Associated Content Launches Site Redesign
New Look Improves Connection Between Content Producers and Audience
"We believe the new look will allow us to serve both Content Producers and consumers better and will help us continue to grow the audience for CPs' contributions," Associated Content CEO Geoff Reiss said in a pre-release statement to Content Producers.
The upgraded design will allow Associated Content to create more compelling showcases for content and Content Producers; to present consumers with a cleaner, more organized and more relevant display; and to give Content Producers greater control over their profile pages.
"AC is intensely focused on improving the connection between consumers and our Content Producers," Reiss said. "The redesign allows us to bring even greater exposure to the original content our producers want to create."
Among the new design's highlights:
The Associated Content home page puts more content near the top of the page, where users can most easily find them. The page is anchored by a "Feature" area on the left, updated frequently throughout the day. The site's most popular content is featured, along with "spotlight" Content Producers, to highlight CP contributions to the site and to promote some of AC's most newly minted CPs. "In The News" is an area dedicated to AC's best content about the hottest topics. And in two new features, "Recently Published Content" dynamically moves site visitors through AC's latest offerings and "New Calls for Content" showcases topics for CPs as new publishing opportunities. Finally, "Popular Finds" connects users to AC's vast library on the most popular or notable topics.
Associated Content's more than half-million individual content pages also have a new look: They are marked by a cleaner, more easily consumed design, along with an extra emphasis on connecting users to related content that satisfies their original visit even more than before. Each page also now includes the "Popular Finds" list, giving users who experience Associated Content directly through an individual content page a quick glimpse at the site's most popular topics.
Finally, Content Producers' profile pages have been given a fresher design: CP information is more clearly displayed, including information such as total audience size; number of pieces created and "favorited"; direct and unique URL; favorite CPs; a simpler interface to interact directly with the CP; and more. Plus, the CP's content is both searchable and paginated, directly on the page.
Both Content Producers and site visitors are encouraged to share their perspectives about the new look in Associated Content's forums.
Published by Tim Skillern
I am the director of news-editorial for Yahoo! Contributor Network on Yahoo! News. Before that, I was a videographer, copy editor and/or sportswriter for the Rocky Mountain News, the Boulder Daily Camera and... View profile
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27 Comments
Post a CommentMichael, it's not so much that folks don't like change, but there is a marked difference between the skilled slice of the surgeon's scalpel and the wild hackings of the amateur butcher's meat cleaver.
lol, I had to come back here and see what everyone is saying. Which is basically "no one likes change". Most of the comments here reflect the front page and what is wrong with it, but on a personal standpoint I really don't even pay attention to the front page. A glance as I go to my own account and thats about it. All the functions to submit content is for the most part the same except for the C4C basically taking over the news area, but how you do it is the same and thats why I thought CPs are actually here. I think seeing others page views is not a kryponite but an actual motivation. Like myself I see 80,000 in page views and get pumped to get to 500,000 or 1,000,000 after looking at others. More pageviews per = more $$$. Trying to positive here reading a bunch of negatives :)
The new look is somewhat like the proverbial $50 hooker. Nice to look at but if you get involved you might catch something you didn't want, which in this case is just about everything. By the way, some people might be a bit sensitive about their page views, and become just plain depressed now that they can see how many page views everyone has when they visit their page. How about getting rid of that feature? As almost everybody said, the scrolling "featured writer" section just plain sucks. People found out even way back in the 50's with the Edsel that changing the cosmetics doesn't mean a thing if the basic premise is bad. You could have kept the old features and just given the Site a facelift. If we were the AMA and you were a plastic surgeon, we'd take away your license.
The new layout is MUCH harder to navigate, both from a content browsing perspective and from a content producer perspective. How many pages do I have to go through to find my own content - at least 3? And if your material isn't featured on the frontpage, no casual surfer is ever going to see it. The topic categories are tucked away in an almost hidden location in the bottom right corner!
I'm using my real identity, as I have no fear. In fact, this redesign is so annoying and so screwed up that it has killed any desire on my part to add any new content. I feel like a stranger in a strange land, a foreigner dropped onto a distant planet within an alien culture that is untranslatable and impossible to comprehend. In other words, I'm damned uncomfortable on AC after the change.
I am in agreement with much of the negative feedback. It DOES look better in some ways but is FAR LESS functional. The scrolling, impossible to read or stop list of new articles is particularly annoying as is the never changing list of popular writers. All-in-all, if I trusted you, I'd use my real identity to communicate my thoughts. I don't.
B.
I like the new look, but I want the old features back. I liked when good articles were displayed on the front page. I'm sick of checking and seeing the exact same top articles day after day. I also enjoyed looking to see who the top content producers were. Now I can't find that information out anymore :( And why did the clout levels get removed from next to the CP names? I actually enjoyed seeing how people were doing without having to check their CP page.
The new design is awful. Especially the homepage. I have been researching web designs for a few months now, and the new AC homepage is a big no no. It is cluttered, impossible to find categories(they are at the bottom right hand corner), no one cares about featured content producers(categories should be in its place). The recently published section is horrible, the user/visitor has NO control over the scroll affect. And who actually uses the search by date? It can be useful but it should be put as an advance search option, not on the front page.
I guess I just don't like it. The black gray white colors look stylish, but it makes it seem more like social network than a legit news/information site.
I think it looks really nice but honestly I'm not that fond of some of the changes.
I liked when all the articles showcased were good ones; now I have to look through them myself and some opinion pieces end up representing the homepage. Most popular doesn't necessarily = good reading. I am not a fan of the busy style of the homepage either, but enjoy the look of the new CP pages. I guess I'm one of those "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" people!