Dear readers:
Thanks very much for your patience during the past week as we’ve been working out the glitches that occurred during our website redesign.
We still have a few more wrinkles to smooth out, but I want to assure you that the reason for doing this — in the end — is to provide you with a better user experience. This website began 10 years ago as a “blog post” format — meaning that stories appeared in the order they were posted, with the newest story first. A few years ago, we shifted to more of a “newspaper-style” design format, with categories for our various stories appearing by section on the site.
While some readers did like this format, it quickly became clear to us that most people simply want to see the latest news first — without trying to figure out which category a story may have appeared in. In addition, nearly 70% of our readers view our site on a mobile device — tablet or phone — and the newspaper-type layout is not effective for them.
So we have returned to our roots, so to speak.
Of course, every change comes with unintended consequences. Please know that I have been diligently making note of your comments and concerns and passing them along to our web developers.
I sincerely appreciate your understanding.
Teresa Wippel
Publisher
It would be nicer if the ads appeared between articles instead of in the middle of them.
That is one of the changes we are making – thanks for the feedback
Please stop interrupting stories with so many ads. Sometimes, as in this story, you have to scroll through three, four or more ads just to read one or two lines. I’m at a point where I’m considering not even reading MEN!
I would like to take a moment to remind people who don’t like the ads – producing this valuable news source takes money. People have to be paid. I hope everybody understands that though the subscription if “free”, costs are incurred. There would most likely be fewer ads if everybody paid for their subscription.
Right on Maggie!!!
Sharon, first off I hope your scrolling fingers are ok. Also, when your news web site is up and running, and the journalism (news writing, photography, etc) is a fraction as good as this website, and your advertisements are tucked away somewhere as to not “interrupt” the readers, and all of your support people are getting paid for their work, please tell us all about how you did it. Also, your comment inspired me to chip in subscription money to MEN.
Thanks for your sarcastic opinion, Don. Having worked as a writer/producer in television for 20 years, I fully understand that ads pay the bills. However, there’s no reason they can’t run between stories rather than in the middle!
I agree. Put ads between articles. Otherwise, format is good.
Sad to say that I used to look forward to reading myedmondsnews every morning. Not as much now. The letters to the editor used to be in the Opinion section, but now they are given priority as one scrolls down the screen, seemingly at the expense of news, as opposed to commentary. Where are the stories about restaurants in Edmonds? Where are the stories about the schedule for road closures during the Dayton Street project? Where are the stories about book recommendations from the Edmonds Book Shop? They have all been absent during the weeks of the new format.
The previous format had the newest stories at the top of the screen . That was very convenient for the reader. The current organization is a mystery.. And please fix how the very large ads are displayed. It is very frustrating to scroll down a small amount only to be zipped back to the top (and to the very large ad). And please, please bring back the arrow that returns readers to the top of the page. I like to read about Edmonds, then go to the top to check out news on Lynnwood, then go back to the top for MLT news. The arrow made that very convenient. Perhaps that arrow was only for the benefit of those using a desk top computer but please don’t neglect your readers who frequently use something other than a mobile deviice.
Hi Linda: Thanks for your comments. There have been no stories posted on any of those topics since the redesign has been in effect, so please watch for them. Edmonds Book Shop recommendations come around the first of the month, as an FYI. The newest stories are indeed posted at the top — that is the mission of the redesign, so readers can see stories as they are posted. The letters to the editor have been coming in fast and furious with the election but we have stopped accepting candidate-related letters since ballots are now in voters’ hands. I will ask about the arrow to return you to the top but another way to do that is to simply scroll up using the vertical scroll bar on the right side of the screen. I just checked using the mobile view, and there are no ads appearing in the middle of stories any longer, so hoping that has been addressed. Some of the impact readers are feeling is that there are many more ads than normal due to the political season, which we truly appreciate as ad revenue helps us keep the lights on, so to speak. We will continue to make adjustments as needed, as best we can, to address your concerns. Teresa
Thanks for the response. If you can please, please fix the site so that it does not pop to the top of the page (and the LARGE ad) every time I click on a picture or story and then use the back arrow to return to myedmondsnews. It is very annoying to have to scroll all the way down and find the spot where I had been reading – and do this every time I read a story.
Regarding the arrow to return to the top of the page, I do know that the vertical scroll bar can be used but having to keep a finger or cursor on it all the way to the top of the page is nowhere near as easy as just using the arrow.