Specific ways to improve Free Republic site design

Me

[Stevieboy]

Maybe it's already here but although I've been around for seven months, I've never really taken the time to familiarize myself with all the terminology and the many features Free Republic has to offer.

Is there already an orientation section/thread?

[Lucky]

As one of the older patriots who doesn't know the computer real well, I'd like to keep it simple.

[mrsmith]

Two sidebars are too many!

Newbie Questions
Check the links on this thread (especially the one in reply #9).

We're gonna need a new one after all the changes get settled out.

[Free the USA]

Bring back either the number corresponding to a post or the seconds so that it is easy to scan back to where you finished when you refresh the screen. Add back a capability to view more than 50 posts.

[DouglasKC]

have found how to subscribe to breaking news and front page news, and they are now in my sidebar. What I also miss is "Find in Forum" on a Freeper's Home page. I have found that useful in the past to find a thread I didn't bookmark or post on, and couldn't find with "Search". "Find in Forum" is NOT for stalking!

I miss the find in forum also, it was a great way to find out where somebody stood on a issue if it was unclear from their post. It has often saved me from making a comment that wouldn't be relevent.

[Pokey78]

Provide 2 cyber aspirins with every visit, because I now have a splitting headache from trying to figure out the new design.

[DouglasKC]

I like the flag as much as the next guy, but the design on the posts page is too much. Too much flag taking up too much space. Put the flag at the top and get it over with. The screen now is too busy and too artsy

Yes, drop the flag from everything but the opening page. We don't need it when were scanning through post. It actually draws my eyes away from the latest posts.

[Gore_ War_ Vet]

I would go back to the way it was, or let a professional web designer do it.

Go to your room!

[RedWhiteBlue]

If a redesign does not improve functionality, it is a waste of time and money. I can't figure out what was broken before that this was supposed to fix.

I don't care about "eye candy." What I care about is ease of use -- how intuitive is the site? How quickly and easily can I find what I am looking for? A plethora of great information is available at Jakob Nielson's website HERE. He is considered the guru of web design. Anyone designing a site should go dig through his site before doing any work. It would be time very well spent.

[monkey]

Burn the flag.

[mysonsfuture]

BRING BACK BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[truthkeeper]

I'll try to be productive here. Among other things, I don't like the question taking up so much space on the right sidebar. Please...it's all hard enough to read as it is.

[foreshadowed at waco]

I miss the self-search feature being the way it was...I went to the new page a minute ago...looked like I'd been spammed...way too much clutter...aren't we supposed to be saving bandwidth?...also the flag draped across the left margin as a border...too much like a glossy pamphlet...what was wrong with the old simple format anyway...beware the need to fix what ain't broke (or to get carried away by gadgetry)...are we trying to appeal to the Disney crowd with the glitz?...black ink on white paper with an occasional colored photo of GW, Ann Coulter, etc. seems a lot more grass roots conservative to me.

[jaz.357]

After 8 or 10 BEERS it wont matter...

[WOSG]

IMHO, Times Roman is better fond than courier. Dont know why Courier was chosed as default for latest articles, etc. It uses up more space per letter and is IMHO less readable.

[boris]

Please, for the Nth time...please create an "Environmentalism" and/or "Environment" topic.

[Johnny Shear]

The major suggestion I would give is the directions to setting up the sidebar are incorrect.

By trail and error the first step is to choose topics from the top of the list (note beaking news and front page are about 1/3 down page) , then choose your topic, when the list of currect topics is loaded then there will be a "subscribe" button on the left hand side.

Hint: The order you choose them in is the order they load in. Be sure to choose them in the order you want them to show. For example choose breaking news topic first.

Even better yet, list all the sidebar options on one page. You then highlight the ones you want. On this page, be able to list them by importance (1 through 10) for the order you want them to appear.

[mlmr]

Please give an all threads option. I dont want to be bouncing among forums and I am omniverous.