We are testing a new theme on Oak Ridge Today. You may notice significant changes to the website as we transition from the previous theme to a new one.
We’ve been reluctant to change. Readers had told us they liked our previous theme because it made good use of white space and was easy to read and navigate.
However, that theme, called eleven40, had its limitations. Among other things, we couldn’t easily add sections at the bottom of the home page or banner advertisements at the top of the page. Also, a few readers reported the ads sometimes displayed below the main content, and not in the right sidebar. (This could be resolved by changing computer monitor resolutions, but some readers didn’t know that.)
The new theme is called the News theme, and it’s designed for publishers. It allows us to add sections to the home page, meaning we can show recent posts from such sections as opinions and obituaries on the home page but not necessarily at the top of the page. It has a fixed width, so the ads should show in the right sidebar (but let us know if they don’t on your screen).
We also believe the new theme will give us more control over ad placement, allowing us to post ads in different spots on the home page as well as add banner ads, something we haven’t been able to do although advertisers have requested it.
We welcome any feedback you might have. Don’t worry about offending us. We’d like to hear what you don’t like, if anything, so we might try to improve it.
We plan to try to make some adjustments to this theme to replicate, as much as possible, some of the features that readers liked in the previous eleven40 theme. For example, we could add some spacing in the content area and also increase font sizes.
In the meantime, feel free to e-mail us at [email protected] with any comments you have. Thank you for reading.
TarsierToes says
Love the website (new theme or old)!! I live out of state now and it is so great to catch up on my hometown news, especially now that the ORidger charges for their terrible site. Thanks for taking up the slack in such a great way!
John Huotari says
Thank you for reading. What part of the country are you in?
TarsierToes says
I’m in upstate NY now, but I spent the first 18 years of my life in OR. Except for the too small font in the drop-down news menu, I think the new theme is an improvement. Great work!
John Huotari says
Thank you. I hope to make some font size adjustments in the next few days.
Onslow West says
Since this website is “taking up the slack” in your news feed, would you consider paying for its content? How about 25¢ a day or even a dollar a week, much cheaper than the print copy of The Oak Ridger (and their “terrible site”).
John Huotari is a professional journalist. I enjoyed his reporting for The Oak Ridger. He produces a high quality product. I’d pay for this content, even though I subscribe to The Oak Ridger and would continue to do so.
Of course, I am not speaking for Huotari. I have no idea if he has entertained the idea of charging for content.
TarsierToes says
I have thought about this, too. I would definitely pay a small amount for access to this site. I understand that it takes time and money for good reporting and journalism, and I’d be proud to support it. A dollar a week is easily affordable.
I miss the Oak Ridger. It used to be a terrific newspaper, but the world today is a different place and a different atmosphere for news outlets. I don’t know their situation, but it seems from the website that the ORidger sold out to a larger company and no longer puts much effort into local news. It is no longer something I am willing to give money to support. I appreciate the effort Huotari puts into such a great town. Oak Ridge deserves the best.
BobStephenson says
Love oakridgetoday, Don’t like the new theme at all.
John Huotari says
Thank you for reading, Bob.
I’m sorry you don’t like the new theme. What don’t you like about it? Your feedback could help us improve it.
I added information to the story above, explaining why we made the switch.
BobStephenson says
The print is too small for the articles….the ads take up to much room on the right side, and in general…it’s too a feeling like that the ORidger’s online site. I like ORToday because it was different, not only in appearrance , but better reporting.
John Huotari says
Thank you, Bob. The new theme is closer to a traditional news site layout, but I thought we had to make a switch for some of the reasons I mentioned in the article.
People have told me they don’t want a site that’s too cluttered, so we’ll try to keep it as simple as we can.
I might be able to address some of your concerns using a little code. For example, I think I should be able to increase the font size, and I might be able to narrow the right sidebar. I’ll let you know how that goes.
JusticeHeard says
I like it alot! Much better!
John Huotari says
Thank you. We continue to try to improve. Please let us know if there are any changes you would like to see.
maremartell says
I agree with Bob Stephenson. I don’t like this theme. It’s very hard to read and I do know how to up my fonts. The ads on the side, while important for generating income for Oak Ridge Today, are more prominent than the stories. The scrolling pictures at the top of the home page are good previews, but I want to get to the news.
I’ve said before that I don’t get my local news from any other place but Oak Ridge Today and I’ll remain a faithful reader, but the new format feels more impersonal to me. It doesn’t feel like there is a sense of community that it had before in the sense that it seems to not reflect the warmth it did with the last theme.
Sarah Johnson says
I like it but also think the font is small however pressing CTRL+ will increase font size and that makes it fine with me.
Susie Williams Taylor says
So far, the only thing I don’t like is the smaller print…w/the iPad, if there is a way to enlarge the print, I don’t know how…still love this news outlet!
switchback says
I personally do not like this type of format on any web site.
