Tbh i really like the look of the new design for the site but I think I prefer the current site layout at the moment with its textures and stuff rather than the simplisitic and modern look

After reading all these comments I keep thinking of the quote "people demand progress but they hate change." I gotta be honest, I don't think most of the "critical" comments are helpful in any meaningful way. It's a lot of complaining about change because folks are nostalgic. When something has been around for 20+ years, that's always going to happen, but we can't get stuck in the past. The Internet, and the way we interact with it, isn't the same as it was 20 years ago. Hell, most of the nostalgia people feel are for artists who haven't posted on NG for years, even a decade.

In my small town back home, people are the same way- traditionalists who never want to move forward and always want things to stay the same because "that's how they've always been." Right now they're discussing tearing down the old HS football stadium and building a new one and people are shitting their pants. The stadium is crumbling and falling apart and seems like it'll be a big health hazard soon but dear god, our grandparents played on that football field and we must keep it!

It doesn't make sense though. The stadium isn't built to modern standards. There is no parking, too few seats, the locker rooms are unusable. It was built at a time when the community was small and everyone lived in walking distance, so these weren't issues considered at the time. But times change, and we need to adapt to that.

Yes, the new site design is "different" and different can be scary because change is scary, but I can see this isn't change for the sake of change- it is progress.

At 9/10/17 02:00 PM, Masculine wrote: In some cases specific types of content should have a priority over others. I searched "Clock Crew" but the collection page which I think is almost always most relevant didn't show up until result #8 after I clicked to search for everything. I can see where the algorithm starts to get real tricky.

You should see some more relevant results now. Still tuning (@Jin, also).

I'm a little late to the party but for my two cents, I absolutely love that mockup -- it's "standard" enough to make people happy if they're used to FB, etc, but still unique and Newgrounds-y.

Not 100% a fan of that new design mockup. The site overall looks cleaner and more easily approachable, so I'm liking the simplification in that area, but towards the top is where it's a bit too simplified. I, personally, really don't like when desktop sites and programs are trying to be iPhone apps, but my own preferences aside, it's very not "Newgrounds." I'm all for the simplification, but there has to be a way to make things more modern, but still keeping them "desktop" enough, if I'm making any sense.

In any case, a change like this is still very drastic and jarring. You gotta lube us up first at least.

The new searchbar is great!
But is it normal, that f.e. here in the forum is still the old one? Or is that already the new too?

And I really like the image. It has a really simple and smooth.

At 9/12/17 06:28 PM, Andre601 wrote: The new searchbar is great!
But is it normal, that f.e. here in the forum is still the old one? Or is that already the new too?

And I really like the image. It has a really simple and smooth.

Pages with the old layout still have the old search bar formatting. As the rest of the site catches up to the front page the search bar will become more consistent.

At 9/6/17 10:56 AM, TomFulp wrote: We just launched our new search! Some notes:

Need Input

Finally this is just one mock-up but what would you think if you came to NG and it looked something like this:

The New Layout kinda reminds me of Tumblr or Apple...It freaks me out a bit...

Hope it's not too late to post some feedback on this...

At 9/6/17 10:56 AM, TomFulp wrote: 5) ...due to an onslaught of spam blog posts between 2011-2013 that were damaging our Google rank. I am STILL working to clean out the spam from this period, there were sweatshops literally working around the clock to spam NG and we have to pay a bunch of money for services that help mitigate that now.

Woah, didn't know that was such a big problem! Thoughts on having mods instead? Too much to manage manually even with volunteers?

Finally this is just one mock-up but what would you think if you came to NG and it looked something like this:

I'd pad the logo a bit to the right, but otherwise looks nice! Ambiguous about the transparent menu/area between blocks though, looks sleek and modern but at the same time like... something's missing there... not as cozy or compact, as I'd think is suitable for a site with the NG image... I think I prefer the mock-ups posted later on where all blocks are still together on a solid background. It helps break it away from the background too. Easier to focus on.

