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New Navigation Bar on Goodreads
UPDATE: the new navigation bar is now live for everyone on Goodreads! Thanks so much to those of you who filled out the survey—to those of you who haven't had a chance to do so yet, please be sure to fill out the survey to give us your feedback on the new experience!
Starting today, we're introducing a new navigation bar on the desktop site. With a more streamlined look, the new navigation makes it easier for you to get to all the features of Goodreads you love, search for books, and stay up to date with your messages and notifications.
This new experience will be rolled out over the next few weeks, so don't worry if you don't see it yet—it's coming!
The new navigation is designed to be clean and easy to read. It features a larger search box and adapts to the width of your screen, whether you're viewing Goodreads on a tablet or a desktop computer. If you're browsing Goodreads on a desktop computer, you'll also notice that it remains visible when you scroll down the page, keeping important links accessible at all times.
Under Browse, you'll find links to our popular Giveaways section (who can resist free books!), as well as New Releases, and author interviews and book recommendations in News & Interviews. The navigation also comes with a new spotlight on books from your favorite genres that are trending among the Goodreads community, helping you discover more great books to add to your to-read list.
Community is our new gateway to all things social on Goodreads. Find your Groups and discover new ones, see which authors are answering questions in Ask the Author, and test your knowledge with Trivia and Quizzes.
Once you have a chance to use the new navigation, let us know what you think of it via our survey.
Starting today, we're introducing a new navigation bar on the desktop site. With a more streamlined look, the new navigation makes it easier for you to get to all the features of Goodreads you love, search for books, and stay up to date with your messages and notifications.
This new experience will be rolled out over the next few weeks, so don't worry if you don't see it yet—it's coming!
The new navigation is designed to be clean and easy to read. It features a larger search box and adapts to the width of your screen, whether you're viewing Goodreads on a tablet or a desktop computer. If you're browsing Goodreads on a desktop computer, you'll also notice that it remains visible when you scroll down the page, keeping important links accessible at all times.
Under Browse, you'll find links to our popular Giveaways section (who can resist free books!), as well as New Releases, and author interviews and book recommendations in News & Interviews. The navigation also comes with a new spotlight on books from your favorite genres that are trending among the Goodreads community, helping you discover more great books to add to your to-read list.
Community is our new gateway to all things social on Goodreads. Find your Groups and discover new ones, see which authors are answering questions in Ask the Author, and test your knowledge with Trivia and Quizzes.
Once you have a chance to use the new navigation, let us know what you think of it via our survey.
Comments Showing 401-450 of 654 (654 new)
Learnin Curve wrote: "It must be very hard to give your free time up to work for a site only to hear people complain and complain because they can't be bother to even try. For example it has been explained again and again and again that you now click goodreads on the top left for your home screen. This isn't being a novice, this is wilful stupidity and a refusal to read the instructions at this point. "Girl, please. You are a piece of work. Hard for Vickie to "give up her free time...only to hear people complain and complain"? Vickie has done 291 librarian edits. I've done 500 times that. (actually 499.7 times but I'm rounding up.)
GR is soliciting feedback in this thread. Please reread that sentence.
There's a bug with Safari on iOS devices (iPad, iPhone) that's stopping the drop down from you avatar appearing. The goodreads folks are aware of it and claim they're working on a fix.There is a friends menu item under the missing drop down.
Marita wrote: "Where do I find books recommended to me by friends/recommended by me to friends? There is no longer a dropdown box under my avatar, and I am unable to find it elsewhere."If you pass your mouse pointer over your profile picture a drop down box will open up. Friend's recs are there and I presume it will take you to the page where your recs are as well.
The new bar is rotten. There's no longer any way to jump back to the home screen. That is a serious defect and bad enough that I'm not even interested in anything else. Very poor design. Get a professional next time.
Click on the goodreads logo. That will take you back to the home screen.
I like the new bar. On my PC screen. But on my smartphone screen it looks bad because:1) the "home" button is a simple G instead of Goodreads. I'm ending up hitting My books more often than not. I understand adaptive, but give me a fair chance to hit the right button without zooming
2) the notifications/messages/friends/profile icons work on mouse over and it's fabulous. On my PC screen. Safari for iOS 9 (iPhone) has no such feature, so, in the past I simply clicked on the arrows to see the drop-down, now I have to click on the icons and go to another page to check my notifications or see my profile tools. Considering that most data plans are capped or something, it's not efficient.
