New Site Update

It’s once again time for another site update. Today we uploaded some changes to the site’s navigation as well as adding a few new site features. There are about 1000 stories added to N4G each day, and since only so many can reach the front page there are tons of interesting stories getting buried away in some dark deserted corner of N4G. The navigation we had did not do a very good job of encouraging users to explore content beyond the home page, so we have completely revamped the site menu to make this easier.

One thing we did was to make it so that each content type now has its own home page. So you can render a news home page only or trailer home page and so on. We have removed the preset console channels and replaced it with a dynamic channel menu. Here you can build your own news channels for the games and tags that you are most interested in and then use the pin option to make them stick.

Another cool feature we have added is the option to view the site in tabloid view. In the top right corner you can at any time switch between tabloid and classic view. Tabloid view as the name applies has a more tabloid layout and is much more dynamic as it ranks the stories in real time. So when there is news that gets attention really fast these stories will climb straight to the top.

Right now this update is only live on N4G but the other newsboiler sites will follow shortly. Today’s update is the first in a series of updates that will be made in the coming weeks so the site should feel more complete and bit more polished when we are all done. Here is a list of some of the things we are working on that should be go live in the next stages.

- Improved news search
- New homepage for user blogs
- Temp added to user blogs
- New homepage for user reviews
- Further layout and design improvements
- Make it easier to contribute and activate accounts on other newsboiler sites
- Changes to how the site treats opinion pieces to make the home page more balanced

We are also working on mobile versions and apps for all sites, but these won’t be ready quite yet. I hope you like the new site features and as always we greatly appreciate your feedback and ideas on how we can further improve N4G.

Dusty,

Note: If the menus have all straight corners you should update your browser to the latest version. IE users have to wait for IE 9 to render the site with rounded corners.

[dkblackhawk50]

Good job :D *btw first :D*

btw spelling mistake: - Changes to how the site threats opinion pieces to make the home page more balanced

I think you mean treats

[NAGNEWS]

Good Job? no way the website is f"#cked, there is so much going on .

its like the new facebook, i deleted all my friends, i thought i was adding them to my list XD

[Reibooi]

Yeah I would agree the new site looks terrible. Way to much on screen and way to clustered. It's kinda hard to see what is what. It's not clean.

It looks like someone just threw a bunch of stuff on a table as opposed to carefully placing anything.

I liked the way it looked before.

[vickers500]

I like the new category tab feature, it's really badass, but you made everything too crammed together on the front page and in the comment section. Revert the width back to its original state so everything has more breathing room, and this will be an awesome update.

Also, make the top story width the same as everything else. It's not like we couldn't see it before.

[Christopher]

1. When I click into a news article, I now have to click to see the featured comments. Was much better before where it listed the featured comments by default.

2. Icons on the top right look awkward and it's annoying seeing my avatar cut off. Would it be possible to see these expanding in width so that it's not cut off (make them squares). It's not like there isn't enough space up there to do as such.

3. Getting to my comment history is now 1 click more. I have to click to pop-up my profile panel, then click my public profile, and _then_ click my comment listing. Is it possible to have a link to go directly to one's comment history in the pop-up panel? Kind of the #1 way that I track ongoing conversations with others.

4. Would it be possible to be able to dictate the type of content we see on the home page?

5. Any plans to enhance our blogging capabilities with some at least basic bbcode abilities?

Edit #1: Also, the pop-up panel for your avatar at top is a great start. Can we get these for people's names in the comment section as well as at the top of blogs? Would only need a few link options, preferably PM, view comments, ignore/track, and view public profile. Again, reducing the click count to another person's comment history is vital, IMHO.

Edit #2: I forgot to add above, the dark blue on medium blue background at top doesn't work for many depending on visual acuity and environment lighting. Please change those to contrasting colors. I believe before you had white as default and yellow/orange for an active section/page. This was perfect. This goes for both the new tabs (which are light text on dark blue) and the typical row of site portal areas (Home, News, Articles, Media, etc.).

