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You may have noticed a new banner add on roanoke.com that offers a sneak peak to the beta version of the new and improved roanoke.com.
Please take a look, and don’t be afraid to offer your feedback.
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Ahhhhhhhh I want to like it…. but too many fonts, too many boxed “Areas” with sub-boxes and design elements that make me feel like im looking at too much information at once.
It’s weird that halfway down the page, local news area looks bigger than the “top news” block. I think the top should be the thing that catches your eye, but this doesn’t.
Right Hand Widget column could use some re-ordering… Obituaries over photo gallery? Can’t there just be a link to dead people, or do you really need to list dead people on the welcome screen? Kind of Morbid. If anything, make it an expandable text box, and emphasize the gallery. Ahhh I just clicked on the top news story and the obituaries are ALWAYS ON THE RIGHT? Seriously, that’s just wrong. I mean, what if your kid died and you go to read the news, do you really need to be reminded every click that your kids name is right there in the obituary column? Really?! I know there are a lot of old people around here, but is the constant reminder really necessary?!
Things I like: mouse-over tabs at top (though the “off-state” artwork has a visually distracting line right through the middle of the word.) rotating content in the local news “area”, bigger artwork in the news stories, and “slideshow” style imagery, (though it could be tightened up a little bit.)
Other than that. it’s a step. I’m not sure I want to admit it’s a step in the right direction, but technically it seems to be an improvement. Design-wise maybe a step back.
It’s different and I’ll get used to it. Much like when Kroger moves the whole store around to sell the same food. Most people will swoon over all of the pictures and graphics, but it slows down reception of the page and truly adds no value. Anyone without high-speed broadband or a slow computer or other device will curse it.
I do not like it. The first thing I saw was your mug, and larger, too!
I’d like to see graphics on all the left sidebar entries, not just the top three, similar to how the mobile site displays icons.
The link to this blog just says “Casey” are you dropping the “Dan”?
I like it, but it is busy.
I probably won’t use it until I have to. I’ll fuss about it then.
Hey scott,
your comments concerning the obits reminds me, it appears as thought the print version of the RTs’ obits has been expanded from what was, perhaps due to more pictures, more copy, lower prices, or maybe more people are passing away. the renewed emphasis in the “new and improved roanoke.com” on obits makes me think it’s an area from which the RTs thinks it can get more dollars flowing… by profiting off of dead people.
I agree with the “busy” comments. The page looks like a bunch of lists. I suspect we’ll get used to it though.
” the renewed emphasis in the “new and improved roanoke.com” on obits makes me think it’s an area from which the RTs thinks it can get more dollars flowing… by profiting off of dead people.”
Yeah, Frankie, that’s some nimble thinking by you. The RT is out there at funeral homes strongarming families into buying obits.
It’s not only the Roanoke Times. Death notices are much sought-after information for every newspaper. Whether you like it or not, death is news. It was that way long before The Roanoke Times ever existed, and it will be that way long after, too.
Newsflash, Frank! News is business. And we appreciate your continued patronage.
Death may be big business, but where is the obituary section in the print newspaper?
Unless you’re famous, it ain’t on the front page, nor is it on every single other story page.
The Obits button is appropriate at the top. The list of the dead in addition is not.
It’s very busy…trying to do too many things at once. Accuweather did that with their site, and I hardly use it any longer. They re-worked it 2-3 years ago and it went from a fairly simple, easy to navigate site to one that just tries to do too much.
The current site is a lot of text, but it’s easy to find stuff. I would have thought the top ribbon for navigation would have allowed the new main page to be simplified and sleek…but it’s not.
Ancestry and the industry of death have made obituaries a part of a big business and record keeping is part of that process. More people consult the obituaries than you might think, especially folks who have moved from the area. Just like the “You know you are from…” pages on FB. It is a business and the obituaries and archives are a big part of several of them.