New Look For The Footballguys Webpage (1 Viewer)

[Joe Bryant]

http://www.footballguys.com

Site has a pretty major facelift. Thanks to our smart guys Keith Overton, Doug Drinen, Jason Wood and of course my partner, David Dodds here.

It's a work in progress and I'm sure we'll have some things to work out. Please let us know what you see here and we'll try to jump on them. Thanks for being patient.

J

 

[neverfox]

Please consider going back to the old look. No offense meant to you guys personally, but the new look is a downgrade in my opinion. It has the look of a cheap website template. The other look was very sophisticated, professional and appealing to the eye. It's almost never a good idea to use a giant background image both for performance and tastefulness. The all white look with the nice fonts was a winner. There was no need to change or at least to change to this.

Again, I don't want to offend you but I want to be honest because I enjoy the site and don't want new potential subscribers to get turned off to it or mistake it for a fake spam site (which is what the new look reminds me of).

 

[amnesiac]

nice testimonial.

 

[LHUCKS]

Huge improvement.

The Adam S. quote is an eyegrabber as well.

 

[BroadwayG]

It's GRRRRRREAT!!!!!

 

[Dhizz]

http://www.footballguys.com

Site has a pretty major facelift. Thanks to our smart guys Keith Overton, Doug Drinen, Jason Wood and of course my partner, David Dodds here.

It's a work in progress and I'm sure we'll have some things to work out. Please let us know what you see here and we'll try to jump on them. Thanks for being patient.

J

If you ever get bandwidth issues, the grass background is about 400k. You could edit it down to about 1/20 square, and just repeat it. Sure it won't look quite as fancy, but it will be way faster and give the same effect. On dialup, the FBG site will take about 2 minutes to load (of couse will be faster once the images are cached).Beyond that, it's a big improvement. Good job.

 

[lebowski]

It will take some getting used to but I think I like it.

 

[Joe Bryant]

Huge improvement. The Adam S. quote is an eyegrabber as well.

Thanks lhucks.We got to know Adam through our Cecil Lammey and it's been very cool. He's an outstanding guy and does a fantastic job IMO with the NFL Network.J

 

[turnit643]

I like it ... easy to navigate, pleasing to the eye. Nice job FBG's.

 

[Ron_Mexico]

On dialup, the FBG site will take about 2 minutes to load

what's dialup ? BTW, great upgrades to the site.

 

[code]

I was posting comments over in the FFA thread...but wanted to note that the subscribers stuff isn't quite working for me...login is taking me to the old site...and if I nav back new site doesn't seem to recognize I'm logged in...

 

[code]

Also, for the love of all that is holy and sacred: Still No RSS?

 

[Warpig]

meh...

It'll take some getting used to. Call me old fashioned.

But it's not like I dislike it.

I'll come around.

 

[code]

I like the new website look and feel oodles more than the new forum look and feel...

 

[LHUCKS]

He's an outstanding guy and does a fantastic job IMO with the NFL Network.

Agreed on him doing a fantastic job...I'm a big fan.

 

[GreenNGold]

The only suggestion I have is that instead of having latest NFL news stories take up the entire right half of the screen, I would like to see the latest articles written by you guys. The articles and premium content that you guys write is why I come to this site, not to catch the latest NFL headlines (although you guys do a great job of keeping me up to date with that as well).

 

[Dhizz]

On dialup, the FBG site will take about 2 minutes to load

what's dialup ? BTW, great upgrades to the site.

You use a modem, and dial up through your phone line. About 40% of the US uses it. Sorta common.

 

[Q-Bert]

Looks great. Very sleek.

On the articles page I noticed the following issues:

Strategy is spelled incorrectly.

When you click the drop down arrow you can still see the text behind the box that drops down. It is corrected simply by mousing over the box but you should be able to fix that.

Not an error and not really relevant to the new design but I sure wish the order that the Faceoffs and Spotlights were listed in made some logical sense. I would prefer alphabetical by position.

 

[Q-Bert]

The only suggestion I have is that instead of having latest NFL news stories take up the entire right half of the screen, I would like to see the latest articles written by you guys. The articles and premium content that you guys write is why I come to this site, not to catch the latest NFL headlines (although you guys do a great job of keeping me up to date with that as well).