3) on my phone, I keep seeing that pesky "smart app banner" which prompts me to open the GR app. If I'm using the website, there is a reason, so, could you please disable this annoying feature? The top part of my screen is cluttered, I don't see the "X" symbol to get rid of the banner anymore.
Thank you
Gene wrote: "Well said. I'm very frustrated that some basic functionality of this site gets ignored while useless pretty things keep getting all of the attention. #1 on my long-standing pet peeve list: allow me to filter by language"
Where do I have to sign for this feature? I would love it. When dealing with classics, there may be more than 50 editions and it would be so useful to cull by language. Even more so on authors' pages, i.e., I go to Ken Follett books page https://www.goodreads.com/author/list... and I read 120 distinct works. Wait, did he write 120 books? No, because multiple editions and collections are in the page. Around 30, but I need to go on Wikipedia for that.
Having language filters would be awesome.
It seems like Lobstergirl doesn't actually have any issues (certainly can't see any mentioned), but is just here to pick apart people's sentences. Or trolling, if you understand the term.
I could repeat myself a thousand times but I'll just go back to this - they haven't actually done ANY major updates, they've just moved a few things around on the navigation bar. Why is this worth wasting your energy on?
Some people just like to complain.
I could repeat myself a thousand times but I'll just go back to this - they haven't actually done ANY major updates, they've just moved a few things around on the navigation bar. Why is this worth wasting your energy on?
Some people just like to complain.
Lindsay wrote: "Ron wrote: "I hate it! Where's the home page?
Why do software designers redesign things that are just fine?"
The home page is the goodreads logo.
Changes like this are typically done to keep t..."
Thanks for explaining. Why didn't goodreads.com? (Explain, that is.) It still looks like change for the sake of change--giving the illusion of progress without the substance.
The book ends and clutter on the bar made it very cluttered and squashed when using a tablet browser. The owner of the site sells tablets, therefore expect any updates to be geared towards them from now on :)It's funny thinking about it, lot of people who dislike the change clearly have not used an amazon fire tablet. Anyone who does own one won't be surprised in the slightest that goodreads is being used to push books Amazon want you to buy in recommendations, or that they are gearing the site so it looks better on Fires. The fire goodreads for kindle app does not have the community stuff/giveaways/blog/groups that the normal app does. It's a stripped down organising and reviewing tool.
I like how the new navigation bar looks and I hope that the next thing to be fixed is the option to give books .05 stars
For iPad users who want to logout and can't: I sent Goodreads an email and got a reply that I should sign out from a laptop or desktop computer. Well, I made a point of doing that and it did not sign out my iPad login, which I never believed would happen. As others have pointed out, multiple sign ins are allowed on different devices. I do not use the app at all, just safari and the browser. What does seem to work for me is to go to the iPad settings, then Safari, and then Clear History and Website Data. This is kind of a pain, especially for more frequent users, and you may lose more than you want. Try this if you don't mind clearing your history fairly frequently.
I am still trying to figure out the rest of it!
I just tried to sign out on my iPad and it worked just fine. I guess the bug is not affecting everyone using a tablet.
Reading these comments once again reminds me how difficult it is to make updates and manage to keep your users happy. In this case at least it is literally impossible.Sorry for those who aren't happy with the changes. I know how difficult it is for things to change in a way you don't like and how frustrating it feels to be nearly powerless to do anything about it.
Licha wrote: "What I'd really like is to be able to go directly to specific dates in my upfeed without having to scroll back pages upon pages upon pages just to get to a specific date. By the time I've scrolled ..."I want to be able to do this too, great suggestion!
I like the new navigation bar. Kudos Goodreads. I am happy that I don't have to scroll all the way back to the top for the search bar when I want to look for a new book.
Raven wrote: "I like how the new navigation bar looks and I hope that the next thing to be fixed is the option to give books .05 stars"We've only been asking for that for 8 years, so I'm sure we'll have to keep waiting.
