ConservativeHome has been redesigned

We hope you like it.

We have had the following main aims:

• To make the site easier to navigate.
• To increase the prominence of links to blogs. That explains the new middle column on the frontpage that will cover blogs and news as the day develops.
• To provide some new functionality.  There is now, for example, a search facility in the right hand column.  You can use it for searching within ConservativeHome or across the whole worldwide web.
• To drop the old first column so that Blackberry and PDA users can go directly to the main story.

There will also be a new page from tomorrow - our columnists page. 'The magnificent seven' of Stephan Shakespeare, Andrew Lilico, Peter Franklin, Louise Bagshawe, Theresa May MP, Cameron Watt and Graeme Archer have agreed to write every week.  Some have been deliberately chosen to broaden the range of perspectives you read on this site.  The page kicks off properly tomorrow with a contribution from Andrew Lilico.

That commitment to broadening the range of perspectives is one of the six themes of the ConservativeHome manifesto.  That manifesto - published today - sets out the core beliefs of this site.

Grateful for your comments.  We're happy to make changes...

Comments

[Tory T]

My mug arrived! Many thanks. As a Blackberry user thanks too for getting rid of those links (I searched "Kavanagh" twice to reach the lead story).

I like the layout. It'll grow on me as I get used to it, like the oak tree.

[malcolm]

Lucky you Tory T. Still waiting for mine. I like the new layout but find the colours and the type pale and a bit faint.

[Oberon Houston]

Is the grey font right? Think we need a wee bit more contrast? Other than that, I think its really good!

[Aesthete]

Generally excellent.

But the crossheads on the rundown of stories are still letting the side down. These should be visibly closer to the story below (i.e. the story they refer to) than the story above.

Also drop the ALL CAPS, which is just vulgar.

[Deputy Editor]

My main questions to readers would be:

Is there enough contrast between our main sections for you to know where you are on the site?
- Should the banners be changed back to showing the section title instead of just the website name?
- Should we bring back the colour themes?

Also, what glitches do you have when using Firefox compared with Internet Explorer?

It looks like the grey font won't last the morning...

[Voice from the South West]

Hmmmm, I am less keen on the story and comments being all down on the left-hand side. I prefered it as it was down the centre, though I can usually be quite a small 'c' conservative and not like change! I suspect it will grow on me after I get used to having to read the comments on the left!

[Common Sense]

One small fault. It's pretty universal on websites that, wherever you are on the site, clicking on the masthead at the top takes you back to the home page.

Currently, clicking on it only takes you back to the front of the SECTION you're in. So, if you're reading a Tory Diary story and click on the ConHome masthead, you go back to the front of Tory Diary, etc.

I realise there are other ways home - there's a 'Home' button on the right hand menu or one can adjust the address - but please fix this!

[RobD]

Looks great and the increase in speed and usability via Blackberry is fantastic, well done.

[Old Nerd]

Home page shows 18 errors and 83 warnings! using 'Tidy' on Firefox. mostly due to the unrecognised tag. Maybe someone pasting content from 'MS Word'

[Deputy Editor]

Good point Common Sense, we'll see if we can do that but I don't think it is possible as the sections are actually different blogs in their own right and Typepad isn't hugely flexible with things like that.

[Praguetory]

Definitely progress.

[Deputy Editor]

Were those errors visible or just loose code ends?

I've deleted the MS Word code if that helps...

[simon]

I love the new look of the site. Much easier on the eye.

[Simon Newman]

I think the main text should go back to the middle of the page, with links to left & right.

[Richard Woolley]

Where are the archives? I don't like the look of this new site at all; the old one was perfect so why spoil it? I repeat, I can't find the archives unlike on the previous format.

[TomTom]

Deeper royal blue would be better....it is too faded and lacks contrast

[Deputy Editor]

Adding the archives again is on our to-do list, thanks Richard. Are the rest of your objections aesthetic or functional?

[Sally Roberts]

Like the new layout Tim! By the way, my mug hasn't arrived yet - I look forward to celebrating its appearance with a cup of strong coffee!!

[Denis Cooper]

Wot, no link to the petition demanding that referendum on the EU Constitution, which we were clearly promised on page 84 of the 2005 Labour manifesto?

"We will put it to the British people in a referendum".

The E-Petition is here: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk:80/EU-treaty-NON/

[Richard Woolley]

Deputy editor, the new look is fine, I was just frustrated in trying to find the archives and it clouded my judgement. My apologies.

[EdR]

I see the centre of gravity on the site has shifted to the left. What are you implying?

