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Big Bang

May 08, 2010 | Other

This is not the first major change in design in our nearly 11 year existence. We do think it is the most extensive one, but still a lot will be familiar since you do not need to fix something that is not broken. In our opinion the site is softer now, less hard on the eye. The pink connection to Elvis is clear, but we did not want to slip from history completely, so we kept some blue in it. Still it is all a matter of taste and you cannot make everybody happy.

More important are the usability changes we made: you can now login on every page and on every page is a major link to subscribe for new visitors. There are also some other visual changes that make things more clear, like the “Give your opinion buttons” and the dividers between reactions. Also some inconsistencies are repaired. Last but not least the quickpoll is back, since we kind of missed the discussions it sometimes caused. Later this year there will be some more additions to the site that might be very useful for visitors that want to extend their knowledge about the man and his music.

Of course we spent a lot of time testing everything, but there might be something we overlooked. If you find anything that does not work correctly, please let us know and we will fix it.

EP-His Masters Voice wrote on May 08, 2010
Prego/please do not change - auguri a tutti
italianfan wrote on May 08, 2010
I wasn't expecting this when I logged on. Very nice though. There was nothing wrong with the old design but still its nice its been updated. Thanks for taking the time to make your vist here even more enjoyable.
Pedro Nuno wrote on May 08, 2010
You have been my home page since 1999. I think it was called Elvis Telegraph, or so. And in all those years you never ceased to amaze me. Don't have enough word to thank you for your loyal work for Elvis and all fans. I was wondering what Loes meant when she said "some big change". What and outstanding job... And this morning everything was the same... Tcb
Rob Wanders wrote on May 08, 2010
it looks great. thanks
Deano1 wrote on May 08, 2010
The old home page looked like a newspaper and with the site being called elvisnews that made sense. Now it has more of a magazine look to it and I have to admit it is more visually appealing. I liked the previous layout, but I like the new layout better.
Natha wrote on May 08, 2010
What is the purpose of the changing of the heading image and its pop-ups?
very big Elvis fan wrote on May 08, 2010
i like the new design
kenny wrote on May 08, 2010
I love your new look, everyone needs a change, and this time it was Elvis news, thanks for the new look, and thanks for the good news you give us ;-)
Ciscoking wrote on May 08, 2010
Like it, friends...great job....!!!
benny scott wrote on May 08, 2010
Great !!! Congrats ! Love the quotes Elvis said during his career ! Always El.
JimmyCool wrote on May 08, 2010
I like it! :D
Raymond wrote on May 08, 2010
Well, I don't comment very often. Just as when you decided to quit and fortunately came with the best news ever to stay. And now... You changed the site and it looks just wonderful. The banner on top. All kinds of elvis' periods heads in a red white and blue background. Our national flag colors. I hope you will stay very much longer with us. And with these new looks this must be the case. Just continue this way. Thank you for giving us the news on our idol!
dgirl wrote on May 08, 2010
I like it. A lot!
Herman wrote on May 08, 2010
It's ok but I liked this site as it was in 2004. At that time for me a very beautiful site, very good. But as they write here above: you cannot make everybody happy !
catmommeg wrote on May 08, 2010
The new look is great! I love the pictures of Elvis thru his life at the top of the page, and of course love the "pink" touch. A nice surprise when I logged on today.
theoldscudder wrote on May 08, 2010
I like the new format. Very nice.
2kisses&3scarfs wrote on May 08, 2010
I like this new design very much. It's easy on the eyes, with everything clearly in view. I especially love the Elvis pictures with his comments at the top of the page. Just great!
ranskal wrote on May 08, 2010
Great Job! I love it!
Cruiser621 wrote on May 08, 2010
Absolutely awesome. Nice change!
devoted wrote on May 08, 2010
Looking good.
dannyboy1 wrote on May 08, 2010
Very nice. I especially like the banner!
Jesse Garon Presley wrote on May 09, 2010
