A note on the Green Room issue; Update: Fixed; Open Thread
posted at 7:49 am on April 30, 2010 by Ed Morrissey
We’re working to fix a few issues left over from our move to new servers and site redesign, including the Green Room problem that several readers have communicated to the Tips line — which is much appreciated. We will continue working and hope to have all of these issues resolved as soon as possible. Keep checking back with us, and thank you for your patience.
Update: Looks like the Green Room posts have been fully restored now. We’ll keep the post going as an open thread on the changes to the site.
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U.S. Navy to name ship after …
… JACK MURTHA???!!
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2010/04/john-murtha-navy-ship-in-cold-blood.html#more
How ’bout naming it after Micheal Murphy? Micheal Monsoor? Jason Dunham? Rapheal Peralta?
WTF?
Tony737 on April 30, 2010 at 12:28 PM
Yeah I’m seeing that too. Also, the Townhall top stories bar was properly cycling yesterday (javascript?) but today it’s static.
By the way, regarding the layout… content should be on the RIGHT! ;)
(Oddly enough, ads are on the right here and on the left on Kos…hmmmmmm)
Skywise on April 30, 2010 at 12:31 PM
:)
hawkman on April 30, 2010 at 12:36 PM
Or Miroslav Zilberman
BallisticBob on April 30, 2010 at 12:39 PM
I guess I’ll get used to the changes. If they get too out of hand, i.e. increasingly distracting adds, I think I’ll move on and only stop by when I’m in the “mood” for obnoxious adverts.
JohnnyD on April 30, 2010 at 12:40 PM
The “New From Townhall . Com” links are dead.
Nyfiken on April 30, 2010 at 12:41 PM
It’s been “redesigned.” IOW–Townhall 2.0.
conservative pilgrim on April 30, 2010 at 12:42 PM
Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Nothing says corrupt better than John Murtha!!
JohnnyD on April 30, 2010 at 12:44 PM
I don’t think the site is that different and it’s much faster, even with dial-up.
jeanie on April 30, 2010 at 12:46 PM
Okay, now I’m here from the iPhone to using FireFox. My comments box is being jicky. Sometimes the HA logo shows up and it says I’m logged in but no box. And don’t tell me to clear the cache, I’ve done it multiple times. Refreshing and re-logging in I’m getting the comment box 20% of the time and the HA logo the rest.
Okay, FireFox has it loading fine which if that’s what you’re here for then I guess that’s okay. But the, again, I don’t like the design. It looks like it was done on MS Word and more like a typeset design rather than the original unique feel. It really looks like TownHalls stepchild with all the ads although it’s probably worse, I suspect without Firefox. Ads everywhere and it makes reading the content harder. Sorry, not trying to tell you not to make money and have ads but when the ads overpower your own logo and design it’s TOO MUCH. I see that Salem tried to keep the content intact as much as possible while providing themselves traffic via the links. I understand the reasoning and it’s smart on their part since HA is so popular with Conservatives. BUT, I just think they missed the mark in design. Nice effort. I’m sorry, I just don’t like the cramped word processing feel of the site. *shrug*
Sultry Beauty on April 30, 2010 at 12:46 PM
OMG! You have got to be kidding me, right!?! After I posted the comment a pop-up ad showed up! I’m NOT gonna like that ONE BIT!
Sultry Beauty on April 30, 2010 at 12:47 PM
Second the motion on that comment. It’s unnecessarily irritating to the eye, so what was the point of doing it? I know it’s not possible to please everybody with site changes like this, but still…
leilani on April 30, 2010 at 12:48 PM
Or Miroslav Zilberman – BallisticBob
Wow, what a story … gave me goosebumps! Thanks for sharing, Bob!
Tony737 on April 30, 2010 at 12:49 PM
The TOWNHALL . COM links are still dead.
Nyfiken on April 30, 2010 at 12:50 PM
I like the speed but everything else sucks.
1. the site is splitting in the threads and the right hand links for other sites are all the way at the bottom. BTW I also have a wide screen or two…. so WTF is the deal?
2. The red is killing my eyes
I am still trying to get use to it… but I am not liking it much. Kind of goes with the old saying, why fix it if it isn’t broken?
upinak on April 30, 2010 at 12:56 PM
Make the logo clickable!!!
