Sneak peek at our new look
Take a look - Philly.com is developing a new way to find our content. Check out the beta test of our new navigation for the top of Philly.com's news and features pages. Then take our survey and let us know what you think.
Sneak peek at our new look
To our readers:
Philly.com is testing a new way to find content on our site, and we want to know what you think.
As you can see here, we are beta-testing new navigation for the top of Philly.com’s news and features pages. We’re excited about it for several reasons:
- Our new topper uses large drop-down menus, helping readers click directly to content within Philly.com. Now, readers can quickly find popular blogs, stories and inside sections from almost any page on Philly.com.
- The topper itself is much shallower, which allows us to feature content higher on our pages. Important stories, chats, or videos can be linked from the navigation bar itself. The topper has a simpler design that lets our stories take center stage.
- Registered users can sign in directly from any page of the site. Meanwhile, common search terms are easier to find, just one click from any page of the site.
We’ve made a few other tweaks to improve the experience - we eliminated that heavy brown bar on the right side of our pages, for example.
We are proud of the wealth of journalism that we offer on Philly.com, thanks to the skilled and experienced journalists of The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News. And we hope this will help you find that work more easily.
We’re eager to hear what you think, and what other changes you’d suggest for our site. Please take a look at the new navigation and take the brief survey that will follow.
If you have any further ideas, e-mail us.
We’ll continue to develop this navigation, with your input. We plan to roll it out to Philly.com’s news and features sections this fall.
Thank you for your help, and for reading Philly.com,
The Philly.com team
Ryan Davis, president
Wendy Warren, editor
PS: Big thanks to the team who developed the new topper: Chris Corter, Jill Hoover, Gregg Meyer, Nadya Harvey, Radu Metente, Joe Friend, Kevin Burkett and Chris Meares.
Comments (66)
Let us know if this makes it a little easier to find content on the site...
I love it!— HazelGrey
Comment removed.- Comment removed.
- MUCH better!
- You guys need a carousel on the main page of the current news stories. Kind of like aol.com does.— PhilMar
- large drop down menus that are activated on a mouseover are a pain, especially when users are trying to access content near the menu and accidentally mouse over link, hiding the content they're attempting to access. It would be better if the menus were toggle by clicking the mouse button. The new layout, however, is much cleaner.
- Thanks for the comments, you guys. Geez, we're still tweaking the mouseover action - we'll take that into account. (Any other thoughts on mouseover from anyone?) And Vinny - sorry you're still unhappy, but this is the start of us getting better. We've got more improvements coming, and we're pretty happy to say that.
- New look? I think you guys can't get this site right. I can't believe you have an app. Often , I have to wait 30 -40 seconds for the homepage to load .Its not my computer either.I have a brand new mac.— Anthony77
- It's a marginal change that's marginally better. On the same theme, lose the margins. They make no sense.
- Beta site a little better, but you guys should adopt to the 6abc model. It's much 'cleaner' and easier to navigate.— The Baron
- Comment removed.
- You must remove the auto play videos. I cannot use the site during the day.— SB123
- Again, folks - we really do appreciate your comments on this. We will incorporate them as we launch this topper site-wide.
- Please confirm the autoplay videos will be removed!!!— SB123
Where is my Dealyo yo?— daisy99- Where is my Dealyo yo?— daisy99
- Like it. Very retro. Takes me back to 1999
- So far, so good. But I have to agree the auto-play ads are a nightmare, you can keep getting the same one over and over as you navigate. Even if you turn off your sound, I've had them somehow turn it back on. Way annoying, I don't care how much they bring in. Keep at it.— PhillySubsMac
Getting rid of the chocolate side bar alone is reason for hope. After a quick look I'd say the whole thing's a big improvement. Page seems to flow better. Will wait to see if all those ad-tracking programs load any faster or if the site itself is any faster in terms of the links. Sometimes when I see in a Comments section one person's comment repeated 3, 4 or more times I know it's partly because they're using a slow machine and they think the comment didn't take but mostly its because those links are so unresponsive - bad.- The Auto-Play ads - or any Auto-Play functions - can be tamed and or turned off completely. There are any number of FREE PROGRAMS for this - just Google them. Firefox has some excellent ones that I couldn't live without - particularly on philly.com! And I know you can turn them off in IE 7 or higher - just look around.
- thank you for all you do to please even us cheapies who don't pay for an inky newspaper.— Miss M.
