DISQUS

drcastrato · 7 months ago

I wrote you previously, but my only compliant is the lack of a chronological list of all posts (perhaps in a sidebar), OR, a time stamp on each listing on the main page. And yeah you should totally put the Pill image back in the logo.

kmbone · 7 months ago

I'd also like to see a chronological list of all posts, or a time stamp. For me, it's kind of convoluted to check every category to see what's been added (although following the site on RSS helps).

arensb · 7 months ago

I subscribe to the RSS feed, so I don't have the problem of not seeing new articles.

But the thing that's been annoying me lately is having to scroll down and to the right to hide the annoying flashing ads in the margins. I haven't gone so far as to install an ad blocker yet, but I'm this close.

I understand that this site, like many others, depends on ad revenue. And fairly often, ads at sites I visit are for stuff I actually want. But flashing or animated ads are too distracting and annoying to put up with.

Matt · 7 months ago

I think I'm a Popdose addict. I just voted for 5 out of the 6 missing features.

I swear to God that I just read Salon as "taking inspiration from Satan." No joke. I need help.

I really like the re-design. It's VERY clean, as any good website design should be. It's the kind of design I've been wishing for for my own site, and with any luck, I'll accomplish similar goals soon.

I'm honestly surprised that anyone visits the actual sites much anymore, with RSS readers. I click through just to comment, and besides that, I rarely notice links and any subtle tweeks that site owners might make.

That being said, I think that the design also helped the overall readability of Popdose. The fonts, etc. are very pleasing to these eyes.

Okay, that's all from me. Well done....you already knew I was a fan.

David_E · 7 months ago

I still pretty much fall in line with the comments here.

Would love to see a time/date stamp on new articles, if possible ... I miss the comments RSS ... and I do miss that li'l pill icon.

Also, yeah – the flashing, brightly colored ads still make me dizzzzzzyyyyy ....

solipsistnation · 7 months ago

As others said, not having a straight-up chronological list makes it hard to find new posts. I can't just scan down the page, I have to jump from section to section and consider if it's new, if I saw it yesterday, or what. Also, if an article looks potentially interesting, I now have to click over to it to see if it's really something I want to read and then if not, click back to the main page.

Perhaps, if you have too much content (as if!), you could have shortened the excerpts that showed up on the front page and kept the chronological list?

The multi-category front page also makes it much more obvious what sections get updated less often. I think the first couple of postings in the Books category have been there for a month now, unchanged. It makes your content look too static.

A timestamp on the front page listings would be a good thing too, but then of course it becomes more obvious when categories haven't been updated in a month...

jefito · 7 months ago

One of the first planned adjustments to the new design will be a tweak that takes the titles of posts younger than 24 hours old and turns them red. I'm hoping that helps with the "timestamp" issue.

The animated ads bug me, too, for what it's worth.

tippos · 7 months ago

I agree with the previous posts regarding some way to highlight new content. Also, I will promise to click through on ads each of the 17 times I visit daily if you bring back Cover Me.

jefito · 7 months ago

Cover Me's only been on hiatus because Mr. Medsker has been on paternity leave. It'll return soon.

tippos · 7 months ago

Best news I've had all week. Mazel tov to Mr. Medsker!

Michael · 7 months ago

I quite like the new design, and find it to be easier to zero in on the sections that I read most frequently and still be aware of what else is going on in Popdose-land.

That said, Bring back the Mellow Gold and Chartburn !!

hagen · 7 months ago

Also, I miss Terje and into the Ear of Madness. Seal's got a set of videos with Foster on iTunes, and nobody to defend them.

jefito · 7 months ago

We miss Terje too.

terje · 7 months ago

Thanks, Hagen. And thanks, Jeff. I miss me, too. I dig the new layout, though

GrayFlannelSuit · 7 months ago

I'm in the same boat as a few others here - I digest this site almost exclusively through my RSS feed and only visit to contribute a witty comment. With that in mind I offer some constructive criticism:

-I also miss the pill icon.
-The new design is certainly cleaner than the old, but I find it a bit sterile as well. Part of this may be because I have all the Firefox ad blockers installed so I'm seeing white space where ads live (sorry Jeff, I love the site, but can't abide ads). But overall, it doesn't seem to convey the charm and personality of the prior version.
-Content wise I like the balance provided here, although if there is one thing I could stand less of it's the political stuff.

jefito · 7 months ago

I've always been aware that the current events section would be the red-headed stepchild of the site, and I think all of our CE columnists are prepared to deal with that. It's my opinion, though, that politics falls under the umbrella of pop culture, and I think having those columns run here helps class up the joint.

