Wait a sec, "amateur system of underlining text to indicate URL links"....How exactly would you prefer them to identify links? Underlining links is the system 99% of the web uses, and any usablity expert will tell you doing differently only confuses users.
And the site you reference as "good design" (Epicurious) is an Amazon knock-off. I'm not questioning that it is in fact good design, but how about giving credit where credit is due.
Submitted by JoshGold1 on Wed, 04/11/2001 - 10:39.
I should note that at cp.com we set underlines as a browser preference, so you can use that traditional convention if you want or use the more subtle "hover" method (or even more subtle, the "never" method). For "hover" the text appears in slightly different color and is then underlined when your mouse comes in contacts with it. In Explorer you set it under Tools>Internet Options>Advanced>Browsing>Underline Links. So we give you a choice!
Thanks for reading,
Pamela Pfiffner
GM/EIC, cp.com
The system you speak of requiring the user to select either underlined or hover style links though browser settings, works for any site not just yours. This isn't YOU giving the user a choice, this is MICROSOFT giving a choice. This is on par with saying you give users the ability to bookmark your site...
Beyond that, I find it amazing that a site dedicated to web design and authoring would advocate creating a web site which requires the user to change universal settings in their browser in order to optimally view the site.
Submitted by JoshGold1 on Mon, 05/14/2001 - 06:50.
I find some of the comments redundant when Creative Pro's site could use improvement. For instance - use of white space - I am really tired of having to scroll down an article that is formatted into a 2 inch column with the rest of the screen being white after you have scrolled past the ads at the top of the page. And no the answer isn't more ads - its formatting - page layout.
Submitted by Max Montes on Thu, 03/22/2001 - 08:51.
I enjoyed Anita Dennis's article qutie a bit. In addition to the bad layouts, there are some sub-menus that are not aligned properly to their headers.
One interesting thing about the site is that if you go to the Cartoon area, they have a rather sophisticated search engine for the cartoons, and then offer the cartoons for sale as framed prints, or as images for use in presentaitons.
Regarding Creative Pro's layout, I actually like the limitation to a single column. When my browser window is open to the width of my monitor, it makes it very hard to read articles that span the entire column width. Creative Pro limits the column width to a readable number of characters.
Submitted by SandeeCohen99 on Thu, 03/22/2001 - 10:17.
New yorker
Bad design sense
Underlining links
"the amateur system of underlining text to indicate URL links" - having read your article - you have done exactly the same thing.
Site Bashing
Wait a sec, "amateur system of underlining text to indicate URL links"....How exactly would you prefer them to identify links? Underlining links is the system 99% of the web uses, and any usablity expert will tell you doing differently only confuses users.
And the site you reference as "good design" (Epicurious) is an Amazon knock-off. I'm not questioning that it is in fact good design, but how about giving credit where credit is due.
underlines and _underlines_
I should note that at cp.com we set underlines as a browser preference, so you can use that traditional convention if you want or use the more subtle "hover" method (or even more subtle, the "never" method). For "hover" the text appears in slightly different color and is then underlined when your mouse comes in contacts with it. In Explorer you set it under Tools>Internet Options>Advanced>Browsing>Underline Links. So we give you a choice!
Thanks for reading,
Pamela Pfiffner
GM/EIC, cp.com
Response to Editor
The system you speak of requiring the user to select either underlined or hover style links though browser settings, works for any site not just yours. This isn't YOU giving the user a choice, this is MICROSOFT giving a choice. This is on par with saying you give users the ability to bookmark your site...
Beyond that, I find it amazing that a site dedicated to web design and authoring would advocate creating a web site which requires the user to change universal settings in their browser in order to optimally view the site.
What about Creative Pro's site
I find some of the comments redundant when Creative Pro's site could use improvement. For instance - use of white space - I am really tired of having to scroll down an article that is formatted into a 2 inch column with the rest of the screen being white after you have scrolled past the ads at the top of the page. And no the answer isn't more ads - its formatting - page layout.
Yes, there are problems with the New Yorker site
I enjoyed Anita Dennis's article qutie a bit. In addition to the bad layouts, there are some sub-menus that are not aligned properly to their headers.
One interesting thing about the site is that if you go to the Cartoon area, they have a rather sophisticated search engine for the cartoons, and then offer the cartoons for sale as framed prints, or as images for use in presentaitons.
Regarding Creative Pro's layout, I actually like the limitation to a single column. When my browser window is open to the width of my monitor, it makes it very hard to read articles that span the entire column width. Creative Pro limits the column width to a readable number of characters.