this new site, except for some "recent additions" (one more reason not to sort the items). I noticed that it is very thin. Can it be wider?

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-Bernie

"One word sums up probably the responsibility of any vice president, and that one word is 'to be prepared'.
-Dan Quayle

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: at work...
Posts: 736

quote:

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Originally posted by miradu2000
Stare at the center of the screen, and relax your eyes, so you are not focusing on anything. Notice anything?

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Wow...that's neat. I just hope they don't get the bright idea of renting out that 'watermark' image to companies wanting to advertise subliminally. (...must sign up for perpetual contract with Omnisky...must sign up for perpetual contact with Omnisky...)

quote:

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Originally posted by ernieba1
I noticed that it is very thin. Can it be wider?

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I agree. You could make it about 30% wider without nearing the edges of my little monitor. Unless you're trying to make it an even multiple of palm-sized screens or something.

Registered: Feb 2001
Location:
Posts: 138

quote:

---

Originally posted by VTL
Layout looks very nice. This is by far my favorite site, mostly because of the work put in by you folks, and the quality of the discussion board.

Now that I've got the kudos out of the way, onto the constructive criticism.

The one concern I have is the proposal to change the way articles/news are sorted, away from "newest on top" to "most important on top." I visit the site several times a day. I like being able to just glance at the top of the articles and news sections on the front page to see if anything has been added - on my way to check new posts on the discussion board.

---

__________________
When I get a little money I buy books; if any is left, I buy food and clothes.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Sydney Australia
Posts: 1883

Allthought the new look looks great, I prefer the old one...
The new one is to generic...it does seem to miss a special look. It could just as well be PalmCentral or MSN or Yahoo...
Also it seems there is less info on the screen..

Maybe I'm just getting old (my birhtday is next week..) and don't like change anymore...
Maybe I'm just grumpy because my visor died...

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<IMG WIDTH="200" HEIGHT="50" SRC=http://www.visorcentral.com/images/visorcentral.gif> VisorCentral Discussion Moderator
Do files get embarrassed when they get unzipped?

Registered: Mar 2001
Location:
Posts: 347

quote:

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Originally posted by ernieba1
Can it be wider?

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Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Champaign, IL
Posts: 200

creole, the point is not to fix the resolution of the page at all. Notice that the columns in the current VC homepage stretch and shrink with the size of your browser window (down to some minimum). Nothing stretches or shrinks in v3.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Texan in Calgary for a while
Posts: 1361

I believe that Marcus wants a fixed size because Netscape has some problems with resizing. I would rather have resizing too. If you still want it, better post here.

Good idea about subliminal advertising That's not illegal on the web yet is it?

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James Hromadka
Old Friend