give up Gawker, go back to the old layout

[rockyct]

While I never really visited Gizmodo due to the Apple worshiping (Engadget is actually better about it now too), it looks like the Gawker sites are seeing decreased traffic:

http://www.businessinsider.com/gawker-redesign-2011-4

It's really hard to tell the overall picture with those six month graphs but it appears as though there is a soft slope downwards. It's still getting a ton of traffic, but it's appearing more and more clear that it was a very stupid idea to butcher the layout like they did.

 

[ElFenix]

gawker wouldn't be quite so terrible if it wasn't set to a resolution i last used in 1998.

 

[KaOTiK]

I went to Kotaku the first day the new layout was out and haven't been back since, or to any other gawker site for that matter.

 

[GrantMeThePower]

It just seems like its different for no reason other than to be different. There is not a real big improvement in usage. It requires education for use. That is not good for a blog design.

 

[Alone]

Is there a before/after picture?

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Maybe it's a result of a hacker leaking hundreds of thousands of user passwords onto The Pirate Bay. That's why I boycotted every single Gawker site, although I did give them a couple of page views just to see what the fuss is about regarding their ridiculous new page layouts. Which are awful.

 

[MotionMan]

Ugly layouts are ugly.

MotionMan

 

[Fritzo]

I went to Kotaku the first day the new layout was out and haven't been back since, or to any other gawker site for that matter.

Kotaku has the same layout noob.

 

[KaOTiK]

Kotaku has the same layout noob.

No shit it has the new layout. I went to it the first day the new layout was rolled out and haven't been back to it or any of the other gawker sites cause of the layout. What is the noob part? You and your failure to read?

 

[Glitchny]

It just seems like its different for no reason other than to be different. There is not a real big improvement in usage. It requires education for use. That is not good for a blog design.

Not only is it not an improvement, the redesign causes more problems. I've had more issues with videos not playing, being linked to the wrong article etc since the redesign than I ever had before.

Maybe it's a result of a hacker leaking hundreds of thousands of user passwords onto The Pirate Bay. That's why I boycotted every single Gawker site, although I did give them a couple of page views just to see what the fuss is about regarding their ridiculous new page layouts. Which are awful.

I imagine if it was about user id's they wouldn't use the same login system after changing the layout.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

I imagine if it was about user id's they wouldn't use the same login system after changing the layout.

My point is there are probably many people (like myself) who have stopped using Gawker sites due to this hack. It's difficult to trust a website after they cause the publication of your username, email address and plain-text password.

 

[mmntech]

The new layout isn't friendly for tablets either. It's definitely a mess. Hard to navigate. Even Penny Arcade commented on its craptacularity.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/2/11/

If you type in "ca" instead of the usual "www", it goes to the old layout.

 

[Glitchny]

My point is there are probably many people (like myself) who have stopped using Gawker sites due to this hack. It's difficult to trust a website after they cause the publication of your username, email address and plain-text password.

gotcha, I just never bothered making an account with them as it's only needed for comments, of which 98% are garbage.

 

[dwell]

AJAX sites suck just a little worse than Flash sites.

 

[Fritzo]

No shit it has the new layout. I went to it the first day the new layout was rolled out and haven't been back to it or any of the other gawker sites cause of the layout. What is the noob part? You and your failure to read?

Never mind, totally misread that. I thought you meant you started using Kotaku instead of Gawker after the format change.

 

[KaOTiK]

Never mind, totally misread that. I thought you meant you started using Kotaku instead of Gawker after the format change.

fair enough, noob

 

[HydroSqueegee]

ca.gizmodo.com