We've made a significant update to the DU home page

[EarlG]

Hi all,

I think it's safe to say that we're mostly past the stabilization phase of the new software launch, although we are still squashing intermittent bugs here and there. However, we now feel that for the most part we can move on to the next phase, which is refinements and improvements based on the feedback we've received since launch.

The first update we have for you is to the home page. The new home page released today restores a number of items that were lost in the transition to DU4. As a reminder, you can get to the home page at any time by clicking or tapping the site logo at the top of any page.

Here are the changes:

• Video column has been restored.
• Latest Breaking News section moved up.
• Latest Breaking News section text descriptions restored.
• Doubled the number of items in the Latest Breaking News section.
• Doubled the number of items in each forum category section while reducing section height.

On the mobile version of the home page:

• Trending Discussions and Greatest Discussions sections moved back to the top.
• Doubled the number of items when Featured Stories expands, and included text descriptions.

We hope you like the changes, and we have more improvements coming soon.



PS. Edited to add: as usual when we make changes, some people may experience problems. If you run into a bug or issue, please report it in the DU Community Help forum. Thanks!

[rurallib]

1. Yes, Thanks - noticed immediately and I approve

Now get rid of Trump

[highplainsdem]

2. Thank you!!! I posted a response in GD a minute before you posted this:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100218451812

[malaise]

3. Thanks EarlG

[2naSalit]

4. Thank you!

[ArizonaLib]

5. Always my favorite site

grateful to have it!

[rogerballard]

6. Thank you

so far so good

[qwlauren35]

7. Great job everyone.

I know it's a tremendous task. I've noticed how much easier it is to read DU on my phone.

Thank you.

[ancianita]

8. Thank you! I got used to the new format but am very happy to see this new homepage.

[IronLionZion]

9. Looks great, thanks

[planetc]

10. Good work!

I just noticed a minute ago that the video pictures were back. They liven things up nicely, as well as conveying what they are at a glance. Sometimes you feel like TV and sometimes you want to read something.

[tavernier]

11. I'm just happy

Not to have to do any of this stuff myself.
Thanks for all your hard work.

[RKP5637]

12. This is wonderful! Thanks!!! n/t

[MN2theMax]

13. Looks great!

Thank you for all your hard work. I am a fan of DU4.

[Oopsie Daisy]

14. The "Large Font" setting appears to have no effect on the home page.

I can barely read anything there unless I force my browser to show the fonts larger.

[louis-t]

68. Hmm, it worked for me.

That's how I fixed the ads covering part of the articles when I enlarged the fonts on my screen using control+.

[ShazzieB]

15. The home page looks great, thanks! 💐 💐💐

On the question of bugs, what is the best way to communicate with you about glitches we encounter?

During the beta phase, there was a temporary forum for discussing DU4 issues. Now that it's gone, I miss it, and I'm not sure what to do.

[progree]

22. From the OP (later edit) - Community Help for reporting bugs

PS. Edited to add: as usual when we make changes, some people may experience problems. If you run into a bug or issue, please report it in the DU Community Help forum. Thanks!

DU Community Help: https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1256

[ShazzieB]

29. Great!

I did that a few days ago, and wasn't sure if I should gave done something different,

[Tom Kitten]

16. Very nice

I like it!

[damifino10]

17. Stairway to betterment

I feel at home now with the changes made.
Thanks for listening and growing.

[pazzyanne]

92. Same! nt

[jaxexpat]

93. ditto from this quarter

[Uncle Joe]

18. I like it, y'all did good!

Thanks for the thread EarlG.

[claudette]

19. Thanks

But, I still miss the old DU.

[livetohike]

20. Looks great! Thanks guys. n/t

[Hamlette]

21. Thanks!

The type on the old front page was too small to read and I love that it now changes for those I have read. Love.

[2naSalit]

23. MUCH BETTER!

Now it feels like home again!

[Bird Lady]

24. Oh yes!

So much better. Now you don't have to go to navigate to see the videos.
Excellent! Thank you

[Scrivener7]

25. Love it!!!

[llashram]

26. great upgrade for

DU

[StarryNite]

27. Nice! I love the new home page.

[TeamProg]

28. Great! This new layout gives more visibility to less read, but quaility pieces that deserve attention.

Thank you!

[3auld6phart]

30. I like it

Thanks.

[wendyb-NC]

31. Thank you, it looks really good.

[sheshe2]

32. Thank you.

It looks great!

[lastlib]

33. I like this much better!! My 2cts.

I live for latest breaking news and latest discussions. They seemed harder to get to before these changes, but I like this new format! to EarlG and Elad & crew!

[WhiteTara]

34. It's beautiful!

Thanks!

[House of Roberts]

35. I'm running Skinner mode

and the blue links on the home page are changing to purple after I click on them like they used to do.

I like the layout better with the equal width columns and the video off to the right.

