Why the changes to the design of the site?

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Traderjill

Why the changes to the design of the site?

Post by Traderjill » Tue Jan 17, 2012 11:22 pm

I really love AO Universe, in fact.. I generally have it up on my 2nd monitor at all times that I am logged into Anarchy Online.

It is a great resource for all players (new and old) and I'm constantly referring someone to a guide (much love for the budabot modules that made doing that much easier in org chat).

That being said, since the changes have been implemented, I find that I really don't use it as a resource much anymore and instead of my one stop shop website, I'm now back to using several different sites where I can quickly get to information while playing the game or I just don't bother and go from memory (which is right about 80% of the time I guess).

I looked on AOU's forums but didn't really find any information (or maybe over looked it). Why the changes? Clicking one link to get info on a zone and then scrolling through actually seemed perfect in comparison to the new style of the site.

Was this meant to be an improvement for the users or something that you guys had to do to satisfy some sort of technical upgrade on the site? I hate to be negative about a site that has become the ultimate info source for AO but I've yet to hear anyone in-game say that they like the changes.. so wondering what prompted them.

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Silvana
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Re: Why the changes to the design of the site?

Post by Silvana » Tue Jan 17, 2012 11:39 pm

There were quite a few technical aspects to it. The code was several years out of date and causing some problems because we couldn't update the forums, which a lot of the site runs off of, even if it doesn't look like it does.

I'm not sure exactly what you're expressing as a problem though. The site still works exactly how you described it. In fact, with the search working properly, you never have to go looking through the pages to find what you're looking for, you can search directly from the front page. Otherwise you still click on the expansion you want and then which kind of guide you're looking for. I know that one part is an extra step, but it does help to save time instead of going through a whole page of every guide when all you want is a trade skill guide, or a mission guide.

Please feel free to let us know what problems you're having more specifically and there might be a way to help either through showing you a new function that you might not have found yet, or by adding/tweaking something in the functionality :)
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Traderjill

Re: Why the changes to the design of the site?

Post by Traderjill » Wed Jan 18, 2012 6:39 am

hmm.. I'm not sure exactly how to describe the awkwardness that I am now experiencing when navigating the site.

I guess it is a matter of perspective. In your response you seem to think that it is somehow fastr for me to do a search to pull up the guide or to click through specific headings rather than scroll down the list as it was before. I guess that's where I disagree.

It was a lot faster for me to click on Shadowlands, for instance, and scroll through to find the guide I wanted than it is now where I"m not even sure where to click and when I do.. I still have to do the same scrolling that I had to do before... now in a different format.

I guess I'll try to give it some time or just use something else. After playing for so long the guides probably really aren't necessary.. moreso me being lazy anyway.

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Re: Why the changes to the design of the site?

Post by Snakebite » Wed Jan 18, 2012 10:20 am

Familiarity is a big thing, I have to be honest and say I had huge problems finding things in the old format, but it's actually taking me a little longer in the new format.
However, this extra time is being caused by the unfamiliar layout, and I'm actually finding the right guide first time now rather than flicking quickly through several guides and section like I used to.
Basically, once I get used to the current setup, my searches will be much faster than they used to be.
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