New front page

[dream34]

The forums need a redesign more than the first page, most of the active users here are going to the forums. They will use the wiretap headline feature (in the forums) to click a news story. I maybe go on the front page every now and then. I have no real issue with the layout itself I just think priorities were backwards.

The sites were all redesigned at the same time, but we aren't rolling out the changes all at once. The forums in particular will need scheduled downtime because of the required database changes, so we are going to wait a little bit before rolling the changes out.

[Sugarless]

I've been visiting and using RealGM for some 12-13 years, and while you do a great job on different fronts, I think for whatever reason you guys have always had a problem with the design, which has rarely been up to the level of other features on the website.

The previous front page was terrible as usual, and while this one is a bit more clean in its colors and offers an improved menu, it's still underwhelming for a site with so much traffic and regular users.

IMHO, you're not giving enough importance to the news section and the three-column layout is a complete mess with the basketball analysis column feeling ridiculously narrow, while ads, polls, etc. have a role that's way too prominent in that wide right column.

I really feel like news and analysis (which are usually off the beaten track and a good read, whether you agree with the authors or not) should have bigger exposure and be the highlights of your front page. And, guys, it's nearly 2015, there are plenty of ways to avoid having your users scroll down like crazy to have a proper glimpse of the most recent news and articles. I think it can really detract people from using you as a source to stay up to date with so many options out there that are more user friendly.

[SlobbaN]

IMHO, you're not giving enough importance to the news section and the three-column layout is a complete mess with the basketball analysis column feeling ridiculously narrow, while both adds, polls, etc. have a role that's way too prominent in that wide right column.

I really feel like news and analysis (which are usually off the beaten track and a good read, whether you agree with the authors or not) should have bigger exposure and be the highlights of your front page. And, guys, it's nearly 2015, there are plenty of ways to avoid having your users scroll down like crazy to have a proper glimpse of the most recent news and articles. I think it can really detract people from using you as a source to stay up to date with so many options out there that are more user friendly.

Spot on!

[teebonze]

I agree with SlobbaN & Sugarless, they new layout is not very user friendly for people like myself who come here to read the news articles which is now a blog style design (constant scrolling down) which I don't like, at least the links to the articles could of been on the right side or if ya'll wanted to change it to the left. I'm not liking the new design at all and the new logo is horrible.

[PeteW]

I miss the simplicity of the old design. Don't fix what aint broken!

[RoundMoundOfRebound]

I have the forums in my history so usually bypass the front page. Like Return said above I use the wiretap headlines to access that info. It will be interesting to see how the forums change. That is the primary reason I visit this site.

[RIP Kobe]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. Please continue to let us know what you think so we can make adjustments over the coming weeks.

The main page has all of the direct links to the message boards that the old site had as well. It also lists the newest threads from The General Board. The last thing we want to do is minimize the message boards and the overall ease of use. The message board redesign will launch in a few days.

The biggest reason we decided to do a redesign was to optimize for mobile. The entire site is far easier to use on mobile and the message boards in particular once they go live.

Can't even access the raptors board from the main page.

If you scroll over the 'Forums' link in the sub-menu, you will see 'NBA Teams' listed first and then organized by division so you can go directly to the team you want. You can also do this on mobile.

Yes I realized that but it doesn't let me scroll down to Toronto

[RJM]

I like the new look's potential, except for two things.



1. I feel like the animation could be smoother for the top bar once you begin scrolling down. At the moment, it awkwardly snaps unto a new version.

2. I also feel like it would be better if the whole page were filled up. There's a lot of empty space on each side that could be filled with news columns. Wider is better with screens becoming what they are now.

[DSand]

Definitely liked it better with the secondary headlines not having pictures or captions and being grouped closer together.

[NYKsince03]

i DO NOT like anything about this new setup! it just feels weird and looks ugly and bland.
even at first glance when the main page loads up is solo dirty i was like WTF sooooo not RealGM-like. I even typed Realgm.com again like "what is this fake ish"
the old big picture and secondary columns look better and I'm able to pick my team board right there .

i only used desktop because its all that worked well so I'm all for fixing the mobile/tablet versions but this layout is too blah needs to be filled with news and colorful again . sooooo not RealGM

[rcfc1]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. Please continue to let us know what you think so we can make adjustments over the coming weeks.

The main page has all of the direct links to the message boards that the old site had as well. It also lists the newest threads from The General Board. The last thing we want to do is minimize the message boards and the overall ease of use. The message board redesign will launch in a few days.

The biggest reason we decided to do a redesign was to optimize for mobile. The entire site is far easier to use on mobile and the message boards in particular once they go live.

So I went home and tried it on mobile. First, you have to scroll about 6-7 mobile pages to get down to the message boards. Second, far fewer topics show up than before (I think it used to be 10, now it's only 5?). So I think the mobile design also minimizes the message boards.

An aside, but I don't know how many people realize that this thread is here now. I'm sure you could get a lot more feedback by having this on the main page, even though it is a feedback and suggestions type of post.

[humanrefutation]

The drop down menu on the top bar on the mobile site needs work. In trying to click through the menu to get to the forums, I had to constantly battle the scroll wheel (which sometimes scrolled the page instead of the menu). I also didn't see a direct link to the other, non-basketball forums, but please point me in the right direction if I'm wrong on that.

The forum pages themselves are much better, though. Easier to read. I'm going to need to play around with it more to give it a better feel, though.

[humanrefutation]

Also, a couple other questions:

Where's "Quick Reply?" Please tell me I didn't learn all of the emoticon symbols and bbcode for no reason.

ETA: It's back! Thank you

And where are the notifications?

[Laimbeer]

Not crazy about it. Where are the notifications and "My Posts"?

[Kevin Johnson]

Responsive Design? Why is main content centered in a narrow middle wrapper then while about 50% of the available real estate is taken up by blank whitespace on the left and right?

Sure, it's good for mobile but you're unnecessarily taking away space from desktop views. Nothing responsive about that.

[Soca]

Hate it!

[Sothron]

Is there a site skin option? This site looks absolutely horrible now. I only get on the net with my desktop computer and it looks just horrible. No offense to whoever put in time to redesign but is there an option for the old look here somewhere?

[Sothron]

Is there a site skin option? This site looks absolutely horrible now. I only get on the net with my desktop computer and it looks just horrible. No offense to whoever put in time to redesign but is there an option for the old look here somewhere?

edit: get a weird SQL message after I posted on these new look boards.

[Blockwatcher]

I don't like that you took the ability to zoom in and out away from me.
I don't like that I have to scroll endlessly through posts because user info is above posts instead of on the side
I don't like that I can't see how many and 1's a person has.
I don't like that everything has its own page, and I have to use a drop down menu to get to things
And I really don't like that the Twitter feed takes over my screen and I end up scrolling through that

[Blockwatcher]

I don't like that you took the ability to zoom in and out away from me.
I don't like that I have to scroll endlessly through posts because user info is above posts instead of on the side
I don't like that I can't see how many and 1's a person has.
I don't like that everything has its own page, and I have to use a drop down menu to get to things
And I really don't like that the Twitter feed takes over my screen and I end up scrolling through that