- now if you can get someone to actually do their job and edit and spell check you'll be on your way to having a website half as successful and user friendly as mine! btw, did you ever post pics of the house/barn?— sgamble077
- you also might want to stop the netflix pop-up add on that appears when closing the window to your site. it's great to sell add space but the way you are doing it is so 90's and quite annoying. just place the add on the page!— sgamble077
- pay me and i'll help you, other than that what my incentive?— sgamble077
- There are two AddIns available free for several browsers: Firefox, IE - 7 and up; Google Chrome; Safari (Apple). Just do a Google Search and put in Adblock followed by your browser's name. Then do a search for Flashblock and your browser's name. Download the addins and you won't get anymore annoying, uninvited intrusions. Can't do anything about the Netflix ad - it's probably acting the way they're paying for it to act. Also, someone pointed out the especially annoying Flash Video Ads on some sports sites. Those sites are usually blogs separate from philly.com but accessed via philly.com. The people who publish those blogs probably supplement their income with those ads - but I still don't let them run.
- Flash Ads in Internet Explorer: "Internet Explorer has a Flash Blocker, of sorts, built right in. Over at the Winhelponline blog, they've written up a guide to activating the hidden feature, which uses a built-in tweak that is normally used to kill ActiveX controls on specific websites, but can be reversed to only allow a plug-in to work on sites you specify. To make the change for yourself, just head into the Tools -> Manage Add-ons screen and double-click on Shockwave Flash in the list. Once you're there, click the Remove All Sites button to remove the default * option, which allows all sites to use Flash. Once you've made the change, you'll be prompted anytime you visit a site that uses Flash, and you can enable Flash for just that single site. It's not as elegant of a solution as the Flash Block add-on for Firefox, but if you're stuck using Internet Explorer at work, it's a great way to keep yourself safe—not to mention blocking annoying Flash animations".
- i like the improvements. great job! can you just add a little more national news to the latest headline section? also, i love sports more than anyone, however, if you are to compete with the other major cities on - line news reporting, then we really have to think about national reader interest as opposed to just philly. remember... on - line news reporting isn't regional, its world - wide, you have to satisfy a wider audiance while keeping the locals informed and happy. good luck!— ceage
- Wendy, love the new look, but I'm with Obama and sb123 the autoplay ads are killing me. I read the website at night while my wife is sleep and the ads wake her up. I makes HATE the advertisers and angry at philly.com.
- I hope that your home page will continue to have the headlines of the most current/important news, like the current homepage does.— sabelotodo
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- Technology Fail - doesn't work in Safari or Chrome— jimmycrackcorn
- you need more comment pages for articles posted on the site. if you want people to be entertained and return to the site. still thing the new look needs some refinement.— sgamble077
Love the new drop downs but you need to rethink the colors. Darker headers will enhance the site. Keep up the good work.- Thank God for the NY Times, Washington Post, etc!!!— mfecani
- marginally better but the overall sense I get is that the site is still way too busy. I feel like I'm buried in commercials and your emphasis on photo galleries with topics like "sexy singles" is pitiful and makes the whole site feel second class. The Inquirer is the "paper of record" in one of the greatest cities in the country--this web site should start acting like that and less like a boozed up floozy with too much make up sitting at a bar. For the record, I hate those autoplay videos too.— rwellsinbc
- The problem with Flashblock is that it COMPLETELY blocks the videos. I may actually want to watch them...I just don't want them to AUTOPLAY when I load the page!!!— Tartan69
- Comment removed.
Just want to chime in with: get rid of the auto-play. They are, at best, annoying, and at worst, crash my machine. And I can't do anything about them with an ad-blocker, as I usually access from work and only have limited admin privliges.- much much better design. white = a good thing. that was true in 1999 when i took my first web design class, and its true now. One pet peeve of mine is unnecessary animation. you have it on the navmenu popouts. there is no need for them to slowly unroll and then roll back up. Just pop out or dont, i cant stand things that slow pages down in any way and contribute nothing to usability— tch43
- much much better design. white = a good thing. that was true in 1999 when i took my first web design class, and its true now. One pet peeve of mine is unnecessary animation. you have it on the navmenu popouts. there is no need for them to slowly unroll and then roll back up. Just pop out or dont, i cant stand things that slow pages down in any way and contribute nothing to usability— tch43
- Comment removed.
