Before I start, if you are seeing any site glitches, please refresh your browser to make sure you have the latest version of the style sheet.
Welcome to LRR v5.5! As you can see, we have made some fairly major changes in the layout and functionality of the site, but we feel that that this was a long overdue revamp.
It is no secret that Iron Stomach Challenge has been neglected in the the past months. In order to remedy this situation we have decided to move ISC under the LRR umbrella. http://ironstomach.com will now take you to the latest ISC video on the LRR site. We have also given the Phailhaüs and bonus videos their own sections and colours so that you know when we update each category. Speaking of categories, these new sections replace the old categories we were using (shorts, other, x2y, etc). Since almost everything was a “Short” or an “Other” they ended up being kind of pointless.
We have also added some advertising in the sidebar and below each video. At the moment they are just showing whatever AdBrite will feed us, but hopefully we will be getting some more relevent stuff soon.
Please note that we have changed the urls for the blog and the forums so that they make more sense. The new forum url is http://loadingreadyrun.com/forum and the new blog url is http://loadingreadyrun.com/blog. In the interests of backwards compatiblity, the old urls will still work, but you should update your bookmarks.
I will try to do a more in-depth post about some of the other new features and maybe some of the backend stuff, later in the week.
Wow… I think I F5’d the page right when the update hit 🙂
Great look for those of us with larger screens since it’s wider (am I seeing things?) , and the About page is now made of Phail.
We have an epic site update, so now we just need that epic video. Today is made of win… no doubting that.
Comment by spartanhelmet — August 4, 2008 @ 6:55 pm
Uhm…I’m having magnificent problems logging into the forums. I enter the right password and username but it doesn’t log me in. A few minutes ago it had me still logged out but with my username appearing amongst those online.
Comment by Lyinginbedmon — August 4, 2008 @ 7:18 pm
It’s really quite nice, though if I may be so bold, I must say I find it a bit visually jarring.
I think the sheer number of “sections,” as it were, make it feel like there is WAY too much going on when I look at the page, and I can’t determine where I should direct my focus. Best example of this, I think, is on the main page. The “Latest Video” box and the three boxes below it seem needlessly separated. Whilst I can see what you were attempting to do, connecting the three smaller boxes to the larger box would make it appear less confusing to me.
The primary site navigation suffers from the same problem I think. There need not be spaces between the buttons–though major props on including indication as to which section of the site is being viewed.
The lack of borders also bothers my aesthetic senses…but that’s really just my antiquated tastes I think.
By and large this is a stunningly beautiful design, and I only wish I had your skills. My critiques are simple opinions from a hobbyist. My congratulations on your triumph, Paul.
Comment by LS — August 5, 2008 @ 1:42 am
Ah, forgot to mention, the sidebar is sex. If it was possible, I would have maddening, animalistic passion with that side bar.
Comment by LS — August 5, 2008 @ 1:46 am
I’m in the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” crowd. The layout now is such a confusing mess that, like LS, I just don’t know where to focus. The previous version was a bit more tidy. I’m sure I’ll eventually get used to it but I’m still wondering why the change in the first place?
Also, I’ve been periodically checking back to refresh all evening but there is still a problem with the horizontal layout. In order to see everything on the edge of the screen I have to manually scroll to the right. Since all these changes were implemented today I presume that this bug will be fixed eventually.
Comment by Evil Jim — August 5, 2008 @ 2:53 am
It’s still awesome, but it just me or are the “LOVE BUTTON!!” (and related shenanigans) ads on the sidebar are noticeable. Adverts are supposed to be, but it’s a bit comfronting :S
Also… I’m not sure who scares me the most on the About page. Graham strikes a downright awkward (in a good way) pose, plus Jeremy has a cunning plan… but Morgan’s drunken “Yerr gunna get raped!!” sailor look is up there too.
Comment by spartanhelmet — August 5, 2008 @ 6:14 am
I like it. I agree it is noticeably busier, but so is the site and crew, so it’s fitting. There are a few minor things I disagree with though.
The LRR EMAIL UPDATES, WIKI and RSS links should be shuffled to the bottom of the screen. I dont think they should be taking focus away from the current feature. The Widescreen preview shots are great.
The new side bar looks great, no complaints there. I agree that bringing Iron Stomach under the umbrella was a good move (provided it gets some love and doesnt stick out like a gangrenous limb)
Fewer videos listed under “Recent Videos”. They old layout, at 5 or so I think was ideal.
Also, I havent experienced any bugs at all on IE7
Comment by Keith K — August 5, 2008 @ 7:42 am