Headers and such...
When you arrived to BRO today you may have noticed a few changes to the site. One of those changes was the elimination of what we call ‘headers’ at the top of the channel. In the past, the header has changed at midnight, serving up a new image for a new day. The images have had no rhyme or reason, just photographic strips pulled from larger images, usually taken around the timeframe of the current news day.
The decision to eliminate the header was two fold: Load time and content relevance. Of course it takes a second to load an extra image. Is the site faster? And relevant content is now the first thing you see when a channel is loaded. We’re interested to hear how this has changed your viewing experience. Actually, you might not have noticed.
Additionally, the channel navigation has been magnified, and the user dashboard has been bumped up to the top of the page. There is now an Events Channel that has replaced the BRO Daily Calendar (formerly found on the left side of the page). Later in the day, the Trend Channel will switch to Arts and Leisure. We hope that the changes enhance the usability of the site. Feedback is appreciated. Thanks for tuning into BRO.
What Others Have To Say
What Do You Think?
Related Articles
-
Science Firsthand - Partners in Discovery
At an after school program recently, some kids were doing homework, some were on computers and some were in the gym. But a small group of fourth-graders were designing and building boats out of household products- plastic cups, construction paper, and tape. They had been building and modifying their boats throughout the week, trying a few different design and construction plans. Now they were ready to race them across a tub of water, using a fan to power them across. After deal … - Today, 8:00am
- Continue Reading
- Join the conversation
-
Griffis III Latest Sculpture - A Polarizing Piece
Larry Griffis III is a well-known Buffalo figure whose experience with steel is not only his passion, but his birthright. Some may know of his father’s sculpture park in South Buffalo, founded in the 60s, but his son has taken up the torch and is now a world-renowned sculpture. What started with the father has continued with the son. Griffis III’s work is starting to appear in spots in Buffalo and now, to see one of his works, you need look no further than Forest Lawn Chapel.
… - Today, 7:07am
- Continue Reading
- Join the conversation
-
Christmas With Vocalis at Karpeles
Though they only began in 2002, the 18-person Vocalis Chamber Choir have already made a name for themselves. Vocalis’ first CD was praised by the Buffalo News, is played regularly on WNED-FM, and they perform regularly through WNY, Toronto, and Pittsburgh. Their 2008-2009 season, which only includes eight or nine performances in WNY, will begin at Karpeles Manuscript Museum with their holiday concert dubbed, “Christmas at the Karpeles.”
This Saturday, December 6th, at 8PM, … - Today, 7:07am
- Continue Reading
- Join the conversation
-
So Long Elmwood, Hello University District
Ever since the Falafel Bar opened on Allen Street, it was only a matter of time before the Elmwood location was no longer for this world. I spoke to owner, Oded Rauvenpoor, who told me that the decision to close came when he was at a crossroads. He found himself happy with his Allentown diggs, but began eying another part of the city for the Elmwood restaurant. In the end, Oded decided that he wanted to try his hand in the University District (3476 Main Street). I guess there was … - Yesterday, 8:41pm
- Continue Reading
- 8 Comments
Comment Options
Ledward
While the page is faster and I like the larger channel buttons, I think I'll miss those picture banners. They were fun and I liked the fact that they didn't necessarily have anything to do with anything on the page. Just pretty pictures of our city, surroundings and people that you don't usually see. Just my $0.02
Report this
MisterChips
The only thing I disliked about the header images was the lack of ALT tags telling me the who, what, and when of the photo.
Report this
STEEL
I liked the banners. It gave the page a daily identity. They often repeated though which I did not like
I like the idea of an event channel
The channel tabs should highlight somehow when you click them. The change in logo color to match the channel is nice but maybe too subtle.
My opinions for what they are worth
Report this
LivingForge
I don't like the disappearance of the Banners. One of the functions of the site has always (in my eye) been the promotion of Buffalo as a unique, visually stunning city; the banners always contributed to that function in a dramatic way. I agree with Steel that they have been repeating quite frequently, which kind of defeated the purpose. If there were a vote, I'd vote to keep them.
Report this
DJCramer
I liked the headers as well. I think they were important in "imaging" our beautiful city. Without them, the site seems benign.
Report this
IMADIVA
Although I enjoyed looking at the banners, I often took too much time trying to make connections to the text. I like the new look and the site did load faster without the banner.
Report this
jester
I liked the banners too and will miss them. agreed on repeating being bad. what if the default was as it is now (for the quicker load) but there was a button/link that used css and javascript to show the banner at the top. not sure i even like the idea but i've already typed it so...
Report this
jfonso
Hey queenseyes -- Long time reader with few if any posts. Just wondering what happened to the magazine component of BRO? I loved that thing and looked forward to new editions.
Report this
duke
i like the current layout, but would still like to see an image where the featured story is ( above the navigation). i dont care for the aliased text in the identity box to the left. plus, the search box is lost amongst the ads. it might look better under the top left graphic (where TaTS ad is) Quicker load, yes, but perhaps not as visually appealing.
Report this
DietSoda
Could we stop changing the site, please? It's been in 3 or 4 different configurations in the last 6 months...too many for my taste. I liked the headers, they helped clean the appearance of the now crowded site. Time for a break.