i love it very much!!! for those who don't like it? your lose, great job ElvisNews
Mystery Rider wrote on May 09, 2010
covers it all except the end
oldie56~2 wrote on May 09, 2010
Clean Design and very Elvis with theme.
Mike Landsdown wrote on May 09, 2010
Congratulations to all involved in the re-vamp - I love it! Nice work :)
Mofoca22 wrote on May 09, 2010
i love it guys, great job :)
AlStrada wrote on May 09, 2010
Good job ! thnx
Lefty wrote on May 09, 2010
The most important thing, your dedication to providing up to date Elvis News, remains unchanged. Thank You so much for all your hard work. And by the way, the new format is just fine.
Judy_Fairytale wrote on May 09, 2010
I like the new layout and the colours are much easier on the eye. Keep up the good work providing us with the latest news about the one and only ELVIS PRESLEY.
Viva wrote on May 09, 2010
Overall I think I'll get used to it, two things I am a bit miffed by: 1) The pages will not display in full on my mobile phone any more; and 2) more and better images ccould be used of Elvis in the 70s in the picture banner at the top.
Viva wrote on May 09, 2010
Actually, It's too pale and makes the web page look like just a jumble of text. A little more contrast perhaps? Just a little?
samcra wrote on May 09, 2010
I usually don't like change, but in this case, I'm sure it will work fine.
PRESYER wrote on May 09, 2010
You suggested me to reconfigurate to 1024 x 768 but WHY should I do this ? Any other web sites are showing just correctly and DO FIT the right way on the screen of my pc... I really can not understand why should I reconfigurate my screen every time I am visiting your site and this every day and sometimes many times a day... Thanking you anyway for your help but...
benny scott wrote on May 09, 2010
Hi Presyer : because it is generally accepted that 1024 x 768 gives the best result for ALL sites. I bought a new flatscreen monitor a while ago (Philips) and when you start it you get an annoncement on the screen saying " the best result will be obtained using 1024 x 768". My previous monitor was also configurated to this setting.So just set it as a standard for ALL the websites. This change of the layout is really great and I really don't understand why some members vote negative in the poll ( i'm not aiming at you, let this be clear !). Always El.
Natha wrote on May 09, 2010
Dear Benny Scott, thank you for explaining the banner on the home page. By the way I have no opinion about the site change. It's the news that counts for me. I appreciate the efforts of the editors!
JerryNodak wrote on May 09, 2010
Like the old one better.
Vegas Sun wrote on May 09, 2010
The new layout is an improvement over the last one. About your timeline photos at the top of the screen, the last one on the right with the red phoenix suit is backwards!
Sirbalkan wrote on May 09, 2010
I can not the see whole page.. there's a pink rectangle dominating the first sentences of the news and that pink rectangle includes, home, news, articles, shop ,pictures... etc. WHY?
benny scott wrote on May 10, 2010
Hi buddy Natha, have to agree with you that the news is the most important factor ! But all in all : a nice "new look" . Have a nice day ! Always El.
Lex wrote on May 10, 2010
HI, Of course we kept our visitors in mind. It's too bad for those 2% that use a screenresolution lower than 1024x768, but it became time to serve the vast majority. The site was tested with all major browsers and we found no problems. All problems below seem to be part of that 2%... sorry. Lex
Natha wrote on May 10, 2010
Well, Benny Scott, the softer colours are definitely an improvement for my eyes. That is definitely an improvement. It is for sure nice to see how Lex and Loesje keep on going. They are very loyal fans (which I never doubted anyway)! This is one of those sites I visit frequently in a day.
Jivin Jim wrote on May 10, 2010
I love the colours and design but there is a problem with the menu, it sems to go right accross the page now and I cannot read all of the articles as part is under the menu. needs to be looked at.
BeatRadar.com wrote on May 10, 2010
