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Did You Notice Something a Little Different?
UPDATE: Thanks for all the feedback! For those of you who were having issues with blurriness, we have good news: we pushed out an update this afternoon that improves the sharpness of the font for users who were affected. We’re monitoring all the comments and will keep you posted on any further updates.
If you’re a frequent visitor to Goodreads, you've probably noticed a few tweaks we’ve made to the fonts and colors on the desktop site today. Our goal with these small-but-important changes was to consolidate and refresh our visual styles and lay the groundwork for some design improvements that we’re planning in the future.
What’s different?
To enhance the readability of text on Goodreads, we’ve adopted two new open-source fonts. Lato, our sans-serif font, was designed by Warsaw-based designer Łukasz Dziedzic (“Lato” means “Summer” in Polish). Merriweather, our serif font, was created by Eben Sorkin and was designed to be pleasant to read on screens.
To make it easier to scan the page for information you need, we’ve touched up and modernized the design of common page layout elements like section headers, tabs and links.
To simplify and modernize our visual design, we’ve reduced the number of link colors we use, removed gradients from buttons and the site navigation, and applied a more harmonious color palette to interactive elements such as buttons, stars, and links.
Before:
Comments Showing 2,751-2,800 of 3,113 (3113 new)
message 2751:
by
Elizabeth
(new)
Dec 22, 2015 05:54PM
Their just not listening to us it seems
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I like the add-ons. They work. They appeared so quickly, they made everyone's head spin and in a good way. Thank you everyone who put their time and effort in it. They are a great help. However, that doesn't solve the issues of GR's current "design" in any way.
Another solution for GR: re-design your site to be as bland and generic and cheap as you can. And then mention all the patches, add-ons and extentions so everyone can have their own custom design or simply introduce your own options to the users.
Examples?
Here is just a couple: LiveJournal and BookLikes.
At what point does reinventing the wheel become ridiculous?
Emily wrote: "Yes, we do, as we've been able to fix some of the font rendering issues and minor bugs that have appeared. It's helpful to know what is still the most problematic for you so that we can address those issues next. :) ."
The background...
I know you've mentioned that it is being looked into in another thread, but seriously, this is a big thing, especially for those of us unable or unwilling to install additional products onto their computers.
If you could do something or give a little extra push on this I would be forever grateful, because as things stand, it is difficult to remain on the site for any length of time. I feel for you going through each of the posts on this background.
Sooo..... yeah. Background.
On group bookshelves, column headers are still misaligned atop column contents. (I have posted about this 2-3 times now.)Sample column headers: title, author, added by, my rating, shelves...
E.g.:
https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...
I'm on FF 43.0.1https://www.goodreads.com/work/editio...
You need to be on the editions page of a book you have shelved in order for this to be visible. The "switch to this edition" button is formatted exactly like:
Switch to This
Edition
with too much space over on the right side of the button. There is enough room on the button for all of the text to be on one line, if you just make it a TEENSY bit smaller.
I don't remember the text being left justified like that before the redesign.
It's not an issue of magnification, it looks that way at 80% and 130%.
"........I know you've mentioned that it is being looked into in another thread, but seriously, this is a big thing, especially for those of us unable or unwilling to install additional products onto their computers"You will NEVER EVER be happy. Goodreads.com, Websites of this nature only care about people clicking on the ads.
People say we should not use the site out of protest. I say do just the opposite. Install Ad Block and use the heck out of Goodreads.com let the advertisers know how you feel. Get a hold of the Amazon.com corporate office. THAT is how you will get change on Goodreads.com
I am more apathetic about the situation. Just install Stylish and let these people think they are making us happy with their lack of business and web design skills.
This is ridiculous, how can you not understand that the font used for "authors" is too thin to read and gets blurry even at 125% zoom. Moreover, why are there so many different fonts? It's a real clusterf*ck. I mean the main text is readable at 125%, but it's really wasteful and there is no reason to zoom in that much. What are you thinking? Stylish and adblock it is.
I really hoped for improvement since my first comment, but actually haven't noticed much (Firefox on Windows desktop computer). The all over appearance still hurts my eyes, bold fonts are too "bold" and hard to read when letters are touching each other, as well as the normal serifs are too thin on many places and seem semi-transparent. As GR doesn't seem to make further mayor changes (or getting back to the old fonts), I'm installing now Stylish in order to be able to still enjoy GR. :-(
Barbara wrote: "As GR doesn't seem to make further mayor changes (or getting back to the old fonts), I'm installing now Stylish in order to be able to still enjoy GR. :-( "I don't see why the USERS have to install things and fiddle around with settings and basically modify their computer setup just to get a SINGLE website viewable - just because the designers (or maybe it's the managers) have their heads up their arses and are incapable of admitting that they buggered up.
I've already zoomed in, the text STILL looks like a POOR QUALITY print job with the printer running out of ink (all fuzzy and faint) and the background is a good way to experience snow blindness. I'm using Firefox if anyone is interested.
