As one of the very first automotive blogs in the world back in 2002, MotoringFile has been tweaked, redesigned and even rethought many times over the years. But rarely has it undergone such transformation as you see today.
We’re proud to announce that MotoringFile.com has been thoroughly redesigned and upgraded. Not only is there a new front-end design, but we’re also on a new much faster and more stable back-end as well.
The overall design and experience is oriented towards both easier navigation as well as a better view at a wider collection of subjects and stories. With 18 years of content it’s important that we are constantly serving up something new and interesting to both daily and new readers alike. The new design places an emphasis on finding content by generation as well key subjects that we know you love. But there’s also a more powerful search and other tools that let you dig deep into the archives.
Your feedback helped us (and will continue to help) in tweaking the site and the overall experience. To that point look for further tweaks in the coming days to further refine the experience.
Go ahead. Kick the tires a bit. And then come back here and lets us know what you think.
I wish there were less ads (though I understand why they’re there), and that everything wasn’t so large. Most websites are built mobile first now-a-days, which makes sense but not enough thought is put into how that translates to the desktop experience. I just don’t think its a good user experience when you click on a post and can only see the title above the fold.
From our end that’s a single ad block. We have no control how that’s used in terms of how they break up the ad content. That said one of the things we’re still refining is ad placement.
Bigger picture the site needs advertising to survive more now than it did 5 years ago. Due to the proliferation of social reading of content and changing reading patterns, the entire small publishing industry has been decimated and in some cases destroyed. I could go into more detail but suffice to say what one ad did in revenue five years ago now takes 4-6 ads to replicate. Without that revenue the site cannot pay its bills and would not exist.
totally understand the need to keep the lights on, hopefully with some refinement you can strike a good balance that doesn’t negatively impact the user experience.
totally understand the need to keep the lights on, hopefully with some refinement you can strike a good balance that doesn’t negatively impact the user experience – especially on mobile.
Hey Gabe – Interesting new look. Getting used to it but I’ve noticed a few items.
1) On each article I’ve viewed (using Chrome on Windows 10), the first image within the article is duplicated. Not the article’s header image, but the first image actually in the article.
2) First thing I noticed that I missed (and perhaps I haven’t found yet), is a way to scroll from article to article in historical order. I used that often on the old site.
Congrats on being brave enough to take a huge leap in design! Innovation drives better results.
For more clarity on # 2 –
In the “Published Recently” section, I can only see 4 articles. It would be nice to scroll further back in time – similar to how the JCW section shows 4 of 8 articles and then scrolls to see additional articles.
I wish there were less ads (though I understand why they’re there), and that everything wasn’t so large. Most websites are built mobile first now-a-days, which makes sense but not enough thought is put into how that translates to the desktop experience. I just don’t think its a good user experience when you click on a post and can only see the title above the fold.
Funny you mention that – that’s one of the areas we’re still working through. The ad above the main content area will likely be eliminated.
? ? ? ?
i scrolled through this page twice because i couldn’t believe it.
14 ads. there are 14 ads on this page. if this is the “new and improved” experience then i will absolutely see myself out.
<a href="https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1f90e26f77c6dad77f6e5c888f5875615e979d2d806df461ea2cf8a68dc0a409.png" rel="nofollow ugc">https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1f90e26f77c6dad77f6e5c888f5875615e979d2d806df461ea2cf8a68dc0a409.png</a>
From our end that’s a single ad block. We have no control how that’s used in terms of how they break up the ad content. That said one of the things we’re still refining is ad placement.
Bigger picture the site needs advertising to survive more now than it did 5 years ago. Due to the proliferation of social reading of content and changing reading patterns, the entire small publishing industry has been decimated and in some cases destroyed. I could go into more detail but suffice to say what one ad did in revenue five years ago now takes 4-6 ads to replicate. Without that revenue the site cannot pay its bills and would not exist.
totally understand the need to keep the lights on, hopefully with some refinement you can strike a good balance that doesn’t negatively impact the user experience.
That’s our hope!
totally understand the need to keep the lights on, hopefully with some refinement you can strike a good balance that doesn’t negatively impact the user experience – especially on mobile.
Hey Gabe – Interesting new look. Getting used to it but I’ve noticed a few items.
1) On each article I’ve viewed (using Chrome on Windows 10), the first image within the article is duplicated. Not the article’s header image, but the first image actually in the article.
2) First thing I noticed that I missed (and perhaps I haven’t found yet), is a way to scroll from article to article in historical order. I used that often on the old site.
Congrats on being brave enough to take a huge leap in design! Innovation drives better results.
For more clarity on # 2 –
In the “Published Recently” section, I can only see 4 articles. It would be nice to scroll further back in time – similar to how the JCW section shows 4 of 8 articles and then scrolls to see additional articles.
On #1 that’s a bug that is being worked on. #2 that’s something we’re still looking at. It’s one area I’m not entirely happy with yet.