Benny Scott: Regarding your comment about screen resolution: With all due respect but your philosophy about fixed page width belong to the past. It's perfectly possible to create pages with dynamic width. My screen is 1920p wide, why do you force me to scroll down to read the comments while half my screen remains unused? What about those that want to read elvisnews via their handheld device? Are they unwanted on this site? Yes I know that a lot of large sites use fixed width. But that's largely because they are stuck with dinosaur publishing solutions implemented years ago and too expensive to scrap. Today, thanks to CSS it's quite easy to create pages that looks good on *any* resolution. Other than that: Nice design! You got an obvious graphical talent. But take a look at the CSS technology, I'm quite sure you'll find it interesting!
benny scott wrote on May 11, 2010
Hi there,Beat Radar. With the same due respect : Firstly : I'm not forcing anyone to...whatever. Secondly : the (nice)compliment about an "obvious graphical talent" should have been sent to Lex or/and Loesje, the people who run this (great !! ) site , they are the ones deserving this compliment.I have nothing to do with the design, just being a member like a couple of thousand others, and thirdly :if you have the impression that some people (i.e using a handheld divise) are not wanted on this site :would you pls be so kind to ask that question directly to the people involved with running this site ? I agree one cannot stop technology-evolution ( and that's a good thing !) but i ask myself how many millions of people are still happy and content using 1024 x 768 ? Don't get me wrong : nothing personal buddy . Wish you in the future lots of pleasure with the techn.evolution ! Best regards. Always El.
BeatRadar.com wrote on May 11, 2010
Benny: Hehe, oops. Sorry, my bad. I misread one of your earlier comments and thought you were the designer behind this facelift. My apologies. My comment were only meant as a friendly advice/constructive criticism from one techie to another. Live long and prosper!
Lex wrote on May 11, 2010
I am a fan of a liquid design, but usability tests show that a vast majority of users don't like it. They want to use a full screen window, but hate to read very long lines. Only a few use windows like they are intended to be used. Believe me, I know what CSS is... it's my profession to build websites. Try mobile.elvisnews.com and you see the perfect site for handhelds :-). Can somebody who has problems with the menu send me some info about it (operating system, browser, resolution, screenshot). I am unable to reproduce it on my systems.
Lex wrote on May 11, 2010
Looks like the menu problem is solved, it was an IE6 problem.
benny scott wrote on May 11, 2010
Hello BeatRadar, I know you meant well ! No harm done ! Have a nice day ! Always El.
Ton Bruins wrote on May 11, 2010
Not very excited about the new lay out, but it's the content that counts anyway..
BeatRadar.com wrote on May 11, 2010
Lex, you can set max and min parameters in CSS, that's a handy way to avoid too wide/malformed pages. Also, placement of objects like menus, links, info boxes could be dependent on horizontal space on client. So for those who's got wide screens, like me with 16:10 aspect ratio, the menus, links etc could be placed to the left/right of the article, while in a narrow window they could stack vertically. With css you could even give the user a choise of layout - it's just to point to a different css template. There really is a huge misconception going around, that this is so complicated and ineffective. It's quite the contrary, it's fast and easily done! But this shall be my last post about this, if you'd like some code examples or links feel free to send me a pm. :)
Expresleyelvis wrote on May 13, 2010
Good work that ought to recognized by the artwork people. BUT I see NO improvement. So why do all that work ? Just doing the exercise for the exercise; not efficient enough I feel. Enjoy the creativity though, mind you.
benny scott wrote on May 13, 2010
Well, as far as I know, this site is without any doubt the most complete Elvis-source. Whatever one wants to know about our man, you find it here! News, articles,Book-,CD-DVD-,Video- and Vinyl info, songbook (lyrics of every Elvis -song!!!), today in history, people, photo's, wallpapers,day by day,links, importlist.... and so on... you just name it ! (nobody has to agree with this, just my own (humble) opinion.) But, Expresley... ,would you pls be so kind to let me (us ?) know what you mean by NO improvement ???!!! Personally, I really don't understand such sort of reaction, but respect your posting. Nevertheless... would appreciate some explanation ! Glad you enjoy, at least, the creativity ! Always El.
lisarose wrote on July 08, 2010
I like the new look and I like the new banner, thanks for your hard work