I've given in, re-downloaded Firefox (I'd been having issues with it crashing) and added 'Stylish' my eyes are no longer stinging.Not happy that that's what it takes though :(
well elentarri, you install stylish.. and install one of the global themes... you'll realize how badly designed most websites are!!I have bad eyesight and I refuse to resort to 'zooming' and 'not acting on matter of principle'
for those use stylish... install the goodreadsfix for the fonts...
and use a global theme for color none of the goodreads.com designed color schemes work anymore.
http://prntscr.com/9hn16d is what goodreads.com looks like for me!
Lobstergirl wrote: "I'm on FF 43.0.1https://www.goodreads.com/work/editio...
You need to be on the editions page of a book you have shelved in order for this to be visible. The "swi..."
I've tested this out using Firefox 43.0.2 and unable to replicate this issue with the "Switch to This Edition" button. I'm getting this, where the button appears correctly:
Is it possible to send through a screenshot of what you're seeing as well as operating system details to Goodreads support email address please?
In regard to your second query-- this misalignment of group bookshelves column headers was already reported to our developers (feel free to view my previous response to this here). Thanks for your further comments though!
Shaun wrote: "Lobstergirl wrote: "I'm on FF 43.0.1https://www.goodreads.com/work/editio...
You need to be on the editions page of a book you have shelved in order for this to ..."
Shaun, I have this as well. I have Safari 9.0.2 on a MacBook Pro. See https://d.gr-assets.com/photos/145087...
(On Firefox 43.0.1-with-Goodreads-fix it appears on one line, as in your screenshot.)
On my iPad 2 with Safari (no idea which version, don't know where to find it) it looks the same as with Safari on my laptop.
Eddie wrote: ".. you'll realize how badly designed most websites are!!"
I don't have a problem with any of the other websites I visit. Just
And I'm still not installing extra crap on my computer for just one website. I will just visit this site less (or not at all), use BookLikes more and read more books instead of messing around on Goodreads. It will probably end up cheaper in the long run, since there won't be all those extra recommended books to buy.
Eddie wrote: "http://prntscr.com/9hn16d is what goodreads.com looks like for me! ."Very pretty. Does all this fiddling around mess up any of your other webpages?
I am a firm believer in "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". And the rest of my computer, internet, websites etc work just fine.
no it does not.... the script style is a 'global' style' that was designed to affect every website, but it takes 5 seconds to change it so it affects goodreads.com only ill pm you the instructions...
WE ARE AT 2887 POSTS,, AND BY THE TIME THE DAY IS UP, IT WILL SURPASS 3000.......SAD HOW THIS WHOLE THING IS GOING, JUST SAD...I AM WRITING BIG BECAUSE THATS THE ONLY WAY I CAN VIEW THIS THING.
I do not believe in add-ons for just one site, but I don't want a headache, so I do use them (for moderating purposes only ;)).With Global Fonts, for example, everything gets misaligned, beginning with "get a copy at" vendor buttons on book page and the menu on the top, to the "mod" status under my avatar.
With Stylish - so far so good, but you have to know how to write code to really customize the site. How many of us can do that?
There is on style on Stylish, however, that is priceless - Anti Annoying Stuff on Goodreads: No. More. Ads!
Elentarri wrote: "Eddie wrote: ".. you'll realize how badly designed most websites are!!"
I don't have a problem with any of the other websites I visit. Just goodbadreads.
And I'm still not installing extra crap ..."
Just because they recommend them, it doesn't mean you have to buy them. BTW, their recommendation choices are lousy -- don't fit in with the genre they supposedly represent. Ancient Greece, so they recommend a book on WWII?
I'm not sure what other users are seeing today, but I just logged in through Chrome on a PC and the font looks much better for me! It looks almost identical to how it looks in IE now, though perhaps still a bit lighter. But the font itself looks so much better than it has over the last week. I can tell they are making changes.Also, I just want to say that I have found the GR team very responsive to feedback when contacted directly. I couldn't wade through all the comments here, so I submitted a "comment/suggestion" form through the Contact Us page and I included screenshots to show the difference between IE and Chrome. GR replied to me the same day and has been in communication with me since. They have asked questions about my specific experience and asked me to test some things out to see if I noticed a difference.
So, they are listening and trying to make improvements for us. I'm not saying the site is perfect or that everyone's issues have been resolved. I just wanted other users to know that the team is listening and working on the problems. Unfortunately, that isn't readily apparent if you're just seeing their responses here in the comments.
WHAT DID YOU SAY LAURIE???..HAHA. JUST JOKING...
Even with the updates, the font is still too small, too light, and very hard to read.
For my purposes **so far** it's fine -- IE7 on desktop -- cross fingers for future . I did zoom into 175% -- 200% IS a bit large.
I still can't stay on the site more than a few minutes. The small type is too small, too gray, too visually vague in contrast to the bolded book titles. The type in this discussion is actually the most readable, and it still could be sharper.
Just typing reviews for the first time on the computer and I'm struck by how awful (among other things) the apostrophe is on the Merriweather Font. It's completely off balance. Did anyone at Goodreads actually use this font before (I imagine) paying for it?