- it's a start, cleaner websites that are easy to use are much better. espn totally cluttered their site and it is so un-user friendly, they are just lucky they are connect to the tv brand name or they would be out of business!— sgamble077
- New look is definitely an improvement, I like the mouseovers and that the page is less busy. Colors are a bit off but no big deal there. I have to agree that the number one thing that drives me nuts about the site is the autoplay. I know there are ways to disable but I log on from many different computers and I simply don't need the hassle, I just go somewhere else that I know won't be so annoying (I am a reasonable person but for some reason, as several others have said, these things actually do anger me). They are also bandwidth bandits (unfair to everyone) and leading sources of crashes. In second place are the overlay ads and page shifting ads - they just make it into such a second rate site that is gimmicking and tricking you into a haphazard click. They are the used car salesmen of the internet. Make the site less annoying and it will go back to number one on my news rotation (currently fourth) as I am an unabashed homer when the attraction deserves the praise.— Twocents
- Hopefully a more balanced editorial board will accompany the new look. And yes, please remove the auto-play videos. They are extremely annoying.— PhillyTru
- There have been a number of complaints about autoplay ads and I find them annoying as well. There has been no response from the Inquirer. In this day of dwindling print papers and the need to keep ad revenues up wherever they can, it is a far more attractive option for an advertiser to be promised an autoplay ad. The tradeoff is this - autoplay ads support free web pages. Unfortunately we have to accept it.— BMJ
- Cheesy.— tarablue
- BMJ, You don't have to allow ads to play automatically! From an earlier post (and philly.com didn't remove it): There are two AddIns available free for several browsers: Firefox, IE - 7 and up; Google Chrome; Safari (Apple). Just do a Google Search and put in Adblock followed by your browser's name. Then do a search for Flashblock and your browser's name. Download the addins and you won't get anymore annoying, uninvited intrusions. Can't do anything about the Netflix ad - it's probably acting the way they're paying for it to act. Also, someone pointed out the especially annoying Flash Video Ads on some sports sites. Those sites are usually blogs separate from philly.com but accessed via philly.com. The people who publish those blogs probably supplement their income with those ads - but I still don't let them run.
- Tartan69, Wrong! If you get the real flashblock the flash ads show a Forward Arrow in the space. All you have to do is click on that arrow and the flash video will play.
- Regardless of the format, you need to do a better job of Q&A.— mfecani
It's not any easier to find the bikini pics of Alicia Lane...— Tacony Palmyra- No autoplay— Reggie92
- Nice changes. But I agree that your videos should not start playing automatically. It's annoying, even if you are not in an office setting. Let us pick what we want to see and hear ... and when.— CamsDad
Outside of the mouse roolover, I think it's ok.- I second SB123's point. I have to mute the computer before I surf. Annoying.— Philly Mom
I like the dropdowns, colors are a little drab, and I do like the carousel idea a lot. My biggest issue with this site is how slow it is.- I guess that I am really OLD SCHOOL. My son works for a newspaper up state and they are re-doing their website. They have re-done it so many times that it boggles my mind. And still newspapers sites are the slowest to up-load. I guess it is because of all the advertisements connected to them. However, i still long for a simple "sheet" of whatever it is that I am seeking, without all the "pretty" and petty whistles, etc. I know that this is too much to ask for in the days when newspapers have to follow the trend away from the printed word, but it would be nice (for me) to look at a page of news without the distractions.— smitty94
- site related, but not about appearance: how about clarifying the rules for which articles get comments and which don't. It seems rather arbitrary. Also, too, why does closing or ending comments need to be accompanied by removal of all comments? that said, I don't have much of a problem with the site as it is now. sure, it could be improved a lot (and these changes aren't a lot) but i'm used to the way it is and don't like change.
- don't be the judge on what comments people can comment on. not just the
judgement of the liberal editors.— frank1121 - new look? how about a new back end? your search engine sucks and your content is impossible to find, poorly organized, and stale much of the time.— ambiguator
- Comment removed.
- Okay, the changes are coming - but when? They can't come soon enough for me. And let's hope whoever contributed that clunky brown strip for ads in the current design won't be offering suggestions for the new web page. One request: I realize that "abuse" by people who comment is a problem. But to summarily ban a person because remarks were considered inappropriate is in my opinion a rather heavy handed approach to dealing with the problem. Couldn't some explanation be offered for the ban? Couldn't some way of appealing the ban be an option? In case you're wondering, yes, I - under a different handle - got banned but I have absolutely no clue as to why.
- Re auto-play advertisements: There are free addins for practically every browser. All you have to do is find them and install them. If you're upset by all those advertisements then it's because you're too lazy to protect yourself - particularly when the solution is free of charge!
- You don't have to allow ads to play automatically! From an earlier post (and philly.com didn't remove it): There are two AddIns available free for several browsers: Firefox, IE - 7 and up; Google Chrome; Safari (Apple). Just do a Google Search and put in Adblock followed by your browser's name. Then do a search for Flashblock and your browser's name. Download the addins and you won't get anymore annoying, uninvited intrusions. Can't do anything about the Netflix ad - it's probably acting the way they're paying for it to act. Also, someone pointed out the especially annoying Flash Video Ads on some Sports articles/blogs. Those sites are usually blogs separate from philly.com but accessed via philly.com. The people who publish those blogs probably supplement their income with those ads - but I still don't let them run.
- Comment removed.
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