It’s Wednesday, so that means it’s time for our weekly discussion post, where you determine the topics!
As usual – talk about whatever you like as long as it’s related to movies, TV or Screen Rant itself.
Oh, I will ask: Is everyone settling into the new home page design? 
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110 Comments
@Dan
Thanks, man. I’ve actually been trying to think of things to add even more sense of community. I don’t know if people would like or be into the ability to set up user profiles here on the site? Folks? What do you think?
@Evie
The TV Wrap Up post is usually on Thursdays. Bruce is working on it now.
Vic
User profiles would be very neat.
Some more feedback regarding the front page: I think there’s too much information that isn’t needed on my second visit back. ‘Latest movie trailers’ and ‘Latest movie reviews’ will stay the same for a few days. The tags section at the bottom also takes quite a bit of real estate (this probably favours the non-frequent visitor, more than it does the constant visitor).
edit: just read that most of your audience are non-regulars. Hmm, interesting. Is it not possible that first-timers also enjoyed the old layout? Heck, I was a first-timer once and I liked Screenrant offered.
Regarding having to click through to specific sections now, the whole premise of the old Screenrant was just having to scroll! If it’s news, it’s at the top (no need to scroll). Now, I’m having to scan everything, through movie news, through the pictures on the left. Then I have to scroll down the main page, and scan some more.
I also support the “more information about each article on the home page”.
Have to say I’m getting to quite like the new layout. At first I was baffled, but now I just look at the movie list, then the tv list, then scroll down and check out hot topics and latest comments.
Also finding things a lot smoother and quicker than they once were. Which is the main thing.
Scorsese signed on to do … “Sinatra”. The avengers, iron man 2,3,4 whatever… You all could keep that. Don’t get me wrong those films might be good but this is “Sinatra”. I just wish i had a role in that movie… Shining Sinatra’s shoes… Something… Anything. I plan on naming my kid “Sinatra”…and in my opinion this movie is going to be the best movie of whatever that year that it comes out.
Hey Vic;
I checked out the ‘Horror’ site and thought it seemed a little busy (for lack of a better word). The one thing I’d suggest adapting to Screen Rant is in the ‘Horror News’ column. After the title of the article is the apparent start to the article, instead of the first lines of the story, perhaps a single sentence teaser, a crumb to wet our appetites, for the rest of the article.
I have to add that I do like the ‘Latest’ column on the right though, and the ‘Weekly Poll’ is going to be something I look forward to each week.
So are you saying that bar under the main logo has always been there?
As for the ‘user profiles’, I’m not sure I’d use (or make) them, but I am certain others would and probably enjoy learning tid-bits about their fellow Ranters.
@ Mark
The second time I watched Star Trek I did a quick count of the shuttles leaving the Kelvin and came up with about 22! That is a lot of shuttle craft for a ship like the Kelvin, based on TOS.
*** *** SPOILER ALERT *** ***
So I tried to get a feel for the size of the Enterprise from the internal screen shots of sections that were not corridors or rooms like the bridge or sickbay. They all seemed to be HUGE spaces filled very large equipment, tanks, support pylons, and what not. The warp core(s) were very large and when they were ejected the view from outside the ship made them look like 55 gallon drums. My point being the ships in the new movie seem to be very much larger than in TOS. Even Spock’s ‘Red Matter’ ship didn’t look big in flight, but was enormous when some one stood next to it.
I knew the new page design would sort of split people down the middle between those who like the organization and those who think it’s too busy and crammed together, but yah, you can simply click on movie news or tv news and negate the whole thing, lol. And also thought of how it got rid of that blog look with the new design. But it’s all good, I’m getting used to it.
I do believe there’s room for improvement on the home page. It’s very, very hard to find a balance between making thing easy to find for new folks (who may appreciate the categorization and not want to hit “page down” six times) and ease of usability to frequent visitors.
Things I’m thinking of:
- Re-introduce excerpts, even if shorter than your used to on the home page.
- Thumbnails with each title and excerpt.
- Remove the distinction between TV and Movie news and just make it “Latest Headlines.”
- Increase the font size a bit.
I do want to keep category areas, Hot Topics, Latest Comments and the Movie and TV show lists.
The trick is organizing and fitting all this on the page in a way that makes sense.
Vic
To answer your question,
Nope.
The new home page is kinda like Batman & Robin or Spiderman 3.
Too many characters in the same frame.
If I have the time to sit and really sort through it I will. This site has always rocked.
You know, I really like this thread but that guy with the bald head and glasses has to go.
LMAO @ Kahless!
Funny boy.
FYI we may have some changes coming to the home page much sooner than I thought that I hope you guys will like.
Vic
At first the changes threw me, Vic. But after a week or so, I have gotten used to them. Maybe a rollover on the headlines to get a 2 or 3 sentence blurb? Any way, I plan on staying here to get my movie news.