I come here for the fantasy info. Not general football news. That is what ESPN and Sports Illustrated are for.

 

[Sclaffer]

I was posting comments over in the FFA thread...but wanted to note that the subscribers stuff isn't quite working for me...login is taking me to the old site...and if I nav back new site doesn't seem to recognize I'm logged in...

I saw your comment in the FFA thread about the MyFBG page. If you hover over the link, it shows "subscribers.footballguys.com/myfbg", but if you click on the link, it takes you to "www.subscribers.footballguys.com/myfbg." If you take out the "www." the link works. It also recognizes that you are logged in, eventhough the login stuff on the new page does not seem to work yet.

 

[LHUCKS]

The only suggestion I have is that instead of having latest NFL news stories take up the entire right half of the screen, I would like to see the latest articles written by you guys. The articles and premium content that you guys write is why I come to this site, not to catch the latest NFL headlines (although you guys do a great job of keeping me up to date with that as well).

I actually agree with this...I think it's the articles and premium content that sets you guys apart from a Rotoworld/ESPN/CBS or whatever news service you may be competing with. Maybe you're trying push/emphasize that facet regarding a business strategy? I can respect that, but as an everyday user the old format regarding quick links to articles/rankings was better for me. Not a big deal or complaint, but just a thought.

 

[BroadwayG]

I miss the rotating staff image on the front page.

 

[Joe Bryant]

Also, for the love of all that is holy and sacred: Still No RSS?

We can only do so much at a time. That is definitely something we will do here soon. J

 

[Gottabesweet]

as it was loading the green background turf started to appear and I got scared thinking its all like that ....

phew....

 

[Joe Bryant]

The only suggestion I have is that instead of having latest NFL news stories take up the entire right half of the screen, I would like to see the latest articles written by you guys. The articles and premium content that you guys write is why I come to this site, not to catch the latest NFL headlines (although you guys do a great job of keeping me up to date with that as well).

Interesting. Thanks for the feedback there. I think that's a compliment. Let's get this all working and then we can think about stuff like this.J

 

[posty]

Still any chance you get the grass to stop moving?

 

[Fiddles]

when you use the news tab at the top to jump to the blogger, the blogger has the same old look

are there plans to have the blogger and other pages you jump to from the home page share the same look and have the top tabbed menu up no matter what page you are on? forecast and articles currently act the way im describing.

 

[lions327]

The only suggestion I have is that instead of having latest NFL news stories take up the entire right half of the screen, I would like to see the latest articles written by you guys. The articles and premium content that you guys write is why I come to this site, not to catch the latest NFL headlines (although you guys do a great job of keeping me up to date with that as well).

I actually agree with this...I think it's the articles and premium content that sets you guys apart from a Rotoworld/ESPN/CBS or whatever news service you may be competing with. Maybe you're trying push/emphasize that facet regarding a business strategy? I can respect that, but as an everyday user the old format regarding quick links to articles/rankings was better for me. Not a big deal or complaint, but just a thought.

 

[Joe Bryant]

The only suggestion I have is that instead of having latest NFL news stories take up the entire right half of the screen, I would like to see the latest articles written by you guys. The articles and premium content that you guys write is why I come to this site, not to catch the latest NFL headlines (although you guys do a great job of keeping me up to date with that as well).

I actually agree with this...I think it's the articles and premium content that sets you guys apart from a Rotoworld/ESPN/CBS or whatever news service you may be competing with. Maybe you're trying push/emphasize that facet regarding a business strategy? I can respect that, but as an everyday user the old format regarding quick links to articles/rankings was better for me. Not a big deal or complaint, but just a thought.

So basically, if you click the "articles" tab on the front page (where the news is showing now), you guys would like for that to be the default view?J

 

[Joe Bryant]

Still any chance you get the grass to stop moving?

No.J

 

[Q-Bert]

The only suggestion I have is that instead of having latest NFL news stories take up the entire right half of the screen, I would like to see the latest articles written by you guys. The articles and premium content that you guys write is why I come to this site, not to catch the latest NFL headlines (although you guys do a great job of keeping me up to date with that as well).