GrayFlannelSuit · 7 months ago

I can understand that. I guess my real concern with the political/social pieces isn't whether they blend in but that they can be a bit divisive. Speaking only for myself, if I read a piece blasting a favorite band of mine it's no big deal (I'm a Kiss fan, having a thick skin is mandatory), but reading something that does the same to my political or religious beliefs can leave a sour taste.

jefito · 7 months ago

Ah, but opinions are just opinions, whether they be musical or otherwise...

DwDunphy · 7 months ago

I understand where you are coming from. I know we tend to take a liberal slant, and that might alienate potential conservative-minded readers, but speaking personally it is important to have that current events section, even if a portion of our readership chooses to pass it by, and here's why...

I can't and won't speak for Jeff, Jason, Robert or any of the staff, but solely for myself my dream for Popdose is to be a truly inclusive web magazine, not simply a blog (not that there's anything wrong with blogs.) Our see-saw is weighted toward music pop-culture, but there is a need for the current events stuff, and not in some bland, all-departments-accounted way either. Ann Logue's financial columns have been very insightful, and Jon Cummings' take on things, even things I don't always agree with, are thought provoking. They kick this site up from the straight-ahead music sites and, in fact, I know there are readers who pop in just for that section. The fact that they both write in an entertaining manner too proves to me that they'd kill on someone else's site. I'm glad they, and I, are on this one.

jason · 7 months ago

"Tend to take a liberal slant"?! Here, let me summarize every single political piece that has ever been published on this site: "Republicans are mouth-breathing, evil idiots. And assholes."

Personally I love the redesign, just because my eyes no longer pass over and involuntarily absorb even a few paragraphs of that crap as I try to get to the good stuff.

jefito · 7 months ago

Are you volunteering to write a right-wing column, Jason?

DwDunphy · 7 months ago

Last year, during the Republican and Democratic conventions, we actually offered some of the more vocal Conservative readers to join us on the panel to balance things out. We were very aware it was a lopsided fight going on. Two opted out, one never responded to the offer, yet commented the very next day on how we were so biased.

Russ · 7 months ago

I don't miss any of those features.

The feature I miss most is "Idiot's Guide".

jefito · 7 months ago

I know, I know. But after writing roughly one a week for a few years, I've come to the end of the list of artists I'm inclined to devote that much energy to writing about, which means we depend wholly on others for guides, and as putting them together is sort of daunting, we don't get many offers.

David_E · 7 months ago

Offer.

rwcass · 7 months ago

I still have a Sly & the Family Stone guide in the works, and a mini-guide for Papas Fritas. So hands off, everybody!

DwDunphy · 7 months ago

And you're going to post the MP3s and never ever take them down? Schweet!

aryl w · 7 months ago

I really like the new format, but would appreciate having the date that the item was posted. It appears that others would like that feature too, but I wanted to add my vote to the loudly complaining throng ; - ), by the way, I really like the content overall & love the price. Keep up the great work!

DwDunphy · 7 months ago

Free rocks.

JonCummings · 7 months ago

One thing I think might help occasional readers is a "Most Popular" sidebar on the home page -- not like we had last year, with the most popular posts EVER, but a "Most Popular of the Week" sort of thing. That would allow links to well-read interviews & higher-profile music features to remain accessible past the first couple days after they post (since music posts are still the quickest to leave the page). Otherwise, highlighting the most recently posted features in red is a good idea.

As for GrayFlannel's comments about the political content...um, don't read it if you don't want to read it. Now that the homepage is a set of links, just don't click on anything under the word "Current Events," and I'll never piss you off again.

Annie's stuff is important to a readership like ours, I think, because she focuses on discussing in fun and understandable ways the complicated economic problems we're facing--stuff that's easy to tune out. As for me, I just write about what I'm thinking about, and I'll keep doing it until somebody tells me they're not going to run it anymore.

thefxc · 7 months ago

I don't use RSS, I actually look at the site, but FWIW I have it bookmarked to the music section...

