Welcome to the New Inside Line!

In other words, the blog post title should have the same functionality as the "permalink" link at the bottom of the post.

It looks pretty good however some of the sloppiness of the layout is messing it up a bit. Like the space here, it's too close to the boxes below

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It will take some getting used to, particularly considering how much scrolling will be necessary. But it's visually pleasing and easier to read on my widescreen laptop.

Although I don't like when familiar websites change, I'm guessing I'll get used to it. I'm not a fan of the ALL white background though. It looks like an unfinished room.

Love the new look! Much better than before, especially with the huge images. I do have a few of comments regarding the typography (remember, I'm a graphic designer), which I think will help:

The main "Straightline" head looks a bit weak. I would make it a bit larger.

There's too much space between the paragraphs in the blog entries. This results in text becoming separate "chunks," rather than a "unified" piece. I would cut the paragraph space in half.

A tip for vehicle images: When I was doing Straightline, I took great effort to crop out as much image background as possible when showing new cars. In doing so, the vehicle images became larger for the viewers to see. This I think is important, especially in order to see the vehicle details, which everyone wants to see. It also puts more focus on the vehicle, as there is little background to distract the viewer. Press release images supplied from the manufacturers often come with lots of extra and unnecessary background. Just crop out most the extra stuff in Photoshop. Believe me, they'll look much better when posted. I think the viewers will also appreciate the larger images as well.

This is not so important when showing other images, where the background can add to the visual pleasure and drama. However, I think, when showing never-before-seen vehicles, it would be a good idea for those posting to try and get the image of the vehicle as large as possible within the 717 pixel width—within reason of course.

I really don't like the white - I prefer a darker color set, as the white is just too blinding on the large screen. But thats likely just me.

I love the larger images - thats always been a beef with me.

dougtheeng,

I disagree. I'm a firm believer that "white space is our friend." It offers a visual break from all the other visual clutter if properly executed, which it is here.

Well, I don't have a widescreen monitor, but the website is still widescreen. Shouldn't it shrink to each screen resolution? Besides that, I like it a lot, it's very fresh and modern!!

I have a widescreen monitor, but my browser is shrunk down to more square proportions (hey, I multitask and I like to have other stuff up on my desktop too) and now I have a ton of left to right scrolling due to the new format. I'm not too pleased with that. Usually I really hate it when websites I frequent are redesigned, but other than the width thing I'm getting used to this already, and that's a good sign.

Nice. I like it. I especially like the drop-down menus at the top. Great addition.

Why is it that every time someone "improves" their blog layout, it means making it wider?

Wider isn't necessarily good. I multitask and have lots of things going on at the same time. If I have to maximize my browser to read your site, I can't perform my other tasks.

There's also a good reason newspaper columns are narrow. It's easy to read quickly if you don't have to scan from left to right. Making your columns wider, slows people down.

My biggest issue is how the text is...far too much of it is the same size and jammed next to each other, it can make reading and finding links difficult, and it looks pretty amateur as well.

As I use it more, I'm sure I'll find things I like. Right now, it's the negatives that are hitting me.

I notice from my last comment that whitespace (blank lines between paragraphs) gets deleted. Makes my formatting ugly.
The formatting of where you leave comments is a little sloppy, but I suspect that'll get cleaned up.

Of course, there's the "where's the Edit button" issue and the issue of telling you how many unread comments there are. I like the "Report It" button. I assume it's for spammers and such evil doers.

agree with brn

The site is too wide now. Nobody uses their browser in full screen, that is why it is pretty standard to stick to a width of 800 (in addition to supporting all the smaller res devices like netbooks, phones and such). I like the bigger images, but there is too much wasted space everywhere.

Please shrink the width. Tighten the spacing up and this design won't look like I'm waiting for a background image to load anymore.

Are my comments not posting or is it just taking a long time?

Testing testing...

RSS isn't working. Please fix!

Thanks for improving an already great site - the only site I am sure to go to daily and my favorite place to recreate while I eat lunch.

I like the appearance, but the usability leaves a little to be desired. Specifically, I would like to see links to the two blogs right on the home page, instead of nested in the menu up top. I'd also like to see a News link up top, like you have at the bottom. Thanks!

So we get a "Report It" button, but still no "Edit" button?

Even in the screen shot you are using for this blog entry the site is wider than the pane you are using. lol

Please shrink the ginormous buttons. The ones on the top are the worst.

I turned my dual monitors sideways so I see everything in portrait mode (1024 x 1280 instead of the more typical 1280x1024).

That said, the IL screen is pretty readable. Cranking the View > Zoom to 75% works good too.

