mike wrote on Feb 20, 2008 5:26 AM:I like the old design a lot better. It was easier to use if not quite as flashy. If it wasn't broken why "fix" it? Will there be a way to pay a small subscription fee and get the old design back?

Walter wrote on Feb 20, 2008 6:37 AM:I like the change of the web,redesigned
good job

George wrote on Feb 20, 2008 6:58 AM:Unexpected change is always unsettling. A quick overview is disappointing since the home page is mostly navigation instead of content. However, I reserve the right to change my mind after a few days of adjustment. And please fix the software that is unable to properly validate the supplied "image verification" when comments are submitted!

Amanda wrote on Feb 20, 2008 7:04 AM:Hum,, we will have to check it out... I like the front page so far but I hope it is not too busy like the Union Tribune. Union is hard to keep track the articles change very frequently and the archives are impossible to find. Frankly I like the user-friendly old version of the North County Times myself. The blue was soft on the eyes, where the dark blue hum, I am not sure.

I hope you don’t use the same program as the Union because I don’t like theirs.

Looks good wrote on Feb 20, 2008 7:25 AM:I'm impressed

Jim wrote on Feb 20, 2008 7:27 AM:The new home page is too cluttered. The right side and lower half are worthless to me. I have set my bookmark to go directly to www.nctimes.com/news.

Monica wrote on Feb 20, 2008 7:40 AM:So far so good. I like change and new things. I do like the clarity of the verification image. The old one was sometimes difficult to read.

Concerned-1 wrote on Feb 20, 2008 8:27 AM:I like it. Very clean and efficient. Like any new software, it will take some adjustment but all will be fine. I just hope that you can make it generate enough revenue to keep you all in jobs. I subscribe to the paper and support your Website. Keep up the good work.

CR wrote on Feb 20, 2008 8:28 AM:Can't find ANY of the regular local news--it does not appear to be divided by community anymore, at least not on the home page. Where is it?

confused wrote on Feb 20, 2008 8:38 AM:Where is the link to the obits?
Where is the link to the Coastal LOCAL news?
Where is the link to the letters to the editor.

Page to too cluttered.

Phil wrote on Feb 20, 2008 9:09 AM:I read your site for local news only. It was not readily apparent which link takes me to the local news.

Barbara wrote on Feb 20, 2008 9:18 AM:How can I find the Californian section. I live in Murrieta, that's what I always read. I do have the paper subsciption too

Ugh! wrote on Feb 20, 2008 9:19 AM:I see only praiseful comments get posted. typical.

Ellen wrote on Feb 20, 2008 9:20 AM:Where are the obituaries? The old format had a screwed up link recently and each morning I need to be sure my name's not listed there so I can go out & have a good day.

Interesting wrote on Feb 20, 2008 9:29 AM:Much better than the old one! Only a couple of thing I would like to see. Perhaps a bigger headline area, more like what you would see in the print version. Top stories could be emphasized more. And I'm not sure everyone would know to actually click on "news" in the nav bar to see the menu. Maybe if there was a clue to click...an arrow or something or if it automatically showed the menu when you rolled over it.
Good job so far.

Jen wrote on Feb 20, 2008 9:37 AM:I'm looking for The Californian section as well. Can't seem to find it yet.

John E wrote on Feb 20, 2008 9:43 AM:I concur that an obvious direct link to local news would be helpful.

Elsinore Resident wrote on Feb 20, 2008 9:48 AM:I am with Barbara, how do we get to the Californian web site. We have the paper delivered every day and I check the web comments quite frequently...hope you don't forget about your northern subscribers, that can always change!

To confused wrote on Feb 20, 2008 9:50 AM:The main navigation has links to all the content. Obits is under "News" in the "Community" column. Coastal is under "News" in the "Local News" column. The link to send a letter to the editor is under "Contact Us" but should get more prominent positioning.

Elsinore Resident wrote on Feb 20, 2008 9:53 AM:I miss the NCT polls - are they going to be brought back? I also agree with Interesting - the headlines should be bigger hence easier to find.

More San Marcos News? wrote on Feb 20, 2008 9:56 AM:When I want national news, I go to cnn/msnbc. When I want to know what's going on in my neighborhood I go to nctimes. Where is the local news again? I liked the old 'front page' which gave me a few national highlights, but mostly links to local stuff. 'Local Breaking' should be a link to get to Local News broken out by city. I want news about San Marcos and can't find that link now.

