New site design is Really BAD!

I'd have to disagree totally on this. The rating system is no longer dependent on point values, which led to endless frustration and complaining. Instead, there's likes and loves. Not tagging. This works great.
Previews for everything on the main page has been great as well.
I don't think this is a web 2.0 wannabee, nor do I think the site is at all hard to navigate.
And most of the things that are gone from the old site have been replaced with better things.
Exception: searching. There's no searching, yet, but there will be.
But I guess this all comes down to opinion. I like the new site. :)

Thanks Nunch :)

lhdal - thanks for your comments. Have you tried clicking the down arrow on the browse menu? I have a feeling that might solve a lot of your problems...

Thanks for the response guys.

I forgot to mention in the previous post the site is white and it really wears my eyes. (Same with black version)

Even in the forum or comments, reading distinctive messages is hard.

lamplighter, I did click that and that is indeed one of my complaints.

It's huge. Alright it highlights my favourites bigger but I could see them in a much smaller and always visible list in the previous design.


nunch, the home page has huge empty parts.

The listings on the main page are uninformative. No rating, no date no size, etc.

I think going to less a distintive rating mechanism is never good. Also I couldn't even find to sort by current rating mechanism.

Wrong

lhdal: what site are you comparing customize.org to?

google.com is white and has huge empty parts.

The customize.org browse list is excellent. there when you need it, not when you don't. (It could be faster, but I am on dialup, so everything could be faster)

And sort by popularity.


I just have to finish with: IDIOT!

and customize.org: I don't think I have said it yet, so I really like the new site design. A hundred-fold improvement on the old site :)

troll alert

also, why not give a few suggestions instead of just putting down the new design. constructive criticism is always better than negative bitching.

sorry lhdal i just saw your submissions

respect

I didn't get it at first. It went over my head and I was wrong.

Now I think it's super secks.

it's great for everyone to voice their opinions, although some tact would be nice. obviously a lot of people (myself included) love the new site, but i'm sure there are ways in which it can be improved. lhdal, as fenris mentioned, if you have specific suggestions for improvement, they would probably be appreciated.

damn ego, u made me laugh :D *respect*

well, i have to agree about that navigation, alphabetical order can be tough :O

hmm, forgot to say. the new site has some neat features compared to the old one and is a great improvement.

totally blows the old one away.

White with large empty parts on the sides (1920 ^^), what's not to love! No really, i think this is one of my favourite sites to browse (i think devART is less easy), there might be some things that need fixi (like the photos you can't delete anymore), but hey it's beta (if that ain't 2 point oh ^^). The new horizontal navigation is great too, in fact i made the same for a personal site i'm working on. You can say you don't like it too much (but that would then almost count for any web 2.0 site), but saying it's crap is just mean, because lot's of work went into it.

@Ihdal: Using validated xhtml means auto better accesibility and well formedness of pages. Web 2.0 actually ensures that you dont have to do manual work along with the information architecture aspect of it.

Have you not read on the header 'beta' (The last software testing phase before a production rollout)

Customize.org is still a WIP and getting better every day, wait till it is finished then do an inspection!

i love this whole new site design and its functions, but i don't like the black fonts on the empty white backround here on the discussionpage
and i don't like the blue colored links, because it reminds of the old standard blue weblinks

douche...

I know there is a "bed time, night night, lights out" scheme we can switch to, but is support for lotsa different themes in the works? (like the old custo)

Uh, guys? Maybe you should stop mindlessly insulting anyone who disagrees with you. I think the site design is alright, and he's just voicing his opinion as to why he doesn't like it. He's actually giving detail, while some of you are just acting like toddlers.

^^ Agrees with the above comment.

ok im sowwy :(

fractal.design - I remeber hearing it is in the works

i think this site is extremely solid and very well designed. respects to the admins.

But some of these icons are horrid. Like that Top link. :P

Listen to pjdark or should say READ!

I love the new custo design,
but the dark theme still needs a lot to work on

I love the fact that the site is still free to browse and that I have a place to share my work.

I wasn't intending to be so rude earlier, but calling the site crap and a web 2.0 wannabe didn't really help me say anything positive to this guy...

a search function would be ideal in my opinion but as i understand this is something that they're working on so mentioning it over and over again really isn't gonna help much...

PFFT! This is one of the best websites around. It's simple and to the point, I don't know how you could possibly have any trouble navigating it. *Cough*Foreign*Cough* ;)

No but seriously, when compared to lets say DeviantArt.com -- it triumphs in all aspects. That site is dang hard to navigate and find what you want.

