Welcome to the 2010 AnandTech Beta
by Anand Lal Shimpi on March 29, 2010 11:52 PM EST- Posted in
- Guides
That old design lasted us a long time, didn't it? :) Welcome to the 2010 AnandTech Beta. We've done a lot of updating behind the scenes as well as (obviously) on the front end.
Most obvious is the brand new look and feel. For a site that reviews the latest and greatest tech, we can't get by looking like we're still living in 2004. Now when the 80s make a comeback we'll be on top of that, you've got my word.
We've ditched the left hand column, streamlined some of the ads and widened the content column. While each article will still give you a preview of 10 comments, we finally have an option to view all comments on each review page. Right now we've got this set to 50 comments per page but we'll be tweaking as need be. We're also cutting down on the number of page loads you'll encounter. In view all comments mode there's no page refreshing between comment pages. We'll be bringing this feature to more parts of the site in the future. User friendliness is our drug :)
The front page allows for both linking to our superlong articles as well as shorter stories that can just appear on the front page for quick scanning. By default the latest 5 articles will appear in the rotating carousel up top, but if something super interesting comes up we'll promote it up there (similar to what did on the old site). The expanded summaries on the front page will give you more insight into what it is we're talking about in the article before you ever click anything.
Tags are enabled but not in full effect just yet. We'll be beefing up search, comments (the return of ratings!), galleries, Bench, user profiles and site layout/color customization over the coming weeks. We're planning on this being a regularly updated thing so if you see anything that warrants our attention let us know.
It's not all about a pretty face though, we're still going to be publishing the content that you demand from us. If you haven't seen it, be sure to read Ryan's GeForce GTX 480 & GTX 470 Review. And I'm commemorating today with a new SSD article addressing one of the longest running questions you've been asking: how do SSDs perform in RAID?
As always, thank you for your support over the years and for reading the site. It's been a pleasure to be able to write for you all over the past 13 years. Thank you guys for giving me and all of us the opportunity to do just that. If you haven't been able to tell by now, I love writing this stuff - and you all make it possible.
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B3an - Tuesday, March 30, 2010 - link
Being a webdesigner myself, i can say you've done a good job. It looks a lot better, cleaner, and more up to date.Would like the option to expand the middle section though, like with the old site.
B3an - Tuesday, March 30, 2010 - link
Oh and i'd also like to add, the DT and Twitter section on the right is too wide. So while the mid section is wider on a whole, the actual article space is the same (or maybe even less?).The article area needs to be wider. But like i say above, having the option to change the mid section size like with the old site will fix this anyway.
falc0ne - Tuesday, March 30, 2010 - link
I entered this morning...opened the site from bookmarks so I knew it the address is correct and :O)..I remained huh?! :)) Maybe the logo and menus could be slightly smaller...but then again I'm using an 1280x1024 native resol now and I think more use 1680x1050 or even 1920x1080..and for them probably looks OK..all in one the change is welcomed
Zaitsev - Tuesday, March 30, 2010 - link
I realize this is beta. Just my first impressions.The new design is stunning. The colors are MUCH easier on the eyes. The scrolling pics at the top is wonderful eyecandy, but I think the transition after a click could be more snappy.
I still think there should be a wide format option (am I missing it?). Those with widescreen displays should have the option to show more content, pictures and text if they desire:)
I'm a fan of the twitter section, and new logo! It's obvious you all put some thought into the layout and color schemes. Try not to dwell on the anti-change crowd. Cheers!
ltcommanderdata - Tuesday, March 30, 2010 - link
In general I like the new look and color scheme. It's much more modern.My main concern is the size of the header and menus which seem to take up vertically half of a 1440x900 screen so it takes more scrolling than needed to get to the actual content. As others have mentioned, I think the gap between the Anandtech logo and Home/About/etc menu and the CPUs/Motherboards/etc categories can be reduced. I think the categories themselves are kind of big, especially the orange secondary categories which seem to be small text floating in a sea of orange. The excess vertical space bordering the primary and secondary category text could probably be trimmed. That's my preference anyways.
T2k - Thursday, April 1, 2010 - link
I agree, the header is HUUUUGEEE....ant_ - Tuesday, March 30, 2010 - link
I gotta say I am not a big fan of these changes. The main page reads like a blog now. There is just too much information thrown in my face. I would rather have a simple short paragraph and a picture explaining the article/review being linked.NMDJuggler - Tuesday, March 30, 2010 - link
Love the new look. Minor suggestion, when scrolling between pages of comments, it leaves you at the bottom of the next page, which doesn't make a lot of chronological sense. You could either anchor the link it to the top of the comments on the new page or provide a link to switch pages at the top and bottom of the comments (think Google).kahwaji_n - Tuesday, March 30, 2010 - link
Very nice Design, But where the Print article Option gone?borys991 - Tuesday, March 30, 2010 - link
I second that, Print Article option is very important to me as well, it saves lot of time while reading article. Can we have it back please?General layout is pretty nice but it will definitely take some time to get use to.
thx
borys