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Welcome to the new-look TV Tonight

By David Knox on February 6, 2012 / Filed Under News, Top Stories 124

Welcome to the new-look TV Tonight!

As you will have already noticed, the site has some new features and attributes, so let me talk you through some of these….

HOME PAGE

  • The site now has a Carousel of 5 in place of the former 2 x Top Stories on the old site. These will continue to include a mix of News, Programming, Pay TV and Reviews, all of which can also be found in their respective verticals. You can click on any of the thumbnails to stop the Carousel on an individual story in order to click through to the Post itself.
  • A new Menu has been added with each of the 5 networks plus Foxtel. These offer dropdown lists of profile shows that are on air (or about to air). It will then take you to all the recent stories mentioning the show, using the Tag system. This Menu is designed to help you find stories about your show more easily. Listed shows will fluctuate accordingly. I hope you like it.
  • Previous sections Coming Soon and Guides are now a subset of the Programming tab.
  • The News section is now much larger. As you can see it also shows the number of comments on each story.
  • Two verticals on Pay TV and Programming follow and Reviews are located at the bottom of the front page. All of these feeds can be accessed from the top Menu.
  • In the right-hand column you can now see Daily Pick, ICE TV Guide, Ratings and the Poll.

INDIVIDUAL POSTS

  • The essentials of each story remain intact. At the end of the post there is a section called “Related.” This will link through to other stories that also mention the same show/s, again using the Tag system. Comments follow thereafter.
  • In the right hand column you will find the Tag Cloud and recent Comments, plus a shortcut to recent stories.
  • At the left of each story is a floating widget for social media. You can Tweet a story, like it on Facebook, send via email or Google+.

COMMENTS

  • In order to Comment you now need to register an ID. You can continue to use the handle you have been using but you need to register through a working email. Note the password you are sent and then you can change it once you are logged in. The site will take you to a standard WordPress profile page and even offers a toolbar that sits across the site if you prefer. When you are logged in you will find the link to bring you back to the site sits at the top left of the toolbar. If it feels a little overwhelming at first, have patience. You’ll get used to it in no time and realise the benefits later I trust. Your cookies should remember you so you don’t have to keep logging in everyday. I believe adding an ID will lift the tone of comments, for the benefit of all.
  • Please remember no CAPS, no links and no slagging off other readers. Debate is healthy, abuse is not.
  • As we are all adults here you’ll be pleased to know the site will now allow more liberal use of language. I think common sense tells us the words that are still on the naughty list. Otherwise Comments moderation remains as is.

So that’s about it. The site is now in Beta mode during this transition phase, just in case of any teething problems.

There is no change to Twitter, mobile platform, Ratings, breaking news etc. And yes, it’s still just me pedalling madly behind the scenes, but I am grateful for your support.

From Monday the annual Programmer’s Wrap begins, with feature interviews everyday this week. Be sure to register an ID so you can have your say -they do read the Feedback.

My thanks to web designer David McDonald for the rebuild.

Hope you enjoy the new site!

Cheers,

David.

 

UPDATE: For technical problems please ensure you have:

- latest edition of your Browser.
- javascript enabled.
- any ad-blockers turned off.

POSTED IN » News, Top Stories

124 Comments »

  1. ckent July 19, 2012 at 8:39 am -

    Thanks. I can read words now :-)

  2. ckent July 12, 2012 at 1:03 pm -

    The background is ridiculously broken on iPad Safari (5.1 latest).

  3. Magical April 13, 2012 at 12:26 pm -

    David, I really think that a section where users could predict upcoming ratings would be fantastic, and a way to get us more involved.

  4. Dimitriak March 4, 2012 at 8:34 pm -

    I don’t have ad blockers, but for some reason the carousel now appears…weird!

  5. David Knox March 3, 2012 at 3:46 pm -

    Do you have any ad-blockers active?

  6. Dimitriak March 3, 2012 at 3:18 pm -

    Chrome issue still present

    I have reset cookies, deleted all download and browsing history, cleared cache and still no carousel.

  7. David Knox March 3, 2012 at 10:16 am -

    Hmmm…. I use Chrome and it’s working ok. Maybe reset your cookies?

  8. Dimitriak March 3, 2012 at 10:04 am -

    Hi David,
    I am also using Chrome and have not been able to see the carousel for a few days. javascript is definitely enabled.
    :)

  9. David Knox February 29, 2012 at 1:16 pm -

    Ok thanks for the feedback Craig.