Abby Adams on April 30, 2010 at 12:58 PM
Click name to see stories about REAL heroes who DESERVE to have ships named after them (unlike that traitor, Jack Murtha!) Medal of Honor Recipients U.S.M.C. Jason Dunham, U.S. Navy SeALs Micheal Monsoor and Micheal Murphy, and a Marine who SHOULD have received the MoH, Raphale Peralta.
Tony737 on April 30, 2010 at 12:58 PM
I don’t see the Hot Air name at the top to the front page. I’m only seeing a small red flame sticking up between Vault and Green Room? Is it me or is everyone seeing the same?
d1carter on April 30, 2010 at 12:59 PM
Bit of a placement problem, looks like. hotair_logo.gif is hiding behind the headlines.
mojo on April 30, 2010 at 1:01 PM
+1000
My life has improved dramatically since the discovery of AdBlockPlus.
What are y’all doing using IE, anyway? It’s the internet browser of fascists.
lonesome_pine on April 30, 2010 at 1:03 PM
Y’know, it’s only because I care so much. I’ve spent way too much of my time on this site over the past couple of years, and I feel like this is my home-away-from-home on the web.
The more I play with this redesign, the less I like it.
Drudge’s site is nothing much to look at, but it’s enormously successful. The key: once they hit on a working formula, they didn’t change it much. I can only hope that HotAir will reconsider these changes with respect for their prior success and their thus far loyal readers.
ElectricPhase on April 30, 2010 at 1:08 PM
Make the logo clickable!!!
This.
RarestRX on April 30, 2010 at 1:17 PM
I’ve been switching back & forth between IE & FF, and I don’t see how anybody exclusively on IE will be able to survive here for very long. There are so many clashing ad elements moving around and flashing incessantly in your peripheral vision and aggressively dinging away at your subconsciousness that they promote a very noticeable underlying sense of unease. There’s actually a palpable sense of relief when you click it off. (The same sense of relief I get when clicking off TownHall, btw.)
There oughtta be a law about how many moving ads can be on one webpage. If there are too many and/or they’re indiscriminately placed, the net effect is more repellent than anything else.
leilani on April 30, 2010 at 1:35 PM
Hotair, meet adblock. Adblock, Hotair.
That’s the reason I never go to Townhall.com anymore. When this site forces me to actively search for the real links to real stories I’ll do the same here.
Please don’t let it get to that point. I really like this place and the posters.
rogerb on April 30, 2010 at 1:38 PM
Jeez! I just took off the adblock…my eyes oh my eyes. Never again!
d1carter on April 30, 2010 at 1:48 PM
As mentioned by other posters – the top Hot Air logo is under the page layout while using Fx and Adblock.
A little peek.
http://easycaptures.com/fs/uploaded/320/4497814321.png
Also, how about moving the Green Room links to just below the Hot Air Express sign up?
Or just below that Hot Air latest and move the latest to just below the Hot Air Express sign up?
Cheers.
Brass on April 30, 2010 at 2:01 PM
New site redesign blows. That is all.
Tacitus on April 30, 2010 at 2:02 PM
Here’s my spam from the other thread:
IE 6 users are going to be veeeery disappointed. For them it seems the side banners are showing up at the bottom of the page.
Some of the IE6 layout problems can be seen here.
http://i43.tinypic.com/21kwmty.jpg
On IE6 the maroon color and bad anti-aliasing is really obnoxious. On Firefox it looks a lot less intrusive and, therefore, “better”, because the color clash is less noticeable.
OTOH, on Firefox, the whole page jogs to the left as soon as it starts loading the new, fatter right banner. New sport on page load: “watch the HotAir logo jump to the left”.
RD on April 30, 2010 at 2:02 PM
Very nice change but not fundamental transformation just a coat of paint and time to reload.
tjexcite on April 30, 2010 at 2:03 PM
Easy entertainment on the Firefox browser: Hit Reload and watch the HotAir logo dance back & forth.
RD on April 30, 2010 at 2:06 PM
Boxy, lotsa ads… FAIL!
So long, clean, streamlined Hot Air. We’ll miss you.
