FreshDV New Site Launch at FreshDV

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FreshDV New Site Launch

Published by Matthew Jeppsen March 24th, 2008 in FreshDV, News

We’ve changed! In response to feedback from readers and the evolving focus of our editorial team, we have relaunched the site with a new layout that we hope will better serve FreshDV readers. Here’s a quick tour of what’s changed…

* High-contrast default color scheme for the site. If you are a fan of the dark layout, fear not; you can still toggle the site between dark/white using the button at the right side of the menu bar up there.
* As FreshDV has grown, our focus has shifted from simply blogging and reporting news to more and more original reviews, tutorials, and instructional video content. As such, the homepage has been redesigned to help readers find these original articles quickly, and give you more info at your fingertips.
* Fans of the previous-style blog layout can still get their daily dose of FreshDV in hierarchical form at www.freshdv.com/category/news/…it’s essentially the same layout you are accustomed to seeing. Of course those articles and posts will also be displayed on the new homepage, so you can choose which layout works best for your needs.
* ~~FreshTV is currently being redesigned into a proper HD theater, and will relaunch very soon with our upcoming NAB coverage~~. UPDATE: Completed.
* ~~We’re in the process of moving to a new, faster host to help speed things up.~~ UPDATE: Completed.

As we get everything situated and squash bugs, we welcome feedback both in the comments below and also at info AT freshdv DOT com.

13 Responses to “FreshDV New Site Launch”

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1 moni Mar 24th, 2008 at 11:40 am

Fresh! Very nice work… this definitely does a better job of supporting and showcasing the great material here.
2 Andreas Mar 24th, 2008 at 12:05 pm

Congrats guys, the new site looks really nice. Keep up the great work ! I am already looking forward to your NAB coverage. Really enjoy it.
Andreas
3 editblog Mar 25th, 2008 at 6:46 am

Hey guys great re-design. Looks great. The primo site on the web for dv-guru kinda stuff!
4 Jf Mar 25th, 2008 at 10:28 am

It’s very bad to lost such a great site. Now i will probably go away. the only reason that is very great, of course, some great review and nice job of the poster.. But having to click everything to see anything is totally anoying. Before we had almost full text of each subject, now it’s almost only the title and : click to see more. No.. i will not.

Pretty bad. And no, having a video screen in the middle of the site is not a good idea. I came to read news.. if all the news are in vidÃ©o.. ok, but it’s not. so don’t put the video almost in the middle.
I wish it can do something, because a great job are done here. But when i saw the interface… i will go soon away from it.
That’s my point.
5 Matthew Jeppsen Mar 25th, 2008 at 11:09 am

Thanks to all for the feedback.

Jf, if you take a look at http://www.freshdv.com/category/news/ you’ll see essentially the same layout you are used to…blog posts and articles listed in “latest on top” format, with the same visible text settings that we’ve always used. That will show all the same articles that appear on the homepage, with the exception of the embedded video. The only thing different is the color scheme…and that is “toggle-able” between black/white primary colors with the switch in the top-right corner. Think you’ll hang around now? :-)

-Matt Jeppsen
6 Jf Mar 25th, 2008 at 3:24 pm

Ouff. So one of the best site are not lost… So yeah, i will only update the favorites with the new link.. By going directly to news.. it’s perfect. Thanks , and great job again. ;)
7 Jan Mar 26th, 2008 at 11:33 am

I like the “new fresh” here! Great work.

… but I still wonder if this great site is just in Austria that slow?!
It always takes a draft of coffee to get to the fresh updates.

enought freshness,
Jan
8 Joel Peregrine Mar 26th, 2008 at 12:42 pm

Great overhaul Matthew! Just one thing - comments in the dark version are white on white.
9 Matthew Jeppsen Mar 27th, 2008 at 9:36 am

Hey Jan, we’re addressing the general pokey-ness of the site with a move to a faster database server. Look for that in the next week.

Thanks for the heads up, Joel. That bug is on the short list. Good to hear from you again!

-Matt Jeppsen
10 Martin Mar 29th, 2008 at 9:00 pm

I like the redesign. And I still read get all the updates via RSS. Which was how I was keeping up with the site anyway. I only saw the redesign once I checked by bloglines reader and saw this post. I’m sure I’m not the only one.

Anyway I like the design, a bright design always seems more enjoyable to read.
11 Allan W. Jun 2nd, 2008 at 1:13 pm

@ JF - It sounds like you can still get the view you prefer, as Matthew noted above. I also think your viewpoint will be in the minority. The redesign looks great, is easy to get to, and very content-rich. My scrolling finger cramps at the thought of having to scroll down just to see the next post. People want to skim the headlines to read what interests them.

Consider following FreshDV from a feed, with a feed-reader like NewsFire or Google Reader. That’s the best way to keep on top of things, and very easy to use.
12 Allan W. Jun 2nd, 2008 at 1:14 pm

BTW, kudos for moving away from the dark layout, it’s harder to read that way (except on my iPhone!).
13 Matthew Jeppsen Jun 2nd, 2008 at 2:20 pm

Thanks, Allan!

-MJ