The Idiot's Guides introduced me to this site, and that's what I miss most. I know they're labor intensive, but...one a month maybe? (At the very least, reposting/updates of IGs would be welcome--there's a new Pet Shop Boys, for example.) Heck, if you're hurtin' I can churn out a Front Line Assembly IG no prob...

In general, love the site, like the redesign. Carry on!

jason · 7 months ago

One vote for the FLA IG. That would be amazing.

RT · 7 months ago

I loved your site before. This is a mess. Very bad design. Hate the nav. Love the content. PLEASE REDESIGN. And thanks for asking. You had a brand. Now you've got a jumble.

jefito · 7 months ago

Okay, so you hate it. Mind saying WHY?

Jude · 7 months ago

No honey, the design doesn't make you look fat -- your FAT makes you look fat.

MC · 7 months ago

You may look fat, but I'd do you anyway... thumbs up on the new design, it's more fitting for what you have become.

I miss "When Good Albums Happen..." the most. And I agree with those who miss the Idiot Guides. Any chance you'd ever re-post those from the old Jefitoblog days?

Also, I'm really enjoying the Werner series.

Keep up the good work! Thanks...

The Border Patrol · 7 months ago

A general thumbs-up for the re-design, although the classifications need work. (Like why is a review of the TV series "Lie To Me" filed under "music"?)

Incidentally, while I see no reason why the site shouldn't have political content, I almost never read your political ariticles. This isn't because of any left-wing/right-wing issues: it's because frequently the authors of these articles seem to assume that everyone is American. Plenty of us aren't.

On a similar note, I love Chartburn -- but it might be fun to branch out and do another Chartburn with a UK chart. And what of NZ, Australian, or Canadian charts?

I'll stop carping now. Despite my quibbles, overall this site is GREAT!

DwDunphy · 7 months ago

Believe it or not, this discussion of Chartburn nationality did occur early in the series' run, but the consensus was basically this: the 'Burners are all US-based. While it would be fun to tackle, say, a New Zealand list, there's a good chance we won't have heard at least 60% of the songs on it. Whoever sets up the list has to also track down videos and such to guide us through. Jeff, who is the primary Chartburn editor, usually needs a week to cull together a coherent post out of our responses and sidebar interruptions (Okay, MY sidebar interruptions.)

In essence, we'd love to do International Chartburn. I just don't know if we'd be digging a bottomless hole setting it up.

As for International politics, kind of the same thing. I could write about other countries and their ruling parties, but it would be from an American's perspective. As you've noticed though, this site is welcoming to new writers so if you are or know someone outside of the borderlines with the skills, send them our way. We are not adverse to Overseas correspondents.

breadalbane · 7 months ago

Actually, the fact that you might not have heard the song before could make it fun. This actually happens every so often even with the US-based Chartburn charts, and hilarty often ensues.

By the bye, if you're ever doing a Canadian chart, count me in. Seriously. I can get an official Canadian top 10 list for you for pretty much any week from 1964-1999. (You'll find they don't differ from the US lists THAT much -- but there's usually enough of a difference for you to notice you're dealing with a slightly different nation.)

Oh, and the site redesign works for me. But count me amongst the ones who'd like to see a chronological list of recently posted artilces somewhere, even as a sidebar.

DwDunphy · 7 months ago

E-mail Jeff with your Canadian chartness. After our poll, it's pretty clear the readers would like to see Chartburn and Mellow Gold return.

rwcass · 7 months ago

You should just leave up all the MP3s all the time, or at least until the Internet dies in a million years. Dude, I totally promise I read all the words you guys write about whatever it is you're talking about (Springsteen, right?), but sometimes I don't have time to download all the free music in the week it's available. So never delete it. OK?

mojo · 7 months ago

No man, the question is "Does this design make us look PHAT?"

Chris B · 7 months ago

I'll chime in with the crowd asking for a chronology and possibly some kind of keywording?

The last time I looked at PopDose, this article was at the top. Today, obviously it isn't, but where is it? Which subheading? Hell, what was the title again?

Obviously it's not THAT big a deal if I'm posting this, but it definitely lacks grace.