I actually agree with this...I think it's the articles and premium content that sets you guys apart from a Rotoworld/ESPN/CBS or whatever news service you may be competing with. Maybe you're trying push/emphasize that facet regarding a business strategy? I can respect that, but as an everyday user the old format regarding quick links to articles/rankings was better for me. Not a big deal or complaint, but just a thought.

So basically, if you click the "articles" tab on the front page (where the news is showing now), you guys would like for that to be the default view?J

Assuming you fix the "articles" tab so that the links line up with the dates, then yes. You may want to consider limiting it to only the most recent 5-7 articles so that the "box" is about the same size as the current front page.

 

[Q-Bert]

Still any chance you get the grass to stop moving?

Try putting down the for a few hours and then checking the page again.

 

[CalBear]

Sorry, it doesn't look professional. It looks like some guy's nephew designed it. It's fixed at 1000 pixels wide for no good reason; the only thing over in the wide content is the photography contest, which could just as easily have been handled in a narrower layout or as a banner. The football in the bottom corner doesn't work when you have to scroll horizontally; it doesn't move when you scroll, so you end up with a broken image sitting in the middle of the page.

The text areas are too wide for your eye to easily scan; for example, the following text is too wide to easily scan as one line.

Projections Dominator Application - Allows you to view/weight multiple staff projections to assist you in creating unique numbers - 5/24The category pages (like http://footballguys.com/articles.htm) waste a lot of space and hide the interesting content; I have to play peek-a-boo to find the article I'm looking for (and this is going to get worse as the year goes on).Suggestions for improvement:

Get rid of the Photography Contest box on the right, put it somewhere else.
Make sure that text areas (other than things like stat tables) are narrow enough for easy scanning (600 pixels or so)
Make sure the entire layout displays reasonably, without horizontal scrolling, at resolutions from 800 to 1200 pixels.
My opinion, lose the silly grass background. It doesn't impact the user experience the way the other problems do, but it looks totally cheesy.

 

[AB in DC]

It's a bit busy for my taste.

I agree with the comments on the background image. It adds nothing to the site, and if anything, makes FBG look more amateurish than professional. I'm no expect, but I think the web design community has slowly begun to realize that just because you can do something in HTML, doesn't mean you should; it seems like you're a bit behind the times here.

On a separate note, I do like the tabs, but the link boxes at the top seem unnecessarily tall.

 

[Dhizz]

Sorry, it doesn't look professional. It looks like some guy's nephew designed it. It's fixed at 1000 pixels wide for no good reason;

 

[lions327]

Still any chance you get the grass to stop moving?

My grass isn't moving.

 

[posty]

Still any chance you get the grass to stop moving?

My grass isn't moving.

Even if you click on "News" or "Articles" or "Podcasts" or "Tools" or "Updates"?It is for me in Firefox and IE...

 

[dirtyhalos]

Still any chance you get the grass to stop moving?

My grass isn't moving.

blow harder

 

[cowpie]

The only suggestion I have is that instead of having latest NFL news stories take up the entire right half of the screen, I would like to see the latest articles written by you guys. The articles and premium content that you guys write is why I come to this site, not to catch the latest NFL headlines (although you guys do a great job of keeping me up to date with that as well).

I come here for the fantasy info. Not general football news. That is what ESPN and Sports Illustrated are for.

good posting. i like the new site, just need to travel around it an dget used to it, but i agree here, i read the articles written by you guys first.

 

[Dhizz]

Still any chance you get the grass to stop moving?

My grass isn't moving.

Even if you click on "News" or "Articles" or "Podcasts" or "Tools" or "Updates"?It is for me in Firefox and IE...

It's not animated.But yes, the grass does shift around. It gave my 6 year old nephew a seizure so maybe a warning on the front page.

 

[cowpie]

Still any chance you get the grass to stop moving?

No.J

ahahahaah, i actually like the grass thing

 

[CalBear]

Still any chance you get the grass to stop moving?

My grass isn't moving.

