When I try to browse the sports section in icNewcastle, it keeps throwing me back to the page I started from. I can't therefore read any of the stories therein. Does anyone else get this, or know what I'm doing wrong? Why can't clicking on a stupid bloody link just be simple anymore?

-- Anonymous, March 27, 2001

Answers

I had that problem shortly after the site started for a good few days. It's worked fine since then. The only problem I have now is the psychedelic way the images float around the screen every time I go back to the Toon news headlines page. Photos appearing with the wrong headlines, all grouped together collage style, or floating over the menu bar and advertising on the left and right sides. Agree.....they really do need to stick to the simple things until they can get it right.

-- Anonymous, March 27, 2001

same for me gibbo lad, same for me.

BRING BACK THE RONNIE SITE!

-- Anonymous, March 27, 2001

Gibbo/Min.....I don't know which URL you are using, but the one shown below is the one I access icNewcastle through and get into it without any probems.

I had it bookmarked at work (when I did some) and as I knew my hard drive at home had gone tits up, I copied a lot of my fav's into a hotmail E Mail address until it was fixed and when I put it onto my new hard drive at home it is working as I would have expected.

Give it a go, the sites isn't that bad when you get used to it.

THE JONNIE

-- Anonymous, March 27, 2001

Any site design done by supposed professionals that makes navigation/viewing difficult for users is bad. True, things could be worse, but the old sites were at least accessible by all browsers,didn't have psychedelic floating graphics, and downloaded in less time than it takes to make a cup of tea. Room for improvement! ;-)

-- Anonymous, March 27, 2001

Just had a quick look at icNewcastle and it looks pretty good to me. but it may be cos I'm using Explorer with all the latest bells and whistles. No signs of any psychedelic pics or slow downloads etc.

Might be worth downloading the very latest upgrades to Explorer if you're having problems.

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2001

That's my point...good design is not assuming your entire audience is using the latest and greatest of one particular browser, or on a fast connection. There's a lot of people who use whatever came with their computer and don't realize they can download newer versions, or are still too phobic to try(I've been battling with parents for 2yrs to stop using aohell's built-in browser..they're only now beginning to get brave enough to do it. that's not untypical.). As for myself, I've got both major browsers at home, but my work pc does not allow setup of any version of IE for some bizarre reason(I've tried for reasons other than icnewcastle). The latest version of Netscape is much closer to IE but is still very unstable, so I'd be afraid to try that on the dinosaur PC too.

Sorry, bad usability design is becoming a big pet peeve of mine. ;-)

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2001

You should take a look at the Play as manager using Netscape and IE5. It's hopeless in netscape, which means 38% of visitors will think the games crap because of the intro page looking so naff.

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2001

I saw an ad for a job and went to look at a company's web site. It really is superb, moving graphics, spot on links, subtle colours, just great. The only problem is it takes over 5 minutes to load. This is a company selling themselves as web designers. No hope I'd guess.

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2001

Ahh..but it depends on the audience they are selling to. A web design firm isn't usually catering to the masses. If it's a higher end firm, their audience will generally be more tech savvy with the latest toys, so can get away with flash(or even Flash ;-) ). They should still have some type of link appear early on iin the download giving users the option of skipping the intro or going to a less graphic heavy version. Even tech savvy people will not have the patience to sit through lengthy downloads and flashy intros once they've seen it the first time. Or if they just want to visit your site for quick info(what jobs are available, contact info, directions), such as yourself, MacB.

Same reason entertainment sites(games, movies, etc) can get away with being bells and whistles heavy. People go expecting to be entertained more than informed.

Ok, ok, I'm putting away the Nielsen(sp?) book and getting in my taxi. ;-))

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2001

I've just checked out my monthly stats and it seems as though 77% of hits were from IE browsers with just 21% of us still using Netscape. Will it soon be extinct?

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2001

I have never ever used Netscape, does it have any advantages of IE?

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2001

Nothing major that I know of for pc users. Afaik, IE is still not compatible with Mac...another sizeable segment of users cut off from sites designed for IE only. Just a matter of personal preference and endless frustration for web designers cause the browsers use different standards. IE does lead in the number of users mainly because the evil Micro$haft empire has done an excellent job of forcing it on people by bundling into Windows. As I said earlier, most people use whatever's in front of them when they first get ont he computer and as long as it serves their purposes they won't go looking elsewhere, unless there's a need to(i.e. aohell which has always been a bastardized version of either Netscape or IE so less functionality than the full versions). Actually brilliant marketing on M$'s part whatever anyone feels about the company.

Sorry, forgot the anorak, I'm going, I'm going...

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2001