Edit #3: Kind of have to agree with a few others that increasing the size of hot article listings at top seems like a waste, IMHO. There are still only 3 pages of them, which now means 3 less hot topics compared to before. Putting these back to the size they were before would be better, IMHO. Also, Tabloid viewing mode is just horrific, IMHO.

[Sitris]

Works perfectly and have already made tabs for my fav upcoming games! BRILLIANT job with the tabloid view, looks awesome, keep it up!

[SynGamer]

Horrible waste of space. It looks ok but there's just so much wasted space. And the 'Hottest' articles is now only four, which means one less article to get a little bit of fame.

Perhaps have a second row with articles 4-X (smaller images)...?

[frankymv]

Agreed. Update is average. "hottest articles" are now only 4. What?

[SynGamer]

Could have sworn it was 5 before but I'm probably mistaken. Still, just an incredible waste of space, especially with the gigantic category images to the right of each article.

[STONEY4]

And it loads slooooow compared to the last update. Going from less than half a second to 2-3 seconds doesn't sound like much, but it's bothersome. Oh, and the PS3 browser doesn't like the new site.

[alettyo]

i'm liking what i see :D

[kdogdaddy]

Really loving the changes!

[whitesoxfalife]

looks good so far

[RockmanII7]

I'm confused and Scared.

[toaster]

BRING BACK OPEN ZONE!!!

[steve30x]

Yes please bring back the open zone. I was happy with the rules for open zone having the spammers etc in there so that the gamer zone was more civilised.

[Count]

The Open Zone only ever existed to tolerate bad behavior. Bad behavior shouldn't be tolerated.

It would be just as civilized with the Open Zone than without. Since trolls can escape any restriction by simply making a new account. The only difference is that they'll have another alternative to try and piss people off.

You want to get rid of trolls? You want civilized discussion? Vouching for the Open Zone is not the key toward this, because it'll attract more trolls and their kind of behavior instead.

A commenting section where 'ANYTHING GOES' was never a good idea. I don't see the point or any need in bringing it back.

What I want is a more efficient moderation force. Because our current one completely sucks. They remove troll comments and flame bait articles some 13 hours after they've been posted. Absolutely incompetent.

[steve30x]

The open zone worked very well and 90% of the trolls stayed in there. N4G Gamer Zone was a thousand times more civilised with the open zone available. Since the open zone was removed this site has gone downhill rapidly in the comments section. I do agree that the moderators are slow to remove troll posts etc and they need more moderators.

[Christopher]

***The Open Zone only ever existed to tolerate bad behavior. Bad behavior shouldn't be tolerated. ***

Not necessarily. I agree that bad behavior should not be tolerated, but the Open Zone was great for slightly off-topic conversations.

[Killa Aaron]

This horizontally squeezed layout is not a good look.

[-Alpha]

Yeah, it looks a little squeezed but I'll allow some time to get used to it.

[Pandemic]

Nice update.

[MetalFreakMike]

I like it like this. Looks nice and better looking.

[Digitaldude]

I very much so like the update. Alot sleeker.

[Dsnyder]

I cant even view this site properly on my ps3 now. You guys really need to get your act together and make this sire viewable on ALL browsers. PS3 owners get the short end of the stick everytime when it comes to this website and considering that most people that visit this site are gamers, this site should be viewable on gamer consoles.

[kane_1371]

i agree, ps3 already had a little problem before.
now it isn't little anymore.
but my money is on mobile version.

or if you guys could get in touch with SONY and make a Ps3 N4G app or website like youtube xl.

but with comments not like XL -_-'

[Silver_Faux]

yeh it looks great on my i phone now. no need to zoom

[JUDALATION]

I like the changes!

[morganfell]

Looks good but I am seeing some graphics issues when I look at my comments page.

http://n4g.com/user/comment...

Not sure if that is intentional or not but it looks like some random scrawling with a brown pen. The interface looks very sleek. Job well done.

