New Design!
Why? The old design was uninspiring and horribly coded by yours truly. Adding anything to the site was a painstaking endeavor. This new site is completely widgetized and the backend is setup to make adding and removing functionality a breeze. I’m happy about that.
There’s still some design stuff to take shape, I don’t like my logo or the header area of the site. I’ll worry about that soon.
New Stuff: Photographer Profiles!
I’ve wanted to do this for a long time. Canon Rumors is a popular site and I’d like to share the traffic with talented photographers. I’m going to do a profile every month.
For now, Mr David E Jackson will get the remainder of March and all of April.
Read the interview and check out his sites, I love his work.
Want to be profiled? Send me an email and I’ll check you out. I don’t really have any criteria, just cool folks!
Reviews
There will be more reviews on the site. Yes, there’s lots of reviews out there. However, if you’re like me, you’ll read every last review you can find about something.
More Content?
I have plans for some other cool stuff. Look for it in the fall, I think you’ll love it.
Why More Content?
A few reasons really.
1) I do not want to get bored. The core of this site is rumors and always will be. I do need to do more with my day though.
2) Rumor quality. Recently the rumor quality on this site has taken a hit. That’s completely my fault. I get it in my head I have to post something every single day. I know that isn’t the case. There are going to be slow times. We’ve been very successful in the past with rumors and I want to get back to that. Having other content to tide us over can only be a good thing.
Site Issues
We’re still troubleshooting a site issue.
cr
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82 Comments
i love this new design!
Loving the new design. Good work to whoever worked on it!
Looks good. Awsome
Congrats on the new design!
Great job with the redesign and I’ll add my support to your new site philosophy. We don’t need rumors generated daily if there’s not much credence to them. I’d rather hear about Canon-related information than a rumor with practically no chance of coming true. The reviews and other features will give us nice juicy bones to chew on until the fresh meaty nugget of rumor comes around. Thanks for your efforts with the site, they’ll definitely help improve my appetite.
Hey CR,
The new design of the site is really very cool. Kudos to who ever worked on this new design. Looking forward for some exciting stuff :)
Cheers,
Shiv
Great new design!! And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the logo or header.
Awesome! Keep up the great work! Looking forward to the additional content.
Great new design. However, on IE7 there are a few problems with div layouts.
1. The RSS/Twitter/Facebook links at the top are not centred and partially overlap with the top bar
2. The search bar in the header as the word “search” in it twice. The second one is only half visible peaking in from the right side.
3. The very bottom (minor detail), the RSS and Twitter images are partially cut off by the div. This might just be a matter of increasing the div height or setting overflow to visible.
Otherwise, the new design is great!
I know IE7 is not exactly popular (especially for many CR types), but there are some out there who have to use it (e.g., where systems are maintained by someone else).
looks good, I was surprised when thre new page opened
You do have a CR0-“news” rating system…
I like the new design. But the fonts seem to be too big on my screen, i.e., comparing to the old design.
Love the design, but what happened with the mobile version?
yeah use the CR0 rating too…
That way we know its just a rumor…
Yes, the fonts are bigger than the previous design, but I think it’s a great improvement over the old look.
I agree the header with the “canonrumors” should be moved upwards, just below the RSS/Twitter/Facebook links at the top.
What I don’t like is that I miss the line that framed individual posts, it helped in identifying which post each reply is referring to. Very useful in many cases when dozens of replies are “nested”. Other than this, I very much appreciate the change and the new stuff. Congrats, CR guy!
CR1, CR2 and CR3 are rumors either. For facts, just wait for press releases…
sorry,
but i think i am gonna be the first not to love the new design
font size of titles and headings way to big
i like it more compact
dont like the advertising
the old design was more simple but better
also very slow site
Totally agree with Michael. Do not like it. The old one was clean and good readable. This looks much too big and unorganized.
It’s coming along. Take your time and don’t feel rushed. It’s a good industrial site! Best Regards.
Nice upgrade.
OMG! Visual overload!
Honestly: I might get used to the usage of more colours, namely red, but a lot of elements are way too oversized and screenspace-taking. This holds especially true for the top “subscribe/follow” bar and those “feature boxes” on the top.
I think I’ll let AdBlock+ kill those… (And maybe a complete user-stylesheet, while we’re at it. :-\ )
Love the new design!
Working on IE7, neither myself or my coder has it installed. Give this 24 hours tops.