  10. Craig February 29, 2012 at 12:19 pm -

    FYI – I cleared the cookies for TVTonight and WordPress and can’t log-in to today’s Daily Pick (featuring Sherlock), but I can comment on yesterdays and other stories I’ve tried, must be a minor bug.

    Again thanks for the great work David.

  11. David Knox February 28, 2012 at 10:13 am -

    Can you clear your cookies to see if the log-in problem persists?

  12. Craig February 28, 2012 at 9:42 am -

    Couple of bugs?

    I just changed my password on WordPress and now some stories won’t let me post saying I need to log-in even though I am. Yes I’m using the new password.

    2nd the resize box feature is not working in either Safari or FireFox on Mac and PC.

    Keep up the good work David.

  13. Hui February 23, 2012 at 1:32 pm -

    David: Following up on my earlier comments, the website is now loading correctly in Safari/Firefox on Mac OSX 10.4.11 PPC. Thanks for sorting that out.

  14. Craig February 17, 2012 at 8:09 am -

    I’m in the same boat as some others here running a PPC Mac that can’t use the very latest FireFox or Safari that only run on Intel Mac’s but you mush have done something as the site appears to be working in FireFox once again… maybe it was the restart I gave my Mac yesterday? I only do that about once a week or less.

    Either way it all looks good now David, the site looks fantastic. Hope you have a good backup plan :)

  15. muppet February 16, 2012 at 10:20 pm -

    Just came to say that carousel working all ok here now – still with same setup – so something must have changed your end – thanks for fixing!

    FF 3.6.26 + adblock, flashblock (can’t turn those off – they give me an extra few gig a month on download quota ;) )

  16. David Knox February 13, 2012 at 3:09 pm -

    Ticky I am using Chrome and working. But have you got javascript enabled?

  17. ticky February 13, 2012 at 2:21 pm -

    @David

    I am on the latest version of Chrome and cannot see the carousel, even with ad-blocker disabled. Never had any problem like this on any other site.

  18. margy February 11, 2012 at 1:57 pm -

    I am a bit disappointed as I cannot seem to load the up-to-date programming, tv lounge, etc. pages. Everytime I click onto those pages the last entry date is 31st January! I do seem to be able to get the up-to-date home page though. I only have Windows XP so am not able to upgrade to Internet Explorer 9, I only have Internet Explorer 8. Any suggestions as to how I can get full use of your site would be appreciated, thanks.

  19. Hui February 11, 2012 at 1:13 pm -

    David: No, I don’t have an iPad.

    Safari 4.1.3 is the latest version that I can use with OSX 10.4.11 PPC.

    Just updated to Firefox 3.6.26 (31 Jan 2012), the latest version compatible with my system (can’t run v10). The page/ad loading glitches are still present.

    Also tried Opera 10.63 (again, the latest compatible version). It displays the pages correctly, but occasionally some of the ads draw over the browser toolbars, rather than staying inside the window area.

    To run the current versions of Safari, Firefox, Opera, or OSX, I would need an Intel-based Mac. That’ll happen eventually, but not for a while.

    Like I said earlier, I haven’t seen problems like this with other websites, so hopefully a fix can be found.

  20. David Knox February 10, 2012 at 1:40 pm -

    Yes there are some tech problems depending on the browser / edition / adblocker people are using. Best advice is to upgrade browser editions.

    Firefox is currently at verison 10 and Safari is at version 5. Because of the old OS you are using you may also be limited in the
    Safari version. Do you have an iPad?

  21. Hui February 10, 2012 at 1:29 pm -

    I’m finding the new TT website won’t load correctly. It will either:

    1. Load the page content, then jump to a blank page with an ad in the top left hand corner of the window (Safari/Firefox), or:

    2. Load the page content, then jump to a blank page, try to load an ad, but fail (Firefox), or:

    3. Load the entire web page, but incorrectly place an ad in the bottom left hand corner of the window, outside of the white content area, below the “© 2012 TV Tonight – Copyright | About | Contact | Links | Comments Policy” line (Firefox).

    I haven’t had these (ad?) loading problems with TT or other sites before now.

    Safari 4.1.3 and Firefox 3.6.25 (the latest versions I can use). Mac OSX 10.4.11 PPC. Cache flushed.

  22. Sam G February 9, 2012 at 9:00 pm -

    Bring back the lighter background. I liked the change.

  23. muppet February 9, 2012 at 8:46 am -

    Carousel doesn’t display in FF 3.6.26 + adblock+ & flashblock.

