Ask the editor (and get answers)

Would you consider opening a permanent blog that lets users post images (JPGs) and Flash animations (SWFs) of their design ideas for MSNBC.com?

This latest iteration of MSNBC.com will be a minor upgrade, but if you had already had an open forum after your last upgrade, this next site redesign could have been a paradigm shift.

Interface design is critically important and the field is changing fast.
That's why EVERYONE wants an I-phone.

Don't miss another opportunity for a revolutionary... news making... new look.

when do we get to play with the new site...soon?  we must know.

Several months ago MSNBC switched all of the headlines from a black font to a blue font.  

Although blue is much nicer to look at, it is also much harder on the eyes.

Since the change, I tend to read much less of the news because it is so hard for me to read.  

Please go back to black.  I want my news back.

I think that the best thing you could do is get rid of the Notre Dame Central page in the Sports section.  What a joke ...

I hope the revised site works better than the preview which is a catastrophe, viz.:

1) Clicking on the preview banner brings up an ad for Southwest unrelated to the preview

2) Many of the instructions in the previews do not work

3)the fonts are very difficult to read on my screen which is very very high resolution

Bob

This may be a goofy question, but how does one make MSNBC webpages centered on the screen as opposed to left justified. The MSN pages are centered and I have not yet figured out how to do the same with MSNBC.

I have used and like the content of you web page with 1 exception. It is politically too far to the left with it’s editorials and the bias is obvious. Also there are few republican references unless they are negative.

Well I hope the new design incorporates a better search engine.  Sometimes I see stories on the site and when I come back later, they are gone from the front page.  Being able to search by headline or key words in th headline would be an awesome addition.  The current search engine will return hundreds of reults andneer quite get me to what I am looking for.

Please take away the JAVA script, I was used to looking at the videos and this week in political cartoons, now they refer to JAVA script, which I do not have on my computer...

I hope your fix the Video section, For weeks now since then change to that section I have not been able to view it without crashing my browser.  This has the same effect on any computer I have used.  It either freezes for extremely long periods of time or stops responding.  MSNBC video is my main source for my internet news while I am at work, so I'm sure you can understand how frustrating it is for me.  I used to watch CNN Video online until they started charging money for it(how rediculous).  That's when I came to MSNBC Video.  I never went back to CNN and if this isn't remedied I will have to find another source and not return.  Please, please please fix the video section because I don't WANT to leave, but I WILL.

I hate the new version of the fly-outs. I keep losing the topic I want to read about. It used to be so much easier. Retain the old version.  Also, the site is too far over to the left of my computer screen. Apparently everyone is having that problem. Please fix it. Overall, I wish you didn't "fix something that was not broken."

The following are my primary editorial and functional concerns:

Please focus on news.  MSNBC has some of the best political coverage of any news website and I would like very much for that coverage to be prominent on the site.  Important world and domestic news needs to take presidence on the front page.  NBC News should not try to emultate TMZ.com.  It blows my mind sometimes at how much coverage celebrity/entertainment news and gossip get on the front page.  Its Lame.  The newsweek stories are wonderful and should be highlighted.  Also, I like the idea of having your news editors picking some of the more in depth written stories and place them in a "Recomended" section.  In depth news and reporting is well served by written articles that take the time to cover an issue.  Please cut the fluff.

News articles and written coverage are well suited for the internet.  I would much rather read about an issue at length than have to wait for a 1 min fuzzy small resolution video to load - particularly while I am at work and don't want to turn up the speakers to hear the story.  A reliance on small clips of video news reports is one of my biggest problems with CNN's news website.

Please fully support Macintosh/OS X.  For the longest time your video did not support OS X at all, and just recently have you moved your video player over to Flash/ flv.  However, you still do not have any support for Macs when streaming live coverage.  For example, coverage of a live shuttle launch only would work on Windows with a WMP pluggin.  As a Mac user, I stopped for some time coming to MSNBC.com because of their poor support for OSX/ Safari.  Video never really worked well and it seemed the page load was not efficient in my native browser.  I instead began to frequent CNN's website as my primary news source, however, I could not stand their decision to use video snippets, sometimes exclusively, to cover a story.