To Ellen wrote on Feb 20, 2008 9:58 AM:Obituaries can be found by clicking on "News" in the main navigation, and looking in the Community column. Have a great day!

I see local news now wrote on Feb 20, 2008 10:02 AM:Thanks to whoever helped Ellen. That helped me too. I figured I was already ON news and didn't click on it.

Billy Boy- wrote on Feb 20, 2008 10:03 AM:Not a good change. I only read by category. I read all military stories, political stories and any story about my town. Now all this is thrown together in a jumble. Where are all the military stories? I only found one! Do I have to HUNT through everything to find another? Where are all the stories about Oceanside? This is like a telephone book that is in complete disorder and does not use an alphabatacle index!

To Elsinore Resident wrote on Feb 20, 2008 10:04 AM:We are feverishly working on a new Californian site. Stay tuned, and thanks for your support!

Dan wrote on Feb 20, 2008 10:04 AM:The new site looks good but is incredibly slow and doesn't even load properly in Safari. Was this tested before it was launched?

I see local news now wrote on Feb 20, 2008 10:07 AM:Thanks to whoever helped Ellen. That helped me too. I figured I was already ON news and didn't click on it. I don't think your image verification system is working. I keep typing in the text string and getting 'Sorry - the text supplied... did not match'.

Roger wrote on Feb 20, 2008 10:10 AM:I'm glad you finally changed the website. You definitely did good by updating such a boring and bland previous website.

To Jen wrote on Feb 20, 2008 10:10 AM:Our Californian coverage can be found by clicking "News" in the main navigation, and then "Californian" under "Local News".

We will be changing over all our news pages in the near future. Stay tuned!

To George wrote on Feb 20, 2008 10:18 AM:I agree with you regarding your assessment of the unexpected. Interestingly, as we progressed through this redesign, the sites we visited time and again during our discussions changed frequently, often drastically. Plus, a surprise can also be fun sometimes. Hope the site grows on you as it has us during the development.

To Concerned-1 wrote on Feb 20, 2008 10:22 AM:Thanks! And this site is a work in progress, I suspect it always will be. Technology is changing quickly and new features are coming soon. We know we can't wait, and I hope you stick with us as we evolve and grow!

k wrote on Feb 20, 2008 10:26 AM:Where do you go for you local news... Escondido, Vista, San Marcos... etc?
I like the old version better. Thats the only reason I would read the NCT is for news in my area

broken wrote on Feb 20, 2008 10:37 AM:the videos just play sound, no movie

Mandy wrote on Feb 20, 2008 10:43 AM:It's attractive- But I'm getting used toit. Need to put more Coastal news on the front page..not Murrieta.

Wayne wrote on Feb 20, 2008 11:00 AM:I like the old one WAAAY better, too cluttered now...

To broken wrote on Feb 20, 2008 11:09 AM:You may need to update your Flash to at least version 7.

To Billy Boy wrote on Feb 20, 2008 11:09 AM:We hope that the new navigation will better organize our content and make it easier to find the stories you're looking for. (editor, please don't think unkind of me for ending a sentence with a preposition).

Simply click on "News" and go where you like.

Sharon wrote on Feb 20, 2008 11:20 AM:I do not care for the new format. The new format is more difficult to navigate. I could not even find the "obit" section. This new format seems to make the reader to skip around the page looking for items of interest,rather than the smooth read as the older format. I only read the local news as I live out of state. Please re-vamp this new format to be more user friendly.

One More Thing wrote on Feb 20, 2008 11:25 AM:Can you rotate the featured photo so its not the same one all day? Perhaps it could be a photo of each of the top stories that could rotate.
Just a suggestion...

To k wrote on Feb 20, 2008 11:26 AM:Local News can be found by clicking "News" in the main navigation and then choosing "Coastal", "Inland" or "Californian" from the "Local News" column. We will be expanding on these categories in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

To all of those seeking local news, opinion, obits, etc. wrote on Feb 20, 2008 11:27 AM:At the top left side of the page, you will see "News" -- click on that and every category you are looking for will be there. "Top Stories" on the front page is a condensed version of the top local news, including Riverside County, coastal and inland. The navigation is new, but we hope once you get the hang of it, you'll like it as much as we do.

What? wrote on Feb 20, 2008 11:46 AM:Hi all. I am going to reserve judgement on the new format. I just hope they don't confuse gadgetery with content.
I would also agree with who ever made the point about local news. There are hundreds of places to get AP and Reuters content but only two places to get local news and one of those treats North County like the redheaded step child.