Alisa wrote: "Just typing reviews for the first time on the computer and I'm struck by how awful (among other things) the apostrophe is on the Merriweather Font. It's completely off balance."Yet after I copied/pasted my review into GR, the apostrophes and quotes showed up looking good. Why don't they always look like that? https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
@LaurieIt looks like GR is adjusting their site one customer at a time. Good luck with that! We will still be here in this thread 10 years from now.
Rolling back the changes right now is the best solution, everyone will at least be able to read and distinguish links from plain text.
Eddie wrote: ""........I know you've mentioned that it is being looked into in another thread, but seriously, this is a big thing, especially for those of us unable or unwilling to install additional products onto their computers"You will NEVER EVER be happy.
Thank you for this sentiment. However, I am happy on frequent occasions, so not sure why you believe this. But, kudos to you for pointing this out.
Install Ad Block and use the heck out of Goodreads.com let the advertisers know how you feel. [...]
Just install Stylish and let these people think they are making us happy with their lack of business and web design skills. "
I think you missed my point of NOT installing all kinds of crap onto a computer that I use. It is not mine. I know several other people mentioned this throughout the forums. So while I can appreciate the effort put out to create these 'fixes', they are not a true fix and are not viable for everyone.
Besides. If everyone were to simply install a plug-in from another site, then what is the point of asking for issues to be fixed?
Just sayin'.
Elentarri wrote: "Eddie wrote: ".. you'll realize how badly designed most websites are!!""And I'm still not installing extra crap ..."
Amen!
And [...] use BookLikes more and read more books instead of messing around on Goodreads.
I'm really going to have to check this out today!
@ErmaThere is also Leafmarks , if you are interested.
lethe wrote: "Shaun wrote: "Lobstergirl wrote: "I'm on FF 43.0.1https://www.goodreads.com/work/editio...
You need to be on the editions page of a book you have shelved in order for this to ..."
Shaun, I have this as well. I have Safari 9.0.2 on a MacBook Pro. See https://d.gr-assets.com/photos/145087....."
Yes, that is exactly what it looks like for me. Thank you Lethe.
lethe wrote: "Yet after I copied/pasted my review into GR, the apostrophes and quotes showed up looking good. Why don't they always look like that? https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ..."This was the case before the redesign, too; if you wrote something in Word for example and pasted it in, the quotes/endquotes would stay the way they looked in Word, curvy. But if you typed it in the GR box they would be straight.
With the "switch to this edition" button bug, I noticed it on FF 43.0.1 but I've updated to FF 43.0.2 and I'm still seeing it.
M'rella wrote: "@ErmaThere is also Leafmarks , if you are interested."
Oooh, nice. I like that interface way better than Booklikes. Thanks!
M'rella wrote: "There is also Leafmarks , if you are interested."
Cool! Thanks! Will have to look at that one too. :)
I see everything is as shit as it was before my break. At least I can FINALLY see 'my books' now.
☯ DαякєηRнαℓ ❛ ᴰᵃʳᵏ ᴴᵘᶰᵗᵉʳ ❜ wrote: "I see everything is as shit as it was before my break. "
Thank you!
Little to none (mostly none) improvement so far, but plenty of useless "new features" and moving stuff around.
"Enlarge text field" above the already expandable review box. Redundant much? O.o
M'rella wrote: "☯ DαякєηRнαℓ ❛ ᴰᵃʳᵏ ᴴᵘᶰᵗᵉʳ ❜ wrote: "I see everything is as shit as it was before my break. "Thank you!"
Your welcome??? O.o LOL!
Merry Christmas to you too.
@☯ DαякєηRнαℓ ❛ ᴰᵃʳᵏ ᴴᵘᶰᵗᵉʳ ❜Merry Christmas!
Happy Holidays to all! May Kind Santa bring us shiny new usable GR!
M'rella wrote: "@☯ DαякєηRнαℓ ❛ ᴰᵃʳᵏ ᴴᵘᶰᵗᵉʳ ❜Merry Christmas!
Happy Holidays to all! May Kind Santa bring us shiny new usable GR!"
LOL! And thank you :)
M'rella wrote: "@☯ DαякєηRнαℓ ❛ ᴰᵃʳᵏ ᴴᵘᶰᵗᵉʳ ❜Merry Christmas!
Happy Holidays to all! May Kind Santa bring us shiny new usable GR!"
And may he bring GR design team lumps of coal.
Merry Christmas!
Hahahaha! Merry Christmas!
you can bring the GR staff lumps of coal on your own.... use ad block on the site. that is the ONLY way they will 'realize' we do care, and we do have a voice in this!
Eddie wrote: "you can bring the GR staff lumps of coal on your own.... use ad block on the site..."*nods, nods*
Guess the expected happened, decision made, whoever doesn't like it can just talk to the hand, eh?My eyes still sting after barely a couple of paragraphs read on here...
well you can do any number of 3 things.. ad block..
stylish
switch to leafmarks.com
contact Amazon.com corporate office..
