MM gets a makeover
posted at 8:56 am on June 19, 2007 by Allahpundit
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I didn’t open a thread on it yesterday because I couldn’t see the new page myself until this morning. What say you? I think it’s teh hotness, although her thumbnail column is glaringly lacking in red-tinted nuclear explosions, goofy Hillary faces, and the obligatory Ahmadinejad-looking-over-his-shoulder-warily shot. All in due time.
I’m a little jealous of that nifty automated “Buzzworthy” widget too, but after spending so much on us, I guess mom’s got a right to splurge on herself occasionally. Besides, my birthday’s coming up *cough*…
Update: Her site’s down as of 11:30 a.m. ET to work out a few of the remaining bugs. Sorry for the hassle.
Update: As of 12:10, she’s back online.
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I really like it; big improvement, imho.
Spirit of 1776 on June 19, 2007 at 9:06 AM
I think it’s great once they get the font size fixed. It’s huge.
katieanne on June 19, 2007 at 9:07 AM
I visited it yesterday and really do like it.
Hey Michelle,
let us web geeks know how Wordpress compares to Movable Type.
Steve
realVerse on June 19, 2007 at 9:09 AM
LOL
The upgrade is very nice, from a viewer’s standpoint as well as Michelle’s. Keeping a ‘Front Page’ story front and center can be a very pesky problem for bloggers, but looks like she’s got that nailed down now. A+
Schweggie on June 19, 2007 at 9:17 AM
Whoa! RealVerse? You folks gonna make a comeback?! How’s the Bethany? :)
Schweggie on June 19, 2007 at 9:18 AM
not working on IE7. The banner is duplicated in every frame, and those frames are HUGE. I have to scroll way to the right to see the entire page.
From what I can see, I actually think I liked the last one better…
probably looks better on my Mac.
flipflopper on June 19, 2007 at 9:19 AM
I’m only seeing this on Firefox, and it won’t work on IE6 regardless. But while what happened to Hot Air was not an improvement, what the Divine Mrs M did for MM.com… is.
Keep it up.
manwithblackhat on June 19, 2007 at 9:22 AM
I hate to say it, but it looks like teh suck in Safari. This is the first thing I saw.
“Very ‘Web 2.0′ gloss on the banner, though,” he said smugly, with a hint of smug artsy-fatsy condescension.
saint kansas on June 19, 2007 at 9:23 AM
What’s “intelligent” about a web-page, that over-runs the screen by 25%?
franksalterego on June 19, 2007 at 9:24 AM
ROFL! My wife says that to me all the time. No kidding. I am totally serious. LOL!
Had an issue with Firefox with the banner being duplicated all the way down the page the first time I loaded but I refreshed and it went away. Looks nice. Better that the old site by a wide margin.
TheBigOldDog on June 19, 2007 at 9:25 AM
Site looks great…but for some reason is “buggy” using IE.
Firefox is fine on both PC and my Mac.
Why do I even use IE anymore? ;)
Malpaso on June 19, 2007 at 9:27 AM
No kidding.
Folks, IE7 is a disaster, uninstall to IE6. But you really should be running Firefox on Mac and PC. Safari is below average now.
Schweggie on June 19, 2007 at 9:31 AM
Nice design. My only suggestion would be to give a bit of a margin on the left-hand side; it seems like the text is pushing too close to the border. Great look though!
AP, keep track of what MM gets BlackFive, you should get at least as much for *your* birthday (don’t want her playing favorites now, do we?)
dalewalt on June 19, 2007 at 9:34 AM
Plus if you need to use IE (like to view video on MSNBC) you can even get a IE Firefox add-on. FF is the best.
Spirit of 1776 on June 19, 2007 at 9:35 AM
Y’right…I should reconfigure my computer to fit the blog.
heh,heh,heh
franksalterego on June 19, 2007 at 9:41 AM
Where’s the NYT “firecracker” quote?
Kid from Brooklyn on June 19, 2007 at 9:42 AM
I really liked the general appearance of the old site. It was classy, streamlined, and professional.
