Member of the Month

je_t.aime_canard
January, 2025

Online

Welcome to the Newschoolers forums! You may read the forums as a guest, however you must be a registered member to post. Register to become a member today!

New Homepage open to public Beta

profile picture
Mr.Bishop
Posts: 22714 - Karma: 76,758
We're launching the Public Beta of the new homepage for Newschoolers.

You can access it from the link which will go live later today right at the top, or if you want an early peek scroll to the bottom of your "Settings" page where you can enable it.

We're pretty happy with how this new take on things came out - especially on mobile.

Would love to hear feedback as you guys get a chance to check it out!

**This thread was edited on Nov 15th 2016 at 10:05:09am
POLL
Edit Poll
Votes:

Take care when editing a poll; Options should be similar to maintain vote integrity.

More options will be added automatically as you type. You must supply a question and at least two options. No HTML is allowed.

Nov 15 2016 10:04AM
2 1
profile picture
Swandog7
Posts: 4956 - Karma: 9,025
The referenced post has been removed.


via Imgflip Meme Generator
Nov 23 2016 7:09PM
0 0
profile picture
Mr.Bishop
Posts: 22714 - Karma: 76,758
The referenced post has been removed.


We promoted it because it's our video. That is what editorial control is about. ;)

When everyone bitched and complained that we got rid of all of our editors and they wanted us to tell them what was cool, this is it.

That being said - maybe we didn't nail it on this one and we will take the community feedback and adjust our content in the future.

But that is the thing with editorializing and curating - we override the system to be able to give that.
Nov 23 2016 7:57PM
0 0
profile picture
Paul.
Posts: 1628 - Karma: 11,307
Personally I enjoy the new homepage. I like how the main feed has only videos and news, while the side is saved for photos, it's nice that things aren't jumbled together anymore. Autoplay is also pretty cool, I definitely have no issues there seeing as I didn't even notice it until I read this thread an hour ago.

My only issue with the new homepage is the sponsored content. Don't get me wrong, I understand Newschoolers needs ads, I totally support that, I keep my adblock paused on this site because I want you guys to make money. That being said, I am completely not down for camouflaging ads to make them look like any other content on the site. What is this, Facebook? And honestly I wouldn't have that much of a problem with that because the ads on Newschoolers generally have some sort of content to enjoy, which is great. I suppose my problem is that these ads are repetitive, and they stay on the front page for way too long. I am tired of seeing Line, Saga and J Skis ads invading the user content every time I scroll the page. I don't want to watch Windells videos from the summer, I don't want to read about Shredsauce turning 4 years old three and a half months ago (although the update was dope, thanks Malcolm), and I don't really care about Line Skis edits that were posted months ago.

Another thing I noticed is that votes don't really matter on sponsored content. I'm not talking about them moving up or down in the feed based on votes, I know companies pay for their spots in the feed and that's fine. I am talking about votes (mostly downvotes) literally not registering half the time. Or even worse, when I downvote sponsored content I dislike, it will occasionally register as an upvote, or both a downvote and upvote.

Maybe it's just me, but the way sponsored content has changed in the new update really chaps my ass. Besides that I think you guys are doing a fantastic job. The new homepage is smooth and easy to navigate, the NS shop is sweet, and overall I think the site is better than ever. And hey, if this new way of presenting sponsored content is making a significant amount of money for NS, then by all means keep doing it. I just wanted to get my 2 cents out there.
Nov 26 2016 1:37AM
0 0
profile picture
kim_jong_ill
Posts: 1019 - Karma: 3,147
Not sure why this occurs but whenever I open up the new site, i receive this error in the top right and none of the content on the homepage loads...


