Welcome to the new Interest.co.nz. After months of work on the design and structure and content for our new site we have launched it out into the big, wide world. (Updated with detail of changes already made)
We hope you enjoy the new navigation, the extra features and the way it looks.
We've done a few things differently and a few things the same. We'd love to hear from you what works and what doesn't. Please tell us what you think in the comments section.
We've included a search box (up top) for all the site. We've made the navigation bigger and simpler. We don't have any of the fiddly drop-down menus anymore. We've made it easier to find all our charts. We've also launched two whole new sections: Rural and Insurance.
This is just the beginning. We know there's going to be some things that look funny or don't work. We're going to work as hard as we can to fix those things. Tell us what doesn't work or what you'd like to see instead. One of the reasons for moving to a new site infrastructure is it's easier for us to make changes 'on the fly' Try us. We might just be able to do it fast.
Email me at bernard.hickey@interest.co.nz if there's something you want to say, but aren't comfortable putting into the comments. I'd love to hear your feedback.
Cheers
Bernard
PS. Our audience has spoken loudly and clearly about a few things. Many would like to see a bigger font. We agree. We're working on that. In the meantime just press CTRL + to increase the font size or click on the "adjust text size" right at the very bottom of the front page.
Also, many said they would like to click directly from the Comment Stream comments to the comment referred to, rather than the story generally. We've changed that. Also, we've shaded every second comment so it's easier to read after a few people mentioned that.
We're also working on the idea of a simpler chronologically organised news page. We thought people would like us to highlight the most interesting news, but we see a few would simply like a chronological list. Your views?
We've also moved to putting all the comments on one page instead of making everyone click through to another page once a certain number of comments are published.
Some interesting comments on glare from all the white space in the margins. Your views generally?
Some of you may have noticed we 'launched' on May 10/11 and had a few problems. We regrouped and made the new site a lot faster. Here it is.
24 Comments
Alan
Here's the best link for the 'all the stories in one place thing'
http://www.interest.co.nz/news/archive
But I hear what you're saying. We're keen to respond quickly to what our readers want. Watch this space
cheers
Bernard
Hard worker
Glad you're working hard! Me too!
2006 was a good year for me...
We didn't want to be too far ahead of the pack.
cheers :)
Bernard
Fred,
Sorry about the lack of blue. It seems white space is the new black. Hope you like white too...
cheers
Bernard
Elley,
I'm pretty sure that's coming once we have logins for everyone.
Plenty of tweaks and improvements to come.
cheers
Bernard
Murray,
You make a good point. I like the idea. Can't guarantee it.
But will see what we can do.
We really appreciate the feedback
cheers
Bernard
Alan,
Many thanks for mentioning it.
The one page thing is the top of our list.
We're working on that one ASAP!.
Cheers and bear with us while we iron our the wrinkles.
Bernard
Murray
Nothing that Machiavellian I'm afraid.
One of those unintended consequences.
Something we're working on
cheers
Bernard
It is taking a while guys, and we appreciate your patience while solving the last wrinkles.
ctnz
Many thanks for those comments. We hear what you're saying on font size. I like the idea of giving people choice. We'll look at that.
I take you point on the lack of a chronological list. We wanted to prioritise what was the biggest news.
Here's the full archive link which gives you that archive link.
http://www.interest.co.nz/news/archive
But I'm sympathetic. Bear with us. We have a lot of work to do.
cheers
Bernard
Farmer Will
Take your point on font size. I agree it's a bit teeny weeny.
What do others think? Font size too small?
cheers
Bernard
Anonymous
Which old news are you seeing?
Updated with latest today
cheers
Bernard
To all,
We've made some changes already since Friday night. We're working on some others. Bear with us.
Many thanks to those who have made comments and left advice, even if some of it was painful.
cheers
Bernard
FYI to all
Top 10 at 10 will be back on Monday. We didn't have one on Friday. It was all a bit hectic
cheers
Bernard
Graeme
Here's the link
http://www.interest.co.nz/saving/term-deposits-1-to-9-months
You can get it from the savings page.
cheers
Bernard
Not verified.
Will ask the geeks if we can put 'more meat on my bones'
Fair enough.
cheers
Bernard
What feed were you using? It should redirect automatically.
Many thanks for those comments.
It is a DruPal site. We found the dropdown menus were not popular in the old site.
cheers
Bernard
Kiwi Overseas
You've made my morning. We've had a busy/rough couple of days. We appreciate the support.
cheers
Bernard
FYI to all
Our audience have spoken and we are listening.
We are changing our news section to a simpler 'blog style' chronological list with the most recent 5 headlines with the first paragraph and the next 15 headlines underneath.
Your thoughts?
cheers
Bernard
Les, Not verified
We are looking at the poll problem. It could be a cookie issue.
Our apologies
cheers
Bernard
Matt S
Many thanks. We are working to get our blog style chronological news list back in as quick as possible. It could be as early as tomorrow.
Profiles are coming too.
cheers
Bernard
Unfortunately we had to make a relatively large change because of the underlying change in our infrastructure, which will allow us to expand and produce more useful stuff (we hope)
But we're taking your feedback in and we're changing our news section back towards the 'bloggy' chronological style people want.
We're also working hard on the font size and the 'glare' issue people have identified.
I welcome your suggestions on other changes we could make.
'It sucks' is painful to read. But it becomes useful when you point 'why it sucks'.
cheers
Bernard
Ruru,
You make plenty of fair points. I agree we need to have that news list down the side with more stories.
We are also looking to change the italics and yellow thing. Not popular.
cheers
Bernard
Point taken. You're not the only one.
We'll change the design.
cheers
Bernard
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