I guess what I am saying is that I want real news coverage.  I am only 25, and have been frequenting your website since my teens, through college and now as a working professional.  I enjoy and so much appreciate your intelligent coverage and insightful commentary.  If I want Reuters or AP news snippets and bulletins I will just go to their website, or Yahoo or Google.  I can tell when you take an AP wire story and add a couple paragraphs to the end of it, but I guess that is better than only listing the wire story.  If I want fluff news on who J-Lo is dating or if Britney Spears was out last night without panties , I would go to TMZ, OMG, or E Online - NOT NBC News.  Maybe the only way to provide this to your visitors would be to offer a free registration whereby someone could then customize their page when they come to MSNBC.com. It's an idea, but page load time would be a concern to me and others I am sure.  Keep using Newsweek as a resource for in depth stories!  Maybe provide transcripts of a Hard Ball interview, or of a Nightly News story?  CNN is following your lead in this regard and is relying on TIME for content.

Anyway, just my thoughts, I hope someone listens.  

What happened to the Slate link at the top?

Are you going to make the site compatable with other browsers such as firefox? I do like NBC news but, like millions of others, I use Linux/Firefox.

So when is the new design coming?

Just keep that logo the same. Forever. I think it looks beautiful in lowercase.

An overall comment on the personal settings that help make the site my choice for homepage: These personal settings are quite helpful and give me the range of material of use to me. However, the settings go away to a default setting without warning or apparent provocation. I don't particularly want to have the temperature and local news of New York City pop up several times a week. Then I must go in and re-select all the settings for weather, sports, business (stock symbols) at some loss of time and dilution of interest. Can you make this unwanted intrusion go away? Thanks for any response.
NS

I agree with all the comments made so far, especially the one regarding your use of javascript. I have not been able to look at a slide show or vote on a story since about September. I have tried everything in the microsoft website to get it working, but to no avail.

Make it just as easy to comment on any story as it is here. All this sign up stuff, ID-password etc. is too confusing for us older folks. Have a fact check section during the presidentail race.  

This change seems unnecessary, confusing and harder to navigate. Your preview seems to confirm that. I don't see why this will be an improvement over your present format. If I'm right, I'll have to find another homepage. Also, I continue to be frustrated that none of your videos work with Safari. Why is that?

Regards, Bill

My biggest concern based purely on the screen-shots is that the navigation menu on the left is getting lost.  

I hope the cascading menus continue.  I also think they should remain near the top as they are now.

Also, make sure ALL of the site works with Firefox.  It's a complete load of you know what when one clicks on a video link (in particular live feeds), have to watch a commercial and THEN you say, "I'm sorry, you need to pay homage to Bill Gates."

Please support high resolution displays. If my browser is full screen (on a 24" monitor at 1920x1200), it would be nice to reflow some of the content so that I can see more news without scrolling. At the very least, please center the content.

Thanks,

All these comments are good and I'm sure valid (especially the MAC support).  However, I have yet to read any positive comments. So here goes:
So far the little bit that I have seen looks great.  I think in our current multimedia driven generation we demand new and fresh.  We are a visual society and if something goes stale visually, we get bored and move on.
I frequent your site several times a day from work.  It's one of the few sites that is not blocked!  Sometimes when I visit, its all looks the same and looks as if nothing is going on since the only thing that changed was some text that says "updated" or "new".  But, I'm not interested enough to click and read more.
The new site looks as though no matter when/how many times you go, there will be fresh content with visual support. A photo can say so much.
I know how hard it is to overhaul a website, let alone one as large as msnbc.  I appreciate all the work that has gone into the site.
I'm sure it sounds like I’m brown nosing for a free koozie and while I do enjoy a free gift from time to time ;) -- I really just wanted to give something positive since we sometimes forget to do that in the midst of our complaining. (that's not a dig at everyone, cause I do it too)

Peace Out--Happy Friday

Hi,
The new design looks good. I visit this page for all the news and do not read newspapers. I have two requests or comments that I'd be interested in hearing your answers.

1. I don't like the way that the same news items are repeated under several categories. It inflates the whole page with meaningless duplication. Most people are intelligent enough to seek and find the articles that interest them.

2. Is there any way to disable the function that causes articles to open up when your curser passes over them? I know you can do it on a daily basis by choosing a disable button, but it would be better if the option was to enable it, not disable that function. In other words, it wouldn't work unless a person chose to have it work. It is very annoying.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks,
George

I also could not view videos on my Mac, until I recently downloaded FireFox. Funny, there was nothing in video Help about needing FireFox to view videos on Mac, and I never got replies to my request for video tech help. I just accidently fixed the problem myself by getting FireFox. The least you can do is improve your Help section in the tech area, otherwise people just get frustrated and leave the site.

The only thing missing from msnbc.com (which is my homepage, by the way), is a link to make comments for every story.  Every single article posted should be open for reader discussion.  Other than that, keep up the good work.