I think the Skinner mode looks a little better on my old iPhone too. I like the 'jump' button to get to LBN rather than having to scroll down so far.

[revmclaren]

36. Thank you.

[Wednesdays]

37. Awesome! Thank you. nt

[PTL_Mancuso]

38. Cleaner, Crisper, and More Complete!

Nice work allayas! (i.e. all of you all )

[Different Drummer]

39. Thanks for all you do, EarlG!

[Duppers]

40. Thank you for everything, Earl!

[relayerbob]

41. Thank you, better but .....

Last edited Mon Nov 13, 2023, 04:26 PM - Edit history (1)

"Greatest" and "trending" sections are still taking up WAY too much space and are on top of the news, on the desktop version. News should be "above the fold". Considering that only a tiny fraction of readers are required to make these stories "trending" or "greatest", it obscures the actual information that I, at least, come here to see. Maybe place them in a table side-by-side in the same column, and dramatically reduce the font size of the Recs number, it's just not that relevant. As I write this, four of the top 5 are at 30 recs. Personally I would prefer those under the Pic of the Moment, and Featured Stories Under that, and News at the top of Column 2.

Video column is good, thank you.

Overall, I have to say, my time at DU has dropped considerably since the change, I probably come by 30-40% as often as before. I'll eventually get used to it on desktop, but it is not as easy to use or to find what I am looking for. The phone version is almost unusable, I don't like scrolling for ten screens (gives me a headache), past all the forums, latest, trending, blah, blah to get to actual news, so that version has dropped to basically zero for me, and not likely to be used at all.

[EarlG]

48. With regards to the phone home page, there is a button at the top which says

"Jump to Latest Breaking News" -- tap that and you'll go right to the LBN section.

[relayerbob]

50. OK, thanks. Missed that

Definitely helps.

[Escurumbele]

97. That one cuts the right of the page as well, one cannot read the end of the lines and it does not scroll right

It is a question of adapting to the smaller screen, which the DU page is not doing at this time.

I am not sure what language is used for the development of DU pages, but most languages have support for smaller screens. Bootstrap, for example, allows the developer to set up the form and to adapt for different sizes, it allows support for tablets, phones etc. Bootstrap is for PHP, but as I said, most languages have that capability, if I am not mistaken it is more of a JavaScript function.

[EarlG]

98. What kind of phone are you using?

It sounds like I may need to make some adjustments for very small screen sizes.

[Hekate]

42. Thanks, EarlG! May the bergamot on your tea always be tasty!

[PatSeg]

43. Thank you

I've noticed the improvements.

[Auggie]

44. Love it!

Thank you

[FailureToCommunicate]

45. Nice! Feels like coming home.

[Silver Gaia]

46. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

The home page is perfect on my phone now. Yay!

[yardwork]

47. Love these updates - thank you!

[IbogaProject]

49. Thank you

We appreciate all the efforts and the update.

[mountain grammy]

51. Thank you! The new DU is great!

[hibbing]

52. Appreciate you and the team n/t

[LPBBEAR]

53. Not working here

Everything is in one long page one section after another. Web browser is Firefox. Tried both default and skinner. Tried changing page sizing, I'm using a Linux system on my TV with 1366x768. Tried it in another browser and its mostly ok there. If I figure it out I'll post the steps I use to correct it.

[EarlG]

55. Try

holding down the Shift key on your keyboard and clicking the Refresh button in your browser -- that will force the browser to download new files from the DU server and may fix the issue. If it persists, wait a few minutes and try again. If it persists for longer than a few minutes, please let me know.

[LPBBEAR]

56. Thank You

That did the trick. Still prefer the Skinner mode though. Looking much better now. Thanks for the system updates.

[Karma13612]

54. Thank you!

I just LOVE DU4!!!

Thanks for all your hard work!

[Chicagogrl1]

57. Everything looks great!

Thanks for all of the hard work!

[Riverman100]

58. ok now stop

Most features are back,,,, good..... now leave it alone

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

59. Thank you.

A mix of old and new. This feels more familiar. I like the changes and I like the comfortable feeling of it looking like the old format.

[OldSWODog]

60. thanks DU for the significant update

Kudos to EarlG and the rest of the crew for making this happen. Cheers.

[Richard D]

61. Excellent

I was finding it difficult to navigate. It's much better now.

[dlk]

62. Thank you for all you do

It’s a lot of tedious hard work. You are greatly appreciated!

[kellytore]

63. Thank you! I missed the video column.

[Warpy]

64. Thanks for restoring the latest video column

I didn't think having to click on something at the middle of the page was worth grumbling about, but I do appreciate having the column restored.

[SouthernDem4ever]

65. Awesome! Thanks

[SleeplessinSoCal]

66. This is like a program on HGTV!

I love a good renovation!

Thanks for all the good looking improvements. So much better.