Thanks
Updated Rating System coming tomorrow in the header.
The text has been shrunk and some reds accents are going to be toned down. Give this 48 hours.
The old site was a nightmare to change anything on. I had to go a new direction.
The slow site issue has been resolved for the moment, fingers crossed things remain so.
I appreciate all feedback.
I can’t please everyone with a design, I can only go by what other successful sites are doing.
1) The feature boxes at the top will remain. I like them and it’s easy to put good new content out there.
2) Social media links will also remain.
3) The colors will be toned down. I do agree with you here.
Give the changes 48 hours to come about.
to be honest, i liked the old version more. This new version is so…big , huge or heavy or..or large. and it creates feeling that it’s full of advertisement. Looks so american. Don’t like it.
sorry, but that’s my opinion. BUT, i will still keep reading canon rumors :p
1) Shrunk the fonts 2 pixels.
2) I will examine the header placement with my coder. I really dig the feature boxes and want to continue to use them. Duly noted.
3) There are lines separating different discussions in the comments. I will look into adding an alternating shadow background though.
Thanks
Heya
1) There are actually LESS ads on it now! :)
2) I’m hearing a bit of a recurring theme about visual overload. It will be addressed.
Thanks!
First look – wow – on second looks a nice design.
Usability tip – keep the header small – the less you have to scroll the easier to read, at the same time, I an aware that you need to be able to advertise your own content – but a site that requires scrolling just to allow nice reading isn’t ideal – I liked the size of the old header much more.
Profiles:
I think you might want to distinguish between Professionals and Amateurs/Hobby Photographers – for example, I fall into the Hobby category – but would I mind a profile? No. Is it worth your bother – not really…
Maybe you can offer hobby photographers an option to send a short text about themselves to you – you moderate it, (I.e. read it) and then if accepted, post it under a hobby option?
Another point – usernames – any chance to allow for registration? It would allow some users to protect their username.
One more detail:
You have two 5D MK III options in the categories – this happened on your old site at some point – I’m not sure if there is an easy option to merge them, but if yes, it might be an idea.
3) There are lines separating different discussions in the comments. I will look into adding an alternating shadow background though.
I have noticed the lines separating different comments, what I’m referring to are the useful vertical lines which framed each individual reply to the comment or to the replies to it. It sometimes happens that a comment may have lots of replies so you have to scroll to identify which reply a certain poster is referring to. Indenting, as it is now, helps, but the vertical lines of the framing – and background – of the older version helped a lot better. Anyway, I think alternating shadow background would be ok, provided it is between posts and not between different discussions, already separated by horizontal lines.
Good job CR guy, we appreciate your effort ($25,000… gosh! ;-))
Hi,
Congratulation on the new design! It might have flows (as I will add later), but it is fresh and very flashy!
Few points just to be noted :
1. Fonts are battling – too many sizes, some too big, that creates too much emty spaces – especially You can see this in the above comments. Right at the comments – If You could style align the date/time on the right of the name it would be much better. And the name just at least 15% smaller font please :-)
2. Thinner top line. You could really make the logos stand by using a thin text description along the icon. You could keep it on top – but I am not sur eif it will look ok. But I guess I would really like better if You fix the background to stick at place and not scroll – please give it a try.
3. Look at the bottom of the page — it looks well balanced – the same balance is missing in the top of the page – just a tad smaller fonts, and style the logo and it will look simply awsome!
4. Keep the good work and wish You hot true rummors all year round!
I have to say, I liked the old one as it was so quick and easy to read. I normally like updates to sites, but I agree with most of the others who don’t like this version: Too much space! Too Large!
A much simpler black and white pallet for colors would be much more readable. The dark gray sides need to be toned way down, and even replaced with just a boarder.
Oh, and stick the social media links ANYWHERE but the header. That is a BEAST of a header, and I think those thinks are the least important part.
The commenting system seems to ignore my return characters as well.
The old alternating highlights for the comments was much better for dyslexics like me, I have trouble following the flow now.
Again, KILL the social media links at the top, or move them somewhere else. I tried scrolling in my browser window to pretend the social links were not in the header, and it improved the look by 25% at least!
Looking forward to more reviews, especially side by side canon products. It is(the design) a bit loud but hey, the site does what it does and nobody is going away coz its big.
lotsa luck and keep moving froward
Love it, I’m just missing the mobile version!