What is this your second major redisign in 2-3 years?  Here's a tip find a format, stick with it,make it work ALL THE TIME and edit your friggin content for grammar, spelling etc.  Many many times I try to get back to your main page only to find that the article page is persitent, basic glitchy stuff like that makes it a chore to read the news and I ofte bop over to CNN when your site gets twitchy.  Most users would agree I think that the main page should be a quick hit on the current news and save the bells and whistles for those who want to spend all day reading the news.  If we wanted to watch it, we'd turn on the TV.

Please do whatever is necessary to enable me to download the news quiz and the weekly cartoons.We used to do this until a month or two ago but now cannot access these great sites.

I have long enjoyed MSNBC just because of the attractive layout. You guys change about once a year and it's always looked clean and professional. I assume you consulted with usability analysts to make sure it's usable too... please learn from USAToday's mistakes!

I'm one of the few still using W97; will upgrade when I can, but until then, I don't understand why just because we CAN make it glittery, moving and congested, we think we MUST.  I can't stand it.  I agree with many of the earlir comments about jumping screens, etc.

Also, I'd really, really like to know how to actually write to MSNBC.  The feedback@ address has failed using two different mail addresses in two browsers.

Will you have those annoying Viewpoint Corporation add-ons on the new website. I hate that blip-blip noise, closing that window at the top, and collapsing that drop-down ad everytime I'm on your website. And PLEASE, no more O.J. Britney, Lindsay or Dog the Bounty Hunter inthe headlines. Who do you think you are, Fox News?

You should try to work more with the local NBC Stations, I.E. KUSA TV, I Don't like to get my local headlines from MSNBC Because it is not from KUSA.  And 1 more thing all of this extra stuff from NEWS WEEK And the Washington Post is verry distracting get rid of it. CNNs site flows much better. And keep "News Breaker-the game"  

I really appreciate the team at msnbc.com working to make things better.  The web is constantly evolving and props to you all for improving it.  In terms of editorial, the trend for including so much entertainment gossip and OJ coverage (for example) on your home page hurts your brand.   There's a ton of important interesting and important international and national news, that I would hope would become your focus and not be tempted by the easy tabloid type junk.  
It would be great if the performance linking to Newsweek servers was improved.  In terms of the ads, I immediately scroll down to eliminate any dancing person or animation that takes away from the news content. I would hope you are creating some new internal standards around what ad is acceptable in terms of surrounding your content.  At the end of the day, great content is what sets you apart.  I'm a loyal viewer.  I hope you don't lose me by chasing the wrong objectives.  Thanks.

How do I edit what used to be the areas for stocks and sports?  I just get the teams for my area and not all those I am interested in.

Shell
Orlando, FL

I would like to have the option of showing todays Scores and Schedules in the Sport Section as the old web page.

The new setup looks nice, folks, albeit a teensy tad more like AOL, which I have never cared for, especially news-wise.  I echo Joshua's comments above.  I, too, use MSNBC for checking on the latest news and in depth stories.  I love being able to access the list of news areas (far left column) and see at a glance the major stories before I click on them, as well as breaking news at the top.  Entertainment and fluff do not interest me except very peripherally.  I check MSNBC several times a day for up to date news, particularly World, Business, etc.  Visual though we may be, I would rather read a well written article than watch a video for most stories.  I know change is difficult, and I'm looking forward to the redesign completion, and hopefully will not have lost the ability to see at a glance and find important and up to date news and in depth stories about the important issues facing our world.  Thanks for all that you do to keep us in the know!

This may be trivial, but where did the link for crossword puzzles go?  My Saturday is not starting off right.

Like the new site.  Really enjoyed the most popular link on the old site.  Don't see it here on the new one....will you add it back?  Also, would be nice if other comment pages were as easy as this (someone else previously noted that as well).  Waiting for all changes before commenting further.

I see now that I will soon be able to personalize the home page to see my local weather as soon as it opens. I also liked being able to view the current stock market indices as well as several of my personnel stocks as soon as the home page opened.  Will I be able to do that now with this new home page without having to click to open another screen.  Thank you for your response.

I can't get the homepage to fit my screen.  Now I have to scroll from left to right just to see the headlines.  Unless this can be fixed, I will be switching homepages to one more reader friendly.  Can this be fixed?

I've tried to cover as many questions about where the stocks, news, sports, weather and other things are here: http://alphachannel.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/11/21/477438.aspx

We're still trying to sort everything out and respond to as much as we can, so sorry about any delay.