Hey guys,
Phase II of the home page is LIVE, thanks to YOUR feedback:
http://screenrant.com
Please check it out and tell me what you think – be HONEST!
Vic
I currently click movie news and TV news because I really truly preferred that layout. Before you changed it I honestly thought Screen Rant had the best home page layout of any of the site I go to. It was easy to navigate had enough information for you to decide if you wanted to read the article and you didn’t have to go to various different parts of the site to read stories in different areas. Now I have to click in to all the different categories opening up several tabs in my window just to see if there is anything new in all the categories that I like. I don’t like the format of the new front page. It seems to jumbled and it kind of sucks to have to click movie news to get the info in the style that I want because I also have to click Tv news and read them separately.
V nice Vic!
Tyyyyy!
@Daniel
Are you looking at the new version or still the old one. I’ve added images and excerpts to the latest posts on the home page. I’m also working with the programmer to find a way to have only one “More” link at the end of the latest headline section to point to a page that has the latest posts in every category.
Vic
Oh no, that’s horrible, change it all again!!1
lol, just kidding, let me use it for a bit before I opine about it, but so far it looks good.
Keeps getting better and better
I like this much better, BIG improvement, just one thing, it seems like the left side is almost too busy with images, I wonder if theres a way to like have them there and kinda dimmed, or faded, so you can see them but they arent overpowering, and then mouseover them to see them in full color, I dont know. So far tho its way easier to get around.
@Richard
I’ll see about delineating those side sections with some sort of border to make them more separate.
Thanks,
Vic
It’s better than the last one, but I still prefer the old style. It was much more friendly in my opinion. I’m not saying it’s horrible or ugly I just don’t find it comfortable to use. I’d still rather see the old style or at least something similar. If it wasn’t broke don’t see why it needed to be fixed, but I doubt you would change it back or even get close to so I guess as long as I can still click on the sections and get the good style I’ll just have to deal with it. Still sucks that I have to open up the different sections instead of having all my news on one page all put together, but I just don’t like using that main page.
Wow, lots of pretty pictures!
Admittedly, it is a lot to take in, especially for someone new, but I’m getting used to it quickly.
One thing: the hot topics and latest comments are very handy. Maybe they could be higher on the right, rather than right down the bottom?
But I don’t mind movies and tv being apart. Certainly helps me avoid tv news from the US on shows I’m still watching in the UK. Although to be fair you’ve all been really good on that.
Maybe people who plan on visiting this site on a regular basis can sign up for some free membership thing where you can customize the look yourself, lol. And instead of emailing you notifications for new posts, you can look at the articles and the ones with new posts since your last visit will be in bold or have “# new posts” next to it. And you can “subscribe” to certain articles like in forums and you can click on a link that will automatically show you only the articles you subscribed to with new posts…
I know that’s like a monumental amount of extra work for Vic to do that, but one can dream right? lol
I think it’s ok the way it is, but I see what Daniel is saying that if he liked the old look, he has to click on movie news and tv news separately. Maybe there should be a link that shows them combined? So basically it’s the old style on a separate link??
Guys,
Like I said, I’m working with the designer to come up with a way to provide a link to a page that looks like the old home page – so at the bottom of “Latest Headlines” instead of two separate links, one to TV and one to Movie News, there will be just one going to a combined page.
No, I won’t be going back to the old home page but as you can see I *have* listened to your recommendations and I think it made for a much better design.
@steven
I may try that after this has settled in for a while. I just thought it was better to highlight the poll, which I am STUNNED to see has received over 1200 votes! I thought it would get maybe 200…
Vic
@Vic
Maybe ACORN had a hand in the votes thing…
That’s cool. Polls need attention too.
Was just a thought. Let’s face it, if someone can’t be bothered to check out the whole home page, they don’t care enough.
But still really liking the new looks and speed. Think been coming here over a year now and this is great.
Yes, the speed of the page loading is excellent. Especially since I’m accessing it from my work’s crappy computers… Before it used to take a little while to load the main page. So much so that once it’s loaded, I never clicked away from it, I always opened the articles in new windows so I don’t have to reload the main page again when I’m done with that article, lol.
You know, what I don’t understand about the poll is why the percentages show down to a tenth of a percent when it obviously rounds to the nearest whole number?? Like why it shows that “55.0%” of people thought it was 5/5. The .0 is pretty useless, it’s always .0…
All right you whiner-babies:
http://screenrant.com/archive/
It’s linked off the home page at the bottom of Latest Headlines as “More News >>.”
Happy now?
Vic
Once I found the “MOVIE NEWS” it was all good!
But the home page may need a few revisions to make it more appealing for us to, uh, actually WANT to bookmark it instead of just Movie News.
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