VeloNews redesigns web site . . .

[BumbleBeeDave]

http://velonews.competitor.com/

Either that, or somebody forgot a LOT of the usual stuff while formatting it today.

I'm hoping it's a redesign, because they had so many ads sticking in there, popping up, and swimming across from every direction that it was almost unreadable before. I don't hold the editors responsible--they're just doing what the ad department tells them.

Let's see what it looks like tomorrow . . . :D

BBD

[pitcrew]

I'm hoping that's a work in progress. Otherwise, they need to go back to the drawing board

[BumbleBeeDave]

I'm hoping that's a work in progress. Otherwise, they need to go back to the drawing board

. . . that was my reaction, too. But they've got the same old problem of how do you fit all the popular stuff above the virtual "fold." I can't believe they're going to sacrifice all that ad space on either side just to look clean. Competitor Group has already made too many moves with the whole pub that make it obvious they are trying to wring every red cent out of it.

BBD

[rounder]

Not sure about a redesign of the website, but i just had a new hard copy edition delivered today and it looks a lot like that. They are featuring cycling's cast of characters. The enigma award went to Dave Zabriskie. The soul searcher award went to Willow Koerber Rockwell who looked beautiful in her picture.

I like Velonews. They seem to always be trying. Hope they succeed.

[Elefantino]

They've gone to the dark (Drupal) side.

It's free. It's also a pain in the ass.

But it's free.

[don compton]

Is the forum gone?

[jlwdm]

Still there, but never a great forum.

Jeff

[Litespeed_Mike]

I believe the VN site was previously Wordpress.

I know some guys that work there and some of the content impresses me and some doesnt. The print and web content is different with the web content trying to draw you into a subscription and providing the more timely stuff.

As for the new format, I'm meh. Not impressed but also unimpressed.

[Climb01742]

you may be giving them too much credit to say it's been 'redesigned' because that implies design was involved. to my eye it looks like it's the work of an IA (information architect), just blocking out buckets of content. i hope they hand it over to a real designer/art director. the web has too much IA passing for design.

[jonnyBgood]

Yeah the website has been like that for awhile. Over a year. I think it looks very generic.

I used to love the magazine but they have changed it up as well and not for the better.

[BumbleBeeDave]

you may be giving them too much credit to say it's been 'redesigned' because that implies design was involved. to my eye it looks like it's the work of an IA (information architect), just blocking out buckets of content. i hope they hand it over to a real designer/art director. the web has too much IA passing for design.

. . . for the same reason that newspapers don't like "designers." I don't think they're trying to design anything in an artistic manner. They're just trying to find just the right balancing point between presenting enough editorial content above the virtual fold (bottom of typical screen) to attract readers while leaving the most space possible open for ads.

Looking at it again, it looks like all they've really done here so far is changed the background color from black to white (makes type way easier to read) and removed the sidebar ads and the annoying little ad crawl sticking in from the bottom. Maybe they just lost the ad account for the sidebar banners?

BBD

[fiamme red]

I just looked, and noticed a poor format for comments after each article, without any demarcation between individual comments. (Edited to add: At least that's how it appears on my browser.)

But VeloNews' website has never been well-designed.

[fkelly]

They've gone to the dark (Drupal) side.

Where do you see that? Looking at their source it appears they are still linking to WordPress themes. "link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="all" href="http://velonews.competitor.com/wp-content/themes/cgi-media/cgi-media-2.css" "

I suppose it's possible they could use Drupal and still use the old themes but I'd doubt it. I ask cause I'm involved in evaluating CMS's.

[BumbleBeeDave]

I wonder if it's just like this because somebody who's supposed to fill in the spaces is on vacation for the holidays? When I looked at it again, it occurred that to me all that's really missing is the black background AND . . . most of the ads.

BBD

[Elefantino]

Where do you see that? Looking at their source it appears they are still linking to WordPress themes. "link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="all" href="http://velonews.competitor.com/wp-content/themes/cgi-media/cgi-media-2.css" "

I suppose it's possible they could use Drupal and still use the old themes but I'd doubt it. I ask cause I'm involved in evaluating CMS's.
About a year ago an emulator module came out for Drupal that tricked WP themes into thinking they were running on WP.

That's what it looked like to me. I could be wrong.

[BobbyJones]

It's WordPress.

Why would you think it's Drupal? Did the "taxonomy" in the menu class lead you astray?

[Elefantino]

It's WordPress.

Why would you think it's Drupal? Did the "taxonomy" in the menu class lead you astray?
That and the fact that I hate Drupal.