However, I really like the makeover, mostly because you didn’t totally scrap what made the old design so good. You merely updated what was already there, like a new car design. You can still tell the make. I like it.
A great eBayer A++++++++++++++++++++
Metro on June 19, 2007 at 9:47 AM
I love the new site, very well structured, and it’s working good with IE7 on my end. Still being a bit “conservative” I like the original sub banner, “clarion” quote…
Best of luck on the launch, I’m sure you will be able to handle the 1,000,000 hits per day you’ll be getting this time next year!
Zorro on June 19, 2007 at 9:56 AM
I think it’s great!
emmaline1138 on June 19, 2007 at 9:57 AM
I’m definitely not the support guy, so all I can say is what I observe as a user. I’m not seeing the banner duplication with IE7/WinXP. Let me fire up the laptop to see if it’s an XP versus Vista thing (or a resolution thing)…. Nope, no issue there either.
As for the font, I suspect that the fact that the body font size in the style sheet is absolute rather than relative is the problem (it’s relative at Hot Air).
The size of the site is an issue. The site seems to be optimized for 1024×768 or larger. The big culprit is the aforementioned banner; Firefox says it’s 951 px x 146 px.
I had an issue yesterday with the expanding categories/blogroll in IE7 (which wasn’t an issue with Firefox), but that was resolved.
steveegg on June 19, 2007 at 10:01 AM
ScottG on June 19, 2007 at 10:07 AM
Site looks great in Vista Ultimate and IE7. Any poop on when the commentators registration will open?
Wade on June 19, 2007 at 10:08 AM
Windows XP and IE, and it fits perfect, and looks great. Especially the teh hot photo of the divine Ms. M.
Jaibones on June 19, 2007 at 10:09 AM
Let’s start up a collection for AP’s birthday. Surely it would take less money per reader to get him that iPhone than it would take my reader(s) to get me one, probably 3 orders of magnitude (and my birthday’s coming up pretty quick too ;-)
steveegg on June 19, 2007 at 10:13 AM
While I love HA, the improvements to MM’s site beats the changes here, hands down
Chuck on June 19, 2007 at 10:17 AM
Yes, nice upgrades to Michelle’s new web page.
Only one suggestion. Update and/or change Michelle’s photo every month or so. Not just because Michelle is easy on the eyes, but because I just hate it when people never update their web page photo. It makes the web page boring after a while.
Lawrence on June 19, 2007 at 10:18 AM
Ms. M always looks great, my favorite Blog photo was her with the wind swept hair of a couple years and Blogs ago. SIZZLE!
Wade on June 19, 2007 at 10:19 AM
‘Zack’ly.
With all the rich folks switching to ever larger monitors, they can configure their screens to a higher resolution, and still be able to read the print.
But, us po’ folks, stuck with 15″ screens, we’d have to reconfigure to about 80% to get the site to fit the screen…And then, the print’s too small to read.
Don’t they care about the po’ folks?
franksalterego on June 19, 2007 at 10:19 AM
At least on my laptop, I have the same problem.
These artistic guys like Mark think that because they have 21-inch monitors at 2048×1536 pixels, everybody who views the sites they design will as well. I’m at 1024×768, from which I use about 128 pixels for a left-side taskbar. (I do that because I can get more windows open before the buttons start shrinking.) This Firefox window occupies 897 pixels in width, of which 25 or so get used up in the window frame and vertical scroll bar. That leaves 870 pixels to display your web site.
That’s all you’re getting of my screen; it’s up to you how to best use it. If you think I’m difficult, there’s the Palm and other small portable users, who have even less space to play with.
It’s called a personal computer because it’s mine, and I like my browser set to this size. A website that uses absolute sizing like this in the CSS, is going to subtly annoy me every time I visit it. I don’t like horizontal scrolling; it forces me to move the trackball down to the scroll bar rather than flick the vertical scroll wheel. Fortunately, the main thing that gets cut off is ads, but that can’t be good for the revenue stream.
Web designers need to always check for what the experience is like on an 800×600 monitor. If it degrades gracefully at that resolution, it’ll make a lot more people happy.