For years this type of format has become the standard for most.
It’s not the fact that the fonts are smaller, I can make
them larger. I can zoom in.
To me, the problem is the waste of desktop space, for
instance I have a 22″ monitor which is about 18 & 3/4 inches wide.
This type of format only uses about 10.5 inches of the space available thus wasting
8 inches of the display. (why have I foolishly spent money on a monitor for my
internet usage that due to this new format squeezes everything into the center
of the screen wasting over 42% of the display area?)
It’s just a complete waist of desktop space. It does bring the
ads closer to the center of the screen; this reminds me of the new digital TV
stations that place the station affiliate anywhere but in the far corner.
CK says
It may take some getting used to,but it shows you are putting forth an effort to do things well.
mushroomcloud says
Well, I guess as a senior citizen, a so called artist the political ads have more appeal and that alone scares me because most politicians are not that adept.
I can say one thing for a one issue person you sure are swimming in the pond.
If you want to do it right you need a good mast head and BRAND THE PRODUCT—that means your name.
RIGHT NOW you only have a web address. Become more aware of good design–like your word design wow now you have two issues. I gnore the people about type size they can zoom the text or buy a bigger IPAD OR WHAT EVER. bLOCK LETTERS NO SERIFS.—-LIKE THE POLITICAL ADS A VARIATION OF HELVETICA OR FUTURA (which is more compressed). To much bold will blurr when compressed. When on signs wth few words simple serif letter can be used but not good visually. Its like telling a dentist to stick to denistry and forget poster design. Seek out designers of web pages not web designers.
Oh!!! good luck in your indeavers ——the Oak Ridger is already sweating your presence..
justiceheard says
English please? John, we need an “Ignore” button 🙂
mushroomcloud says
The screen I am viewing on is vertical format (8.5 x 11) there is white space because you are doing vertical for page printing as well as ipad holding and viewing. So now you have to decide whether you serve vertical or horizontal or descriminate against left handed people.
justiceheard says
Are you serious? You can’t be. I am almost positive John H. tries to please everyone, but you seem like one of those people who can’t EVER be pleased. Geez.
sandi says
I like your new format. The font is large and clear on my laptop. Your site is much better than the other OR rags and knoxnews, imo. I would gladly pay to help support your efforts. It’s nice to have a newsperson who can write and spell correctly!
John Huotari says
Thank you, everyone, for the great feedback. We are glad that our efforts to improve have been recognized.
Clearly, the main thing for us to work on is font size. We’ll do what we can to enlarge them.
Thank you very much for the offers to voluntarily subscribe. This is an idea we’ve discussed but haven’t implemented yet. I know at least a few other local independent online publishers who are doing this in other parts of the country.
I apologize to those who have large monitors and think our site doesn’t take up enough of your screen. But we also have many readers who come to our site from mobile devices or smaller desktop computer monitors, and we have to strike a balance between those with large screens and those with small, trying to get the best results for as many people as possible.
We’ll do what we can to match the “warmth” of the old theme. I think it might partially be a matter of colors, which we should be able to change on the new theme.
Ellen Smith says
I preferred the site with the old theme, for several reasons:
* As mushroomcloud points out, in the previous theme the site title was more attractive and distinctive.
* The font on this one is too small.
* With this theme, it is more difficult to read stories on my Android phone. For some reason, the text won’t wrap to fit into the window on the phone — and I can’t manage to scroll laterally to see the ends of the lines of text.
* With this theme, on my computer I see an unattractive gray color on both sides of the content. The old theme displayed the whole page with white background — more attractive.
* In this theme, most of the ads are placed inside table boxes, and I see the borders of the boxes. As a result, the ads take up more space on the page. Also, the borders of the boxes look funny.
* Right now, I see 14 ads to the right of the content and 3 at the bottom of the content (between the “Share this” line and these comments). I don’t think that’s intentional!
John Huotari says
Thank you for the feedback, Ellen. I’ve increased font sizes in the story text, on headlines, in the post time and author section, and in the drop-down menus in the navigation bar.
I didn’t like the gray background either, and I’ve removed it. I’ve also reduced the thickness of the borders in the right sidebar, changed the ad setup to move the ads closer together, and added spacing between story posts.
Several people told me they liked the white space in the old theme, so I’ll try to replicate that as much as possible. They also liked the larger type and spacing, so we’ll probably end up with a hybrid here between the old and new themes.
I still want to work on the header to add more color and visual appeal, and will research some other fonts.
The ads below the content were not an error. I’m testing different ad placements to see what works best in different sections of our site and on different devices, whether desktop or mobile.
Regarding the text wrap issue that you’re experiencing, is that with story text, photo caption text, or both?
Ellen Smith says
The text wrap problem was with story text. I say “was” because I’m no longer seeing the problem.