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Posted by: gel Feb 17 2012, 06:46 PM

Newbury Weekly News Online updated
Been off line a bit but when I try again the NWN has had a refresh in design.

Currently lot of the images are not rendering for me, just showing Red X.

Posted by: user23 Feb 17 2012, 07:01 PM

Looks good, though like you I'm not getting a lot of the images displayed. The clock seems to be an hour fast too.

Interesting that under Districts they have Thatcham, Hungerford and Hampshire with no mention of Newbury.

Posted by: Brewmaster Feb 18 2012, 08:47 AM

I'm getting the images OK, but the clock is an hour slow to me - as indeed is the one on this forum.

Posted by: Simon Kirby Feb 18 2012, 09:24 AM

I'm getting some dialogue box asking for a user name and password:


And I think the layout is horrible, and it takes eons to load (Firefox 10.0.2).

And a second or so after opening a thread at the latest posts the page jumps annoyingly back to the top - something to do with the box of stuff top-right I suspect.

Big thumbs-down from me, sorry.

Posted by: Simon Kirby Feb 18 2012, 09:29 AM

*wibble*

Posted by: Bartholomew Feb 18 2012, 09:43 AM

I don't think its as easy to read as the previous layout.
Part of the problem is that each topic takes up too much space which makes it difficult to scan. I prefer to have a line per topic so I can choose which one to look at. I think that the best layout is have as much as possible on the first page causing immediate interest.
It also doesn't help that the images aren't properly displayed and there are also an awful lot of adverts.

As far as I'm concerned, the old layout was better.

Posted by: Biker1 Feb 18 2012, 09:53 AM

What's happened to the poll?
I can't find it!

Posted by: user23 Feb 18 2012, 09:58 AM

Clock seems to be fixed for me, but I'm getting the Secure Directory prompt too.

Posted by: booboo Feb 18 2012, 10:31 AM

And where is the webcam ?

Posted by: Adrian Hollister Feb 18 2012, 11:08 AM

Did someone accidentally deploy this site update without testing it?

Posted by: user23 Feb 18 2012, 11:13 AM

Has anyone tried to log in at the foot of a page to leave a comment?

http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/2012/football-royalty-at-the-races

Posted by: Adrian Hollister Feb 18 2012, 11:22 AM

yea, most of the site looks broken. hardly works at all on an iPad.

Posted by: Strafin Feb 18 2012, 11:27 AM

I like it.

Posted by: Simon Kirby Feb 18 2012, 11:41 AM

Does it say why Alex Ferguson was tied up in the first place?

Posted by: OldNewburian Feb 18 2012, 11:56 AM

Not sure about the "No Win No Fee" link at the bottom of the page. Looks O/K on my iPad apart from the images that don't load.

Posted by: user23 Feb 18 2012, 11:59 AM

I like the design better than the old one and I'm sure once people get used to it and the technical problems are ironed out, they'll like it too.

I'm reminded of this, which for me describes those who moan about changes to Facebook.

Posted by: xjay1337 Feb 18 2012, 12:09 PM

I like your post User23.3

However I agree with the consensus I think the old layout was a bit better. Seems more adverts than actual stories. Infront of me I see an advert for Tiscali 1MB for £7.99 for 3 months, and then £12.99 a month thereafter. Quite possibly the worse "performance per pound" deal out there. It's almost as much of a good service if you pay £10 for a massage - You'll get something yes but you certainly won't end up with a happy ending.

Also on my Firesheep 10, the Weather at the top, I presume so you can click it so it takes you to the 5 page forecast, doesn't work. And yes where has the webcam gone? Nothing quite like spying on Newburys middle-aged shopping. Occasionally there is a pretty girl which makes the 1 hour wait worthwhile.
In all it sort of looks like a Fisher Price "my first" website.

I don't like how they've changed the stories now so they have pictured the editor of the story. More often than not it looks like a collection of faces from the tree of the less blessed. Remove please.

Posted by: Andy Capp Feb 18 2012, 12:18 PM

I'm happy to see changes that improve on the old, but I cannot see an advantage with the new look. It to me seems pointless and it breaks some navigational rules for good website design. I see this one as being poor because I can see that I am less likely to explore the front page than I did with the old 'simpler' design. I am also very surprised that someone hasn't done an off-line test to check for some of the snags. Quite amateurish in that respect.

