Notice anything different around here? Welcome to the new AutoblogGreen
Welcome, everyone, to the redesigned AutoblogGreen. Ever since we started this site a little over two years ago, the look has been a point of discussion among our readers and among those of us who work on the back end every day. We thought it was high time to update our look. While this refreshed style allows us to bring you more green cars news without that lime green background color, what we're really psyched about it that we now have the same cool functionality as Autoblog, with a center column for breaking and featured stories and wicked cool galleries. Click around a bit and see everything that's new.
We've been working on this new design for a long, long time, and we think we've got all the kinks worked out. Of course, if you notice something not working properly or if you just want to tell us how much you already miss the old lime-y site, the comments are wide open. If you've got an idea about how the site could be improved, we want to know that as well. Onward and upward.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
K.T. 11:27PM (7/01/2008)
Content seems to now occupy only 40% of the page width. That seems poor--maybe you could combine the breaking news/featured stories column with the ad/galleries column?
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Joseph 11:40PM (7/01/2008)
You have no idea the shock when you come to a website everyday for so long, and then all of the sudden it's different!
But, it does seem to be an improvement. I noticed that there are far fewer articles per page than before, which is good for people with a slower internet connection. So that is a plus.
What I think is bad is how the tags have been arranged into some giant box. I have seen this in several other website but just because it is popular does not mean it is good. It is not in alphabetical order. It barely has any spaces between words. Also, there seems to be far fewer tags than before. Please change this. You have no idea how wonderfully simple it was to get to a certain article you wanted to see again when you had it the old way.
By the way, if you want us to point out bugs, the search bar comes up with nothing no matter what you put.
I appreciate the improvements, I just hope no articles were deleted and that the reporting stays good.
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John Neff 1:08AM (7/02/2008)
Joseph, the main reason we moved the categories from being a long list on the front page to being accessible through a single link on the front page is because of Google. For some reason Google very much doesn't like when a site, specifically a Weblogs, Inc. site it seems, has too many internal links on the front page. Though some of us preferred having them all right there, we'd rather be indexed by Google.
James Bowe 8:29AM (7/02/2008)
still and all, I agree with Joe, the tags are pretty worthless in their current state. not only is it hard to find what you're looking for, but there are quite a few less than before. Overall I think the site looks fantastic, but you've got to come up with something better for the tags, they suck.
AlexNC 11:52PM (7/01/2008)
Looks great guys/gals
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Doug 12:02AM (7/02/2008)
I appreciate the updated website, but my problem is with the new mobile version. Now it seems impossible for me to read or post comments from my Windows Mobile device.
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Sebastian 12:03AM (7/02/2008)
Joseph - all the articles are still here, don't worry.
As for the tags issue, you can now find those categories at the top of the page. Just click on the "parent" category - "Green News," "Events," "Manufacturers," or "Region" - and then you'll get a list of sub-categories in that parent category. Yes, it's one extra step, but if you saw how this worked when Autoblog was first redesigned, you'll know why we did it this way.
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James Bowe 8:29AM (7/02/2008)
that's pretty nice. i now rescind my earlier comment on the tags sucking. i like the new style....thanks!
Doug 12:16AM (7/02/2008)
The "breaking" news is 8 months old.
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UH2L 12:18AM (7/02/2008)
Looks much better and cleaner.
Good job,
UH2L
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Sebastian 12:22AM (7/02/2008)
Doug - yeah, I'll have to figure out how to update those modules.
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Anonymous 1:37AM (7/02/2008)
Add the capability to edit comments so that people can correct spelling mistkaes without having to post a second commnet. Some people are not prefect.
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GoodCheer 9:51AM (7/02/2008)
I second that.
Sebastian 12:31AM (7/02/2008)
Will send an email about WinMo compatibility as well.
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Doug 2:32AM (7/02/2008)
Does this reply button do anything?
Sebastian 3:08AM (7/02/2008)
apparently, yes
dhofmann 12:35AM (7/02/2008)
It's broken: http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.autobloggreen.com%2F&charset=(detect+automatically)&doctype=Inline&group=0
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Doug 2:29AM (7/02/2008)
The WinMo problem I've had with Engadget and Autoblog since they updated as well. However, ABG is the only site I cared to read or post comments on the go. And now with this update I can't read comments here as well.
The issue is that the site detects that I'm using a WinMo device and shows a specially formatted (abbreviated) version of the site. On the main page, only the titles of articles are listed without pictures or first paragraph. When I then click on link to an article, I can read it and see whatever image went with it, but then no comments are shown. At the bottom of the page there's a link that says, "View the full version of AutoblogGreen". So if I click that, I get the main page that you'd get on PC. Formatting sucks on the small device, but at least all the content is there. The problem is that if I then click on a specific article, I get the abbreviated version again. And there is no way to access an actual article in a way that the comments are shown.
Again, this wasn't a problem before the update since the site didn't provide a special mobile version. One step forward, two steps back.
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Albern 3:39AM (7/02/2008)
Hey Guys,
Everything looks great - I congratulate you all on a job well done. Just one suggestion though; you may remember from the previous version of Autoblog where they had drop down tabs that went by various sub-headings (eg. manufacturer, subject matter, etc...). I seem to recall that although readers didn't like it because the menus would expand whenever the mouse pointer moved over a tab, I think it would be great to reincorporate it here. What was great about that layout was that the manufacturers list would fit across and then down taking up less space required to scroll down to find something.
In any case, let me know if any clarification is required.
Albern
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justoutjustin 7:12AM (7/02/2008)
Checking it out now
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