What? wrote on Feb 20, 2008 11:51 AM:Oh and the new format doesn't like my two versions behind Netscape. Sigh. I guess it is time to switch to IE as my defaut browser.
The image verification image is better.

Mark wrote on Feb 20, 2008 11:59 AM:I detest the pop-up windows. They are rude and intrusive. How can I turn this feature off?

Barbara J wrote on Feb 20, 2008 12:26 PM:We now live in Arizona but still want to know what is going on in San Diego and North County. WE always subscribed to the NCT when we lived there. I am sure I will get use to the new web page. I make sure I check in on what is happening around town every morning. Of course I always check to see if the Feature writer has an article in that day.

Do not make it too complicated because I am sure there are a few of us out here that may just be learning how to use the computer, it was much easier on the WebTV. Thanks to my wonderful son I am now able to find most things I am looking for, he has been a great help showing me what to do. (and also what not to do) even if we have to do it by phone.

I do like the new set up so far, just do not get too fancy. Keep it simple so we old people can find what we are looking for.

American wrote on Feb 20, 2008 12:38 PM:Nice layout. This site no longer looks like it pertains to a high school paper

broken again wrote on Feb 20, 2008 12:47 PM:I'm on Flash nine? no video showing. just sound. text is too small to read too

Matt wrote on Feb 20, 2008 1:12 PM:So far it's very different. The look is fresh, lots of headlines in key places. Have to wait an see the rest of the website to really feel the vibe of the new look. But so far so good.

Why wrote on Feb 20, 2008 2:17 PM:What was wrong with the old format? This new format is too busy. Too difficult to navigate. I'm sure after days or weeks you'd get used to it. Did anybody think to test this with volunteers BEFORE it was launched to get some feedback?

Concerned-1 wrote on Feb 20, 2008 2:30 PM:What a bunch of hacks. This site is evolved and very easy to navigate. You guys don't get out much (to other sites). Also, ditch the stupid macks and download IE-7. Geez! NCT, I'll be with you no matter what. Maybe you should start charging all the complainers.

Bradley J. Fikes -- staff writer wrote on Feb 20, 2008 2:38 PM:Mark@11:59

You can block pop-ups by using Mozilla Firefox, which by default blocks pop-ups. (The setting can be modified if you want pop-ups).

Firefox is free at www.mozilla.com, and you can get free plugins to customize it. Firefox plugins are here:
http://tinyurl.com/yr5dxm

Bill wrote on Feb 20, 2008 2:44 PM:I liked the old site better. It seems too busy and difficult in locating stories.

George wrote on Feb 20, 2008 3:07 PM:I have a serious problem with the website already. This morning there was an article entitled "Transit Oriented Development is key to downtown Oceanside" at http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/02/20/opinion/commentary/17_19_072_19_08.txt but now there is no link to it from anywhere on the site and the URL (which I was able to dredge out of my browser's cache) results in a "404 error" ("page not found"). Vanishing articles of importance -- well, okay, important to me -- is worrisome! [Editor's note: The article was posted in error and thus pulled from the site. We apologize. It will run tomorrow online as well as in the paper.]

Too Busy wrote on Feb 20, 2008 4:00 PM:I think the site appears too busy because there is no real hierarchy going on. Maybe "Local Breaking" and "Top Stories" can be in a different color or better yet, have its own bar, they same way you've treated the "From Sundays..." at the bottom.
Also, a little more white space around the featured photo could help. And the text could come off of the sides a little more.
Almost there guys, just some tweaking and refinement to really make this a success to us readers.

To Mark wrote on Feb 20, 2008 4:07 PM:We're not fans of uninitiated pop-ups either, and the new design does not abuse them (they do work well for some forms, polls, etc.). At the NCT/CAL, we are trying to build a place on the web you can trust not to bombard you with intrusive pop-ups. We respect our visitors and hope to create an inviting home on the web for ourselves and our neighbors and anyone interested in what's happening in North County and Southwest Riverside.

Not A Fan wrote on Feb 20, 2008 4:11 PM:I'm sure, like with anything else, I'll get used to it but I really hate the fact that you how have to click into each section instead of being able to browse the home page for the highlights all around. The design is nice, but too many clicks are never a good thing for any website. It's fine for the casual browser, but it's too time consuming for people on a time crunch.

Nadine wrote on Feb 20, 2008 4:56 PM:I like it..not used to it but very sharp appearance! Perhaps in drop down list make OPINION a hot link?

Don't like it wrote on Feb 20, 2008 5:09 PM:Liked the old format much better. Liked how each city had it's own link.