What Facebook are doing stinks and I hate the time line view. There's no such thing as free, and many people have invested a lot of time on that site, and for them to force changes like the time line is out of order. Like with the NewburyToday home page, it make navigating more tedious, not to mention the inability to filter old posts so readily.

The thing I wish the NWN would improve is the old news search function. It is hard to find some old news stories.

BTW - The BBC have also changed the look and feel of their website, and equally: it is rubbish. At least they haven't made it worse, as it was rubbish before!

Posted by: Simon Kirby Feb 18 2012, 12:27 PM

Bear in mind that NewburyToday are not as pathetically insecure as some other local organisations and are quite likely to appreciate the feedback, be it negative, critical, positive, or constructive. Successful organisations listen to what people say and are confident enough both to see good changes through, and to revert bad changes.

I'd like to see more and bigger pictures with the stories - 1,000 words and all that. And actual pictures if possible rather than stock images.

I'd also prefer the page to fill my screen - I have an inch and a half margin left and right that could be doing a bit more.

And the advertising is noisy. I understand the need for it all, but it's all a bit cheap and stark, could that be quietened down a bit?

I read NewburyToday daily and I get most of my local news from here. I buy the NWN on a Thursday, but it's nice to know what's happening as it happens. What I'd quite like is to have the letters page on-line as this is often a better barometer of what's happening around the town and although any fool can post on the forum there's still a cachet to having a letter published.

Posted by: Andy Capp Feb 18 2012, 12:29 PM

Hear, hear. That is another thing I'd like to see: searchable old letters. I also agree that the front page takes longer than I'd like to load.

Posted by: user23 Feb 18 2012, 12:54 PM

Having launched their new site I suspect this stage of the process is over.

For most organisations the development of a new website is a linear process run as a project. Comments such as yours are generally taken on board and acted on when the site is in Beta (and before). Presumably they've had a select few users giving feedback as I've not seen it as a public Beta anywhere. One of the problems with trying to change it once launched is that it usually incurs more cost for the organisation given the design has already been signed off.

Some sites just evolve, particularly those for organisations with in-house development capability, and Facebook is an example of this, though whether it's a website or a platform is another debate.

Posted by: stewiegriffin Feb 18 2012, 01:07 PM

Just discovered the new look site. Oh God it's bleeping awful. Half of it doesn't work, the pictures don't appear, the video gallery appears and disappears at will, it's got no flow or coherence to the layout. The 'My Newbury in Pictures' section seems to have vanished, the webcam is gone, the adverts are very 'in your face'. Etc, etc..

It seems like it was cobbled together in somebody's lunch break and then uploaded without anyone bothering to test it.

Still, on the upside, the perpetrators will probably see all these posts and do something about the disaster they've caused. Eventualy.

Posted by: blackdog Feb 18 2012, 03:20 PM

They are evidently having teething problems - I too find pictures missing, text overrunning, missing articles in the news section etc. But the 'webcam is gone' is hardly a problem with the new site - it hasn't been working for 5 years or more - so why bother with a link?

Posted by: x2lls Feb 18 2012, 03:29 PM

Fonts are not good now, too small by default. They also appear to be variable depending on which link you go to.

Posted by: booboo Feb 18 2012, 04:12 PM

Webcam has been working, it was last week. I use it to see if the farmers market is worth going to. Saves the journey.

Posted by: JeffG Feb 18 2012, 05:33 PM

I think you'll find that a page width of 1000 pixels is recommended for a normal web site to suit most monitors, and is pretty much standard. Go to the http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ and you'll see it's the same. http://www.sky.com/ is the same, though they do have a pretty background.

I have a 4½ inch margin each side on mine

Most forums (like this one) will fill the available page width since pages are generated "on the fly", rather than being fixed.

Incidentally, the teething problems seem to be fixed now. I agree that the "No Win No Fee" link in the navigation bar at the bottom is not really on. Perhaps they sponsor the site.

Posted by: Steve @ NWN Feb 18 2012, 06:16 PM

Thanks for all the comments today. Positive or not it's good to see people care.

The site has been thoroughly tested over the past months. The problems today have been due to the transfer of all the old sites files (over 18,000 stories and images).

