Periodically, I receive complaints from people who say that they can’t find an article they just saw in the last day or so.
The reason for this is because our featured content section — the large image at the top of the website — is a slider, designed to hold ten articles at a time. As new articles are added, the oldest one drops down into the scrollable content section below.
Unfortunately, however, since the slider didn’t advance automatically, people weren’t noticing the little teeny arrows that allow scrolling left and right through the features.
Today, after working with the designer and our hosting company to overcome some technical issues that were stopping me from making the necessary change, I updated the featured section. Now, only the most recent featured article goes in the big image spot at the top, with the rest all down below for easier access.
I don’t usually live test changes like this on the site, but I thought I’d give it a whirl and focus group it a little. Do you prefer it the way it was, or the way it is now?
My goal with the site is always to make it as user friendly for you as possible. I want it readable, accessible, aesthetically pleasing, and logically laid out. So please do let me know what you think.
Steve Skojec is the Founding Publisher of OnePeterFive.com. He received his BA in Communications and Theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville in 2001. His commentary has appeared in The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, Crisis Magazine, EWTN, Huffington Post Live, The Fox News Channel, Foreign Policy, and the BBC. Steve and his wife Jamie have eight children. You can find more of his writing at his Substack, The Skojec File.
I didn’t have a problem with the arrows for the slider, but if people like this better, then it’s fine with me, because I don’t have a problem with this layout either.
I prefer the pre-Vatican II version! 😉
I think I prefer this one.
Much better. I never saw the arrows at all. Sorry to be so obtuse.
You are old school, Chloe. ?
Maybe I just need to get used to it, but I really prefer the old one. I much prefer the arrows to scrolling for ages to find the new articles. If others prefer this then I can live with it. Perhaps another approach is to have maybe the 5 newest in the features, and then have them drop to the lower section? And/or have bigger, more obvious arrows?
Like I said, though, I can get used to it if I must. 🙂
I preferred the old one. The slider. I loved the fact that they didn’t advance automatically. I always hate that on other sites. I got to control when the articles slided, how long I got to view them, or if I even want to slide them at all. I was familiar with the slider format from most other sites. You can tell with the little dots on the bottom there were other articles. Maybe more prominent arrows and dots would have helped or a tag telling you to slide. I personally enjoyed keeping the page still and sliding rather than having to scroll down. However, I will be content with what the majority likes.
ncregister.com now have an moving “feature” section followed by other lists of articles. It probably needs more work in the aesthetics department but the benefit is that in one quick glance you get an idea of the range of topics available.
I like the previous scrolling version.
I like this much better. It makes it more visual and it is easier to scroll through on a smaller device.
Both versions (new and old) work well on my iPad, but neither is very navigable on my phone. Anyone else having this problem?
I liked the old one with the arrows, but for new visitors, having everything listed chronologically is much better. It took me a long time to find out how to browse the website.
The sliders were nifty. At a glance I could inventory new content.
This gives me a chance to say what an extraordinary job you are doing. I’m somewhat new to the site — maybe I’ve been dropping in for four/five months. I am continually amazed at what I find here and deeply grateful.
God reward you for this heroic work.
Thank you, James. Very grateful to hear it.
I’m contemplating just reducing the number of articles in the slider so they don’t languish there for so long before making it into the page feed.
I actually put together a video showing people how the new site layout works, but I don’t think enough people saw it to help them with the navigation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4_g-YUmzlw
Thank you!! I had actually stopped coming to the site regularly because the sliders actually didn’t work right for whatever reason on my phone. Please keep the new format!!
I like this better. The old version didn’t work properly for me until the page fully loaded, which was often a slow process. The slider was also difficult to use on my mobile device.
I didn’t like it at first but then got used to it. Still I think 10 was too many when you wanted to ser what you had missed in a couple or days’ an my phone and even the computer would some times get a littl stuck loading it. Maybe keep it down to 3? And not in a slide but all showing up there..
The new page arrangement is fine with me. I don’t own a smart phone, only a dinosaur computer, but then come to think of it, I’m a dinosaur too and badly in need of a computer refesher course. My last computer language was Fortran. My thesis advisor told me to update with C++. Ha, Ha
I am very grateful for the opportunity you’ve given us here to interact with fellow Catholics on the Catholic Church and it’s life. My last debate was with fellow Republican primary candidates for MD Delegate. I ran as a pro-life, anti-vaccination candidate. I didn’t win but I gained expierence and insight.
Today is day 3 of my fast and Novena for families. By the Infant’s good graces I was able to finish the fast yesterday and pray the novena, but I still am having trouble eating the raw garlic. Most Holy Infant Jesus of Prague, Have Mercy on us, Our Lady Help of Christians, Pray for us.
I find it really, really, difficult to find anything on here anymore. Instead of scrolling though pictures, if there were a “text only” version of the list of recent articles, I would be very happy.
I much prefer everything listed. If there is a slider at the top with the most recent articles, or things you want to call attention to, I’m OK with that, as long as everything is also listed sequentially below.