Nov 28 2016 10:58PM
0 0
profile picture
VAPEOREON
Posts: 459 - Karma: 800
The thick black lines between the videos seem unnecessary, and way too eye catching to be doing their job. Theyre thicker than the subheadings. We could already tell the difference between the two video descriptions, so i'm not sure those are needed.The kerning on the font is triggering my eyes, especially at small sizes the font gets pretty artifact heavy. The sub heading font appears best suited as a main heading font. Font vectors can scale poorly when theyre that small. Also it seems like there's something like (5?) fonts (font families?) that don't match at all on the home page. Auto playing videos also nukes my chrome when i'm running >5 tabs. I could see mouseover to autoplay videos, but if i'm not clicking on it I don't want to see it. Other than that it functions pretty well. Anyway I love NS but i hate bad kerning.
Dec 1 2016 10:55PM
0 0
profile picture
freeskibum82
Posts: 6355 - Karma: 5,057
kim_jong_illNot sure why this occurs but whenever I open up the new site, i receive this error in the top right and none of the content on the homepage loads...




javascript error. hard refresh the page
Dec 4 2016 4:25PM
0 0
profile picture
gravel
Posts: 5524 - Karma: 42,378
Now that it's been on for a bit, I do like the redesign layout. Is there a new algorithm for sorting the content, though? Feels like content gets more stale than it used to be, stuff lingers for a long time, weird stuff from months ago pops up randomly. Also getting a lot of duplicate articles or videos on the main feed often. AKA design looks good but I don't have as much confidence in the sorting as I did with the old page.
Dec 14 2016 7:14PM
0 0
profile picture
Mr.Bishop
Posts: 22714 - Karma: 76,758
toastNow that it's been on for a bit, I do like the redesign layout. Is there a new algorithm for sorting the content, though? Feels like content gets more stale than it used to be, stuff lingers for a long time, weird stuff from months ago pops up randomly. Also getting a lot of duplicate articles or videos on the main feed often. AKA design looks good but I don't have as much confidence in the sorting as I did with the old page.


There's been a couple of bugs within the new list because we changed it to a much more efficient sorting method to handle server load better.

We will make some tweaks to freshen up things a bit faster. The duplicates and old stuff have been a number of bugs we ironed out over the last week or so.
Dec 14 2016 11:10PM
0 0
profile picture
S.J.W
Posts: 7609 - Karma: 31,172
Can we please turn auto play off on fucking videos at the top of the page? I'm tired of having to physically turn off a video I never wanted played in the first place
Dec 15 2016 1:39AM
0 0
profile picture
Mr.Bishop
Posts: 22714 - Karma: 76,758
S.J.WCan we please turn auto play off on fucking videos at the top of the page? I'm tired of having to physically turn off a video I never wanted played in the first place


Check other thread. Toggle is going in within a couple of days. Remember - its beta still. Hardly anyone said anything in the early beta phase, so keep the suggestions rolling so we can improve to your guys liking.

Also - keep that discussion in the other thread about this.
Dec 15 2016 4:40PM
0 0
profile picture
gravel
Posts: 5524 - Karma: 42,378
While scrolling on mobile on the home page, any time there is a Vimeo embed and I accidentally scroll with my finger over the player bar, it opens the video. Seems to happen a lot to me. Not sure what can be done, maybe a way to change the Vimeo embed code to not include the player bar but only the play button to start the video?
Dec 23 2016 10:59AM
0 0
profile picture
Mr.Bishop
Posts: 22714 - Karma: 76,758
toastWhile scrolling on mobile on the home page, any time there is a Vimeo embed and I accidentally scroll with my finger over the player bar, it opens the video. Seems to happen a lot to me. Not sure what can be done, maybe a way to change the Vimeo embed code to not include the player bar but only the play button to start the video?


Ah - I see that now. Never noticed that.

Developers are in a holiday cycle right now, so only extremely urgent fixes will be coming out. I'll put this on deck for the start of January though, there should be something we can do.
Dec 26 2016 1:37PM
0 0
profile picture
00000000
Posts: 11075 - Karma: 82,508
Not sure if anyone else is getting this, but once in a while I have audio play on the homepage videos. Seems to only happen with Vimeo or Youtube embeds though.

Happened with today's video (cosmological keef) and the Line TC episode yesterday. Chrome w/ no adblock.
Dec 29 2016 10:30AM
0 0
profile picture
freeskibum82
Posts: 6355 - Karma: 5,057
mousseau.slvshNot sure if anyone else is getting this, but once in a while I have audio play on the homepage videos. Seems to only happen with Vimeo or Youtube embeds though.