At 9/7/17 02:05 PM, test-object wrote: 4. Have the portal icons be part of the Newgrounds logo. Find how to select a portal below, whilst also featuring these icons more prominently in the body of the front page.

I don't usually like menu items that aren't visible from the start, doesn't just feel unintuitive but also problematic if unrelated scripts; stuff get in the way and prevent the icons from appearing or being clickable. Possible issues with touchscreen. If a click is required to access the buttons, rather than just hovering over the logo, that'd also be two clicks required to reach each area instead of one. I think that's a bit unnecessary. I understand the expandable mobile menu thing is almost becoming a standard, but I don't think it's good usability at all. Best stick to the easiest alternative, or differentiate between mobile/computer users if things need to be slimmed down further.

1. Move everything PM, user or feed-related to the User Page.

Also don't like the idea of having PM notifications only on userpage, as I wouldn't want to visit that particular page every time I want to know if there's something I need to respond to. The PM notification visible on every page is really useful as is to me: any new messages are shown instantly. Super easy to stay up-to-date and responsive.

Other two points: sound good!

At 9/7/17 12:49 AM, Fungasm wrote: ...maybe slowly eliminate the old portal page and separate sections of it onto other parts of the site.

I like the idea with the color-coded icons overall, but eliminating/dividing up the Portal page?!! The reason the Portal is still my goto page for both games and movies is precisely because it's not divided. It's everything in the same place. Easy overview, along with appreciated bonuses with the weekly/monthly/all-time tops, recent awards, submissions from the last year etcetc. All it's missing is the old stats page.

One idea that comes to mind, if there is a need to change that one section, is making a Portal that each user could customize, cutting out content types they're not interested in, and choosing to display content blocks as either grid or list, maybe with a definable amount, along with the regular list-based top-lists, only all with definable content types included. That way you could still customize it to have the classic overview, but 'simplify it' for newer users, and let anyone have only the content they're interested in. Perfect hub for all! Could go hand in hand with that EXP-on-all-submission-types update that's been talked about before...

I still feel like the current overview is just perfect though. Super happy it's in the menu now and easy to get to. :)

It kinda feels like the front page, your feed, community, and portal are all just 4 different front pages trying to highlight too much at once. if that makes sense?

IMO the front page is like the 'official' editorial/staff picks/specials/highlights part of the site, the feed the social bit and the portal the real content hub. The community though... still haven't found that one very useful. Tend to skip that splash page and just go straight to the BBS or user news right away (also noticed I've been visiting the user news selection less, now that it requires going through a separate page to get to). Wish those links were in some menu somewhere on each page instead, header or footer, but if customizable menu items are still a planned future thing...

At 9/9/17 05:39 PM, test-object wrote: This is also an abstract enough icon for there to be a mini-tank next to the logo, for those who feel the tank is too iconic to ditch.

Looks good! And about the implication of that tank: having the tank there looks a lot better than just having the text, and it gives the site a visual link. I like to think I'm thinking the tank's a necessity not just because I'm nostalgic, but because it's a powerful image, and conveys something... a message, or emotion, that the text alone could not. It contributes both personality and atmosphere that the text alone could not. When we think New Grounds, I think we get the impression we get thanks to the visual link we have to that name, and new users would be missing out on that if their first impression is text only.

That's my two cents on the mock-up thing...

A few things regarding the search:

- Would be nice if you could double-click on any of the autosuggest alternatives to search for that term right away, not just enter it into the box (and then have to press enter).

- Even when an autosuggest suggestion is clicked, the 'search everything for ___' displays the search term you entered first.

- On the search results page, the auto suggest feature doesn't seem to work properly (the suggestions appear, but can't be clicked). On FireFox, Windows, if it's not a global thing.

Also love how you can actually search for users now, again! :D Been a looong time since that feature existed last! Awesome updates.