    Just a spinning wheel ad infinitum like so:
    i.imgur.com/WuVI9.jpg

    Other than that – looks pretty slick – well done!

  24. Cassandra February 9, 2012 at 12:04 am -

    I really like the new design. Looks very sleek.

  25. Sam G February 8, 2012 at 4:41 pm -

    Looks great. I reckon there should be like and possibly dislike buttons on the comments because some of the comments on this site are classic.

  26. Mike February 8, 2012 at 3:04 pm -

    Count me as a fan of all the white space – it’s a good design technique, and David McDonald, the designer’s done a terrific job.

  27. barrett February 7, 2012 at 9:10 pm -

    Hi David – everything looks good on Firefox vs10…..will fire up the ipad 2 and see how it looks there.
    Well done on a very smart and functional site update.

  28. jonno February 7, 2012 at 7:55 pm -

    Howdy,Just registered my ID and just saying i like your new look. It won’t be long before everyone gets use to it.

  29. andym February 7, 2012 at 7:44 pm -

    Thanks for the favicon! :-)

    Looking at the site on iPad, the “share” toolbar appears off the screen and you can’t resize or scroll to show it, so the buttons can never be clicked.

  30. ticky February 7, 2012 at 2:16 pm -

    Carousel not working on Chrome (v17) with ad-block disabled.

  31. A. February 7, 2012 at 11:31 am -

    @ David

    At the moment I’m using one of the Firefox browsers and the poll doesn’t work when I either try to view it or vote. If I could vote it’s be for Sherlock and second (not possible either way ) for Phryne Fisher. At least those on the list you gave.

  32. steveany 2.0 February 7, 2012 at 10:34 am -

    Yes David, I agree with all the commenters below, this latest manifestation of TV Tonight is logical and easy to use. I do also agree with a few folks who are blinded by all the white. Somehow the old purple flavour was easier on the eye. But it’s a small price to pay I guess.
    Oh also, I’d personally like it if your own comments were all blocked in purple as they used to be, as often the best comments are those that have brought you into the fray ;-)

  33. Geoff Field February 7, 2012 at 9:59 am -

    Brilliant – and really easy to register.
    Only took me a few minutes.
    Thanks David!

  34. stevo February 7, 2012 at 12:59 am -

    Awesome new look David – love it! Very professional. Very modern.
    Keep up the great work.

  35. J Bar February 6, 2012 at 11:51 pm -

    Just an idea to reduce the amount of white on the site. What about having the Reviews section in the third column below the TV Tonight Poll?

  36. Frankie February 6, 2012 at 11:36 pm -

    I like it, although the network menu is hovering over the text of the articles all the time. For this article I miss the sub heading, the by line and also the first par.

    Also Howdy? How about a G’day!!

  37. BarrieT February 6, 2012 at 11:33 pm -

    Hi David, Theres a group of annoying tag boxes labelled “ABC, 7, 9, etc” that are blocking the top left of every page i open so i cannot read the first paragraph of anything. it is also on homescreen but seems hidden behind the moving screen, i have widows xp with internet explorer 7 v7.0

  38. Mr Rampage February 6, 2012 at 11:28 pm -

    Anyone else think that the tag cloud would have more value on the main page(s) rather than on individual post pages?

    Tags are to help me find stuff. I’m much more likely to be looking for stuff from the home page or a category page rather than as a result of reading a specific post.

  39. J Bar February 6, 2012 at 11:23 pm -

    Perhaps a grey background would be easier on the eye than all this white.

  40. Goonies February 6, 2012 at 10:32 pm -

    I like your pretty stars David :-)

  41. Secret Squirrel February 6, 2012 at 10:23 pm -

    Re the issues I was having earlier – no change, including the mobile site being presented at first in IE8 but F5 reload fixes.

    I also can’t see how to edit my comments.

  42. Secret Squirrel February 6, 2012 at 10:16 pm -

    @A. – glad you decided to stick around. (I would’ve thought that you would already have at least the default email address provided by your ISP with your internet connection).

    @Trix – thanks for your thoughts. I think it will have a minimal effect on my möjö. :-)

  43. Ann February 6, 2012 at 9:09 pm -

    Looks sharp, well done, great resource

  44. TM February 6, 2012 at 8:52 pm -

    I like the refresh, David. Though I agree with one of the earlier posters in that it feels like a lot of white space. Otherwise, great.

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