Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

effgee · 01:33 PM

After many, many moons and lots of hard work, the redesigned macnn and ipodnn sites will go online in a few minutes (*) (the forums will follow suit within the next week, give or take a day or two - promise; updatenn and dealnn to follow soon thereafter). We tried very hard to not only give macnn a "pretty face" (aka "updated brand image"), but also take a whole slew of other aspects into consideration, such as:

Create a new/evolved site structure for macnn so that readers can get a comprehensive overview of the days' news at one glance. To achieve this, we have developed an overarching portal page that provides news summaries from the entire macnn network and allows quick access to all the subsites (macnn, ipodnn as well as updatenn and dealnn in the near future). Each of the subsites will of course continue to have its own home page, which can be accessed directly if users choose to do so.
Develop a cleaner interface that more clearly separates content/navigation/meta information, thus improving overall usability and the accessibility of the site's contents (for you fellow nerds out there: "accessibility" is used in a broad sense here, not not in reference to section 508).
Create a unified look and feel for all sites in the network, including the forums, which will not only create a stronger overall brand image but hopefully also make macnn (and the subsites) easier and more fun to read.

In case you would like to read a bit more about this, I have put a little case study online which should provide a bit more in-depth information on the development of this project, including a sneak peek at the new design.

And lastly, we tried hard to make to make the site compatible with all modern browsers - should you encounter a bug, please let us know about it (either here or via email) so that we can fix it asap. Please include all pertinent info (OS/browser kind + version) in your bug reports.

(* - where "a few minutes" = 1pm EST)

Kevin · Dec 6, 2005, 01:24 PM

Blah blah, get to it.

effgee · Dec 6, 2005, 01:26 PM

My work is done - it's the 'nn staffers who are getting "the switch" ready.

paul w · Dec 6, 2005, 01:29 PM

time to take a nice long look at the old macnn forums then?

(dude, I'm so excited)

effgee · Dec 6, 2005, 01:31 PM

you'll have a good week to take screenshots of the old forum layout ... macnn/ipodnn are getting new clothes today, forum will follow next week.

residentEvil · Dec 6, 2005, 01:34 PM

So in other words, grab screen shots for history's sake for anything on the main page we make like to keep/use for backup up points/etc. archive.org is good an all, but you know some people will grab the old for just saying they go it

pathogen · Dec 6, 2005, 01:46 PM

The concepts look GREAT. Congratulations on getting the project this far along!

rickey939 · Dec 6, 2005, 01:48 PM

Wow, very cool!

rickey939 · Dec 6, 2005, 01:57 PM

Originally Posted by effgee

My work is done - it's the 'nn staffers who are getting "the switch" ready.

Thanks so much effgee in advance, it's truly appreciated.

Demonhood · Dec 6, 2005, 01:57 PM

you mean we're not going with my idea???? i'm outraged!

residentEvil · Dec 6, 2005, 02:00 PM

good 'ol newsfactor!

Dakar · Dec 6, 2005, 02:00 PM

Originally Posted by Demonhood

you mean we're not going with my idea???? i'm outraged!

*Runs screaming over a cliff*

residentEvil · Dec 6, 2005, 02:01 PM

And, no change yet. it is now 1:01pm EST

Severed Hand of Skywalker · Dec 6, 2005, 02:02 PM

Originally Posted by Demonhood

you mean we're not going with my idea???? i'm outraged!

No offence man but that screams designed by a programmer.

effgee · Dec 6, 2005, 02:05 PM

Originally Posted by Demonhood

you mean we're not going with my idea???? i'm outraged!

Damn, that is much nicer - why didn't you show me this a few weeks ago? We could have implemented that design instead ...

ambush · Dec 6, 2005, 02:07 PM

is it online yet? I notice no change at all

residentEvil · Dec 6, 2005, 02:10 PM

Must have meant 1pm EST on the west coast time + or - a few other timezones

Severed Hand of Skywalker · Dec 6, 2005, 02:12 PM

Originally Posted by effgee

Damn, that is much nicer - why didn't you show me this a few weeks ago? We could have implemented that design instead ...

Shut yer flytrap and upload the damn thing already!

Demonhood · Dec 6, 2005, 02:15 PM

Originally Posted by Severed Hand of Skywalker

No offence man but that screams designed by a programmer.

short memory?

rickey939 · Dec 6, 2005, 02:16 PM

Originally Posted by Demonhood

short memory?

Severed Hand of Skywalker · Dec 6, 2005, 02:17 PM

Originally Posted by Demonhood

short memory?

Actually the second it happened I left MacNN and didn't think I would return. Didn't get involved that much in the bitching.

Goldfinger · Dec 6, 2005, 02:30 PM

So you WERE involved effgee ? I thought you were not. I thought they would only base themselves on your mockups.

Gesamtbild makes some nice stuff

I see you got a division in the US. I wonder how it sounds when an American says "Gesamtbild"

BasketofPuppies · Dec 6, 2005, 02:30 PM

Originally Posted by Demonhood

well, you see, it's like this:
a girl macnn and a boy macnn meet in a bar one day. they hit it off. girl macnn thinks the boy is pretty cute. so she agrees to go back to boy macnn's place for some "coffee". a slow dissolve to a windowed sunset later and macnn.com was conceived.

and yes, there was a custody battle (some would call it an attempted kidnapping) a year ago, but it was resolved without longterm psychological damage to the macnn child.