Please tell me what I'm doing wrong? For example, when I click on your long-term BMW M3 posts, it lists 76 posts about the M3, starting with the most recent, but when I scroll down to the bottom, there's no arrow to go on to the rest and/or the very first posts - what gives?

I'm not sure why my comment from last night got deleted, but here it goes again.

The heavy reliance on the latest version of Flash is problematic for me. I read IL most often at the office and my employer's IT rules are strict. Despite my otherwise up-to-date computer, I am stuck with IE 6.0 and an older version of Flash and cannot download and install the updated versions.

When I go to the new site I just get a message that I need Flash 9 to view most of the content. So the impact of the new site will be that at least this reader will visit far less often.

Also, if I have to sign in to leave comments why do I also have to type in a name and e-mail address?

@ charlesncharge: You're not doing anything wrong. It's a glitch. "Next page" arrows will be added to bottom of page to allow you to see all posts.

@ all: Most spacing issues should be fixed over the next few days. But, sorry to say, there's no "Edit" button coming in this enhancement. I know. It's a bummer. -- E. Riches

If it's possible you should have a function where we can change the background color just like the MSN home page. The white is getting mixed reviews and I personally think it's to bright. Also there should be a banner at the top of the page that says "Straight Line" (like the old Straight Line) so that once we click on comments or continue reading we can click the banner to go to the main list of posts instead of the back button. And the 5 most recent post box should be added to the side like the old one. Too bad there's not an edit button coming but I do like the high res pictures especially because I just got a new 22 inch widescreen monitor.

Erin—yes bummer about not having an edit button. • Also, a bummer is that there is no paragraph space when posting responses. All the paragraphs are run together. That makes for difficult reading, and should be addressed ASAP. • One way around that is to put a "•" where paragraph would, along with a couple of extra character spaces, like I've done here. • It's a design "trick" that graphic designers use when they want to have run-in paragraphs. You can use other icons as well.

@carguy622 - you have a Preview Comment button now for blogs and on article comments

@7driver - the RSS feed is now an ATOM feed and it's updating. Let us know if you hit a snag again.

@bankerdanny - no comments were deleted so sorry if it was lost in the shuffle. As for the Name/email address fields - nope - snag that's getting removed.

@rsholland - we'll address the paragraph spacing in comments quickly.

7driver:

If you are having problems with the RSS Feeds, please post some additional details to help the IL staff track down the possible issue.

rsholland, it didn't seem to work for you. I don't see any paragraph separation in your post. I suspect you noticed that after you posted.

bankerdanny has the best one yet. There is NOTHING about the new layout that should require Flash 9. IL is unnecessarily limiting it's audience and should really consider finding a way around that requirement.

Looks like most of my (minor) complaints are already being addressed. The only REALLY annoying thing for me is the fact that the blog titles are not clickable. Hopefully this is just a glich/snag/oversight.

brn, In fairness to IL, they are not the only site to unnecessarily include content that requires the latest version of Flash. Major League Baseball does the same thing with their radio feed setup, which made my MLB Season pass useless this year.

@mikealtmyer and @petrolhead85 - blog entry titles are now clickable to the permalink page. Lost in the move but there now.

not a big fan of it seems 2 complicated and fussy 2 deal wit prolly is easier but i got use 2 the old 1 and liked it that way
ergo
change it back

Work with me bankerdanny. :)

You're right IL isn't the only one. It's a bit of a peeve of mine, not matter who does it. I'm even up-to-date in Flash.

This is like my employer....if it ain't broke then lets fix it.

Too wide. I hate the side scrolling. I'm sure you guys did research showing that the majority of your users had monitors bigger than 1024 pixels wide. However, most sites on the web are not wider than that. Which means that since I've set my browser width for CNN, NYT, Yahoo, etc, I have to either widen my browser for your site or side scroll.

There's no reason for the right column to be 425 pixels wide. The ad units are only 300 pixels wide. Take back the 100 pixels and narrow the left (main column) a bit and there will be less side scrolling. Better yet, bring the width down to fit at 1024. You can still have big photos at that width.

I miss the "Next post"/"Previous Post" buttons.

And the Recent Posts section, which I found VERY handy, doesn't seem to work well at all. And it's very inconsistent.

How it works now: ...um. I don't really know. Sometimes shows 5 most recents. Sometimes shows a random set of 5 posts from a few weeks ago. When you're on the M3 page for example, sometimes it shows 5 recent Mini Cooper posts. From the S5 page it might show 5 recent Camaro posts, for example.

How it should work: From the main page, shows the 5 (or so) most recent posts, from all cars. From a car-specific page, maybe there could be two recent sections, or a tabbed feature maybe, to show the 5 most recent from all cars, plus the 5 most recent just from the current car.