[syrion]

whoaa, this is the best change that i've ever see :D

[LordMarius]

forum update please

[Leafhopper]

Actually looks pretty cool!

[Sarobi]

SMASHING! -Fancy british voice- haha, but in all seriousness i'm loving the new look

[Raendom]

Good changes! Will take some time getting used to this new layout but still like it. :)

[Evolve]

well done guys, keep it up the good work

[Renai_Kakume]

But I feel like there's too much going on with the degrees pictures and what kind of article it is. Maybe if you scaled down the "What type" it is because it makes me lose concentration from what I was actually looking at. Other than that the site still looks good.

[tayz]

i'm not feeling this new design. i liked the last desgin change, but not this one. maybe a skin changer to make us all happy?

[Karum]

Will take a little getting used to but I do like how the site is laid out.

An N4G Android app when it comes will be pretty awesome, looking forward to that.

[Baka-akaB]

new designs are great and all , but wont change how poorly the site is moderated so far ... wich is the area that need the most changes

[Neckbear]

Not only that, but also the bubble system that doesn't lets you reply most of the time, among other stuff.

[WildArmed]

Great!
I can't wait to try the new search feature.
Will test it out thoroughly later.
The last time I used it, it was crap..
When I searched MAG and i'd get articles from '08 o_O wtf?
Hopefully it won't do the same now

[xtib]

This update makes this site definitely better..Keep on going guys .

[Symtar]

Looking good

[Neckbear]

Nice update, must I say, but seriously, guys. Fix the bubble system or something!

[xino]

I'm gonna like the tabloid view since I normally view N4G as my daily games newspaper.

Are you gonna do something about the Submission articles?

Because what I think is that you need to gather a group of mods consisting of 2/3 teams.
These mods will be the ones monitoring articles submitted to N4G.
*1 team will report duplicate articles since people intentionally submit duplicate articles begging for hits.
*Second team will report error articles with spelling mistakes, wrong source, wrong channel etc.
*And the last team will look for abusers who constantly report innocent submissions or people who approve bad articles. Every single time people keep reporting PSJailbreak news, but they do not report game leaked to torrent sites etc.

[steve30x]

Yup Moderator teams for submissions is needed or Submissions with three or four reports should not go through to the front page.

[overlord]

Hey guys I like what you did for the site. To be honest there were time when if it wasn't on the front page then that was it for me,other times if there was nothing on the front page then I would continue to search but then I would check out GT. Needless to say great job still #1 site. N4g.

[Redempteur]

Nice changes , i'm still confused by some canges but it doesn't seems so bad.
NOw some improvements to the bubble system would be nice

[HarryBarry]

Great design, really like it.

[pcz]

When i select to see wii news only, i can not see the 'latest comments' box. Whats going on?

[foxyspeedy]

I like it so far!

[Dusty]

Thanks for the honest feedback guys. This first stage of the update was first of all to test the new navigation. As for the design and layout, I fully agree that we can do things to make it less noisy. We have already removed the top ad on the home page for all members and we will continue to make improvements. I am confident that in 2-3 weeks we will have a site we all can live with :)

[Stardum]

When I can access the forums on my iPhone I will be tuly happy.

[steve30x]

How the hell do I find my favourites now. The functionality is now messed up. When I press on my avatar I used to be able see where I last posted a comment which I cant now. Also I find it impossible to find my favourites.

Other than that the site looks good. Now remove the Agree and Disagree function of this site.

[memphis2]

love the new look!

[Darrius Cole]

I am commenting because I am sure I will need to read this later.

[Sheikh Yerbouti]

Is there a way to look up your old comments? The update seems redundant, but removing a way to look up comments kind of defeats the purpose for me posting sometimes (i.e., asking questions and laughing at disagrees).

[mikhail_tisoy]

this is effing lame bring back the old 1 !!!!!!!!

[Archaic]

Love the changes, can't wait until I have them for everyone over on AnimeShinbun as well.