New Homepage Released

stoic said:
I think it looks great. I appreciate all the thought and effort that's gone into it, as well as the detailed explanations given.
I also enjoyed the Jean Pons throwback, I hadn't seen that before.

That said, I've already changed my bookmarks and I don't anticipate seeing the front page much.

A couple of thoughts:
-Once you're in forum-land, the speedsolving.com logo doesn't link to the front page, only back to the forums.
-I frequent another forum which has a similar style to the one you're going for, with lots of news and content and the forum as a sub-section of the site rather than the main focus. However, most people don't use it that way. So what they do is make a new thread for every new bit of content added, as well as having a "New Content Thread" (stickied) which is updated as well. That draws attention to it nicely, and ensures everyone gets the most out of it.
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I presume the functionality of the top page of the forum will change when the forum is also brought onto newer software.

biscuit said:
I think that's a good thing.
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I still don't understand why people don't like it. It's not going to get removed because you don't like it. This front page is design for newer users, not regulars. If you are a regular who has visited for a while and only browse the forums, then, as said hundreds of times already, you can completely skip past it and bookmark the forums.

Without newer cubers, these forums will inevitably die. Look back at the forum in 2009, how many of those cubers still frequent the forums. I'll tell you now, it's not many of them. If none of us joined since then, the forums would basically be dead. Of course there are some that have been here since the stone ages, and will continue to hang around, but the forum needs to attract new cubers. There are a bunch of people who have joined within the last year or two and already contribute well to the forums.

Of course, a lot of newer cubers would look at the front page, get all their news related to speedcubing, and then never go on the forums. Those same people, prior to this front page, would come onto the forums, look at the WR posts, and then leave. You won't notice a difference anyway.

pjk has worked hard on this site for a long time and now he's getting all this negativity for trying to grow something to bring our community together even more. Please.
 
stoic said:
A speedsolving.com hyperlink that doesn't point to speedsolving.com?
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once you're in the forum, most people want to stay in the forum. I've gotten used to using the logo to get back to the old home page.

Mollerz said:
I presume the functionality of the top page of the forum will change when the forum is also brought onto newer software.



I still don't understand why people don't like it. It's not going to get removed because you don't like it. This front page is design for newer users, not regulars. If you are a regular who has visited for a while and only browse the forums, then, as said hundreds of times already, you can completely skip past it and bookmark the forums.

Without newer cubers, these forums will inevitably die. Look back at the forum in 2009, how many of those cubers still frequent the forums. I'll tell you now, it's not many of them. If none of us joined since then, the forums would basically be dead. Of course there are some that have been here since the stone ages, and will continue to hang around, but the forum needs to attract new cubers. There are a bunch of people who have joined within the last year or two and already contribute well to the forums.

Of course, a lot of newer cubers would look at the front page, get all their news related to speedcubing, and then never go on the forums. Those same people, prior to this front page, would come onto the forums, look at the WR posts, and then leave. You won't notice a difference anyway.

pjk has worked hard on this site for a long time and now he's getting all this negativity for trying to grow something to bring our community together even more. Please.
Click to expand...

I'm not saying the new page is bad. I just have a couple of issues with it, which is inevitable in anything new like this, and I supplied my opinion on how to fix these issues. I won't use the new home page, but I see why it is good.

that being said, I keep typeing in "spe" and pressing enter (that's what I'm used to doing to get to the forums) that now takes me to the home page. If my ideas were implemented, I would have no issues with it.
 
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Interesting idea to revamp it completely. Personally I'm cool with sticking to the old format because I'm used to it and it does everything I want - simple list of latest topics. I've switched my bookmark to the old home page.
If I was a new user and a new-ish cuber, I think I'd still prefer the old format tbh. It doesn't require any time to get used to and familiarise with. With the new page, I don't know where to start looking.

I appreciate all the work that has gone into it, and I hope the new page can achieve what PJK wants it to achieve.
 
Please keep the feedback coming.

It appears the feedback is mostly about the homepage being too complex, and not including recent threads. Both of these are important points worth noting. We'll try this homepage for a month or two, and then decide if it is best to revert. I will say, so far, that it does require quite a lot of additional work to keep this homepage up to date, which is definitely a negative. I think a properly built site wouldn't require as much manual work, so this is certainly going into consideration.

Can you guys provide some feedback on these alternative layouts (if you think they are better than the current):
1) Classic: https://www.speedsolving.com/homepage-classic-layout/
2) Alt1: https://www.speedsolving.com/homepage-masonry-layout/
3) Timeline: https://www.speedsolving.com/homepage-timeline-layout/
4) Blog: https://www.speedsolving.com/homepage-blog-layout/

Lastly, I'm looking for a few active members to help with adding homepage content. If you're interested in contributing to this, please shoot me a PM. Thanks.
 
I think all 4 of these are better than the current as they are much more clear. The current one is a bit too cluttered and has alot of repeat material. These new ones dont have these problems. However I personally do not like the masonry layout (the 2nd one).

If I had to rank them from best to worst

Blog
Timeline
Classic
Alt1
Current
 
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