Bring backthe old design!!

This is too modular, messy and too…grey and the old logo was much better.

Yuck. This is seriously putting me off

Could you probably show more ” Recent Comments: ” by replacing the position of [Subscribe to Japan Probe] ?

I’ve cut the middle column by about 50 pixels and added that to the main content column. I think it looks much better now. Thanks for your feedback!

But if the three column look is what you want: I’d move the news-feed to the right. Have it replace the blog roll since studies have shown readers ignore link lists (They go by author recommendations)

Narrow the middle column a bit and move it to the left. The eye naturally focuses on the middle area of the screen.

And most importantly: Have the blog front and center, taking the majority of the screen width. That’s your main draw after all. Having it hidden below the news-feed and scrunched to the side takes away from that.

My $0.02

Thinking more about the design, the middle column is too wide and each line seems to have just too much vertical separation.

Garrett, good point about the old schoolgirl picture; it was eye-catching.

Besides the “recent comments” thing, I think the second column [subscribe-adsense-most recent post, etc.] can be shrunk a little so the main content can get at least 55% of the layout (which would also let you keep great pictures). Ah, and I miss the timestamps (posts only appear with the day, without the hour). Besides, pretty cool. Cheers and gambatte!

No complaints at all. Excellent job. BIG thumbs up!!!

I must say I agree with a few of the commenters in this thread, though – I understand that revenue must come in and that, for that to happen, the ads must be prominent, but it now seems like they are the most prominent feature of the site.

Considering that, as you’ve said before, the overhwelming majority of your revenue comes from (or at least used to come from) the few best-placed ads, why not reduce or eliminate the unproductive ads, thereby driving more emphasis to the best ads and cleaning up the layout a bit.

On the praise side, I dig the news headlines at the top and the handy link to your del.icio.us page.

I’m with Ken Y-N, though, in lamenting what I think will be a loss in traffic to us from Japan Probe due to the new layout.

To toss my last two cents in (not that there’s any reason you should give a damn, considering you’ve certainly figured out how to do what you want), the new design seems a bit text-heavy, less graphic, less welcoming. Don’t forget the power of a well-placed image. Your header of a year ago this time was interesting and avoided all connotations with Japan Today, whom I’m hoping you’ll eventually push out by getting a Kyodo feed (or allowing Trans-Pacific Radio to quit our day jobs and provide you with news by paying us exorbitant fees.)

The two columns on the right should be combined into one, and then the remaining 2 columns centered on the page. That would provide a fair amount of whitespace on the right and left margins.

I love your posts but I dislike the new design.

I am glad to see new site design. (^-^) ☆♪

[I've added the width/height and alt= as you requested.]

One thing could you please do is put a width and height attribute on the header or add an alt text. I usually surf with images off, so I cannot click on the header to go to your home page!