Vatican Watcher on April 30, 2010 at 2:07 PM
The TownHall links on the right don’t work!
DailyTrackingPoll on April 30, 2010 at 2:14 PM
I hate change.
HornetSting on April 30, 2010 at 2:20 PM
I hate the way IE works all together. I play Sims 2 & 3 and when you use their browser it forces you to use IE. You can’t change it. Nothing transfers or uploads or downloads properly when using it so I have to manually open things up in FireFox. It’s a pain in the rear and incomprehensible how horrible that browser is that it can’t even work with it’s own Vista OS.
I really feel bad for those who aren’t familiar with or using FireFox yet. People just google it and download it. You aren’t required to use IE. It’s so much better. That being said… I have adblocker up and the Salem pop up ads are still managing to break free and irritate me. If it gets to the place where coming her is like trying to see free pirated movies online, I’ll avoid it like the plague. There’s a reason why those sites can get away with doing it. They’re giving you something worth something for free. Barring trying to cheat and steal the system, why would an honorable person just trying to read content put themselves through the effort? It’s a recipe for failure.
Sultry Beauty on April 30, 2010 at 2:56 PM
…thank you guys for mentioning and recommending AdBlock. The new “improved” HA looks *much* better now.
ScaryBiscuits on April 30, 2010 at 2:58 PM
If you could add the linky back to the “Hot Air” logo it would be a good thing. I know that one can click the “Home” button to achieve the same thing, but it’s just a lot easier to click the bigger logo. It’s a little thing.
But it’s always the little things, isn’t it? Keep it simple.
SlaveDog on April 30, 2010 at 3:01 PM
Considering how many regulars are requesting this, I guess we’ll see how responsive Salem and HA will be with it’s patrons.
Sultry Beauty on April 30, 2010 at 3:02 PM
The new look was a bit of a surprise today, but I actually like it a lot. Gives the site a higher tech and cutting edge feel, yet preserves the cleaner look that makes Hot Air so much less of an eyesore than other sites have become.
And even though some people have a problem with Townhall.com getting ‘better billing’ than the Green Room, I don’t have a problem with that at all, although I do agree that the Green Room article titles need to have the bylines added back as many of us have favorites whose essays we enjoy reading right off.
Overall, I really like all the changes, and thanks to AP’s Tech Alert head’s up last night I didn’t even try to post to comments because it was just simply reasonable that there would be much needed massaging and fixes going on for at least 24 hours. Unlike others here, though, who have noticed a speeding up of loading, things remain the same speed for me. But that’s probably because I use a lot of Foxfire add-ons and such to enhance my website prowling preferences.
Good job, Salem and Hot Air! Nifty stuff!
KendraWilder on April 30, 2010 at 3:11 PM
It doesn’t look like HotAir now. It just looks like Generic News Blog, boxy and unwelcoming. Ugly fonts, too much stuff, no obvious place for your eyes to fall.
Why are the black gridlines the strongest visual element? Is it supposed to look like bars on the windows?
In print you have to cram as much as possible into limited space. No reason for that on the web. The big logo and the black electrical tape (with labelmaker font) were features, not bugs.
If I sent someone here who wasn’t already familiar with the site, he’d take one look and go away.
(A non-clickable logo would normally be a sign the designer doesn’t know what he’s doing. That can’t be the case here, so..why…?)
Nevicata on April 30, 2010 at 3:16 PM
Oh, and just as a reminder to my fellow Hot Air fans here, please do click on the ads and check them out. As a devout Internet fan now for almost 15 years, I understand that we, as readers and enthusiasts, are very important to these websites because their ability to derive income from meaningful advertising relies solely on the verifiable traffic numbers. Yet those numbers are meaningless if the traffic is not also patronizing or at least checking out the advertisers.
So because Hot Air is such a dynamite site and important for so many of us in our daily Internet travels, let’s show our support by at least checking out the ads by clicking through. Yes? :)
KendraWilder on April 30, 2010 at 3:18 PM
I highly recommend Adblock Plus (much better than plain Adblock) and NoScript.
NoScript prevents ANY javascript from running unless YOU say it can. The downside to this is that it breaks most websites, although this is fixable by simply “allowing” the website to run it’s java. The upside is that not only does it help block ads, but it blocks any ad-based viruses from getting into your machine. so with ABP and NS I have a safe and ad-free browsing experience.
