Somerville News web site becomes nearly useless

[ron_newman]

The Somerville News has made a big deal about converting from Typepad to their own custom website, but .... geez:

- There is no obvious way to find articles older than four days ago
- There is no indication of which articles have recent comments
- Clicking on "Contact Us" results in "There are currently no articles in the section"
- Clicking on "Write Letter to Editor" results in "There are currently no articles in the section"
- Clicking on "Submit Calendar Item" results in "There are currently no articles in the section"
- Clicking on "Advertise" results in "There are currently no articles in the section"
- Clicking on "Legal Ads" results in "No Display Ads Found"
- If you submit a comment, they now require your e-mail address and phone number

I gotta wonder who approved this change, and why.

Comments

[jamesnorton.livejournal.com]

i did ron - and its a work in progress - my how easy it is for you to criticize. why don't you come down and give us a hand?

you're a real snot sometimes ron.

[firepail.livejournal.com]

When a website that is often visited changes format, many people want to try out all the new features/buttons right away. If they don't work it is discouraging and annoying. If the site is a work in progress, you may want to have a disclaimer somewhere saying so to avoid getting frustrated user comments like Ron's.

Also, no matter what you say about phone numbers remaining private, most people will either not comment, or will not use a real number. It's silly to require it for commenting.

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

or, you know, not have that site live until it actually works.

[firepail.livejournal.com]

well of course.

I guess the assumption was that no one reads it, so therefore no one would notice that the links are dead.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

An assumption that is getting safer all the time.

[teele-sq.livejournal.com]

that's exactly what i was thinking.

[ellf.livejournal.com]

Ron's comments seem to be reasonable. This is a launched, live site from the perspective of anyone who loads the page and hasn't read your disclaimer that it's a work in progress.

[tfarrell.livejournal.com]

There's a reason why web professionals don't publish web sites until they're done.

The criticisms are legitimate. You could have replied something like "Thanks for looking at our web site, we're working on those features, please check back later." But no, you had to childishly insult your customers instead. You have created a seriously nasty appearance for The Somerville News by doing so.

[derekp.livejournal.com]

James,

In the web development world we have these things called quality assurance and user testing. They're kind of like proofreading and editing in the journalism world. I'm sure you're familiar with those. If I were running a website that garnered as many visits as you claim yours does, I sure wouldn't push the go live button on any overhaul that wasn't properly tested and functional -- disclaimer or not. If I did, I certainly wouldn't respond like you have when called out on it.

I'm not sure if Ron has helped you yet, but I'm perfectly willing to assist the Somerville News with these issues if they persist. My contracting rate is $125/hour.