Love the change! wrote on Feb 20, 2008 5:30 PM:Very refreshing and it's fun to explore something new and find your way around. A bit like visiting a famous city you've never been to and searching for its well-known landmarks. Not difficult and a lot more fun! Thanks for updating a tired old format, NCT, nice job. One question for some of the commenting readers: Why the fascination with obituaries? And don't give me the "making sure my name's not in there" line. How morbid.

Jim wrote on Feb 20, 2008 5:35 PM:I'll let you know what I think after I get home and try it from my Linux box ...

Accessibility wrote on Feb 20, 2008 5:46 PM:I hope some thought was given to making the Flash content accessible to the disabled, who may have been using screen readers or other assistive technologies to read the old site.

George wrote on Feb 20, 2008 6:06 PM:If I could change only one thing about the website, I would make it possible to control the font size in my browser (something the nctimes.com website is actively preventing). A quick look at the supporting style sheet for the page shows font-size is specified in pixels which is the source of this problem. Instead of using pixels, use the keywords "large", "medium", "small", "x-small", and so on (your stylesheet expert will know about this). As a bonus, this suggestedf change would enhance the accessibility of your site for ADA compliance. (And please fix that image verification software -- it keeps rejecting valid input!)

WhoWhat wrote on Feb 20, 2008 6:50 PM:I do not like it, its too cluttered the print is too small, the old boldtype headlines and descrptive navigation was easier to use and a bit more intuitive.
This new page has more advertizemant and distractions. I guess if that is what it takes then I will get used to it but I'm disappointed.

Stacey wrote on Feb 20, 2008 7:03 PM:If you have to explain how to use your navigation ... you didn't do it right. Also, you should lose the national news 'top stories' on the home page. If we want that we go to CNN or MSNBC or something. People comes to NCTIMES for local news and that is the absolute first and foremost thing anyone should see on the home page. You also might want to consider top story fly-outs inside your new navigation so people can still get the quick view of highlights within each categories. Otherwise you have to click too much to get to all the various top stories and that can kill any site. You really should have considered beta testing this before going live with it. That's just smart business for any online entity. You could have worked out all the bugs as well as allowed your regular visitors to get used to the new format before throwing it at them unexpectedly.

GREAT CHANGE wrote on Feb 20, 2008 7:29 PM:Great change looks more business like not like a comet book anymore GREAT!!!

Cold feeling wrote on Feb 20, 2008 7:39 PM:The new page has a very cold feeling. Too busy, and too hard to organize at a glance in your head. The old style was warm like you'd expect from a local paper. CNN's page is organized like this, but it is done much, much better. Go back to the old style.

To Great Change wrote on Feb 20, 2008 8:12 PM:What's a comet book?

To don't like it: wrote on Feb 20, 2008 8:14 PM:Direct links to cities are coming in the weeks ahead. We're still testing some things and once that's done, they each city will have it's own page. Thanks.

Very Happy wrote on Feb 20, 2008 8:36 PM:I LOVE IT! Very easy navigation, visually pleasant, lots of extras. I especially enjoy the 'breaking news' section for I like to check back frequently for any new additions to a story. Very happy!

Oceansider wrote on Feb 20, 2008 8:46 PM:I don't like it because I am interested in Oceanside news and I can't even find a link for Oceanside news. Furthermore, it's to congested and the font is to small! Please give us back the old web page!!!

Vista Resident wrote on Feb 20, 2008 10:26 PM:I like the new weather and traffic showing current conditions at the right top of the webpage.

However, I prefer the larger font of the previous website. Perhaps you could add one of those buttons to click that allows the reader to choose the current font or a larger font. I would always choose the larger font when reading from a PC monitor.

I also prefer seeing all story headlines on the home page -- in sections like before. If I have to click into each section to find out its headlines, that's needless busiwork.

Ray Jones wrote on Feb 20, 2008 10:45 PM:EXCELLENT! Finally a clean look, and something that respects the intelligence of readers.

Thank you!

Dennis wrote on Feb 20, 2008 11:20 PM:WOW when did this happen!! I was just doung a check in on some story commits and now this!! looks GREAT!! but where am I??/ I'll be back..

Oside Mama 4 wrote on Feb 20, 2008 11:39 PM:As a daily visitor of NCT, I have to say I really like the updated version! Of course it takes some getting used to which will draw some complaints, but I honestly believe most will be very happy after settling in. Great job! I am looking forward to discovering all the new changes!

