ninehertz

1. • -James
   • What the fuck is going on?!!?!
   • [11:53 on 06/08/08]
2. • mike
   • CHAOS!
   • [13:45 on 06/08/08]
3. • JenTheHen
   • ultimatekev says:

     like Morgan Freeman
     
     
     It's not Morgan Freeman, it's Lester Freamon.
     
     And that joke was mean.
   • [14:09 on 06/08/08]
4. • Eggy
   • I seem to be spending more time on here than the old forum, and i still haven't explored most of the rest of the site. I think a big factor to do with the time i'm spending on here is to do with the threads about the newness though.
   • [08:10 on 07/08/08]
5. • Stocky
   • Not to piss on you're parade or owt, but i really don't like the new layout. Thought the old layout was one of the best sites i knew, visually and navigationally. Not so keen on this one tho. Sorry.
   • [08:23 on 07/08/08]
6. • Grym
   • Nope sir, don't like it. Too white. White is not Stoner. White is not Doom. White is not Sludge. The jury's still out on if white is 'Whatever' or not.
     
     Function wise it all seems to work alright. I'm on a Mac and running Firefox 2.0.0.16 just so you know.
     
     Being a designer/arty farty type my dislike is purely aesthetic/layout/colour scheme.
     
     Not keen on avatars being so huge.
     Not keen on the big boxes over there --->
     Not keen on the amount of dead space.
     Not keen on the colours.
     Not keen on the order the forums appear in the list.
     Not keen on the amount of forums (General Discussion/Bands And Gigs/Music And Review Discussion would keep things more focussed).
     
     It used to be soothing to pore over 9Hz with hungover eyes, now it burns deep and painfully into my tender brainmeat, That's probably more of a cue to reassess my alcohol consumption but I want to moan damnit.
     
     At the end of the day though it's fuck all to do with anyone but the site admin.
     
     Adapt or visit less frequently I guess.
   • [09:20 on 07/08/08]
7. • Podge
   • there is a lot of unneeded hatred for this site. mainly from people who only come on here once in a blue moon.
     
     hows about you go and build your own?
     
     there are a few issues to be ironed out but overall its a far better SITE. its not just a forum, its now a whole site. something that's been needed for a long while.
     
     although I'm far more grumpy than either Ben or Amy, I'd have got pissed off with the lack of support from you lot, told you to stuff it and deleted the whole thing, new and old and left you all to it.
     
     think your selves lucky
     
     how about a little support?
     [Edited by Podge at 12:26 on 07/08/08]
   • [11:46 on 07/08/08]
8. • Carey
   • well said, podge. i've been on holiday, so missed the initial launch/reaction.
     
     this has taken ben and amy months to develop. they have devoted nearly all their free time to it, for no financial reward, just for love of the site. obviously there are going to be bugs, obviously people are going to have personal likes and dislikes and comments on both are really important.
     
     but i don't think there's any place for the sort of dismissive, negative, unconstructive comments some people are making. go away and make a better site if you hate this one so much.
     
   • [12:17 on 07/08/08]
9. • mike
   • I have to say that even with the bugs, I'm loving the new site, alot more integrated and easier to navigate, the topics that should be talked about are in the right forums, the reviews linked to comment is something I've wanted to see for a long time, it really binds the actual content aspect of ninehertz to the forum, which has only been tenuous before, people reading reviews will now see there is an active forum, meaning more people reading, if not joining the forum and that can only be a good thing.
     
     Design wise, I think it just takes a few days getting used to and after that its fine.
     
     Well done Ben and Amy.
   • [12:33 on 07/08/08]
10. • theadore
    • I like the site... and although firmly in the blue moon category of visitors... surely if you are going to have a 'What do you think or the new site?' thread and an anything goes aproach to moderating then you accept negative feedback as par for the course.
      
      as said the site works much better as a whole now.... a successful redesign vs. upsetting a few people over colour scheme and size of icons is a success by anyones standards.
    • [13:58 on 07/08/08]
11. • Carey
    • theadore says:

      surely if you are going to have a 'What do you think or the new site?' thread and an anything goes aproach to moderating then you accept negative feedback as par for the course.
      
      
      oh no, don't get me wrong, obviously we want feedback. but there's a world of difference between saying something like "the layout has a lot of wasted space" or "i really don't like the font you've used" or "you've removed a feature i found really useful" and saying something like "this is fucking crap". yes?
      
      [Edited by Carey at 14:11 on 07/08/08]
    • [14:10 on 07/08/08]
12. • Ollie
    • I'm happy with it, took a little getting used to but it's pretty cool. The only thing I miss is the links page as I found that quite handy to check out bands, labels...etc. It was a pretty good resource for people in bands as well as people just into the whole music thing.
    • [14:18 on 07/08/08]
13. • Carey
    • Ollie says:

      I'm happy with it, took a little getting used to but it's pretty cool. The only thing I miss is the links page as I found that quite handy to check out bands, labels...etc. It was a pretty good resource for people in bands as well as people just into the whole music thing.
      
      
      that's potentially not disappearing completely. newer websites don't tend to have lists of links because of things like myspace now being so easily searchable but we did discuss other ways of incorporating those resources. i found them really useful too. so that's a work in progress, suggestions welcome!
      