Happened with today's video (cosmological keef) and the Line TC episode yesterday. Chrome w/ no adblock.


Happened for me with Quinn's edit. The video itself didnt load but the audio started playing. Reloaded the page and it didnt have audio.

I knew this autoplay video crap would have issues.. all just to increase the number of views for a video...
Jan 3 2017 7:41AM
0 0
profile picture
Mr.Bishop
Posts: 22714 - Karma: 76,758
mousseau.slvshNot sure if anyone else is getting this, but once in a while I have audio play on the homepage videos. Seems to only happen with Vimeo or Youtube embeds though.

Happened with today's video (cosmological keef) and the Line TC episode yesterday. Chrome w/ no adblock.


freeskibum82Happened for me with Quinn's edit. The video itself didnt load but the audio started playing. Reloaded the page and it didnt have audio.

I knew this autoplay video crap would have issues.. all just to increase the number of views for a video...


Its a bug we tracked down. We'll keep working on this, and the toggle for it should be ready soon.

@freeskibum82 - please read the extensive thread on this, its not to just increase number of views for a video.
Jan 3 2017 3:56PM
0 0
profile picture
freeskibum82
Posts: 6355 - Karma: 5,057
Mr.BishopIts a bug we tracked down. We'll keep working on this, and the toggle for it should be ready soon.

@freeskibum82 - please read the extensive thread on this, its not to just increase number of views for a video.


oh you mean like what you said in the get rid of the autoplay thead?

"ts Beta.

The good news about launching something in Beta, is we want to get feedback...

That being said - sure autoplay pads numbers."
Jan 3 2017 10:31PM
0 0
profile picture
Mr.Bishop
Posts: 22714 - Karma: 76,758
freeskibum82oh you mean like what you said in the get rid of the autoplay thead?

"ts Beta.

The good news about launching something in Beta, is we want to get feedback...

That being said - sure autoplay pads numbers."



My comment was that it's not JUST to pad numbers. It pads numbers, but the primary focus of it is to draw people into new videos.

That is also mixed with my comment that view counts are utter horseshit now as a currency of performance ever since facebook started to autoplay videos on scroll and count a views starting at .5 seconds.

So the conclusion is that sure autoplay pads numbers, but its happening everywhere... thusly making it irrelevant as a thing to worry about. With speedy desktop computers and internet connections, stopping to worry about a thumbnail which looks crappy and actually just show the video on mute is a great option.
Jan 4 2017 4:16PM
0 0
profile picture
Rob_G
Posts: 818 - Karma: 2,378
I'm having trouble uploading pictures to the site, firefox gives me an error message and on mobile it gets stuck on uploading. Anybody else experiencing this?
Jan 6 2017 4:37AM
0 0
profile picture
Mr.Bishop
Posts: 22714 - Karma: 76,758
Rob_GI'm having trouble uploading pictures to the site, firefox gives me an error message and on mobile it gets stuck on uploading. Anybody else experiencing this?


Could you report this in a new thread as well as add a couple of screen grabs of what you're seeing with OS/Browser version information?

Thanks!

Sorry you're having that issue. We just switched the site over to using only secure pages, so there might be a bug which cropped up out of that.
Jan 6 2017 2:19PM
0 0
profile picture
Rob_G
Posts: 818 - Karma: 2,378
Mr.BishopCould you report this in a new thread as well as add a couple of screen grabs of what you're seeing with OS/Browser version information?

Thanks!

Sorry you're having that issue. We just switched the site over to using only secure pages, so there might be a bug which cropped up out of that.


Done, there's bound to be some hiccups with a new system but hopefully it's a easy fix!
Jan 6 2017 3:33PM
0 0
profile picture
Mr.Bishop
Posts: 22714 - Karma: 76,758
FYI Everyone -

The New homepage has been launched as the official default.
Jan 11 2017 11:30AM
0 0
All times are Eastern (-5)