[LINK] anyone reading the new Global Mail?

[Ash Nallawalla]

I wasn't even aware of the old Global Mail.

On a 24-inch monitor and Win7+FF10 I have to scroll sideways to read a whole
article. There are print-like "columns". The design choice isn't accidental,
but there are two reasons why I won't be revisiting it regularly, if at all:

1. Bad layout, which makes it hard to read. The word Subscribe doesn't
render fully even when my browser is full-screen.

2. Random nature of topics, which are mostly opinion pieces.

It's like reading an interesting print publication in a doctor's surgery but
it does not tempt you to seek it out elsewhere.

The .org domain is OK for a global audience, but given the lack of SEO
awareness from its producers, it doesn't matter what domain they used. I
suspect that Facebook likes will be their primary form of WOM referrals, and
that count isn't particularly impressive. (The cost difference between a .au
and .com is trivial if you care about SEO and getting a large readership.
This type of ignorance keeps my industry in business, thanks.)

Ash

> -----Original Message-----
> From: link-bounces at mailman.anu.edu.au [mailto:link-
> bounces at mailman.anu.edu.au] On Behalf Of Jan Whitaker
> Sent: Sunday, 26 February 2012 10:20
> To: link at mailman.anu.edu.au
> Subject: [LINK] anyone reading the new Global Mail?
> 
> Linkers,
> There is a new kid on the block: www.theglobalmail.org I find it odd that
they
> don't have a .au domain and are using a .org for goodness sake! double
silly.
> It's not like they don't have money.
> They're fully funded by a philanthropist.
> 
> Here's what I sent their web developer, Andrew Cobby. Maybe I'm harsh,
> but I'd like to see them succeed. If any linkers have contacts to this new
> enterprise, please let them know this was sent to their developer as it's
a
> pop-up window and no means to cc the decision-makers in one effort on my
> part. I am going to send the same thing to Monica Attard, who is the
> managing editor.
> --------------
> 
> 
> Hi Andrew. Just had my first look at the Global Mail website after seeing
> Mike Bowers on Insiders.
> 
> It's interesting, but there are some dysfunctional design aspects that I
think
> you need to spend some time reconsidering from a user perspective.
> 
> I'm using Firefox, latest version, on a 14+inch laptop, just for
background.
> 
> The continual hovering masthead is taking up too much presentation space
> and is terribly annoying. At the bottom, the progress bar actually blocks
out
> text of the articles.
> 
> I tried to resize the presentation by making the browser resizeable
instead of
> fullscreen and things got worse. None of the text floats, so when you use
the
> left/right navigation arrows to flow the screens side to side, information
> columns don't behave the same way they do in full screen.
> 
> I know you're trying to be modern and unique in design, but this isn't
doing it
> for me.
> 
> Where is the table of contents, if you're not going to have the usual
> categorical sections that other online news sources have? I'm at a loss as
to
> how to find stories that interest me. Scanning to the left or right is
terrible
> inefficient to find anything. When I used the drop-down for a category,
all I
> see on my screen are pictures. The titles and supporting text fall below
the
> bottom.
> 
> Now I'm in a pop-up to communicate with you and short of starting over in
a
> new tab, I can't go look at the actual 'thing' I'm writing about. That's
not a big
> problem, just odd.
> 
> Although I could provide you with suggestions to fix all that, I'm not
being
> paid to do so, so I'll leave that to you guys to figure out.
> 
> I do advise you to do some user interface testing with your natural
> readership, which are people like me who are looking for more serious
> investigative reporting. You will be doing disservice to your writers if
you
> alienate the very people who want to see this sort of journalism.
> 
> On another aspect, why the .org domain? I had a terrible time finding the
> site. It took a search and a supporting info link from the ABC interview
with
> Monica and Mike to even find your site! Seems you need to do some work
> on your SEO. A .au.com domain would go a long way to helping that. Your
> efforts will disappear if you don't get that fixed, and soon.
> 
> Regards,
> Jan Whitaker
> 
> 
> Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
> jwhit at janwhitaker.com
> blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
> business: http://www.janwhitaker.com
> 
> Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or sing
or
> write, for only in such response do we find truth.
> ~Madeline L'Engle, writer
> 
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