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Techcrunch Changes Its Theme Again!! Oh Come On

Steven Finch — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 09:26:33 +0000

Techcrunch has changed their theme yet again. A few months ago the theme was changed for the 3rd time in a year and I thought it was really moving in the right direction. The navigation was clean, there were a lot more options to find the articles you are looking for, and the theme had some colour and character.

Techcrunch today have launched a new theme which keeps the same navigation principles but totally gets rid of all the character and colour on the page.

Let me know what you think!

Before:

After:

Techcrunch Theme Changed Again, This Time It Is Actually User Friendly

Steven Finch — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:39:22 +0000

I have also noticed today that Techcrunch has changed their theme again. It hasn’t really been too long since they last changed their theme, probably about a quarter off the top of my head. Last time the Techcrunch theme was changed they seems to have nothing in their sidebar except advertising (i know Crenk also has a little bit of advertising), however that being said this new theme really addresses the key issues of the older theme.

The site itself is a lot more compact in the header and key change is that the 728×90 advertisement is no longer above the site, but fitting in with the header itself. The key green is not really as predominant, but it makes it easy to distinguish between Techcrunch and the other network sites. In the old theme they just had excepts on the home page, but now they have an additional three slots in which they can feature certain articles. Navigation has really improved within this new theme and now it is a lot easier to find new content. As well as feature articles in the header on the home page they have also added eleven featured articles in the sidebar sitewide. If I didnt have an RSS reader or use it everyday, with the previous theme it would have been impossible to keep up with the new content, however with this new theme it provides me with a better idea on what is happening in the tech space.

This new theme is far from perfect but it is a huge improvement from all the previous themes they had on the site. I would really still like to see a lot more integration between the Techcrunch home page and the other network sites, but im sure that will come within the year.

Does Branding Play a Part In a Site The Size of Crenk?

Steven Finch — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 21:55:06 +0000

There hasn’t been a post on here for a few days so I thought I would just have a bit of a rant. Here at Crenk the theme of the site has changed several times in the last year. Currently for the last few weeks I have been thinking about re-branding the site and actually changing the theme again. This time I have thought against changing the site. My basic thought process was that a site like Crenk needs to improve to a certain level and then branding has more of an affect, but at the present size it is really more about content and basic usability of the site. I was wondering if this was the thought process of most blog owners or am I in the minority?

Google Reader Changes Design But Not Sure For The Better

Steven Finch — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 11:35:12 +0000

Google Reader has for a long time been my RSS reader of choice. The design has been simple, easy to use, lots of customisation options, ability to group and more.

Last week Google released a new version of Google Reader and I thought I would take a little time and review it for everyone.

(old)

(new)

Key changes include collapsible navigation, updated look and feel, friends get promoted and more bundle feeds.

Friends get promoted

Shared items have grown up and gotten their own section in the navigation pane. You can collapse this entire section and use the title to see everything your friends have shared, or leave it open to track friends with shared items. (Don’t forget that you can add new friends in “Sharing settings“.)

More bundled feeds!

Previously Google has some default bundles that you could subscribe too, in a variety of areas. Previously this was very limited and there were only about 10 areas. Now they have added huge amounts of bundle feeds for pretty much every major niche. If you go to “Browse for stuff” then you can see bundles.

Collapsible Navigation

Each section of the navigation pane now has its own options menu and minimize/maximize controls. You can collapse each major section of navigation down to one line and focus on only the things you choose to use.

Updated look and feel

The look and feel has changed a lot in this new version of Google Reader. I personally would have liked it if there was an option to return to the old version or at least have a variety of versions. The new version is very neutral, with white and a very light blue being the main colours. However, I find post a lot harder to read in this new version. Recently Gmail received a variety of themes in which users could choose from, I really hope this isn’t too long in coming to Google Reader.
Overall

Overall the changes to Google Reader were needed, except in the case of changing the colour scheme. I think the colour scheme changes are definitely a step backwards, but this can be changed when hopefully they release a themes range to choose from.