The Monster on June 19, 2007 at 10:22 AM
I like it a lot. The difficult thing is to have a main story stand out while making other blog posts also visible. Michelle’s ‘lead story’ design is great.
Nice job!
Ian on June 19, 2007 at 10:28 AM
Interesting point about the relative vs. absolute. I usually prefer relative, but absolute has it’s nice features, like sizing the window to crop out side-bar ads, etc. I do that a lot w/ HA – size the window to = comment thread size and just leave it in the background.
Spirit of 1776 on June 19, 2007 at 10:33 AM
Wow, Kansas, that is nasty! But I tried it in Safari and it works fine. Do a refresh and see what happens. Otherwise just bag it and switch to Firefox. Found one quirk with a scrolling box in Safari though.
I also think the experience of “The Monster” is more typical (although I wouldn’t go so far as 800×600, maybe 1024×768), and self-proclaimed web geniuses need to allow for that. That, and testing in all major browsers in both platforms — except IE for the Mac, which everyone knows is a lost cause.
Can you say “standards compliant”?
manwithblackhat on June 19, 2007 at 10:34 AM
Yes, I agree with this Comment and also with the one about the lack of a left hand margin. Our eyes are used to a left hand margin, and this makes the site less than eyeball friendly, IMHO.
Frankly, I preferred the old site, which was quite popular. Other than gizmo-tweaking reasons, which I don’t understand anyway, I don’t see the need for the changes at all.
Labamigo on June 19, 2007 at 10:36 AM
Actually it is quite the other way around. 800 x 600 is the standard of years past. More people are happy with 1024 x 768.
You make a good point on having the ads on the right side as compared to the left. As a designer the mission of the site must be first but to weigh it against dollar$ it is a difficult decision. To get people, both advertisers and buyers to part with their money the ads should be visible without user input to all. Even the 640 x 480.
Wade on June 19, 2007 at 10:37 AM
It’s sharp!
Didn’t think the old format need an overhaul in the first place, but the new is fresh and forward-looking, so no pangs of nostalgia – and it’s been up only 24 hours.
naliaka on June 19, 2007 at 10:43 AM
I like the new design, and the page fits fine on my screen (iMac with OS 10.4 and Safari). The only real issue was the search box display bug when the site first went live, but it got fixed pretty quickly.
Mindcrime on June 19, 2007 at 10:50 AM
I tested it on a number of browsers and had no issues at all. While I use a large monitor, I sized it down and didn’t have and issues either. I give it a thumbs up.
High Desert Wanderer on June 19, 2007 at 11:14 AM
ah ha… it’s fixed now. Looks like… Wordpress!
Actually, I will recall my initial comments, the page looks nice and crispy now! and it fits!
And btw, I love Safari! Firefox is good only for paying bills!
flipflopper on June 19, 2007 at 11:18 AM
Looks great, though its down now for some reason. Please let us know when comment registration opens.
Valiant on June 19, 2007 at 11:20 AM
It is nice, but it took a LOT longer to load. Hopefully with some of the graphics in cache it will be faster in future visits.
donsingleton on June 19, 2007 at 11:21 AM
Another satisfied customer.
Of course, as soon as I wanted to say that, the database got itself unsynched. D’OH!!!!
steveegg on June 19, 2007 at 11:22 AM
Is it down for anyone else? I still want to know if HA accounts will carry over to MM’s resurrected comments.
Bad Candy on June 19, 2007 at 11:28 AM
Not sure, but that’d be the smart way to do it. That way I could monitor users for both sites. MM just doesn’t have time to do that sort of thing.
Allahpundit on June 19, 2007 at 11:29 AM
That’s what I figure Allah.
MM.com stillwon’t display for me…
I don’t get it, the new format went up, then it went down, now it won’t even display…
Bad Candy on June 19, 2007 at 11:34 AM
I don’t know if there is server hosting “hiccup,” or whether the ancient browser I’m forced to use at work (IE 5.5) is the culprit, but I’m getting nothing at all…
…unless you consider a completely blank screen “an intersting use of white space,” that is.