And if you truly were a loyal Custo user you would be completely hyped about Evo like we were. Dang it.

The site can't be that bad. I can even use it from my PSP.

I just have a suggestion ... would be nice to see on the profile page if there are any unread comments.

yeah getting noted about comments is the only thing on dA I like better then on evo ...would be cool to have here too

& Please do something about being able to delete photos (avatars) !!: |

There's a small learning curve, but once you're over it this site kicks ass.

Makes the old site look...old.

Yes I agree.

The navigation definately needs reworking. I understand visually its very bland so that it loads and runs quick (and uses less server/bandwidth).

The site now has all the right feautres I think, it just hasn't been laid out very well.

The website is not simple to use. Any person who has no idea about the things on the website would have an absolute shitter of a time working out what it was all about.

This place has a large smattering of designer types such as myself - so why not make use of this to make a place worthy of holding the beautiful creations that it houses...

I agree with toki_doki.

People who don't do advanced web browsing wont know about how to use the damn colour picker feature and working with hex code.

The accessibility of this website is very poor. Web Design is not all about eye candy, you need to take a look at the nitty gritty technical side. Have both and you will be fine!

Ok so we've heard some of the negative things you don't like about the site.. What are some of the positives? What keeps you coming back?

Me, pixels and friends : )

custo needs a siteskin tutorial section :)
and for custoers to make their own siteskins and subs

yeah, cause then you can always just say: "If you don't like it, make your own!"

yep, thats what customizing's all about :D

Positive: All the customizing elite are at custo. ;)

I would agree with Aphaits and Fractal.design, but I must admit I like the simplicity of it's design now.

IN FACT to illustrate just how easy I personally think this site is to navigate. I'd like to share the fact that even my computer illiterate family and friends navigate it just fine. :D

I like the new design :)

It isn't perfect but I think it's better than the old one.

yes fix the site please, the 2005 site looked a lot better. you could atleast put up a different version like customize.org/oldsite/

i love the white version but the black version i can't stand.. definitely some incredible work put into this site though so yea man.. jucrazy

Black version is niiice. And easy on the eyes. Just needs some image cleanup.

I prefer the white version. I do understand that some people don't like the actual layout. The site-engine definitely kicks ass, but it's pretty empty designwise. Anyone seconds this?

i still think the old site was way better hah

The oldsite was much better. It probably didn't look like it was upto the latest design trends but it was fast, reliable and everything was there. It was an easy to use website. This one is a bit to complicated in the way it works, I see a lot of bad web design in this.

this thread sucks a LOT.

the new site is brilliant. notice it still says 'beta' when you visit the home page. lamp and the admins are working hard with the feedback they've received to improve the site every day. they are also doing so for FREE. if you don't like their efforts, code a new site, give specific suggestions for improvement, or go elsewhere. none of us who appreciate/frequent customize.org want to hear anything otherwise.

As a n00b -
I love the new site...
but I hate that there isn't any searching.

I agree completely with Nitzua. And also love the new site, it looks new, the old site looked old. And this one may have bugs and errors but works better in my opinion.

And if people checked the bloody help page every now and again maybe they would find what they need to use this site properly since it's just so darned hard to use. >_<

I agree with Synorgy and Pyro, the new site is fantastic.
But it definitely needs a search function.

there was alot of work into making this site what it is, its fantastic, but its still lacking a few things, most of them have been confirmed as in progress ... so hopefully soon we'll see the search and "site skins"

This site is by far one of the MOST appealing in this category concerning design and mostly navigation. For a complex site like that it is of course useful to have (and read) a help page, but here´s the problem.
It is all in all ok but at first look it just seems to be only helping for customization and not how to use this site so people might oversee important info.
my suggestion is to place the chapter with the (new and informative) hint for search help on top in bold letters, cause it isn´t something "more specific" but completely "basic" that people want to know.

I understand that the admins are working hard to sort out the problem but we are never given any information on the work behind the scenes. It is beta so we should regularly be informed on changes and stuff in progress.

wow, everyone always has to bitch about something. It amazes me how no one can ever be happy with things around here.

Funny how I can be completely be happy with other sites and not this one.

Wow. I second Cap completely.

You whiney little punks piss me off, that's why I'm always p.o.'d nowadays. So I changed the help section, everyone happy now?! God. And Tazio, you're not the HTML God.