Well done.
Design looks great, but if this is going to be the constructive criticism thread, then I’ll chip in my 2c:
The article title font seems like it is a few sizes to big to me as well, although I think the rest of the text is pretty much OK. A reduction of a few points would suit me a lot better, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it sooner or later if not.
I think the header is probably a bit too big as well as it takes up almost half of my laptop screen, but looks a lot better when given a little more vertical room on my 24″ TFT. To be fair, this isn’t just Canon Rumours; lots of websites don’t work too well in combination with browsers in full screen mode on widescreen laptops…
I personally think the new website is a poor design. The title fonts and headings are really big and the eye seems to be fighting to find focus.
To be honest, I come to Canon Rumors because I am interested in what the author has to say about the rumors of the day. The new website sadly, de-emphasizes this in favor twitter icons, canon ads, and non-rumor based stories.
If this is the direction Canon Rumors wants to go, then change the web address to, be just another Canon Blog.
Kudos on the redesign!
If you scroll back in the comments, you’ll some things I’ve said about the design and coming tweaks and improvements.
Content hasn’t changed other than a Photographers profile.
There are less Ads on the site now then their were yesterday as well.
Thanks for the comments!
The mobile version is on hold for the moment. We’re running minimal stuff to make sure the server issues have been sorted.
Here’s hoping they have been and we can get a mobile version back up.
Hey
You’re right about the return issue. I shall add that to the list to be remedied in the next 24 hours.
Social Media links will also get the axe in their current form.
This new site is incredibly slow on my phone now. And sometimes it just freezes up completely.
After I post a comment it says, “Page not found,” but it still seems to post. Just fyi. Maybe it’s just my device.
CR Guy, ONE Question!
Do you have ‘TIME’ to do with your NEW CONTENT ?
I like the new design aswell..
One minor issue I noticed right away – I opened this link with the comments link and it didnt jumped to the comments, the anchoring dont work… an item with #comments is missing from the design :)
Just got on with the iPod. Everything looks great and it was fast to load. Congratz cr guy.
Thank you. Much better now. :)
Are you missing the favicon? I have hundreds of tabs opened, that CanonRumors favicon made my life easier to find this tab. :))
I love the design of the new site. Very appealing to the eye.
Lisa
http://www.cranestudioimaging.com
http://www.boisephotography.net
I really enjoy reading the rumors and comments. It’s difficult to check back periodically to see if there are new responses to a comment; I have to scan all the comments to find a new addition. If there’s a way to simplify, maybe just post all comments in sequence as they arrive?
Any way, I like your site, keep up the good work.
i was thinking about this ‘massive/big’ effect here in CR. The 1st line (facebook, twitter, rss) should be written with a slightly smaller font. For me it’s too big, like opening page and it just drives into you. More solid font-size would be better.
About the design itself, i reached into conclusin, that as i am currently using quite old laptob with large screen resolution (1024×784), then, maybe that’s why it look big to me. Haven’t tried yet with PC with 1900×1200 desktop resolution.
Just looked at the comments below and I think they are all right – we all know what the social links are – or to say it right – how the icons of different social links looks like. You can just put them on the right side of the lower red line – and give them an alt=”Follow us on…” – it will be even better tagged by google and will look neater.
I changed the spaces and the size a little of the header – might use some grip texture under the logo… hmmm…
Used “Verdana” font for Canon and left rumors as it is, because of the nice spacing and the “r”-s.
Changed the gradient direction for no reason at all :-)
http://www.zoomdesign.bg/cr.jpg
now, while checking CR site at work with monitor resolution of 1600×1200, it looks much better. So, my new opinion – CR new site is quite OK, but the first row which i still find too big/massive,large. Font-size should be smaller.
updating the side to a 16:9 or 16:10 monitor would be nice.
The news frame should be litte bit broaden i think.
thx.
I love it!
You’re the man, keep up the good work!
This is definitely a vast improvement over the old design and i like the new sections. good job!
however there are a few thing i’m not crazy about (btw it’s meant as constructive criticism – in the end i’m just one single user and the majority of people might not feel the same way):
– The excessive use of bold fonts in the sidebar
– Combinational use of serif and sans-serif has no obvious benefits
– The Header + first Headline is a bit to big for my liking (“want to be profiled” is the last sentence on my macbook screen)
– The subscribe section is too much in your face style ie too intrusive, make it smaller and i’d be happy
other than that i like it very much. two thumbs up!