:-)
Bob Owens on June 19, 2007 at 11:38 AM
Bob, I thinks its the server, because I’m not getting it either and my browsers are both new and updated.
Bad Candy on June 19, 2007 at 11:39 AM
It looks fine after a refresh. But if I did that first, I wouldn’t have a reason to bitch, would I! And if Michelle’s gonna hire someone else to redesign her site after all we’ve been through together*, I’m gonna bitch! It’s strictly jealously talking; the site looks great**. And I’m so cool, I tried it in Opera (but it’s offline now).
*Nothing, except in my imagination.
**Although it sure is wide; I just got my wife’s old clamshell iBook (800 x 600) hooked up to wifi, and on that screen? Fuggeddaboudit!
I’m reading Dan Cederholm’s book right now, and it’s the best book ever written on any subject. Ever.
/geek
saint kansas on June 19, 2007 at 11:43 AM
Ah, there we go, try it now Bob. Its nice, I saw it yesterday, but the margin in Firefox are a little off on the left side, she’s getting a bit of cutoff.
Bad Candy on June 19, 2007 at 11:53 AM
Looks good in Safari though. Bueno.
Bad Candy on June 19, 2007 at 11:55 AM
When I first came on line about 0940 MDT, neither of her pages was available. Now the original address comes up ok. Yes, those of us stuck with 15″ CRTs are at a definate disadvantage with the new design. Yes, dear Michelle, conservatives tend to resist change but change is good if it accomplishes something. This, too, will grow on us. Give US time to adjust. Maybe break the piggy bank for a larger LCD monitor sometime soonish? But, yes, the new design is nice. The old always looks better because it’s FAMILIAR. Patience. Grumble. Patience. Grumble. Patience. Grumble…
Roger Brown on June 19, 2007 at 11:58 AM
Doubtful because it’s separate databases. There is a way to “import” the current HA accounts, but I don’t know if the boss would want all of us over there.
In any case, I don’t believe there is a way to keep HA and MM accounts synched.
steveegg on June 19, 2007 at 11:59 AM
Everything MM touches turns to gold.
Joshua P. Allem on June 19, 2007 at 12:07 PM
Maybe not, but Allah seems to think that’d be the best way.
And you wouldn’t need to keep them synched or anything, just have their HA user name and password transferred to MM’s, that would make life much easier, or send a mass email to the HA emails telling them their names and password are reserved and they get first dibs.
Bad Candy on June 19, 2007 at 12:10 PM
So I gathered (notes to self; do not piss off AP, and start agitating for the iPhone-for-AP fund).
Like I said, there is a hack to get our HA info over there. I won’t guarantee that the password info will make it over properly (I don’t know enough of WordPress’ workings to say that it would), and if it doesn’t, we ALL could be screwed. Once the info is moved over, it’s moved over, and there won’t be such a thing as “first dibs”.
Probably the best solution is to have an semi-private registration to start with the HA crowd getting private invites (with AP and Bryan bumped up to admin status).
steveegg on June 19, 2007 at 12:19 PM
Bleh. Don’t like it. I always thought MM had one of the classiest looking sites on the web and it was also one of the easiest to read. The pen and artwork on the old site looked far better and it was easier on the eyes with her pic at the top and wide text.
I understand her putting the ads and whatnot in though, even though they use the entire right half of the page (on Firefox anyway). She should make money off her blogging – she’s earned it.
————
And I hate Safari, just uninstalled it. The way it handles bookmarks is intolerable for me.
Dwilkers on June 19, 2007 at 12:21 PM
No more blogroll?
No more blogroll?
But, wh… wh… wh… why?
*curls up into fetal position*
Watcher on June 19, 2007 at 1:16 PM
A B S O L U T E L Y B R I L L I A N T
RushBaby on June 19, 2007 at 1:18 PM
Looks very classy and streamlined.
Please forgive if I’m asleep at the switch today – can someone point me to the “Home” item, or how to get back to the front page, without strippin the address…Thanks ahead,
Entelechy on June 19, 2007 at 1:22 PM
The blogroll’s still there. It’s in the third column, and you do have to click on its graphic to expand it.
