ROTTEN TOMATOES: SITE UPDATE: Rolling Out Changes Comments

SITE UPDATE: Rolling Out Changes

by RT Staff | January 16, 2008

Summary

As you can see, we're rolling out a new design. We're very proud of it, but we're aware that not everything is working perfectly yet. Back to Article

(81-100 of 113 posts) | Reply

TecK415 writes:
on Jan 17 2008 10:23 AM

In reply to this comment (#1476244)
Or.. since everyone is disappointed with the new site... maybe we could tell them, and they'll come back to their senses and change it.

(Reply to this)

bluerose5101 writes:
on Jan 17 2008 10:46 AM

I really, really, really DO NOT like the new site design. Even if the issues with caching, broken links, etc. are fixed I, prefer the old site. There is too much going on now. The site is difficult to use and very cluttered. Unless the site is given a cleaner design and made more functional again, I don't know how often I'll be visiting.

(Reply to this)

moviemonkey2 writes:
on Jan 17 2008 10:52 AM

So since I have some down time at work today, and saw that the page numbers are working again, I decided to figure out the freshness rating of the new site. Of the 60 posters who expressed a definite positive or negative opinion of the site, only 13% actually like the new site layout. That places it somewhere around the quality of "Hitman", the movie based on the video game.

New Rotten Tomatoes Design: Officially Rotten - 13%

(Reply to this)

generasianx writes:
on Jan 17 2008 11:15 AM

Has it gotten so bad that the staff at RT got rid of the "Letter from the Editor" thread so that people won't see the backlash to the new design? When you click on it now, it just leads you to the News page.

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generasianx writes:
on Jan 17 2008 11:37 AM

never mind, they fixed the link. and hopefully they'll soon fix the entire site back to the way it was.

(Reply to this)

Rockslide writes:
on Jan 17 2008 11:56 AM

Thank you for moving up the news from the bottom, I still think it should be right under features. It seems that the majority (along with myself) come here for news, not the other junk (no offense). I echo the feelings of getting rid of the "celebrities" box on left. I'ld be happy if the front page had nothing but news and reviews, haha, I know that's a bit extreme. Can you at least shrink the 1st and 3rd columns to 75% or less than their current size? That would make the main 2nd column more prominent and easier to read.

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loki6899 writes:
on Jan 17 2008 12:18 PM

As a web designer and creative director for the last 13 years I have to say that intention vs. execution missed the mark. Biggest issues are variation in font size. I have a 24" monitor, your site is 1000px wide and the font is one point off a grain of sand. If you're going to move into web 2.0 then stay consistent with the trend. Over crowded and reviews on the homepage are terrible, old format for that was SO much better.
I would suggest a temporary revert, iron out the style guide and let the site BREATHE - simplicity IS the preferred web experience.

There are nice elements to the site, just not consistent and released too soon.
Loki

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Jonno2008 writes:
on Jan 17 2008 01:49 PM

I hate how the little movie critics 'blurbs' don't have the actual rating (IE. 4/5, B etc.) from the critics nor the date. Sure i could click and read the whole review and it would probably say what date it was written and the rating but the way it was before was much better. On thursdays and fridays i like to check the growing (or decreasing) tomato-meter on movies so i check them really often and before i just had to click on the movie and then click on 'date' to see which reviews were the new ones i haven't checked out yet.

LOL and i see the submit button has been changed. But really i think that was the LEAST of our worries...

(Reply to this)

johnson_jclub writes:
on Jan 17 2008 04:09 PM

I think it's a testament to the popularity of the site that people are being so passionate about the design -- site owners take heart!

I thought I should qualify the statements I posted earlier (double posted -- sorry about that!). I took a few hours to "tidy up" the current homepage to illustrate what I meant:

http://www.hobartdesign.com.au/tomatoes/

There's so much scope for playfulness in a site like this... things like the faux-filmstrip in the feature box. I love the smashed tomato concept -- is there any way to play on that?

Heh... everyone's a critic.

(Reply to this)

Oblivioncry writes:
on Jan 17 2008 04:24 PM

In reply to this comment (#1484293)
i like the RTconcept you posted.

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Pilgermann writes:
on Jan 17 2008 04:27 PM

I really don't like the new look. I'm sure we'll all adapt to it, but it's not attractive or intuitive.

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kristygril74 writes:
on Jan 17 2008 05:24 PM

In reply to this comment (#1484293)
yep, I like your take on it too johnson_jclub

(Reply to this)

ArtsAngel writes:
on Jan 17 2008 05:41 PM

johnson_jclub, that's perfect. It takes the things that are actually good about this new design and brings in some of the elements from the old and makes everything much easier on the eyes. Maybe if enough people comment here about your ideas, RT will hire you to fix things? ;)

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Floor Man writes:
on Jan 17 2008 07:17 PM

Okay...I just discovered something really, really annoyingly bad. On a celebrity's profile page, there's NO WAY to see that person's filmography all at once! Gaaah! I have to load them five by five??? WTF? Also, that page' corresponding NEWS column's headline text is apparently too large, because there are ellipses after each one, and I can never see the entire thing. Also, my the problem stated in my first post to this article still stands.

Oh. And PLEASE...change...the...BLUE!

(Reply to this)

bluestar2000 writes:
on Jan 17 2008 07:33 PM

Where did my post go that I submitted earlier? RT just change the site back to the way it was before.

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nctiger writes:
on Jan 17 2008 07:58 PM

This is one of the worst site changes that I have seen. I loved the old Rotten Tomatoes. The new one is not user friendly and not friendly to the eyes. I do not like your colors. They do not seem to be in keeping with the "rotten tomatoes" theme at all. WHY did you "fix" something that was not broken??? Thank you.

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DigitalMan writes:
on Jan 17 2008 10:49 PM

OMG, you're undermining my weekly newsletter experience. I like your website's homepage, but the newsletter is a jumble of information that leaves out why I enjoyed it to begin with -- to read the Tomatometer percentages beside each new film that's been reviewed.

You have the "Opening This Weekend" sidebar box -- why can't you just add the Tomatometer percentages for each movie?

It's just a little change...please? Otherwise, the newsletter has a lot of great teasers and a clean layout.

(Reply to this)

WarpedRecord writes:
on Jan 18 2008 12:07 AM

I've been trying to read this new redesign for 10 minutes, and I'm giving up now because I have a headache. What was the point of this? So you could devote more space to advertising? Anyway, I must go take a Tylenol now. Maybe I'll come back some day, but if not, rest assured: You used to have a very useful and readable site, and I really enjoyed visiting it before the horrible redesign!

(Reply to this)

nctiger writes:
on Jan 18 2008 08:56 AM

In reply to this comment (#1479312)
Maybe they can hire you to fix it??? They need to listen to you!!

(Reply to this)

tsweimer writes:
on Jan 18 2008 01:47 PM

Looks like they killed the link to the "letter from the editor", it just links to the search page. Not sure if it's deliberate or just keeping in step with this terrible site design. Prime example of selling out your company to IGN and having them ruin something really cool.
Listen to your readers, bring back the old Tomatoes.

(Reply to this)

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