Report this
urbanesque
My comments mirror Mr Chips' and STEEL's, I like the banners but would like to know the relevance, or link to a larger picture. There is so much beauty in Buffalo, it is great to see it highlighted. That said, the load time was a little faster this morning.
Report this
Gratephan
I concur with the others, I liked the banners as well, but noticed some were repeated often. It was a great way to showcase and promote our great city and it's diversity.
Report this
BuffaloCook
The site seems much quicker. At first I was waiting for the page to "settle" but then I realized it was done. I think its more streamlined this way. I like it a lot.
Report this
HAL9000
I definintely enjoyed the banner photos. Relevance to any story didn't seem to be the point - just enjoyed trying to figure it out each day. Favorite was the light fixture with all the bulbs in it - and it was very cool to discover that this hung in BRO's offices! Will surely miss these photos....
Report this
points2picas
I love that the site is always changing and more features are being added. The header had it's time but I think we can all agree that Buffalo Rising is no longer just a blog. The header was a waste of space and bandwidth. Now the page loads faster, user info is in a more intuitive place and more content is higher on the page.
Keep making it better, guys.
Report this
MJWorthington
I'm a visual person and always enjoyed the banner image and was curious to see what it would be each day. Though. like above I did tire of the repeating....
Report this
Eisen
The banners were fun. The page loads a little faster but at the same time lost some visual appeal. When I first opened the page the banner wasn't there, which is usually the first thing I focus on. After that nothing else on the page caught my eye, it was like hitting a wall of text. It sort of reminds me of a blogspot site. While you look at these things positively, my opinion is the site lost some color and spice while also losing a little eye navigation. Besides my regurgitation of the article and the posts above mine, keep up the good work around the site.
Report this
stephenjames716
although the site does seem a bit faster, it's not as visually pleasing without the headers. they were what set BRO apart from traditional (boring) news media.
Report this
Andrew
I dont have dial up so the extra time to load was never a factor but I miss the picture banners. bring them back with a link to what the picture is.
Report this
rdominguez
The site is loading considerably faster for me now; this is a huge advantage and will make me visit BRO more. Even a couple of seconds makes a big difference. Aesthetically I liked the last version better, but in this case the functionality and speed win out. Can you get the search function to load a little faster too? (Not a complaint, the site is easy to search and the function almost always returns what I'm looking for... I guess I may just be impatient.)
Report this
distas
keep he headers!!! i agree they gave a different view of the city and def gave the site more character, as well as making you think a little bit.
Report this
dpbflo
I loved the pics in the headers.. In fact I see that damn SCION with the lightning paint job everywhere. As much as i liked them Id rather have a site that moves faster.. so RIP cool banners... and yea.. what the hell did happen with the monthly publications? I miss them.. I used to send them to my friends out of the area... oh well.. just have to keep pushing the great website...
Report this
BROKEEPSBLOCKINGME
the whole site has been extremely slow since the revamp several months ago
Report this
Paul
Although I miss the header photo, the site loads faster. I haven't been checking BR as often as before the revamp. It's been extremely slow, as BROKEEPSBLOCKINGME said, and has been "hijacking" my browser while loading, so I've been avoiding it. Paul
Report this
Loyarc
I concur with others: I liked the banners.
New media is weird...the more you try to do, the less you become, in some cases BRO has been in this mode for awhile. Good content, but the experience has suffered dramatically. I see this happening to so many other properties.
It's actually a classic trap in design: I call it 'over design'.
And to be honest, I don't buy load speed. It's not an applicaiton; its a lesiure destination. People are here wasting time. Speed isn't that relevant.
Report this
NSphere
I liked the headers too. I actually thought it was better that they didn't have relevance to the stories... that's why the stories have their own pics. I just wish there was a short sentence/note at least identifying them. I could figure most out, but it was nice to see something like that and think, "Oh that's a gem I'd like to check out" or "Its great to city some like downtown and people enjoying themselves"
Report this
DanielSack
I have noticed that the site has been faster in recent weeks.
Any chance for a larger font in this "What Do You Think" box?
Report this
AuburnAve
Actually.... the change is nice. Didn't notice it all until now. I did see the HEADLINES area, and that is a great idea. I like the top of the page. Clean. Always loved the header pictures (kinda wished we could do contests to see where the pics were taken), but it did impede load time for me also. Any chance to post them, and more, on like Flickr or other site?
Tabs, buttons, whatever. I'm not a web designer. Just make it look pretty and make it useable and accessible. The M&T moving banner is more annoying than anything here. The new site redo a few months ago was great, and much easier to use and comment on. A good thing, even if we dont all agree with all posts all of the time.
Report this
ltm
I'll really miss the headers. I thought it was a wonderful way to highlight great things about the city.
Report this
MJWorthington
I fail to understand how an image that was mabye 200kb at most could affect the load speed that noticibly.
Report this
rdominguez
MJWorthington: I don't have a techie answer for you; I just know that the load speed IS better for me now.
Report this
mjs
the page layout is fine, my big beef is with the "print this article" format. I have to guess where to hit my cancel option so I don't have to print 16 pages of opinions when all i want is the article, period. And what is with the advertising, again, I only want the article, not any other garbage. I really miss the original Buffalo Rising format.
Report this