Site Upgrade: The Big Picture 3.0
Ok, kids, the long awaited site upgrades are here: A near final version of the artwork is below, its 95% of what you will see soon.
Allow me to walk you through the highlights:
1. Flash Header is dead: Yes, the way-cool but much-hated flash software header — an homage to Clockwork Orange/Robot Chicken — is no more. In its place is the simpler artwork you see below — much simpler and less colorful;
2. Header made smaller: As so many of you had requested, the new header is much tighter and smaller — about 30% less vertical space; The 6 multi-colored wide spaced tabs have been replaced with 4 integrated tabs;
3. New content: I am very jazzed about the new content — its all killer (no filler):
a) Macro Notes: Miller Tabak’s Market Strategist Peter Boockvar gets a special slot in the right hand column called Macro-Notes. This will be 5 to 10 short updates every day regarding the latest economic releases, market action, and other relevant observations.
This blog-within-the-blog addition will insure that breaking news and fresh content will always be on the front page. Peter does terrific work, and I am sure you will find his content intelligent and informative as I do.
b) Think Tank: The Cafe has been expanded — and I want to make sure that it is understood that this reflects a a variety of perspectives — including views I find interesting and provocative (though I may not always agree with); Look for 2 to 3 posts per day here form a short roster of my favorite analysts and strategists.
c) Weekend: All that fun stuff that “the book” pushed off the site? Its back, and on the tab called Weekend. Music, Gadgets, Films, Food & Wine, Cars, Boats, Cigars, toys — essentially, the non work stuff you get enjoy on the weekends !
d) Category & Date Archive: As requested, archives by category and date have been added, (lower portion, right hand column)
4. Video Ranking: I introduced a 5 star ranking for our video clips — I want to be able to have the crowd vote on the best stuff — eventually, the highest ranked videos will form an RSS feed.
5. Going Away: Jobs listings was a bust — that is retired. Digital media will be folded into Video and/or Weekend, depending upon the content.
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Much of this redesign reflects your input. As always, share your feedback in comments!
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April 20th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
Looks great. Looking forward to the expanded sections. Having lurked on this site for a good while now has certainly saved me a fair few dollars. The key for me is informative dissection of spun stats. What did we do before blogs? Keep up the good work.
April 20th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
Better. Less is more.
April 20th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Barry,
Love you like a fat lady loves cake!
The new layout looks very cool, looking forward to checking in early and often… just like voters in Chicago, only different ; )
I’ve turned on as many of my professional contacts as possible to you…cutting thru the immense BS has been a challenge over the past 18 months, but you have provided unusual clarity and I deeply appreciate it!
All the best to you & your family.
Best Regards,
David
April 20th, 2009 at 9:03 pm
Are you running the blog at a loss?
This is the third significant upgrade I’ve seen in 2 years — you must be spending a lot of dev money on all this
April 20th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
The site looks most excellent! I can’t wait to try it on for size.
April 20th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
It still looks top notch even though I’m a fan of the current set-up. The “voting on the videos” is a great idea. Maybe you can take the most popular video of the day and feature it on the front page either in a dedicated section, or simply as a post?…just an idea.
April 20th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
@Dennis
How to get media attention:
(i) set up a blog that gets “significant” number of visitor. (new school)
(ii) publish a book (old school)
Blog itself probably barely breaks even but….this generates business for their asset management unit.
April 20th, 2009 at 9:55 pm
I liked the old one better; I just thought it was too big and didn’t like the wasted black space at the very top.
Think Tank and folding Digital elsewhere are good ideas.
The new one needs a little flash. ;-)
Regardless, content is king, and you got that, so all will end well.
April 20th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
KJ Foehr @ 9:55
“Regardless, content is king, and you got that…”
I would add that the quality of the content influences the participation of those who have knowledge and insights that are worthwhile. Better content begets more intelligent discussion (on balance)… a “virtuous cycle”.
April 20th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
A nominee for the header (and no, it’s not the Swedish Bikini Team…):
http://www.kenduncan.com:80/images/1280/1280img.php?i=WVX111
Saw the best copy of this photo in a World Book Encyclopedia today. The location is Babcock State Park in West Virginia.
April 20th, 2009 at 10:27 pm
Considering I long ago ad-blocked your Flash header, I doubt I’ll be seeing your new one anyways. It looks like it’s still taking up too much vertical space up top.
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BR: No more flash!
April 20th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
Tomahawk @ 10:15
Pretty picture.
April 20th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
DL, if the World Book photo is a 10, what I posted above is a 7 or an 8. The World Book copy had much less of the lefthand shore, a little less on the right, more definition on the falls and mill, with a little better color. Can’t find it on the internet though…… Well can’t find through searching Google (I haven’t searched World Book’s site, and I suppose that would make sense. Off to try now…..
April 20th, 2009 at 11:06 pm
Some great fixes and additions.
April 20th, 2009 at 11:13 pm
Very nice!
April 20th, 2009 at 11:14 pm
BR,
in the Northern Hemisphere, Summer is soon to beckon..
any plans for TBP T-Shirts?
the combo theme of “The Big Picture”, and Bastiat’s “What is Seen, and What is Not Seen”
might be worthwhile..
I’m sure other would have many/better suggestions, as well..
past that, have you ‘test driven’ the new site on some ‘handhelds’?/over some shaky ‘wireless’ hook-ups?
April 20th, 2009 at 11:15 pm
Nice… I uhhh
…. have a suggestion ….for next update
I wanna make that big picture box have dynamic tumbnails of videos and articles
Kinda like the thumbnail view you get in windows explorer for a video or picture folder
April 20th, 2009 at 11:26 pm
All positive changes.
Love the Cafe and glad you are expanding upon it!
April 20th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
“much simpler and less colorful;”
I beg to differ. much better and now you have color instead of a cluttered mess. Glad to see you went out and got a graphic artist. Keep them around they make you look good. You’ re too big to look like your site was designed by you and your college buds.
I like it. Good work
Jack
April 21st, 2009 at 12:08 am
quite honestly I like the original look the best before site relocation. Anyway you can redo that here?
April 21st, 2009 at 2:19 am
Very nice, looks great!
April 21st, 2009 at 9:25 am
I’d read a lot of what I read here on loose leaf paper if I had to. Good time to upgrade, there’s much to know in times like these.
April 21st, 2009 at 9:32 am
Will the macro notes be syndicated to RSS?
April 21st, 2009 at 9:37 am
Much improved Barry.
April 21st, 2009 at 8:23 pm
A move in the right direction.
But the header is still too big and has too much dead space, with the tabs much larger than they need to be.