Oh, and I absolutely LOATHE the new HA redesign. It looks like a hacked-together “design-by-committee” monstrosity. Just revert back to the old style. You’ll save alot of lost traffic.
wearyman on April 30, 2010 at 3:18 PM
Nope.
While I USED to support HA via unblocking their ads, since Salem took them over the ads have become far more intrusive and annoying. I suspect that they have changed their ad-provider to a far more unscrupulous one. That and the new website design is AD-centric rather than content-centric, which I find an absolute affront to loyal readership.
Salem Communications: I am NOT a commodity “eyeball” to be sold to slimy ad purveyors. I am your customer and a loyal HA reader. I refuse to be treated as a commodity by a site redesign that favors ads over content and ad revenue over a quality experience.
Simply put: Either return the site to it’s old style and DROP FLASH ADS ALTOGETHER or I will leave and not return. I realize that I am but one voice, but what will you do when your readership HALVES because your website is so horribly offensive to so many of us?
In the meantime I will go to any and every length to block every single ad on your site. No clicks, no unique views, no nada. You will make NOTHING from me. If no website correction is forthcoming after 30 days, I’m gone.
wearyman on April 30, 2010 at 3:28 PM
Guess it all comes down to personal preferences. Yet for me, personally, I come to Hot Air because of the extremely high quality of the articles written by Ed Morrissey and Allahpundit, plus the excellent team of Green Room authors. The look of the site is rather unimportant compared to quality and volume of articles, IMHO.
There are only a few conservative blogs online who can boast such thoroughness of research and the quality of writing, and Hot Air stands right up there with the best. If the website design were anymore cluttered I might have a bit of a problem with that, but even with the transition and upgrades they’ve successfully maintained the cleaner look that always made Hot Air readable. And the volume of articles is so high that I hardly have time to keep up with a couple of other sites I enjoy, so I’m happy as heck to enjoy near one-stop news gathering without a whole lot of other surfing required.
KendraWilder on April 30, 2010 at 3:32 PM
Thirded. Please fix.
chimney sweep on April 30, 2010 at 4:19 PM
This format sucks. You’ve made the ads a full 33% of the page, pushing the content to the left instead of being more or less centered. And those 33% are the most distracting too… “look at me, I’m an ad! Click here!”
Is there another way to stick ads in our faces without making the site so ugly and the format so distracting?
AlexB on April 30, 2010 at 4:21 PM
Well if it’s an open thread.. here we go..
I sold my old truck this morning. With a rear main seal leak, a bad carb and no A/C, I got $450 for it. Not bad.
Went to get lunch for my dad and me. While we were eating a woman came to the door with my wallet. Apparently I had dropped it when I got out of the truck. All the money was gone. All my ID and cards were intact.
At least I went to the church and tithed on it before it lost it. Oh well.. Gods peace is beyond our understanding and he definitely gave it to me.
GoodBoy on April 30, 2010 at 4:25 PM
That’s odd, SB – I’ve posted a few comments and haven’t had any pop-ups at all. ‘Course, now that I’ve said that, I’ll probably get one when I post this comment.
Honestly, I don’t get all the griping going on here today. Yeah, I noticed the site looked different, but nothing dramatic. Everything’s in the same place it was before – Headlines at the top, blog underneath, Green Room on the right. If you don’t like the ads, drop the dinosaur that is IE (mayhaps FF will see an upswing in downloads in the next few days. Hmm…).
*shrug* It’s a change. People change. Hairstyles change. Interest rates fluctuate. We’ll get used to it.
lonesome_pine on April 30, 2010 at 4:31 PM
You know I have been running Google Chrome web browser bec. Firefox got too clunky for me for a while there, but as this new site is ad heavy, and I don’t want to stop visiting like I did with Townhall, I’m gonna probly take you guys up and switch back to Firefox just for the add blocker add on.
Tacitus on April 30, 2010 at 4:46 PM
It looks fine, but tables? Really?