La-Lionne wrote: "I just tried to sign out on my iPad and it worked just fine. I guess the bug is not affecting everyone using a tablet."Have you got a drop down menu at the top right hand side then, La-Lionne? That's what's missing for the other iPad users on here.
How could I find the ebooks like before to easily read books?
Debbie wrote: "I feel like Goodreads and I are going in different directions. If other people like these changes I guess its great, but the old version of GR was much better for me personally. :("Concur.
Learnin Curve wrote: "The book ends and clutter on the bar made it very cluttered and squashed when using a tablet browser. The owner of the site sells tablets, therefore expect any updates to be geared towards them fro..."Since goodreads.com is a subsidiary of Amazon.com, we should brace ourselves for more of this.
Where is the old "Home" link? --The one that shows what my friends have been reviewing and commenting on? With new bar, I have to edit the URL to www.goodreads.com where I used to just click on Home.
Dang!!! I loveeeeeeeee this! This is lit af! Loving Goodreads 7.0!!!! This is awesome! Sooooooooooo excited :D
So now the nav bar is hiding under my bookmarks and I can't use anything on it....which means no being able to sign out, access my groups, books, friends and everything else. @Chance: They removed the home link but you can still go home by clicking on the GR name or the G or whichever is showing up for you on the far left of the screen. ^-^
κικκι. wrote: "So now the nav bar is hiding under my bookmarks and I can't use anything on it....which means no being able to sign out, access my groups, books, friends and everything else. @Chance: They remove..."
Thanks!
Raven wrote: "I like how the new navigation bar looks and I hope that the next thing to be fixed is the option to give books .05 stars"Asking for .05 stars to obtain 0.5 stars, not a bad idea! :O)
About the new bar: while everything personal is on the right, why is My Books on the left?
Vickie wrote: "It seems like Lobstergirl doesn't actually have any issues (certainly can't see any mentioned), but is just here to pick apart people's sentences. Or trolling, if you understand the term.I could ..."
I guess you haven't been paying much attention then, because since the December update (and maybe even before that, I don't know) Lobstergirl has been one of the most active members in reporting genuine bugs and other issues that have occurred since the updates. It's not her fault that some people feel the need to get snarky, when users are voicing their opinions, just like Goodreads is asking them to do. Or that people who are confused or not that good with computers ask for help and get some users all worked up.
Liz wrote: "Please figure out a way to mark Re-Reads of books and have them count towards the yearly goal!!!"Yes! When book 6 comes out I usually re-read 1-5 first.
Howdoyou find the home page or updates of people who are following
The home page is the goodreads logo. Then click on the Updates tab below it.
Barbara wrote: "Jack wrote: "Is it to difficult to read comment #472?"No, Jack, it isn't, however, I'm not going to read 474 messages to find out how to do something!!!"
Well just in case you didn't, the home button is the goodreads logo.
Jack wrote: "Is it to difficult to read comment #472?"Some people see the change and freak out about it. It costs nothing to give them the simple answer without giving them grief about it.
(I mean, ideally, people would look at least the last few entries, but they're freaking out ...)
A cleaner, crisper look connotes a drop-down style that is much easier to navigate visually. I like the fact that all the popular information is centrally focused. Can't wait to give it a test run.
Lindsay wrote: "...But these sort of changes aren't typically aimed at existing users; they're aimed at the user who is seeing goodreads for the first time and trying to make the best impression to that user...."This is a good point, but they should be wanting to keep the old users as well. I understand it's a fine line (really, I do!), but they should be thinking about retention as well as recruitment. So to speak. Offering a classic version or doing better beta tests and giving more warning before a change would help; too many websites simply go "here! we've made changes! deal!" And then can't be contacted for feedback/don't pay attention to feedback.
Dawn wrote: "Lindsay wrote: "...But these sort of changes aren't typically aimed at existing users; they're aimed at the user who is seeing goodreads for the first time and trying to make the best impression to that user..."This is a good point, but they should be wanting to keep the old users as well.
Well, they probably think that changing the navbar isn't such a big deal. (Most) people who are already frequent users of the site are unlikely to be deterred by such minor changes in functionality, and there are positives here for everyone.
Yes, there's been a few bugs, but if you're going to quit the site over something so small, then you were probably going to quit the site soon anyway.
