Sysopt Redesign--yay or nay?

[SoopaStar]

I just peeked at the new sysopt redesign. I can honestly say I like parts but hate others. For instance, I like the graphics used, but hate the banner for dice.com taking up the entire right side. If you are at 800x600 or even worse, 640x480--say goodbye to your chances of seeing stuff.

I don't like the menu on the side at all. I like the buttons that are on the main sysopt.com site now. I can see a total integration of sysopt.com into earthweb now.
My other beef: what happened to us beta-testing that site?? Didn't we sign up for something a while back or was this just another marketing scheme to get our data?
Paul

edit: spelling http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by SoopaStar (edited 08-02-2000).]

[SoopaStar]

I also don't see a link for the message board/forum...

Paul

[Warthog]

hehe...I remember signing up for that...

Scott? Some answers please?

And about the banners. I counted five, some of which linked to other parts of earthwebs domain. I also don't like the one on the right side.

What happened to Sysopt??? Everything on the menu, etc. is searching Earthweb, not Sysopt. The only reference to Sysopt that I noticed was the logo in the top right corner. I noticed that some of the articles are written by you guys, but there is no mention of Sysopt.
I can see a total integration of sysopt.com into earthweb now
I agree.

Warthog

[skywalker[TSG]]

i must say i like it

its good to have everything in one place
easy to find when u need it

but there should be more referce to the original sites that posted it

[SysOpt]

Okay, first off, everyone calm down please http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif. Lemme explain.

What you see ala the new earthweb site is "stage 1". Basically, that includes all of SysOpt's reviews and articles in the hardware and systems category (the links at left, operating system, graphics cards etc. contain 99% SysOpt content only, since Earthweb does not have much other hardware content). And like I said in the redesign teaser text, we're not finished tweaking the left side menu yet - you'll notice that some sub categories have duplicate articles, some don't contain articles, etc. That will be fixed and better organized soon.

What happens next has not yet been determined exactly, but my guess is that Stage 2 will include links from the new site to our various areas of user contributed content and our news summaries, and the areas will look like the redesigned site (user reviews, forum, resellerratings, etc.).

Finally, stage 3 will likely be (unless I hear otherwise from "upstairs") the total integration of sysopt into the redesigned site, with userreviews, news summaries, a new message board that maintains all of the functionality of the current board and adds new stuff, and resellerratings, all being within the new site.

As I'm sure you agree, althuogh you've heard of SysOpt, and maybe Dice, maybe HTMLgoodies.com, etc., most people don't know about most of what EarthWeb has to offer since Earthweb sites all look different, don't have links to each other, have different navigation, etc. Take a look at C|Net sites for instance. Computers.com, news.com, shopper.com, etc,. they all look similar and offer links to one another. If you like computers.com, you think "CNet", you don't think "computers.com". When you think HTMLGoodies.com, Earthweb wants you to think "Earthweb", not HTMLgoodies. Likewise with SysOpt.

It's true that EarthWeb does cater to the IT Professional more than the enthusiast/power user in most of their content (except HTMLgoodies, some stuff on opensourceIT, gamelan, javascripts, etc.), but since the acquisition last year it has been my mission to cater to both audiences. The look of the site may change, and what you click on to get to the message board, user reviews, articles, etc,. might change, but I am still in charge of the content here as much as ever, so no, in terms of what the site offers to you, this isn't the total "assimilation of SysOpt into EarthWeb" anymore than it was when I sold my sites to EarthWeb in August 1999.

As for the feedback process managed by Vividence, I have no idea what happened to that or if it's still planned. I think the deadline for the site launch came up quickly and they didn't have the site completed in time to do it before the launch. They still may do it to get feedback though. Just in case they don't, feel free to post your feedback here and I'll make sure that your voices are heard.

Scott

Edit: I almost forgot -- your comments about the right hand side big banner. That's the way sites are doing it these days. Advertisers are getting tired of the paltry click through rates of the 468x60 pixel banners and are opting instead for the large vertical banner. EarthWeb isn't the only one to do it. The site is really optimized for no smaller than 800x600 resolutions. I believe that something like 95% of our audience uses 800x600 or higher.

[This message has been edited by SysOpt (edited 08-02-2000).]

[SysOpt]

BTW this definitely belongs in SysOpt.community. Moving there now.