Ronnie on April 30, 2010 at 4:55 PM
I’m feeling sorry for the designer, but I have to say, I’m not loving the new layout either. The Headlines are too small. They’re not any bigger than the ads. They don’t seem like Headlines. :( And I HATE the creepy ads like CougarLife . com. Ugh… I feel like I’m in a sleazy bar. I come here for a respectable news forum, not dating/hookup service. *hates change*
pannw on April 30, 2010 at 4:58 PM
I don’t like the new design.
It looks like someone threw Hot Air in the dryer–on the hot air setting (pardon the pun :-) ) and the entire site shrank.
The little flame at the top looks strange.
Fonts in the right column too small.
Weird background color.
Black lines and boxes not good.
A redesign should be an improvement. This is not.
INC on April 30, 2010 at 6:10 PM
The white space margin at the top should be deeper and/or a wider bar above the headlines section. That little skinny bar makes the page look as if it’s crammed up against the top.
INC on April 30, 2010 at 6:49 PM
I had the full Hot Air logo with flame until I installed AdBlock Plus. Now I just have the tip of the flame. That could be the cause…treats the logo like an ad.
IrishEi on April 30, 2010 at 7:26 PM
I’m glad that I’m not alone in not liking the new design. It bothers me that the HOT AIR logo at the top of the page looks like an afterthought; it’s so small. Instead, the ad is the feature! Same with the RH column….the ads are the feature NOT the content of the blog, so much that they take away from the Headline articles. This new design looks just like the Townhall site—messy and burdensome. Gone is the clean, streamlined look of Hot Air. You will be missed.
The 4-5 (6?) different fonts at the top of the page are just awful.
I agree with the others about the Hot Air logo at the top. One should be able to click that to refresh or get to the home page. It’s almost like the new design would rather have you accidentally click the ad…….
Overall on the new design: FAIL. I’m with upinak–why fix something that wasn’t broken?
conservative pilgrim on April 30, 2010 at 7:44 PM
TEST
xplodeit on April 30, 2010 at 7:57 PM
The new layout looks nice. Need to get used to it though.
xplodeit on April 30, 2010 at 8:00 PM
Old Hot Air design: inspired, fresh, and a little edgy. New: boring, conventional, nerdy, with touches of incompetence (blurry graphics, white fonts bleeding pink).
…and don’t even get me started on the repeating and flashing ads.
/facepalm
ElectricPhase on April 30, 2010 at 8:02 PM
Breaker!
Can I get a radio check?
ericdijon on April 30, 2010 at 8:46 PM
OK then. No pop up.
ericdijon on April 30, 2010 at 8:46 PM
Totally agree. New design looks totally amateur. Also, page doesn’t load correctly in Google Chrome. Chops off the Hot Air logo at the top:
Linky
metric on April 30, 2010 at 9:25 PM
Woops link: Chrome Layout Glitch
metric on April 30, 2010 at 9:26 PM
congrats, you look exactly like every other site on the internet now. S/O
playtime on April 30, 2010 at 9:27 PM
Just get the Adblock extension for Chrome. Works like a charm. Chrome is way faster than FF in Win7 anyway.
metric on April 30, 2010 at 10:12 PM
I draw the line at 13 different fonts on the same page. ;)
I’m sure this will work out fine, but the aesthetics are an absolute mess right now.
Please keep Hotair Hotair. It looks like a Townhall/Hotair Frankenstein hybrid right now, and there are reasons why some people, such as me, are Hotair fans, but not so much Townhall fans.
Turning Hotair into Townhall will defeat the purpose of having bought Hotair.
See the Sprint purchase of Nextel to see how not to do this.
forest on April 30, 2010 at 10:35 PM
I don’t like that I can’t click on the “HOT AIR” banner to return to the home page anymore. Booo! Otherwise, the changes are palatable.
SouthernGent on April 30, 2010 at 11:17 PM
The Jim Treacher link is old Mr. Cap’n Ed.
happyfeet on May 1, 2010 at 12:47 AM
eh on May 1, 2010 at 2:50 AM
eh on May 1, 2010 at 2:50 AM
I wish you would display your logo – I only see the last flicker of flame above the new (bland, bad/wrong color) menu. And yeah, fix the link under “Hot Air” so it returns to hotair.com.
Hmm, for an online media company Salem has a pretty lame tech staff.