We had half a dozen missing images this morning and the galleries were not running. But that's all resolved.

There is obviously still an issue with speed of loading which we are working on.

Unfortunately the Web Cam stopped working again about 10 days ago. It may well be replaced at some point.

Just a note, the No Win No Fee link has been on the site for nearly three years now. And they don't sponsor the site.

Posted by: Darren Feb 18 2012, 06:34 PM

Looks like the default font has changed to. Not very easy to read.

Might need running over with an accessability tool.

Posted by: xjay1337 Feb 18 2012, 06:45 PM

Oh we don't care, we just like moaning.



Surely remove it then? I mean that's free advertising for a company where in the adverts the people walk across the screens at a 45-degree angle at all times.

HAVE YOU BEEN INJURED IN AN ACCIDENT AT WORK OR ON THE ROAD? IF SO DIAL THIS NUMBER NOW FOR AN INSTANT FALCON PUNCH TO THE KNEE.

I will of course all the new site to "bed in" and give another moan in a week or so when I can fully evaluate the site.

Posted by: Steve @ NWN Feb 18 2012, 07:03 PM

It's a paid advert. Not a site sponsor (much more formal). And it has been there for three years.

Posted by: xjay1337 Feb 18 2012, 07:18 PM

Oh, my apologises I mis understood HA like that ever happens.

Posted by: gel Feb 18 2012, 10:54 PM

To fill gaps on either side I just enlarge view to 125% and it then I get a screen full.

Re design, I find Wantage Herald a superior layout

http://www.heraldseries.co.uk/news/hswantagenews/

Posted by: Adrian Hollister Feb 20 2012, 08:01 PM

"Error establishing a database connection" on newburytoday.co.uk

seems fine on www.newburytoday.co.uk


someone broken it again?

Posted by: Adrian Hollister Feb 20 2012, 08:12 PM

Ahh there are a load of broken links on the site, referring to 'newburytoday.co.uk' that all give database connection errors. Either the links need an update or someone needs to fix the database config.

Posted by: xjay1337 Feb 21 2012, 09:20 AM

Not sure if it's related but on some pages of this forum on the right hand side you get the Newbury Weekly News search thing and it's a bit broken.
Although right now on the forum's index it has a database error. Oh the joys of field testing a live production network.

Posted by: pinkfluffyclouds Feb 21 2012, 03:50 PM

Unfortuately the picture gallery also seems to have been stripped of its contents as I have just been in to try and look at the John O Gaunt photos from the bridge building day !! Hope they will be able to sort this out otherwise is there anywhere else these can be viewed?

Posted by: Brewmaster Feb 21 2012, 05:07 PM

I'm still getting the clock an hour fast on both the forum and Newbury Today.

Posted by: JeffG Feb 21 2012, 08:35 PM

Click on My Controls then click on Board Settings in the Menu column on the left. Your timezone should be set to "(GMT) Casablanca, Dublin, London, Lisbon, Monrovia" and the Auto Correct DST box should be ticked. If they are both correct, then what is your computer clock saying in the bottom right corner of the screen (assuming you're running Windows)?

Just looked at the clock on the main site and that is indeed showing an hour fast. The posting time here (for me) is correct, although it's displaying as a 12 hour clock, which I guess is because the forum software is American.

Posted by: x2lls Feb 21 2012, 10:46 PM

Annoyingly, clicking on the forum link on the homepage opens another window/tab.

Please sort the forum fonts out!!!

PS:- Since the news pages have changed, I have not bothered to use them.

Posted by: Biker1 Feb 22 2012, 08:33 AM

When I click on "last post by" on the forum the link takes me correctly to the last post of the topic, but then jumps to the top of the page and I have to scroll down to the last post.
Anyone else??

Posted by: x2lls Feb 22 2012, 08:42 AM

Yes!!!

Posted by: JeffG Feb 22 2012, 09:42 AM

No!!!

What browsers are you using? Works just fine in Chrome.

Posted by: massifheed Feb 22 2012, 10:03 AM

Yes. On every page.

It seems to be to do with whatever it is that's trying to load in the top right hand corner of the page. So, for me at least, the page loads ok to the last post, then the object trying to load at the top right hand corner craps out resulting in the page bumping back up to the top.