Me wrote on Feb 21, 2008 2:29 AM:Now if you would come up with website enhancement that would keep the boring knuckleheads who camp out on the letters page out, then you would have made progress!

To Vista Resident wrote on Feb 21, 2008 5:56 AM:If you use IE7 you can adjust the font size through your browser. Just click 'view' and go down to 'text size'. You can choose how big or small you want. You can also use the zoom feature at the bottom right corner for a similar effect.

Too Soon wrote on Feb 21, 2008 5:59 AM:You should have waited until it was complete to roll it out. Doing it in pieces just serve to confuse your visitors as they will have to 're-learn' how it works every time you unveil something else. Allowing people to beta test would have been a good idea too.

Tom wrote on Feb 21, 2008 6:34 AM:Good to have a change. Thanks

Esco Resident wrote on Feb 21, 2008 7:16 AM:My most clicked hyperlink or menu is now gone. How do I find community specific news (Escondido top stories, San Marcos top stories, etc.). This was a really great tool.

Carol wrote on Feb 21, 2008 8:15 AM:I hate the new format and cannot find anything that I read daily without difficulty. I will change to ... And there is no earthly reason to make me do an image verification for an open public comment that you solicited.

Temecula Resident wrote on Feb 21, 2008 8:44 AM:I like the old one better its easier to navigate... this one is all cluttered.I like how we can select the news for each city!

Cheryl wrote on Feb 21, 2008 9:55 AM:The new website is great! It's easy to manuver and I like the clean look. The links are hidden so as not to take up space, but they are easy enough to find.

ray carney wrote on Feb 21, 2008 11:16 AM:The "ain't broke don't fix it" award goes to the NCT for completely screwing up their web site. Before you could navigate it with just a few clicks, now you get less than before. Sounds like the print version.

Char wrote on Feb 21, 2008 11:40 AM:I HATE the new format.

I like to read the Inland news section, and I cannot find it on the first page.

When I use the url "http://www.nctimes.com/news" I can find it after 2 or 3 clicks.

Waaay to hard for the digital age.

Jim wrote on Feb 21, 2008 12:16 PM:Renders okay from my Linux box, so I'm not going to complain about it.

To Carol wrote on Feb 21, 2008 12:47 PM:The reason we require the image verification for story comments (like these) is to thwart the legions of spam-bots roving the web looking for websites to hi-jack.

Thanks for your comment. Hope to see even more from you in the future!

To Char wrote on Feb 21, 2008 12:50 PM:We are quickly formatting our local news coverage to the new format and along with that will come a richer navigation choice to mitigate multiple clicks to the content you value most.

Stay tuned!

To Jim wrote on Feb 21, 2008 12:53 PM:Linux in the house...

We were very careful to use the latest CSS and HTML standards in order for the page to load fast across as many platforms as possible and to make adding, changing or fixing content or display issues site-wide less time consuming. If you notice anything unexpected, let us know.

R. McGee wrote on Feb 21, 2008 1:04 PM:I can't find the California section!!! Please fix this problem, or I will give up reading this website.

Thank You!

you know wrote on Feb 21, 2008 1:05 PM:Don't fix it if it ain't broke.

Linda wrote on Feb 21, 2008 1:19 PM:I miss being able to go directly to coastal news...Oceanside...I hope that feature will be available again.

Reardon wrote on Feb 21, 2008 3:55 PM:Change is not necessarily improvement! It MAY be possible to learn the new system to our advantage, but it is not intuitive -- particularly regarding community news. Looks as if you need another box!

WINSTON wrote on Feb 21, 2008 4:00 PM:I don't like it. I liked the old format where the headlines were right there staring you in the face. Most now are buried and require looking them up through a category title.

WINSTON wrote on Feb 21, 2008 4:05 PM:Also. I could be wrong, but I don't see the date in the header. No date but we have the current temperature? Maybe this will just take getting used to and you guys will improve this new style as you go along.

Karl wrote on Feb 21, 2008 4:23 PM:Give it a little time folks. I didn't like it at first but it is growing on me. I think the initial shock of not being able to find everything immediately threw me off. Now that I can find what I am looking for I am pleased. I especially like the traffic/weather in the upper right. It takes 3 of my "favorites" and consolidates them to 1.

Just added.... wrote on Feb 21, 2008 4:40 PM:We have just expanded the links available in our "News" navigation menu to include our community news fronts.

More to come...