[louis-t]

67. It's definitely getting better.

Had some issues at first, but made some adjustments to font size, etc. Because of my ancient monitor, when I got the text size I wanted in the computer, the ads would cover part of the stories. Fixed it in my settings.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

69. Looking good! Still getting scrunched line spacing, though -- old eyes.

[ClearSky24]

70. Here's a feedback

Bring back DU3.

You're now trying to make DU4 look like DU3.

Why not simply remove DU4 and bring back DU3?

You would immediately see a rise in popularity.

[GAJMac]

71. Looks Good!

I noticed it around mid-day from work. I don't log in with my account while at work, but when I saw it I hoped it would be across both public-access, and logged-in homepages.

[Lucinda]

72. ❤️ ✿❧🌿❧✿ ❤️

[Quanto Magnus]

73. Great news!

Thank you for all of your efforts!

[AmBlue]

74. Thank you so much!

DU4 is great. No complaints here. Only compliments!!

[orangecrush]

75. EarlG, thank you for your hard work

I believe it has paid off.

I love the new D.U.!

[CaptainTruth]

76. Thanks!!!

[peppertree]

77. NOW it's poy-fect.

Thank you, sir.

[LovelyStuff]

78. Thanks for the changes

Definitely easier to read and navigate. I definitely approve!

[Maraya1969]

79. I don't know how to get to the home page. there used to be a button for it but I don't

think it is there anymore. I've been there a couple times but I think it was from following a link.

[highplainsdem]

80. You just click on the logo now.

[BumRushDaShow]

81. Wherever you see a "Democratic Underground" logo

should link you to the front page. I finally tried mobile and there is a "DU" that you can click on (if you use that). The "Standard" and "Dark" modes have a big "DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND" header across the top that is clickable and "Skinner" mode has a Democratic Underground.com" graphic to click on.

[Maraya1969]

87. That worked! Thanks.

[ProudProgressiveNow]

82. k,r

[Hotler]

83. Thanks for all the work. ...

[spanone]

84. Thanks EarlG

[PlutosHeart]

85. Bravo!

Well done and thank you for all of your hard work and ears.

[TrogL]

86. I love it. No more scrolling waaayyy down

[flamingdem]

88. Looks great EarlG!

Thanks for all your hard work

[MontanaMama]

89. Love love love this change.

Thank you, EarlG.

[PortTack]

90. Thx!! I very much like it

[pazzyanne]

91. Thank you!!!

Much more "user friendly".

[Aviation91]

94. Love New Look...but

I miss the daily toons!

[usaf-vet]

95. Nice upgrade thanks!

[Escurumbele]

96. Need to work on the app when accessing it from a from a cell phone

It cuts the right side of the page and there is no way to scroll to the right, one cannot see the new video column to the right, not even the full headline of the post.

I use an Android, I know sometimes developers favour iPhones, but there are a lot of us Android users out there.

Thank you

[EarlG]

99. Hmm, you shouldn't be seeing multiple columns on your phone

If possible, please send a screenshot of what you're seeing to [e-mail] so I can diagnose.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

100. Thanks for the continued efforts...

... have had no bugs or glitches with the new DU; I am running Ubuntu Linux and Firefox browser and a vpn.

Just thought I would add my three cents to assist in any troubleshooting conundrums past or present.

Have a good day!

[Be The Light]

101. Fabulous!

Looks more professional looking and easier to use. Much like an improvement on the old site. Yes you had it right all along. But now you have improved it with a few tweaks. Bravo!

[SpankMe]

102. Way improved! Thank you!

Hopefully, you can get to the cursor issues next. The cursor is either a text select cursor, or a pointer cursor instead of a link cursor in many areas, including the My Stuff & Navigate buttons, the Post and Preview buttons and others.

Thanks!

[kimbutgar]

103. Great upgrades!

[Martin68]

104. Excellent improvements. Thank you!

[HuskyOffset]

105. Two enthusiastic thumbs up! (NT)

[Alliepoo]

106. Thank you, EarlG!!

[cstanleytech]

107. I'm glad for the change but I wonder if we will ever have the option to drag and drop the sections?

It kind of would be nice after all to be able to truly customize the entire front page as we see fit assuming of course its even possible.

[crickets]

108. Thank you, EarlG!

I know you've been working hard on this for some time, and it's really appreciated.

[True Blue American]

109. Thsank you for the info. Most software has bugs when they change

But good job!

[onlyadream]

110. Not mobile friendly

The layouts are not scaling for mobile views.

[ShazamIam]

111. I especially love the fresh new look, DU had aged and looked too much like old original internet forums. It is also nice

That the recent updates should be easier for some to find favorite forums.

[Axelrods_Typewriter]

112. Looks great!

[Ms. Toad]

113. Thank you for restoring a way to make nearly everything I do

The same number of clicks as DU3.