Update Page Redesign
It's been awhile since we last posted here, but fear not, the team has been working hard on the design front. Our design leader, winniewong, sadly has moved on to greener pastures, leaving chasethestars and I to fend for ourselves. She did, however, leave behind one lasting design that we've been working on - the update page.
The new update page is leaner, cleaner, and unrhymingly packed with a bunch of enhancements (shoutout to jimramsey for all the work he did on this), but before I get to the cool stuff, I'd like to take trip back in time and look at the evolution of this page.
The Evolution of the Update Journal Page
Circa 1999-2006
Notice the complete lack of any structured alignment whatsoever, the irregular spacing between elements, the subtle use of color... a kind of mix between bauhaus and abstract impressionist art.
Alright, it's just plain fugly, but it got the job done, right?
We've added a bunch of features to the update page this year: the location field, tags, userpic selector, inserting images, an improved rich text editor, auto-save draft. These were all great and all and again it got the job done, but things were unpolished and unorganized. If Frankenstein had a baby with another Frankenstein and that baby had another baby with a platypus, it would probably look like the old update page. (This makes no sense, I know. Moving on...)
The Redesign
A Simpler Interface
At first glance you'll notice that it still has the same feel to it but we've moved a lot of the elements around. Userpic selection and post to drop-downs have been moved up top and the extra options down below have been reorganized.
An Improved Rich Text Editor
The rich text editor has been cleaned up considerably. The insert image button now also lets you upload and insert photos from ScrapBook and the new media button lets you insert videos and music from other services like YouTube. We've also gone away with having to switch between rich text and plain text editors. You can now tab between rich text and html as you please!
Feedback and Bugs
We've worked out the major bugs we've seen during development, but if you encounter any weirdness you can report it to this post in lj_releases
What we've heard so far:
What's Next?
2007 is all about design and usability. We'll be taking a look at several pages on LiveJournal and seeing how they can be improved. Right now, chasethestars is working on a new Customize Journal page and I'll be making updates to the Horizon site scheme. We'll make an entry in lj_design to share ideas and get feedback from you guys soon.
In the meantime, try out the new update page and let us know of any ways we can improve it. If you encounter any weirdness, please report bugs to this post in lj_releases
The new update page is leaner, cleaner, and unrhymingly packed with a bunch of enhancements (shoutout to jimramsey for all the work he did on this), but before I get to the cool stuff, I'd like to take trip back in time and look at the evolution of this page.
The Evolution of the Update Journal Page
Circa 1999-2006
Notice the complete lack of any structured alignment whatsoever, the irregular spacing between elements, the subtle use of color... a kind of mix between bauhaus and abstract impressionist art.
Alright, it's just plain fugly, but it got the job done, right?
We've added a bunch of features to the update page this year: the location field, tags, userpic selector, inserting images, an improved rich text editor, auto-save draft. These were all great and all and again it got the job done, but things were unpolished and unorganized. If Frankenstein had a baby with another Frankenstein and that baby had another baby with a platypus, it would probably look like the old update page. (This makes no sense, I know. Moving on...)
The Redesign
A Simpler Interface
At first glance you'll notice that it still has the same feel to it but we've moved a lot of the elements around. Userpic selection and post to drop-downs have been moved up top and the extra options down below have been reorganized.
An Improved Rich Text Editor
The rich text editor has been cleaned up considerably. The insert image button now also lets you upload and insert photos from ScrapBook and the new media button lets you insert videos and music from other services like YouTube. We've also gone away with having to switch between rich text and plain text editors. You can now tab between rich text and html as you please!
Feedback and Bugs
We've worked out the major bugs we've seen during development, but if you encounter any weirdness you can report it to this post in lj_releases
What we've heard so far:
- Not enough contrast
- Entry body can get too wide
- Unnecessary subject text
- Positioning of certain elements (userpic, post to)
What's Next?
2007 is all about design and usability. We'll be taking a look at several pages on LiveJournal and seeing how they can be improved. Right now, chasethestars is working on a new Customize Journal page and I'll be making updates to the Horizon site scheme. We'll make an entry in lj_design to share ideas and get feedback from you guys soon.
In the meantime, try out the new update page and let us know of any ways we can improve it. If you encounter any weirdness, please report bugs to this post in lj_releases