To Just Added wrote on Feb 21, 2008 5:03 PM:A little better, but it's still preferable to have the headlines of the top stories in each city at a glance. I know I have stopped on stories that interest me that I would have missed otherwise simply because the city in question isn't one I check on regularly.

George wrote on Feb 21, 2008 5:34 PM:While it's true that IE7 has a menu item allowing you to choose the text size, the nctimes website actively disables that feature by specifying the font size in pixels. Don't do that! Talk to your style sheet expert and have them express the font size using keywords such as "large", "medium", "small", and "x-small" to restore browser functionality.

To George wrote on Feb 21, 2008 6:11 PM:You're right, the view menu is actively disabled ... that was a dumb move. But the zoom function still works so maybe that will help the people who need to make the font larger in the meantime.

Karl wrote on Feb 21, 2008 7:03 PM:Way to talk speak up for us computer illitrates George. Thank You. And thank you NCT for responding. Now if we could just get rid of the annoying Image Verification.....

George wrote on Feb 21, 2008 7:44 PM:Okay, I think I know why I'm having difficulty adjusting to the new site. With the print edition, each section has it's own front page. But when you pick a section title on the web edition (News, Sports, Entertainment, Features, Marketplace, Cars, Homes, Jobs) all you get is a drop-down menu. If I was going to make "just one more change" to the site, I would have a separate home page for each section from the main home page. The difference is that the main home page would be mostly links (like it is now) and the section home pages would have the headline and first paragraph of each story (sorta like it used to be) to make browsing easier.

To All wrote on Feb 21, 2008 9:01 PM:These are all excellent suggestions and we welcome the feedback!

The section fronts strategy that George has described is exactly where we're headed. We have made some dramatic changes to how the stories make their way to the web We started with the front page, local breaking, wire and sports. Local news is our next area of focus, and then we'll cycle back to our legacy sections and marketplace.

Stay tuned!

lee wrote on Feb 21, 2008 11:27 PM:Great job on the new layout! I really like the new format.
Read all the comments above. One common thread I noticed is some people can't find their links because they don't click on the title. So maybe it would be better for it to be changed to hover instead of click for the drop down menu .

Encinitas Native wrote on Feb 22, 2008 6:25 AM:I like the old one. I'm hoping if they'll re-design to put the local news on the front page.

Brian wrote on Feb 22, 2008 7:22 AM:The old format was better. All the headlines for each region were prominently placed for a quick glance of the news. I am particularly interested in the Californian being in Southwest Riverside County. I stopped reading Press Enterprise when they changed their web site 2 years ago, could North County Times be next? Please put easy local news links on the front page. Local headlines would be even better.

JP wrote on Feb 22, 2008 7:42 AM:I mostly like the site design, but since this is the "North County Times" it would be nice if you brought back news about north county.

Too old maybe wrote on Feb 22, 2008 7:52 AM:The tiny type is too hard to read. can't you make it bigger. and where is the archive page to look at the stories I missed yesterday?

Step It Up wrote on Feb 22, 2008 8:07 AM:I don't like what's been done so far, but am trying to reserve judgment. All I know now is that, whatever you're going to do, you need to hurry up and get it done. The inconsistencies are beyond irritating.

Frustrating wrote on Feb 22, 2008 9:36 AM:HOW DO I GET TO THE LOCAL STUFF?

not for me wrote on Feb 22, 2008 9:49 AM:I read several papers and it looks like you bought the same program many others did..I'm like winston, I like to look at the entire front page and scan, not where you have to going back and forth checking all the 'titles'. I know its a toy and everyone in this age seems to think they have to have the latest toy. but in 2 words. it sux

Too soon wrote on Feb 22, 2008 10:33 AM:Seems to me this thing was released waaaay before it was ready. Now the readers have to do the debug.

oh dear... wrote on Feb 22, 2008 10:50 AM:I'm trying not to lose my patience. But...suggest you keep things SIMPLE. I detest clutter.

Carlsbad wrote on Feb 22, 2008 11:48 AM:Big Improvement! I would like to see the story headlines in bold on the main page as it makes them easier to read/scan through and find what you want (...)

Californian wrote on Feb 22, 2008 11:55 AM:Hey, it's almost as if The Californian and Riverside County don't exists. Where are our local stories and columnists? Click, click, click...finally found them! Please put more content from both papers of the home page. Hopefully, the NC Times plans to continue publishing both editions?

Former Californian wrote on Feb 22, 2008 12:15 PM:Thanks to your new format, I no longer peruse your site. Nothing appears of interest, it's too busy, too bright. I check the obits and leave NCTimes.