But all that being said, the number of times I've repeated "goodreads logo is home" on this thread would seem to argue that the "New Navigation Bar on Goodreads!" banner should have been "New Navigation Bar - Press on Goodreads for Home" or something like that ...
The dropdown box for notifications is okay if you only have one notification; then you can click on that single notification. When you have more than one, say 10, then you have to click on the button. But when you do that, you no longer have the red (or is it orange?) "new." If the "new" indicator would remain on your new notifications, it would be much, much easier. As it is, you have to remember where the "new"s stopped. Not good web design when you have to make a mental note as you go from page to page otherwise you forget something.
Suvi wrote: "Lobstergirl has been one of the most active members in reporting genuine bugs and other issues that have occurred since the updates. ..."Thank you, this is true. And I've reported the same bugs repeatedly since they often don't get noticed the first time, I can't say why.
Just one example, for people who have been wondering about the "gender bug" - author profiles and member profiles no longer indicate gender - I have been informed that the gender feature has been disabled while they work on it. That was something I brought up in December and finally got an answer on last week. (Thank you, Meghan, for responding.)
My guess is they are expanding beyond two genders and are tinkering with the coding, but that's just a guess. Gender is not a required field anyway.
Since so many people are having problems with the HOME button disappearing, here's what the New York Times does.The Times navigation bar has "The New York Times" at the top of every page, plus over on the left the buttons are "sections" "HOME" and "search." The HOME button has the T which is the symbol for the times, but it also has the word HOME right there. Thus NYT readers are not confused about what the T means.
In certain views the T appears alone; however, if you hover over it it says "go to the home page to see the latest top stories".
The "Goodreads" "logo" on the bar also has text when you hover over it, but it doesn't indicate that it takes you to the home page. It just says "Goodreads: Book reviews, recommendations, and discussion". Why not replace that text with "Go to the home page to see book reviews etc.".
Lindsay wrote: "Dawn wrote: "Lindsay wrote: "...But these sort of changes aren't typically aimed at existing users; they're aimed at the user who is seeing goodreads for the first time and trying to make the best ..."Well, it's not just the navigation bar I'm talking about; I was also referring to some of the other changes that have been made recently. You have to admit that that new coloration among other things was--and remains--upsetting to many.
Can we please have the "re-read" thingy when adding books in currently reading? And will you please have it counted as well in the number of books read this year even if it is a re-read?
I like this change, it doesn't upset me much unlike some other people. Change is constant and usually I find my way using new things after few mins and I'd like to say I appreciate the 'Browse' window. It makes life easier. Again it seems like I'm in minority here but whist you're doing good job in building this website, please ask your android developers to spend sometime in app as well.
Yeah I do like the layout like this. It's simple and functional and clean. I'm sure there are improvements that can be made still, but so far I like it a lot. I do think there are other things on the site that could be improved, I mean for sure there's always room for improvement, but I definitely like this layout.
Can I just give a shout out to Meghan (Customer care) who is doing a fantastic job at keeping her cool with so much negative feedback, especially the grumpiness surrounding unrelated issues.There's always going to be kickbacks from changes and I personally feel the changes are a step in the right direction as websites need to change to stay relevant.
As a usability nerd I love to give my 2c which I've done so in the survey. The flat design is very modern and I love it.
One irk, however: hovering over the circles should either have the circles change colour/darkness, not darken the square behind it. Keep circles as circles or keep squares as squares.
I'm sure your coders know how to do that but a simple JavaScript function should do the trick :)
Yeah, this thread is pretty unconstructive. Not that I don't agree with most of the grievances posted here (except that I hope Goodreads will never add half stars), but this thread is not the place to air them.
Tobias wrote: "Yeah, this thread is pretty unconstructive."I think letting people have their say is always worthwhile.
The very concept of brainstorming is putting all ideas on the table....good ideas and bad ideas alike. Occasionally some pretty amazing ideas owe their existence to what might have at the time seemed dumb. Do you have an iPhone or an iPad for example?
If they didn't want people to express opinions, the simple answer would be to make the announcement and lock the topic.
GR users are the value of GR. How much would GR be worth if it had zero users? Perhaps you don't understand how companies like Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, and GR work - how they get those big valuations.