Even if you click on "News" or "Articles" or "Podcasts" or "Tools" or "Updates"?It is for me in Firefox and IE...

Firefox:Go to about:configSet image.animation_mode to "once".It's sad that users have to take measures like this, but as long as web designers keep churning out crap, at least it's good to know there are tools to deal with it.

 

[AB in DC]

BTW, the week-by-week links at the top of the page are broken. They used to point to 2006 content, which I still look at from time to time.

 

[Mystery Achiever]

So basically, if you click the "articles" tab on the front page (where the news is showing now), you guys would like for that to be the default view?J

You guys have been busy! I like the new colors; the various blackeyed joe logos will blend better with them.Yes to your question above. And it will also be a better "tease"/promo for the paid content (assuming News is free like Blogger? )Along the same lines, I don't think the "Latest Information" header is needed; I'd shift the whole thing up and just have the tabs. But, keeping it, I'd consider a "sexier" line even if it is as simple as a change as "The Latest" or "Hot off the Presses" (though that's tired -- just to give an idea of tone.)

 

[perry147]

Looks great.

 

[Mystery Achiever]

Still any chance you get the grass to stop moving?

My grass isn't moving.

Even if you click on "News" or "Articles" or "Podcasts" or "Tools" or "Updates"?It is for me in Firefox and IE...

just looked at it in both ie and firefox. liquid lunch?

 

[LHUCKS]

The only suggestion I have is that instead of having latest NFL news stories take up the entire right half of the screen, I would like to see the latest articles written by you guys. The articles and premium content that you guys write is why I come to this site, not to catch the latest NFL headlines (although you guys do a great job of keeping me up to date with that as well).

I actually agree with this...I think it's the articles and premium content that sets you guys apart from a Rotoworld/ESPN/CBS or whatever news service you may be competing with. Maybe you're trying push/emphasize that facet regarding a business strategy? I can respect that, but as an everyday user the old format regarding quick links to articles/rankings was better for me. Not a big deal or complaint, but just a thought.

So basically, if you click the "articles" tab on the front page (where the news is showing now), you guys would like for that to be the default view?J

That would be better for a "hardcore" user like me, but I actually like it the way you used to have it, with links to some articles, but also to key tools like the rankings/data dominator etc. Kind of an all in one list.Again not a complaint, just a personal preference as we have different objectives...part of your objective is to make money and my objective is to get to the hardcore information as quickly as possible.

 

[Joe Bryant]

It's sad that users have to take measures like this, but as long as web designers keep churning out crap, at least it's good to know there are tools to deal with it.

Cal bear, We're trying the best we can. None of us are professional web designers. We're just trying to make it work the best we can. Sorry if what we're "churning" out is "crap" to you.J

 

[posty]

Still any chance you get the grass to stop moving?

My grass isn't moving.

Even if you click on "News" or "Articles" or "Podcasts" or "Tools" or "Updates"?It is for me in Firefox and IE...

just looked at it in both ie and firefox. liquid lunch?

Because I think it was fixed...

 

[Joe Bryant]

The only suggestion I have is that instead of having latest NFL news stories take up the entire right half of the screen, I would like to see the latest articles written by you guys. The articles and premium content that you guys write is why I come to this site, not to catch the latest NFL headlines (although you guys do a great job of keeping me up to date with that as well).

I actually agree with this...I think it's the articles and premium content that sets you guys apart from a Rotoworld/ESPN/CBS or whatever news service you may be competing with. Maybe you're trying push/emphasize that facet regarding a business strategy? I can respect that, but as an everyday user the old format regarding quick links to articles/rankings was better for me. Not a big deal or complaint, but just a thought.

So basically, if you click the "articles" tab on the front page (where the news is showing now), you guys would like for that to be the default view?J

That would be better for a "hardcore" user like me, but I actually like it the way you used to have it, with links to some articles, but also to key tools like the rankings/data dominator etc. Kind of an all in one list.Again not a complaint, just a personal preference as we have different objectives...part of your objective is to make money and my objective is to get to the hardcore information as quickly as possible.

Thanks lhucks. Let' us get things semi stable and then we can start tweaking some things like this. Don't lose those thoughts though. J