All good criticism, I’m a big believer in feedback changes to stuff like this.
We’re working to rectify the issues and clean things up a bit.
Thanks!
Yes indeed … many parts of the design are too big.
Size some down, especially those 4 Sections with backgroundimages. Also the blanks between the elements could be smaller. And yes the Fonts are mostly to big.
Do you want logo-proposals for the banner? ;-)
Load just the feeds on phone, not the whole site…
I don;t like the fixed width of the pages… it makes it hard to read on my netbook.
Yes! Now with added alternating shadow background the comments looks much better, it’s exactly what I wanted. So fast! When was last time you slept? Thanks CR guy!
I actually dont care too much either way about the design, I suppose I consider it is slight improvement.
I do second the part about the mobile version though. My BB doesnt want to load the page anymore, it just hangs.
Just seeing this…
maybe you should beat the person who forces you to use IE7 over the head with something? (make it hurt but not deadly ;))
If anything then at least IE8 – faster but key thing: More secure.
I personally think that the “headline” is a bit to big. Lots of big pictures and text. The old design was a bit clearer…
Thanks, if you had read this post, you would have seen I addressed rumor quality.
Hey. Great looking new site, well done! I wanted to say I think the new format is outstanding, especially the introduction of the Photographer Profile. Reading your interview with David E Jackson was some of the most interesting & engaging writing I’ve read on Photography for a long time. It was especially refreshing to see such heart (and gut) felt responses. Nice work!
Looks okay, but that FB and social media stuff on the top is horrid.
Preferred the old site, but whatever
I’ll revisit the social media links in the future. However, they’ve been insanely effective. Followers have shot through the roof.
I did tone down the sidebar, I prefer it now. Still going to work on the header a bit.
Thanks Adam
still not looking good
way to big pictures, graphics, fonts …..
not good for readability …..
old template was a lot cleaner
Old design with black text on white looked very good and felt comfortable.
Now I can’t see any text at all with this gray text on gray background, and I have to select everything in order to read something.
I think it is a complete downgrade.
BTW, I’m using mozilla firefox
I suspect that this is because of the pictures having been turned off in the browser. However, I have to turn them off at work-place because of the traffic limit.
One more issue: When I type these words, a link “click to cancel reply” is right on the textbox (up right corner), which also confuses.
Man, your website rocks and makes my day(s) ! I’m really happy to see it growing & please don’t stop !!!!
I’ll fix the click to cancel button, thanks.
I know what your issue is, it’ll be fixed in the next day or two as I optimize the site. Don’t lose faith.
:)
Thanks
CR
Mobile versions will come online once I’m sure server issues have been sorted. I want to make it through the weekend first.
Thanks
Great new site. It seems the Price Watch is a little broken, perhaps links were broken during the transfer? It N/A a lot and the 70-200 f/2.8 IS II seems to be missing. An idea might be to add greater detail of the product and links to reviews when the name of the product or photo is clicked. Perhaps add Canon specific after market products/accessories to the price watch
The RSS and Social Media links should be below the website title, you’re not trying to promote social network you’re promote your site. It’s ok to be a little ostentatious with the title if you want. Although I do like it as it is currently. Just remember it’s your site after all we’re just here because the information you provide is great, and informative. Although I do suggest keeping the title at the top of the page above the reviews and articles.
Don’t rush it thought, good work takes time.
Oh Yeah, I forgot to add, It’d be a nice to see user reviews, perhaps enhanced by yourself with questions to the reviewer and the responses on the product being reviewed.
A user suggested products with their pros and cons. I’d like to see some reviews on products for maintaining and cleaning Canon Cameras and Lenses. They are few and far between yes I know there’s not much difference between cleaning products but it’d be nice to know what’s fine to good and what’s best to avoid.
Your issue should be fixed now.
Thanks!
Heya
Yeah the price watch script is being redone. It should be better in a week or two.
The social media links are very successful where they are at the moment. I honestly can’t believe how much better they’re performing now.
I will probably move them when they become less effective.
User Reviews is a good idea. There’s a lot of great ideas flooding in…. I wish I was 4-5 people. :)
Thanks for reading.
It’s getting better indeed. :-)
However, I’d be glad if you’d turn down the size of the headlines a bit.