I'm not sure what it is that's trying to load, but there's a standard "Not found, Apologies, but the page you requested could not be found..." error message. It's been like that for me since the new site went live. Either NWN don't know about it, or waiting for a fix. But it's just a broken link, so it should take about 30 seconds to sort.

Posted by: Biker1 Feb 22 2012, 11:01 AM

Firefox.

Posted by: JeffG Feb 22 2012, 12:05 PM

I gave up on Firefox because it developed an annoying habit of locking the mouse to the scroll bar wherever you moved the mouse to. Firefox used to be a great browser, but I think it's gone downhill recently with all the new releases.

I downloaded Chrome and haven't looked back (it will import all your bookmarks from whichever browser you were using before). It took a few days to get used to the bookmarks being on the left rather than the right, but a nice feature is that you can spread out frequently-used bookmarks along the bookmarks bar, rather than having them all in one drop-down folder. It also has a load of 'apps' you can install - just like a mobile phone, if you're into that sort of thing.

Posted by: xjay1337 Feb 22 2012, 12:26 PM

Jeff, think you're running into a Layer 8 OSI problem with your Firefox there buddy..

I admit Firefox is not the best browser but I like the pretty themes I have and the fact I have 4 rubber duckies smiling at me every day. Who wouldn't want that sort of connection with someone? Although for outright security Chrome seems best but if you are running patched Adobe, Flash and Java you're unlikely to get any sort of drive by downloads of exploits unless you are a numpty!

The new FF10.x isn't to bad really. Suits Windows 7 theme well. Chrome as standard looks very crayony and trust me I am the Crayon King.

Posted by: massifheed Feb 22 2012, 12:41 PM

How original.



Agreed. A few years ago Firefox was bulletproof, now it just seems buggy. I gave up on it a while back. And, for all the hype about how standards complaint it is, I have found - albeit in my very limited experience of web design - that it has as many practical issues as any other browser. More so, in fact. I found that, generally, IE and Opera were best at displaying code as it is written.

Posted by: Biker1 Feb 22 2012, 06:53 PM

OK.................................downloaded Chrome, now using it and the jump still happens.

Posted by: Simon Kirby Feb 22 2012, 07:22 PM

It's the box in the right margin with the clock and weather - it takes a couple of seconds to load and grabs the focus when it does, dragging the page up to the top. It's tres annoyez.

Posted by: Andy Capp Feb 22 2012, 07:38 PM

I have tested this on all the main browsers (IE, FF, Chrome) and they all do it if you have the default installation. It is a website problem.

In FF, if you install Adblock Plus, it stops the script from running and you will stop the problem.

Posted by: Biker1 Feb 22 2012, 08:00 PM

Didn't appeal to me much.
Back on Firefox now.
Matter of individual taste I suppose?

Posted by: Andy Capp Feb 22 2012, 08:15 PM

Same here; all browsers have their faults.

Adblock Plus works for me on the problem described above.

Posted by: JeffG Feb 22 2012, 08:15 PM

Ah, that's reason it didn't happen to me then. Nothing to do with Chrome versus Firefox.

Posted by: Andy Capp Feb 22 2012, 08:24 PM

Chrome question.

I like the Google tool bar for two big reasons. You can look at all your previous searches in the search box, and it has a superior dictionary compared top Firefox's default.

What is Chrome's spell checker like?
Is there a way in Chrome to see all your previous search strings?

Posted by: xjay1337 Feb 22 2012, 09:43 PM

Clearly better than whatever browser you are using.

Posted by: Andy Capp Feb 22 2012, 10:20 PM

As far as I can tell, the spelling's fine!

Posted by: JeffG Feb 23 2012, 11:10 AM

And this sentince (without mentioning carridgeways) gives me two squiggly red underlines in Chrome's spell checker.

So it seems to work.

Posted by: user23 Mar 4 2012, 04:06 PM

http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/tag/gardening.

Posted by: Simon Kirby Mar 5 2012, 11:39 AM

I'm starting to like the new-look web site. What I like particularly is that there are more pictures. Now most of the snagging's been done can I make a few specific suggestions:

1. The text for the main story gets truncated when it appears on the front page but there isn't a "read-more" botton right next to the ellipsis as there is with the smaller stories in the "other news" section below. You click the picture or the title to get the full story but that's not completely obvious and I think a "read more" button would help.