Chuckles wrote on Feb 22, 2008 1:50 PM:Could you please put a direct link to OPINION in the NEWS-SPORTS-ENTERTAINMENT-FEATURES-MARKETPLACE-CARS-HOMES-JOBS Banner?

Californian? wrote on Feb 22, 2008 3:13 PM:Where is the link to The Californian?? New site is not good for finding local community news.

agree with majority wrote on Feb 22, 2008 3:49 PM:With all the great newspaper web site designs out there, how did you come up with one that is this disjointed and hard to use? If the goal is to make us click more or view more ads, I don't think that is going to work because if it stays like this, I won't be back.

Bruce wrote on Feb 22, 2008 4:19 PM:The look is different, which always takes some getting used to.It will be interesting to see what changes come along. However, is there a place to see the tides and surf information. I have never been able to find it.

To Bruce wrote on Feb 22, 2008 5:10 PM:Can't find the surf report any more (is was on the weather page) but I did find the archives at http://www.nctimes.com/archives
but they stopped updating the little calendars so you have to type in the day's date.

Pappy wrote on Feb 22, 2008 5:14 PM:Love it! Much, much easier to navigate and find things quickly. I can't tell if the posters who can't find the dark blue navigation bar near the top of the screen are ... just pretending, but check it out. Excellent use of screen real estate. Thank you!

Escondido Ron wrote on Feb 22, 2008 6:12 PM:The change negated readability of old Home Page. W/the population getting older on average, reducing the Home Page font size by a factor of 4 is NOT GOOD. PLEASE do NOT change the rest of (the back) pages! I liked the old menus much more as they were more easily read & just required a "mouse-over" to pop down. The person who authorized this change needs a new company to work @!!
I am a retired Systems Administrator, if that matters.

Easier To Navigate?! wrote on Feb 22, 2008 8:23 PM:While I agree this new design isn't overly complicated, there is no way anyone can honestly say it is easier to navigate than the previous design. It may not have been as 'pretty', but each category was display immediately with their respective top stories directly below. Talk about simplicity at its finest! I have to say to the NC TIMES ... your fault isn't with the design ... although a little more attention to detail would have been good (that featured photo area, for example, is an amateurish oversight). Your fault is with rolling out a not even half way completed upgrade without warning. Your visitors now have to click way to many times to get all their news when it used to be literally 1-2 clicks away, regardless of what they wanted to see. You've made the mistake of controlling the font in such a way that older, less experienced & easily frustrated internet users can't get around. Anyone with a high school graphics education can see at least a few problems with graphics being forced into places they don't fit on the home page alone. I could go on, but I don't think it's necessary. I would hope you get the point and get on with the corrections and completions at a stellar pace. Oh ... and find a new web company. No one with any credibility or conscience would have allowed this to be debuted so haphazardly.

EscoWatchDog wrote on Feb 22, 2008 9:38 PM:Looks good, but will take some getting used to in order to navigates. Is there a section where we can jump to Inland, Coastal news stories like before?

From Tennessee wrote on Feb 22, 2008 9:38 PM:In a word the new layont is - AWFUL! I moved from North County to Tennessee two years ago and still read the NTC every day. I don't read The Tennessean because it is a visual mess, and I have to read about all the corrupt people who live here. Now the NTC seems to be trying to emulate The Tennessean in style - you have a long way to go to be as bad, but with this new set-up, you are on you are on your way. There is nothing to draw the eye to the individual sections. I liked the old style. It was home. It was comfort food for the mind and eye. I head to the NTC site throughout the day for news and sometimes just because I miss North County. I want my own former town to be just a click away, not buried in a jumbled alphabet of letters. So please, have a heart and don't "fix" something that was so enjoyable the way it was.

Roberto1 wrote on Feb 22, 2008 11:50 PM:It sucks....at least put an icon that directs you to the old site

Carter: wrote on Feb 23, 2008 5:52 AM: It will take a lot of getting use to. Now that you have the new one I liked the old one more than I realized. Most people resist change, even if the change is for the best. As a manufacturing Supervisor, one of my employees came to me with a great suggestion that saved the company a lot of money and got her a good merit raise. Two hours after we started using the change she came to me in tears wanting to go back to the old method. I guess I was use to your old web site - let's give this one a try before we condemn it.

