Last week The Nation asked readers to send comments on our new website. A selection of these follows below. The responses were overwhelmingly positive, but a few readers were not happy with the changes. Several visitors had questions about specific features of the new site, which we’ve tried to answer.
Seattle
Nice-looking new website. Meanwhile, online community rocks and all, but I am still wondering wistfully when-oh-when you will bring a Nation road show to Seattle. Are we really just chopped eco-liver?
MARINA SKUMANICH
Actually, there was a Nation-related event in Seattle just two weeks ago. Publisher Victor Navasky spoke at Seattle Town Hall about his new book and the magazine. Sorry you missed him. For information about future Nation events in your area, please sign up for EmailNation, the magazine’s free newsletter.
Owensboro, KY
Nice, businesslike and honest changes. I’d continue to be on your side even if you printed on used toilet paper in Uzbek.
THOMAS BRUNSWICK MARSH
Salem, SC
I really don’t like this new setup. What happened to the archive and to the feature that allows you to e-mail recent articles? This is confusing. And you now have to pay to use the archive?
YVONNE HARRON
You can still e-mail an article by clicking on the “Email This Article” link in the right corner above each piece we publish. Back issues from 1999 on are still available via the “issues” link at the top of every story, but we agree that a link should be added to the new homepage. The Nation Digital Archive, featuring every issue since the magazine began in 1865, has always been a subscription-only service. The link to access the archive is now on the lower-right corner of the main page.
Springfield, IL
The new website is excellent. There is so much available on it that it is almost overwhelming, but that is not a fault from my viewpoint. A most impressive change!
REGAN G. SMITH
Schererville, IN
I love the new online format. Is David Corn married? He is so hot!
DEMETRA FUNDERLIC
David is married, and has two children.
New Orleans
Too many bright colors–including the bumper sticker ad–on your new website create an overall strident effect. The columnists’ pictures against red backgrounds are too in-your-face, and Ari Berman’s looks rather adolescent. I’ve found your covers of late generally in poor taste as well. I’d prefer a plain wrapper. The content, however, remains engaging and readable.
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D. MARTIN JENNI
Lyndhurst, OH
Liked your old website–love the new one! It moved me enough to finally subscribe to The Nation! Just keep on doing what you’re doing.
HARRIET F. ABRAHMS
Charlottesville, VA
I think the features you’ve added are great, although it seems probably smartest to stick with Nation material since there are a couple of good progressive blog and wire compilation sites already.
I do want to say that the typeface is not pleasant to read on an XP PC. Maybe it looks better on Mac? Anyway, something that’s clearer and simpler would be better, anything but blurry Times-ish font!
KEN HYMES
We use both XP and Mac OS X in our office, but design, like art, is, of course, in the eye of the beholder.
Salem, OR
The new site is very attractive. However, in the Newsfeeds section, please make sure that you are not duplicating Common Dreams or Alternet, which are visited regularly by readers of The Nation. I noticed that I had already read several of the articles you included on these other sites.
JUDITH M. KEMP
We promise to do our best not to reproduce content that is already available on these sites. However, since we are using the Newsfeeds section to highlight pressing stories that we haven’t yet covered, there may occasionally be an overlap.
San Francisco
I really am enjoying my first look at your new online layout. It is very colorful and lively. I have been reading The Nation since the 1960s as a student at San Francisco State. I think the visual changes to the cover of the paper edition and changes to the website are good. You have accomplished visual changes without compromising the editorial content.
One of the common criticisms of The Nation is that its layout is too stodgy. This seems to be changing–see your picture of Al Gore as a rapper on the recent cover. I do suggest that you make even more changes to the paper edition. An increase in photos and graphics is something to consider.
LEE HEIDHUES
Durham, NC
Love the new redesign. One request–have a place where subscribers to the print edition can change their mailing addresses! Also, I would be willing to subscribe to an online only publication.
LUCY M. McMORRIS
It’s something we’re considering.
Santa Barbara, CA
Outstanding! The new Nation website makes the New York Times and Washington Post sites look cheap and paltry!
LLOYD HEGLAND
Joliet, IL
I think your redesign is wonderful. Like a good spring cleaning, you have made everything clearer and brighter. Organizing features is very helpful, and the updates (e.g., to “What Are They Reading?”) and new interactive features (e.g., blog comments) are much appreciated.
One suggestion would be to add a link to TomDispatch.com, always a good source of thoughtful commentary.
JOANNA STRILEY
The “Sites We Like” box on the left side of the main page features a small, random selection of links to a very large group of websites we support, including TomDispatch.
Concord, NH
Just a quick note to congratulate you on the lovely redesign of your website. You have made it more readable, easier to access, easier to see what’s new and thus far more engaging. Well done! I went to your site just after I visited Arianna Huffington’s new site and noticed several similarities. The use of white space is very clever, open and accessible. Smart!
LANCE KLASS