2. What grabs my interest most is the pictures, so when I click on a news item to get a whole page just for that item I want to see exactly the same picture that went with the trauncated story on the main page, and sometimes the full-screen story doesn't have a picture at all - http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/2012/its-here-hungerfords-new-footbridge-arrives.

3. I'd like to be able to click any picture and get a much bigger version of it so I can see some detail.

4. One picture to grab my interest is good, but sometimes I'd like the full story to have several more pictures, the Hungerford Bridge story is a good example.

5. Please, please, please fix the problem with the "Not Found" gubbins in the right hand margin of the forum that takes a couple of seconds to load and then grabs the focus and scrolls the page from the last post that I want to read to the top of the page.

6. Please get rid of the clock. It's not possible to tell the time from it because the hour hand doesn't move properly.

Posted by: Andy Capp Mar 5 2012, 03:01 PM

In the past, NWN sold pictures from the paper. If they still do that, your idea could harm that revenue stream.


Or make it digital.

I'd rather they get rid and use simple links; currently they use-up space at the top.

Posted by: xjay1337 Mar 5 2012, 03:13 PM

Do people (considering the average age of NWN readers) understand digital clocks?
To be fair I agree with Simon in some points..."read more"...etc, I like the extra pictures. and make the writing in the stories link to the story itself so you don't have to click only on the header.

Posted by: Simon Kirby Mar 5 2012, 03:29 PM

In fact clicking the smaller pic in the full article already links to a full page picture, it's just not every full article is getting a picture even when the taster has a pic.

Thanks NWN, I see you've edited a pic into the Hungerford Bridge article.

Posted by: Simon Kirby Mar 5 2012, 03:53 PM

Clicking the full page picture is still inconsistent. In the http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/2012/its-here-hungerfords-new-footbridge-arrives story it cycles round three different full page pictures, but in the http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/2012/chaddleworth-gets-much-needed-affordable-homes clicking the full page picture jives you the raw full-resolution JPG which is more interesting and intuitive.

Posted by: Adrian Hollister Mar 5 2012, 04:11 PM

AdBlock does seem to sort out many of the annoyances on the site.

Still two niggling ones for me though...

• The RSS Feeds seem to be dead
• "newburytoday.co.uk" is not a good title as it doesn't work - you need to add the "www." at the front to use the site

Posted by: Strafin Mar 5 2012, 06:39 PM

Ah, yes you do. Interesting. Especially as you don't for the forum.

Posted by: Simon Kirby Mar 5 2012, 06:49 PM

Two good pictures in the Hungerford Bridge story now, that's great, thanks.

Posted by: Simon Kirby Mar 6 2012, 10:36 PM

I see the gubbins in the right hand margin's gone now. Much better, doesn't tak ean age to load a page and that nasty scroll jumping's gone.

Posted by: rosa71uk Mar 8 2012, 09:39 PM

I want to upload some of my Newbury pics to the My Newbury picture gallery but when I go to upload, I get an error message saying 'Sorry, you do no have the right permission to upload'


Anyone out there got any ideas?

Posted by: rosa71uk Mar 16 2012, 10:36 AM

OK, update on last post. I can now upload pics but how do I put my details with it. Please get it sorted NWN.

Posted by: xjay1337 Mar 16 2012, 01:04 PM

You need the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7zuQrJEkHY&t=1m04s. Is the home computer an IBIM Pük?

Posted by: Nothing Much Mar 16 2012, 01:48 PM

You need the hootututuhpuh before the woo?. Is the home computer an IBIM Pük?

I guess that is why Iran has been developing it's own ICBM.
ce

Posted by: x2lls Mar 25 2012, 04:39 PM

Who **** thought of 01:48 PM?

Do the web designers not know the difference betwen AM and PM and the 24 hour clock?

Posted by: JeffG Mar 25 2012, 06:04 PM

If you're referring to this forum, it's American software. They do it all the time.

Posted by: x2lls Mar 25 2012, 09:57 PM

So is Windows, but the location is catered for

Posted by: JeffG Mar 26 2012, 03:29 PM

Yes indeed. I suggest you tell IPS, Inc.