Bobbie wrote on Feb 23, 2008 7:17 AM:A little cluttered, a little "busy". Liked the old format better, but maybe I will "learn" to like this.

bill wrote on Feb 23, 2008 7:42 AM:Like the car companies do, you had to change it because the old design was too popular and practical. HATE IT!

control wrote on Feb 23, 2008 9:17 AM:I don't agree with many of the posters here. I like the new look. However, I also feel that your debut seems premature. Maybe not, but as a local news site, local news should have been your primary focus. Going with national news and sports...

Also, it seems you're trying to promote stories you feel are most important by cutting down the number of stories that are on your home page.

As I read the posts above mine, I think that may be your biggest mistake. Let the reader's choose. Then again, your navigation is very rich, so maybe you want us to go deeper into your site.

I'm encouraged by the attention your site is getting, and think you're on the right track. The story pages are a treat to read, and I like the links to send stories to other sites.

And if it ever gets too bad to use, I'll just pull your RSS into a reader and get it all that way.

But maybe you should do that for me first... Give our local news the play it deserves.

KZ wrote on Feb 23, 2008 9:31 AM:I do not like the new site. Where do you go to find local news? That is where I go first. It is very confusing as to where everything is. The old site was better. [Editor's note: KZ, to find all local news, click on "News" at the top left corner of the front page. A drop-down menu will show you the regions and cities you are looking for.]

erik wrote on Feb 23, 2008 9:46 AM:OH NOOOOOO! The old site was like reading a real newspaper - intuitive and friendly. Now the new site is slick like the Union Tribune site. I guess this will be another site I only look at the cover page, cuz it takes 20 clicks to find what I am looking for. I am in mourning for my old every morning virtual newspaper. Good bye old friend. Sometimes newer isn't better.

Michelle wrote on Feb 23, 2008 11:02 AM:I don't like this new format. I can't find things, for instance how do I access the Local Scoreboard for the youth sports? I can't find it.

This new site is very unclear. Since I find it frustrating, I am now accessing mainly sign on san diego for my news.

just ok wrote on Feb 23, 2008 11:37 AM:The new site looks slightly more modern, but is no easier to navigate. nctimes has been the leader in what is happening in local North County, but I can't see that anymore from the homepage. No links to separate North County communities - not good. It is also still not working well for national or international news. I say go back to the old forum somewhat more with the new look. Where's the story on the woman who was raped in SB? Local news is harder to find. [Editor's note: All local news can be found by clicking on "News" at the top left of the page. A drop-down menu has all regions. National, Solana Beach, etc. can be found there.]

EscoWatchDog[-] wrote on Feb 22, 2008 9:38 PM: wrote on Feb 23, 2008 1:13 PM:Thanks for the feedback.
If you click on "News" at the top of the page (on the blue bar) you will see a drop-down menu with news broken down by region (coastal, inland, etc.) as well as by city.

New Navigation wrote on Feb 23, 2008 2:31 PM:If you have to explain it you didn't do it right. You've also increased the number of clicks required to access anything. Lord help you if you want to access more than one section ... you'll be here all day. I applaud the effort to modernize, you just should have made it a beta test until it was complete.

Bradley J. Fikes -- Staff Writer wrote on Feb 23, 2008 5:05 PM:Those of you who like the old interface, set your bookmarks to http://nctimes.com/news/

New Navigation:
"If you have to explain it you didn't do it right."
-- Excellent point. This is a work in progress, so please bear with us as we correct errors.

To all: Please keep the comments coming: We need to hear what works and what doesn't work, and why. As a NCT reporter, I'm encouraged that you're taking the time to tell us what you don't like and do like.

(And I concur that the password verification system needs fixing. I've had trouble getting this comment past the system.)

Jack B. wrote on Feb 23, 2008 6:31 PM:It's horrible. Please go back to when it looked like the newspaper.

Duane wrote on Feb 23, 2008 8:41 PM:I don't know. I kind of liked the funky old retarded format. It was different than most websites, which made it special, in a hillbilly sort of way. Now, it's starting to look like them there city folk took over the place!

Remember when there was cows in San Marcos?

Al wrote on Feb 23, 2008 10:12 PM:I don't like it. Nothing wrong wirh the previous design, Where is the weather tab?
Grade: D

bill wrote on Feb 24, 2008 7:13 AM:thanks bradley. i put what you suggested in my favorites and deleted the old one which had become the "new" terrible one.

Escondodo wrote on Feb 27, 2008 4:04 AM:I'm always up for a challenge. Knock yourselves out - a nose for news can navigate any obstacle you put out there. LOL. It just gave my old wrinkled brain a few more wrinkles. It's all good.