    • [14:21 on 07/08/08]
14. • Amy B
    • yeh, i think we just thought that no one used the links page. I'll add it to the 'things to think about' list
    • [14:36 on 07/08/08]
15. • Ollie
    • Amy B says:

      yeh, i think we just thought that no one used the links page. I'll add it to the 'things to think about' list
      
      
      maybe it was just me.
    • [14:38 on 07/08/08]
16. • Big Si
    • Carey says:

      oh no, don't get me wrong, obviously we want feedback. but there's a world of difference between saying something like "the layout has a lot of wasted space" or "i really don't like the font you've used" or "you've removed a feature i found really useful" and saying something like "this is fucking crap". yes?
      
      
      
      This is, of course, true, but that kind of unconstructive feedback has been far and away in the minority, on the negative side of stuff. Unless I'm missing something, of course.
      I've not seen one person complain about the functionality of the site, and quite rightly. The integrated structure is excellent.
      The gripes have by and large been with the design, and even after several weeks now, I still don't like it. It's difficult to be more constructive than that about what is essentially an aesthetic judgement and therefore purely a matter of opinion.
      I think Grym makes very good points, and dismiss his remarks as pointless trolling kind of removes the whole point of asking for feedback.
      I'm not knocking the design for the sake of it, I'm not doing it to wind anyone up and I'm certainly not doing it to take the shine of the amazing efforts that have gone into the construction of the site.
      And I'm not just referring to the forum, either. The appearance of the site as a whole sells short the thought and effort that has gone into it. It looks more basic and less welcoming than the previous site. And looks matter. New visitors will judge the site on how it appears long before they can form an opinion on how it works.
      I'm clearly not going to stop using the site, and it should be equally clear I'm not saying "it's fucking wank". This post is just about setting the record straight, as this thread seems to have taken on an entirely unjustified "stop fucking whinging" vibe.
    • [20:47 on 07/08/08]
17. • Ben
    • I've been resisting this but I think it's probably time I weighed in.
      
      I have spend countless hours completely rewriting the site. This hasn't been a trivial change of style or anything like that, code wise I have literally torn it up and started completelty from scratch. I won't say that I didn't enjoy it, because a lot of it has been fun (yeah I'm a geek) but it has been a challenge and has swallowed a lot of (read all of) my spare time for the last few months. Amy as well has worked very hard on the style and feel of the site and hours putting up with me abandoning her for ninehertz.
      
      I know the site is not perfect and I know change upsets people but what we have done is massive and it makes the site a lot more accessible and has really bought the look and feel into the twenty first century. I'm flattered by the positive (or nostalgic...) comments regarding the old look but to be honest it was tired and dated. It didn't just look tired and dated but the database was a mess and the html was cluttered. We launched the site in late 2003 and the look hadn't changed since, 4 and a bit years is almost an eternity in internet terms.
      
      One of the main things about the new site is that it's entirely XHTML, which might not mean anything to most people, but from our point of view it means that the content is separate to it's appearance. What does that mean? Well basically it means that it will be easier for us (and others if they feel they can rise to the challenge) to change how things look. The content is all there but how it is presented can be changed radically with a little effort. The back end has been changed completely also, and the database is no longer a terrible mess of confusion - basically I know a fuckton more than I used to about such things, which was one of the things that inspired me to rebuild ninehertz in the first place.
      
      I'm sorry if this has come across a little ranty, I know most people really appreciate the work we have all put into this and are providing good, constructive feedback to us. To you people, thank you and keep the suggestions coming. It might not be done straight away (we all work full time) but we'll try and fit it in. To the 'haters' out there - bear with us. People generally don't like change but they soon get used to it. Personally I'm most surprised by the people who don't like the colours - It seems like yesterday when people were telling me how awful black on green was...
      
      All in all, I'm flattered by the positive response, entrigued by the constructive responses and to be honest disappointed by some of the knee jerk reactions. But after many years in the IT industry (particularly the time I've spent on support desks) I know it's easier to moan about something than to praise it.
      
      Please don't think I'm doing a "If you don't like it then fuck you" or anything like that - I can understand how people get used to things and don't like people mucking about with them. As I see it ninehertz is an evolution, we will add more features, we will fix the bugs, we will tweak things here and there. One thing I never want to do again though is leave the site to rot, which I have done for the last 4 years.
      
      That's my piece for now. I'd like to thank Amy again for the great look, and Pete and Carey for thinking the whole thing up. I'd also like to thank again the people who have given great feedback, especially Podge. I have to say you've annoyed me at times but when I've sat down and thought about what you've actually said, I've realised that you were right (most of the time).
      
      To ninehertz, and a it's continued sucess.
      
      Ben
      
    • [21:28 on 07/08/08]
18. • Laddeth
    • To be honest I didn't like it at first but I've kinda got used to it now.
      As you mentioned with the XHTML coding, it might be an idea (if its not to much work) to create a seperate frontend profile that is the same as the old style for the luddites to use
      The one thing I wouldnt mind though is if the site did fit to the size of the browser, as on my laptop with its much lower res it fits perfectly but on my main computer it does seem like (as other people have mentioned) there's a lot of wasted space.
    • [21:37 on 07/08/08]
19. • Amy B
    • In future we're probably going to look at giving people the option to set the width of the site.
      
      However there is a rationale for having it at a fixed width - in general, people find it easier to read lines of text that aren't too long and the new web accessibility guidelines say that lines shouldn't be longer than a certain number of characters (i forget the number). There's also precedent - if you look at sites that have a lot of written info on them, such as the bbc, guardian or most blogs, they also tend to have text in fixed width columns.
    • [21:56 on 07/08/08]
20. • Laddeth
    • So in other words, damn my massive monitor and high resolution
      I understand where your coming from though
    • [22:44 on 07/08/08]

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