Now, do I push my luck and say there’s a site or two missing from Michelle’s blogroll? ;-)
steveegg on June 19, 2007 at 1:25 PM
Click the banner on the top.
steveegg on June 19, 2007 at 1:26 PM
steveegg, thank you very much for bringing me into the modern times :) Regards,
Entelechy on June 19, 2007 at 1:33 PM
Great job Michelle. And special thanks to your web gurus for doing such fine work. All I can say is WOW!
JohnnyD on June 19, 2007 at 1:38 PM
Huh? There isn’t any graphic for me to click… all I see in the third column is the pajamas media ad at the top, the buzzworthy links, followed by a couple more ads, and the sitemeter. That’s it.
*resumes fetal position*
Watcher on June 19, 2007 at 1:40 PM
MM, I love it. I didn’t think your site needed any impovement, but improve it you have.
I second the idea of linking MM and Hotair comment membership registrations. It’ll be easier to manage and police that way; if some scumbag registers for both and abuses his privileges on one, I’d rather not see him have the opportunity to do the same on the other.
flutejpl on June 19, 2007 at 1:58 PM
I hear ya, Kansas. I’ve been saying this for years now; give a gal a regular spot on Fox News, and she’ll break your heart every time.
Is it better than Jeff Zeldman’s book on web standards? JZ got mixed reviews for his. Just wonderin.’
manwithblackhat on June 19, 2007 at 2:21 PM
Both the Blogroll and Catagories were there this morning, but they’ve disappeared now.
Emilie H. on June 19, 2007 at 2:39 PM
Jaibones says
Thanks.
BTW, I took that photo at CPAC a couple of years ago. Really.
My feet haven’t touched the floor, all day.
dinasour on June 19, 2007 at 2:52 PM
That’s what I get for not refreshing lately.
steveegg on June 19, 2007 at 2:53 PM
I have been waiting for an appropriate thread to mention that HA is my #1 now (the headlines really made a difference), instead of Drudge. MM will be my #2.
Just wish there was an open thread *grouped with the headlines*.
RushBaby on June 19, 2007 at 4:30 PM
Any blog that has Jessica Alba on the top part of the webpage is a good blog to me….
Tim Burton on June 19, 2007 at 4:54 PM
MM’s new blogsite plays well with my Palm T|X Wi-Fi enabled PDA.
2 thumbs and a touchscreen up!
georgej on June 19, 2007 at 5:21 PM
Brian Bilbray (R-CA-50), on the immigration committee – on top of the MM Lead story of the moment – he’s my congressman, and the man who replaced the scumbag Randy (Duke) Cunningham. In his election, and re-election, immigration, and what he stood for/against, played a big role.
Entelechy on June 19, 2007 at 6:33 PM
Looking good!
Ropera on June 19, 2007 at 8:08 PM
Gee, I go over to Michelle’s site wanting to see what her new photo is, and I don’t see the Divine Mrs. M at all….
I DO, However, see get to see Jessica Alba…. And in the looks department, that is almost as good. Both are in my top 5 ‘babes’ (although Michelle is the only one of them I’d actually want hear speaking their own thoughts ;-)
I’ll get back with comments on the site design later…. No time now.
LegendHasIt on June 19, 2007 at 8:10 PM
“What say you? I think it’s teh hotness,”
The key deficiencies are these:
1) Font’s way too small; should be at least double the size.
2) Blog column is way too narrow.
3) Text of blog entries are not perusable on the main page; clicking each link to open each specific entry is a pain in the keister. Further, even the description of the entry’s content is often inadequate.
4) Far too few blog entries are accessible via the main page, with only about 10 entries accessible on every “previous” page.
clark smith on June 19, 2007 at 8:52 PM
DAMN!
I knew there was something special about Michelle.
She’s a southpaw like me! :^)
georgej on June 20, 2007 at 3:09 AM
Very nice improvement. Easier on the eyes and better organized.
I think that perhaps it should be set up so that readers can actually comment on that site directly.
The False Dervish on June 20, 2007 at 9:22 AM
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