Now *THIS* is what I call constructive criticism, and I truly appreciate it. I *DO* feel like I need to explain some things, okay? Recently some asshole decided to ruin my day with (not one, but) two emails… because I was shooting my mouth off here on this site, and he felt it was his God-given right to tear me apart, and take me down a few pegs. So I came off looking like a total dick who can’t take criticism.
That’s not the case. It’s personal attacks & cheap shots that I can’t take.
I wish I was the kind of lowlife that would publish someone’s email online without permission. You’d see why I was livid.
Before I go, dear CyberPals…. please understand that this design was not my first choice. I’m happy with it, but I thought I offered a lot more smarter, faster-loading designs. Also understand that *I* don’t have the final say on what goes on the page. I have to answer to several departments….
You would be amazed with how much I agree with Patti, but unfortunately, my hands are tied. They think that if you bombard people with banner ads, they’ll generate more revenue….
You and I both know that isn’t true.
Anyway…. here goes.
“You asked for it, you got it – my sorry, poor, (and possibly talentless) freelance opinion”
Patti, you know damn well you’re talented. Don’t even try it. ;0)
Can somebody please tell me what I said about “freelancing” that has pissed so many people off??? I can’t support my family on it. I’m sorry. Name anyone who is (without writing books, or having a regular day job, etc), can pay a mortgage and feed five kids, and I’ll shut up… okay?
Does everybody there own a cable modem? I hope so. Load time @ 52k took a while.
The site is Waaaay to graphic-intensive for my taste, too. Definitely not my choice. They all view it with their T1 connections at work, and say “it’s fine”…. so far no one has complained, probably because it loads just as slow as the old site.
As many variations on the color of blue as there are animated images?
I thought all of the pages should be white….they (both bosses) wanted *EVERY PAGE* blue…. try and imagine that. I’ve also made non-animated banner ads, but all of the advertisers want them animated. And, well….what the sponsors want….
Bright red over bright blue? Um, ok.
I think the site would do better with a variety of different colors. While researching, I found most credible news sites have a red, white and blue theme…. it would work if the page was white.
I’m going to give you this one freebee: Newspaper = Headlines. If you have to TELL people where to go to find them, you’ve not thought this through.
Get in line behind me, the editor, the publisher and the 400 emails a day from people pissed off that the news isn’t right on top. I’m getting a bum rap here. This is the original splash page of The Pocono Record… do you have any idea how many phone calls I got a day from people who couldn’t find the news???? Since the redesign, the hits have tripled and the online ad sales have doubled. If I had my way, ads would be strategically placed in areas where people actually *want* to go, and *THEN* I predict sales would go off the charts, and the website would probably generate more revenue than the newspaper itself.
But they don’t want to hear it.
Why yes, let’s link to other newspapers on the main page. Send them away as soon as they get there! Great idea!
Uhmm…. I’m lost there. What other newpapers? The Pocono Record also publishes the Pocono Property Showcase, Eastern Pocono Community News, Pocono Weekend, and Scholastic Sports (and three guesses who hand codes most of them all week?) The Wire is generated through our AP servers every fifteen minutes.
Pretend I’m a novice web user. If I want to print a story from the {frames} website, I should…… ? Riiiight. Riiight.
Welllll….. frames aren’t exactly my first choice either. But to generate the website twice a day as single web pages will require me to re-write most of a 24MB macro template, then re-code almost four years of archived articles. And I find most people know how to right click and open a page in a new window. I will consider a “Print this article” link in the near future though. That’s actually a pretty good idea.
…you might find some tips in structure and design that will save your ass from getting fired next week. 😉
Au contraire…. following my instincts, or making any of the above changes will get my ass fired. It’s a very hard and frustrating job. They loved the look of the new site (as do the advertisers)… that was never the reason for the delay.
I know I have great ideas, and I can make that site rock…
But some things are out of my hands.
Or do I have to drag Zeldman in here to explain this to you kiddies?