It may look better on a Blackberry, but on a normal computer, the extra-column arrangement looks unfocused and not all that welcoming -- especially as you scroll down and there's a big white space in the middle.

The blue buttons are okay, if a little dull. A splash of colour wouldn't go entirely amiss.

The banners and much of the functionality of the site seems as strong as ever.

[David Belchamber]

Sam - It looks good but I agree it would be better with a bit more contrast. One query: in the right hand column headed "About"; this presumably should be "About us", n'est-ce pas?

[Traditional Tory]

I can't see the list of 'not-so-recent posts' that was previously shown below the most recent ones.

Is this just me, or have you removed this feature?

[johnC]

I'm a Conservative so I hate change, but I suppose I'll get used to it.

2 points: on the 'interviews' page the data in the 'recent comments' and 'menu' columns seems to have been transposed, and I was wondering how certain seemingly random entries in the 'category cloud' qualify for a larger font or bold letters ?

[Deputy Editor]

Good spot TTory - that's another thing we've got to add. The site is a bit of a skeleton at the moment as we transfer bits and bobs through.

johnC, the category cloud changes the font size of categories according to the proportion of posts in that section that have been tagged with them.

[Ali Gledhill]

Very nice redesign - much clearer and up-to-date. Just a couple of thoughts:

1. The highlighted menu options look just like the menu titles (i.e. is Tory Diary a blog section or a menu?)
2. The grey text is just a bit too grey. Perhaps it could be made a little darker. Maybe the Editor's Comments could go in black for contrast?
3. The ALL CAPS in the titles looks out-of-sync with the rest of the page.

These are superficial points though: the new design is fantastic.

[Richard]

- Should we bring back the colour themes?

I would say yes, makes it more aesthetically pleasing.

Also change the writing back to black.

[Ray]

It's too wide, making it unsuitable for smaller monitors. Also, there is too much drop-shadow on the text for the right-hand menu. Looks like an amateurish photoshop attempt!

[The Alpaca Herder]

The site feels a bit more busy and somewhat more jumbled. That may just be my assessment alone. Then again, the risk of a general election soon may necessitate a far busier site anyhow so this could be seen as properly utilitarian.

*back to lurking*

[Gregor]

Guys, I like the Idea, but the execution is a bit off. I'd suggest that:

1) It needs more contrast, more highlighting, more bold text to draw the eye, at the moment it looks out of focus.

See:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/
http://www.somethingawful.com/
for good examples.

2) Lose the drop shadow, from a design perspective it's v.amateur.

Otherwise good! :)

[Curly]

I rather like this new layout, although the blues are a tad light. Pages are loading a lot faster in my Firefox browser too.
My only criticism is having to dig deeper to find the links to my other favourite Tory bloggers (on the About page) therefore it doesn't look quite so much like a "one stop shop" as it used to.

All in all it's easy on the eye, pretty good.

[Alex Fisher]

Very good. I find the text colour you have chosen a little difficult to read though, please make it black again...

I would also reintroduce individual section headers instead of having the CH banner on every page. Not bothered either way about the colour themes.

[Editor]

Thank you for that comment Alex - I voted for individual section headers but was out-voted by Sam and Andrew!

[malcolm]

What's happened to the Conservative Events page Tim?

[Deputy Editor]

http://conservativehome.blogs.com/events

Still here, link coming soon!

[Pisaboy]

Whats the point in this site without the Events section?!

[malcolm]

Thanks Sam. If anyone is going to the CWF meeting tomorrow( Beating Brown) and fancies a beer afterward let me know. [email protected]

[Patsy Sergeant]

Umm, interesting, I do think that the grey text is a bit too muted, I find it slightly more difficult to read at speed! But apart from that I am sure I shall get used to it, and I don't have a Blackberry, yet. Its just a question of straightforward daily PC usage. I did quite like the different colours used for different sections though.

[Alex Fisher]

Glad you agree Tim :)

By the way what was the reason for the grey text? I commented on it earlier but have now read a long article in grey and found it makes it very difficult indeed to read...

I do like the increased blog linkings though.

[Editor]

The grey has already been darkened for the front page and will change across the whole site soon.

Are you getting the beers in Malcolm before the price rises?

[Londoner]

I like the search facility, although when I search for "londoner" on ConHome, most of the top stories are people attacking my posts rather than the posts themselves! Such is vanity. It is good however to find a way to get back to what people have said before - I look forward to using this against one or two other regulars on here.