This again

gururafiki · Dec 6, 2005, 02:31 PM

Is this for real?

effgee · Dec 6, 2005, 02:39 PM

Originally Posted by Goldfinger

So you WERE involved effgee ? I thought you were not. I thought they would only base themselves on your mockups. Gesamtbild makes some nice stuff. I see you got a division in the US. I wonder how it sounds when an American says "Gesamtbild"

It sounds very funny! Like a "shazam" kind of sound. And thanks for the kind words - much appreciated.

Originally Posted by gurugrafiki

Is this for real?

Most definitely is. Looks like we had a last minute issue that needed fixing but I'm told the new site is going to launch any minute now. (am stuck with reloading myself)

waxcrash · Dec 6, 2005, 02:44 PM

I hope the new design has some animated gifs of spinning skulls and flames.

gururafiki · Dec 6, 2005, 02:45 PM

OK. I'm excited now. Going to set up Automater to reload safari every 30 seconds...

Tesseract · Dec 6, 2005, 02:47 PM

Do the broken images on the homepage have anything to do with this?

ThinkInsane · Dec 6, 2005, 02:48 PM

By my chronometer, it is now 1:48 EST and I see no changes. 'Sup with that?

Dec 6, 2005, 02:49 PM

Originally Posted by waxcrash

I hope the new design has some animated gifs of spinning skulls and flames.

That's what I wanted, too. But eff is a pretty stubborn guy.

effgee · Dec 6, 2005, 02:53 PM

Originally Posted by ThinkInsane

By my chronometer, it is now 1:48 EST and I see no changes. 'Sup with that?

You of all people should know that macnn exists in its very own time zone!

Originally Posted by Nick

... But eff is a pretty stubborn guy.

Most certainly so! We'll reconsider the skull n' flames thing once we have the appropriate sound bits for a real animation.

dav · Dec 6, 2005, 02:55 PM

still waiting, but the "case study" looks sweet

KeriVit · Dec 6, 2005, 02:56 PM

Looks the same to me. Good job!

residentEvil · Dec 6, 2005, 03:02 PM

Originally Posted by effgee

You of all people should know that macnn exists in its very own time zone!

Most certainly so! We'll reconsider the skull n' flames thing once we have the appropriate sound bits for a real animation.

I want skull/flames for my 'stars' in the forum

residentEvil · Dec 6, 2005, 03:04 PM

Originally Posted by effgee

You of all people should know that macnn exists in its very own time zone!

Most certainly so! We'll reconsider the skull n' flames thing once we have the appropriate sound bits for a real animation.

I want skull/flames for my 'stars' in the forum

DarwinX · Dec 6, 2005, 03:13 PM

A many thanks effgee and all MacNN staff. There is a reason why 'NN is the best and you're all a large part of that. There is of course some great personalities around here as well. Long live the 'NN!

Eagerly waiting!!

Kevin · Dec 6, 2005, 03:21 PM

Put it on
And don't say a word
Put it on
The one that I prefer
Put it on
And stand before my eyes
Put it on
Please don't question why

iomatic · Dec 6, 2005, 03:30 PM

Nicely done. However, I'm not a big fan of sideways text, whether in reality or virtual worlds.

US$.02 Non-refundable.

rickey939 · Dec 6, 2005, 04:17 PM

Originally Posted by gururafiki

Is this for real?

I'm beginning to question it now as well...it's only December guys...April Fools is a long way off!

fiercewill · Dec 6, 2005, 04:17 PM

It's now, 3:15pm est. and nothing yet. Hit a little bit of a hiccup huh?

effgee · Dec 6, 2005, 04:26 PM

Seems more like a "throw-up" at this point. No clue what's going on. I'll post an update if I can - but at this point I'm just as clueless as the rest of you. Plus, I'm not all that fond of being made a swindler (re: the 1pm thing).

Goldfinger · Dec 6, 2005, 04:30 PM

Maybe they gave you the wrong date ?

effgee · Dec 6, 2005, 04:33 PM

Originally Posted by Goldfinger

Maybe they gave you the wrong date ?

Dec. 6, 2006, maybe? **goestocheckical**

chris v · Dec 6, 2005, 04:42 PM

Originally Posted by Demonhood

you mean we're not going with my idea???? i'm outraged!

Way to make one wistful for the good* old days.

* as in bad, not good.

effgee · Dec 6, 2005, 04:56 PM

this fresh off the IM newswire™ ...

"**** (AIM)
3:52:26 PM
it's happening"

"eff (AIM)
3:53:43 PM
well, it's gotta be 1pm somewhere"

Agasthya · Dec 6, 2005, 04:58 PM

http://grape.macnn.com/portal/

DarwinX · Dec 6, 2005, 04:59 PM

<2cents>

Me likes.

</2cents>

RAILhead · Dec 6, 2005, 05:00 PM

...except for the vertical text...

Come on guys, you ought to know better than that!

brapper · Dec 6, 2005, 05:01 PM

you tease.

effgee · Dec 6, 2005, 05:01 PM

Originally Posted by RAILhead

...except for the vertical text... Come on guys, you ought to know better than that!

We do - and have done it anyway.