Who is John Galt on May 1, 2010 at 4:45 AM
I think the new layout looks fine, but for some reason I can’t view any of the headline comments, I just get redirected to a blank page.
Cylor on May 1, 2010 at 6:30 AM
I can’t see the headlines comments either. And I don’t like the new look. It’s less Hot Air-ish and more Townhallish–a place I never go to, in part because it’s so visually unappealing.
Free Constitution on May 1, 2010 at 6:53 AM
Are odd quirks still being discussed? When I am reading a thread and decide to log in to comment I have to leave that thread, go to another and then come back for the comment block to show up. You have to admit that’s odd.
Cindy Munford on May 1, 2010 at 7:42 AM
d1carter on April 30, 2010 at 12:59 PM
INC on April 30, 2010 at 6:10 PM
IrishEi on May 1, 2010 at 9:58 AM
Hate the grey color behind The Headlines, The Blog, & Top Picks. For some reason the font looks amateurish against the grey color..
Also, there is no heading for the green room section(right column)-just a thick black line.
Not getting any pop ups with Explorer, but that’s because I always have the pop up blocker on.
redridinghood on May 1, 2010 at 10:03 AM
I hate that I can’t see the header since I use an ad blocker.
marmaran on May 1, 2010 at 10:26 AM
Unblock the hotair.com domain in the adblocker. The header will show up, but the ads will still be blocked.
Man I hope they fix this mess!
ElectricPhase on May 1, 2010 at 10:41 AM
…oh, and another thing.
One of these would go great with those funky gradients on the navigation bar and the block headers. Gradiants and animated gifs are so hip. I mean, they were all over the templates in FrontPage98. Y’know you wanna. /s
ElectricPhase on May 1, 2010 at 10:59 AM
Thank you for fixing one of the little things.
SlaveDog on May 1, 2010 at 6:45 PM
It’s back. I’m whole once again. ;)
Thanx
Brass on May 1, 2010 at 8:26 PM
The tips link does not work…
The logo looks good now…thanks
d1carter on May 1, 2010 at 9:02 PM
In Headlines threads, the logo does not link to home page…
d1carter on May 1, 2010 at 10:59 PM
Now I can see the headlines comments! Whatever happened, thanks!
Cylor on May 2, 2010 at 12:26 AM
Good, I was wondering what the problem was.
Ryan Anthony on May 2, 2010 at 9:00 PM
Hey, the Hot Air logo at the top of the page is not clickable, but the area just to the right of it is. That needs to be fixed. I’m using Firefox 3.6.3, BTW.
Ward Cleaver on May 3, 2010 at 11:15 AM
Same. IE8.
Abby Adams on May 3, 2010 at 1:20 PM
Hey RUSH, we love ya man, but dude I can’t go for those Chocolate Berries man. 20 bucks for 6 strawberries?! yeah yeah, they are nice, and its a gift, but dang. Proflowers I can do.
johnnyU on May 3, 2010 at 2:52 PM
Nice to see some more font consistency and cleaner rendering. What’s with the kerning on HEADL I NES and TOP P I CKS, though?
ElectricPhase on May 3, 2010 at 10:36 PM
Sheesh. All you genius Power Users…
Instead of fooling around with AdBlock and the like, go get yourself the latest MVPS HOSTS file. Using it, regardless of what browser you’re using, it never requests anything from the blocked URIs, including intrusive or malicious code. If you look around, there’s even a mini-server that will replace the ads with something innocuous — kitten pictures or whatever.
You’re somewhat dependent on the supplier of the file to find ad servers and list them, but the HOSTS file itself is plain text, so if you can capture the URI of the offending site you can add it yourself.
Been using it for years. On FireFox, I don’t even have popups disabled, and I rarely or never see one. The only downside is that you have to manually follow the “sponsored links” on Google and the like.
Regards,
Ric
warlocketx on May 3, 2010 at 11:39 PM
Alright, looks like that’s fixed this morning. Good work, guys.
Ward Cleaver on May 4, 2010 at 10:26 AM
The hotair express popup has worn out my patience. I’ve subscribed to it and the popup still haunts me.. I’m a compulsive hotair reader but your off the list for a week or more due to this annoyance.
Partisan on July 30, 2010 at 8:03 PM
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