If Alex can be happy with this site you can to. Because he knows a whole lot more about HTML than you do. And he's only a year older than you. He wrote his own blogging engine for crying out loud.

...Ok.. maybe a bit much.. but seriously it's my time of the month lol. I guess I ought to have forewarned all.

ok chat to you in a few days Pyro.... j/k ;)

We love you and your contributions...

Haha, yeah.. well.. now I'm almost done. Shoulda warned y'all a few days ago. o_O

I tried to add helpful/useful things to the help page, but no one ever views it.

It's okay to have opinions.

Don't bitch people out just because they don't think or feel the same way you do- that just adds to the asshattery we're already known for.

my question is:why do the people who say they don't like the site - even just the design of it - keep coming back?

fenris, cause people like to bitch ?

yes, but what is the appeal beyond that?

idk some people believe that they have to give their criticism and opinions about everything. I leave my comments to myself these days.

If you don't like the way the site is designed/ran, then why do you come here? Why do you insist on starting crap and imposing on the people who are patient and understand the word BETA.

No one forces you to type www.customize.org in your finally photoshopped address bar tazio.

I just really don't like people who whine and complain about things yet don't help them or give helpful criticism to anything. OR try to understand things in anyway before jumping to the forums to complain about them.

So I'm sorry if that comes off as "asshattery" to people.

*seconds pyro*

the people who complain about the new site, were not regulars at the old site who had been here for a long time.

they have no idea what they are talking about

True. Entirely. Which means that have no leg to stand on with their complaints.

No one forces you to type www.customize.org in your finally photoshopped address bar tazio.

z-i-n-g.

*thirds pyro*

*applauds nitzua*

*Whatever*

Why was this site down for so long today?

i don't think anyone is bitching. some people prefer the old site because of its functionality and ease of use.

i've been a member since early 2005, around when the site first opened. a lot of you just joined in 06 or 07.

you wouldn't understand the differences, because you've never even seen the old site :/.

it was godly. sure the design wasn't web 2.0ish, but who needs it anyways? i think this site will improve, the admins are working hard to maintain this site. however, i also believe if they finished the search function, we 2005 kids could adapt to this new site easier :).

and don't say i'm bitching, because i'm honestly not.

PFFT. Okay I've been here since 2004! AND I lurked a year give or take before I joined up. So I DO know the differences. And really I don't miss the old site at all, viewing it now it just feels OLD like everyone's said.

Besides that it really wasn't that much easier to use. Personally if my computer illiterate friends can view this site fine it can't be that bloody difficult to use. I mean you don't have to be a genius to view it.

This new site is just so much smoother, and fast, and it's got the new nifty features. And not just the complicated ones. But useful ones. Ones that just make it way more superior than the old one -- entirely.

So I guess you 2005 kids just need to adapt -- even while we don't have the search function. I mean now there is instructions on how to search the site in the help page. BESIDES new fangled kids ought to adapt easier, than us people that have been here for years -- in theory.

And please don't say I'm we'll say witching -- because I'm just being honest about my opinions here.

I miss the custo ambulance, naaah, but seriously i've been waiting for EVO since -04 and I'm very satisfied with how things developed.

Kudos to lamplighter, revird and all of the other oldtimers who've worked on this for years and made this the home for some of the customizing and graphical artists out there.

ambulance, how i miss thee

I do think we should get the ambulance back, for when we have server issues. I miss it too. =/

Ambulance for server issues - spot on :)

i remember when the ambulance was a regular thing to see...ah...the good ol' days! but seriously, it would be better than getting the generic error pages. good suggestion nunch!

also, did i miss something...custo opened around 2005? *looks confused* some of us must be super great time travelers... ;)

"i've been a member since early 2005, around when the site first opened. a lot of you just joined in 06 or 07."

HAHA! I hope you are kidding. I've been visiting cuso since 2001 and there are plenty of people around here that have been around longer than me.

I've been a member of customize since 2002. Though, under a different alias but those who have been here as long as I, know what that alias was.

We know what we're talking about. I actually like the new version better than the old, minus a few features.

Eh, I'd like to see borders around the posts, in forums and such.
Other than that, i like it.

@Fenris: We should have a customized error page like 4imp have ;0

um...that's pretty much what the ambulance was...

I found this site a couple of months ago, and I have no qualms with it. It just takes some getting used to, as most web 2.0 sites usually do...

Really, then lets get it back!