It does rather highlight the wisdom of not posting under your own name though. Imagine the fun a political opponent could have once they find that someone standing in a local election has been posting here in their own name. "In February 2006, you attacked the party's policy on...and furthermore made this pathetically unfunny joke in December 2005, to say nothing of the following Conservatives who have attacked your views on XXX..."

But at least such an embarrassment could be reflected on ruefully over a nice mug of tea if, like me, they received their lovely new mug on Saturday. As every social conservative must at some stage have told their daughters: something you've been waiting for for a long time tastes all the better...

[malcolm]

I'll buy you a pint if you're there Tim. Perhaps I'll drink mine from CH mug if I ever get it!

[Londoner]

Malcolm
You should live more centrally. The PO attempted to deliver mine on Friday and I was so dedicated to the cause that I made a special journey to the sorting office to collect it on Saturday.

In view of the Editor's view of the evils of encouraging drinking, I would be careful drinking beer out of it when you do get it. It might be programmed to self-destruct if refilled too often.

[malcolm]

Thanks Londoner,I'll bear your idea in mind!

[anon]

This is horrible, I can't find anything. What was wrong with the old design. First the party starts changing and now conservative home as well.......what's this world coming too!

[Andrew Woodman]

The dark text is much better. The grey was a little eye straining.

[Deputy Editor]

anon, we've still got to add some features such as Recent Posts but with the addition of a Search function I think it should be easier to find things once you get used to it all!

[Comstock]

The headlines on the 'London Mayor' section should be changed to the same font as 'Torydiary'

[Comstock]

"Also, what glitches do you have when using Firefox compared with Internet Explorer?"

None on Opera, at first glance.

If you want more general ideas then introducing more sophisticated comments would be good- a quote system or links that auto-activate.

Look at
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=99 (which you will have to cut and paste because links are SO fiddly to do)

It gives you some idea of how clever board software now is- multi quotes, smilies, advanced searches, profiles, private messaging. Blogs in general seem stone-age by comparison

[JoeWillits]

I love it!!!!!!!!!

[Andrew Woodman]

I'm actually going to agree with Comstock (Had to happen sometime). It would be good if people had to option to register a profile which could be accessed when a comment is made. Would be useful for people like Comstock if they are accussed of trolling when we regulars know he's a constructive lefty!

[Alex Fisher]

Thanks for darkening the text Tim. Much better now.

[Comstock]

"I'm actually going to agree with Comstock (Had to happen sometime)"

LOL. Obviously not everything from DigitalSpy would be appropriate here, just putting it foward as an example of what board software can do.

"It would be good if people had to option to register a profile which could be accessed when a comment is made"./b>

Yeah profiles would be good, as would some sort of quote function so that people can see what is and what isn't a quote without using bold you can so easily forget to switch off and mess up the blog (which I have done on three red-faced occasions like the above)

So I'd better switch it off here ;)

[Russell]

I prefer to have "favorites" displayed and haven't got a wide screen - so the righthand menu column disappears off-screen. A nuisance, certainly doesn't make the site feel easier to navigate.

[Mark Fulford]

I like the new layout but miss the Recent Posts section.

[James Carter]

There doesn't seem to be a link to this part of the website?

http://conservativehome.blogs.com/londonmayor/

[Kris]

It may be my Conservative instincts talking, but i prefered the old site. I found it easy to use and there was a comfortable familiarity about it. I suppose i shall get used to the new one though eventually. In a way, that is just how many traditional tories think about the modernising of the Conservative Party, we preferred the confortable old one, but if it means we get elected, then we can get used to the new one.

[Happy Tory]

I'm less happy with the look of the site now. Going down the threads now it's all a bit boring - only the thread itself is visible where we used to have a bit more entertainment to scan. Might just have to get on with more work instead of checking C-Home every hour or so.

[Editor]

A few bits of feedback guys...

Comstock: all headlines will change to be consistent with this page. The changes are still underway - hopefully they'll all be uploaded by the end of tomorrow...

Recent Posts will return Mark.

Sorry you're not keen on the new look yet Kris and Happy Tory. We really hope it will grow on you!

Thanks, Tim - please keep the feedeback coming...

[Chris Palmer]

Oh god, what have you done! It looks awful. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Can I ask who did the new design?

[Graham Smith]

"To drop the old first column so that Blackberry and PDA users can go directly to the main story."

Thank you. This is so much easier to read on my MS Mobile5-based phone than your manifesto page.

It's also easier to cut'n'paste text on a desktop computer!

[Sepoy Agent]

Like the new design. Site is much clearer and easier to read.