July 6th, 2007
10:49 AM ET
Fun with feedback

As many of you know during the beta period – and now post-launch – we are soliciting your feedback through links on the site and through this blog. And your feedback has been invaluable to us as we continue to evolve the site. In addition to helping us shape our next features, fight bugs, and simply "telling it to us like it is," these comments have also helped us take ourselves a little less seriously and acted as a source for some internal comic relief. I receive hourly updates on comments and while it's not possible to read them all, I have read a lot of them. Below are some favorites, each with their own special award.

Most emailed around the newsroom:
The beta page freakin rocks man! Way to keep up with technology...its like your sticking it to MSNBC! I hope you atlanta folks keep kicking ass and taking names! A Big HELLS YES!!! Its like Rikki Bobby says...Dear Lord Baby Jesus, let CNN stay all jacked up on mountain dew and go after MSNBC like a spider monkey!!!

Most popular request (note we've fixed this!):
PLEASE keep the links at the bottom of the page. "Entertainment", "World", "Travel", "Health", "Technology", etc. That's the best part about your current web site

Most harsh:
Those marketing and design people should get an award for the new look, maybe the same award that went to the creators of The "New CocaCola".You know, Pink Slips.

Most bizarre (Coming from a blog post from "Mr. Tips"):
I like to comment on things because I'm important. Much more important than you!!! Change your site. No don't change it. Make it work for ME. ME ME ME ME ME ME!!!! site looks like poop.

Most said all-in-one-breath:
I think that this site is great site because it is very informative and it has a lot to offer in a lot of ways for example catching up with the everyday news up to the minute and a whole lot more besides that, so much infact that I can not even say because it would take me forever to say it. So all together I am just saying that this is the one and only site that you should sign up for, check it out and then make it your home page, and that is all that there is to it, point blank, alright?

Most to the point:
Its tight yo. Aight. Peace.

And finally a special winner for the "awwwww" award:
Very clean, visually appealing, easy to navigate...plus my son, Garrett, worked on the development team. Good job!!! Joyce Spatz.

These are just a few of the diverse and always interesting comments we get through our feedback mechanisms. Thank you to everyone out there that has sent us feedback – we are and will continue to be listening!

Posted by: Lori Adams Murphy - Sr. Director, User Experience & Site Development
Filed under: Content • Feedback


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Displaying 24 Comments | Add comment
1
July 6th, 2007
12:50 pm ET
 

stop inching your way to becoming a tabloid go back to the quality of news reporting cnn once had.

Posted by: webrawl
2
July 6th, 2007
1:19 pm ET
 

I love the new site but I am running FireFox as the browser. The problem I am having is that the Media player is not working and I get an Error message. This happens when I try to play the clips with the camera on it. Any suggestions? Thank you, John

Posted by: John Heinz
3
July 6th, 2007
1:20 pm ET
 

I used to like the layout before, I could go to U.S., world, education, politics and law. Now I can not find any news on law and education. I preferred the news by topic, easier to find what I was interested in.

Posted by: Marilyn
4
July 6th, 2007
1:23 pm ET
 

I really like the old format. What happened to LAW as a link? It seems scattered and I don't like the RED. Why is MORE NEWS at the bottom after cartoons and podcasts, etc. I come to the page to read the news and there is extraneous stuff between the latest news and more news. Very distracting.

Have to say I am not in agreement with the change. Any chance you can let people pick which format they liked best?

Posted by: K Conaty
5
July 6th, 2007
2:13 pm ET
 

Your new weather page is bad. We used to be able to call up the whole US and then select a region, example southe east and then look at the radar for the last several hours to see the development and direction of storms. I can't see how to get to the weather pave from your home page. If you can't do a good weather page, I am going to have to find another news source that has good weather. Where is the Law page. The articles on your old law page were well laid out and informative. Why did it have to go. Where did the two cartoons that used to reside on the political page go, you should have kept them. Overall, I prefer the previous pages. You are spending way too much money on web designers. Instead of having them build you fancy pages that they like, you should spend a little time asking a sampling of real people that pull up your page every day. Find out what they would change and what they would keep. Are the CNN people who approved the new web page still employed by CNN? WHY?

Posted by: P Clark
6
July 6th, 2007
2:23 pm ET
 

I can't believe the most popular request wasn't to include a text article with the video stories. When I read through the comments on previous blog posts, that's the request that pops up the most. Otherwise, I love the new look - it looks much cleaner and more professional than the old site. I'll continue to get news from your site, but I am tired of having to use Google to find text equivalents to videos. I don't want to waste my time watching a video - if I did, I'd turn on the actual TV and watch CNN. Just because YouTube and various other Web 2.0 sites are all about video doesn't mean CNN has to be. I'm sure you've done usability testing and focus groups and have a good idea of your primary audience. I would think that your primary audience isn't into watching videos on the Web - they probably want their news fast, straightforward, and "scannable." Video has none of these qualities.

Posted by: Jenny
7
July 6th, 2007
2:40 pm ET
 

Very nice, although I feel as though there is much more news than you are presenting

Posted by: brandon
8
July 6th, 2007
3:08 pm ET
 

Where are the links to the shows?? I.e. Anderson Cooper 360. Nancy Grace?? Im still getting used to the new stuff. So give me some time. I'lll adjust.

Posted by: jackiek
9
July 6th, 2007
5:02 pm ET
 

I like the change to your site. The only problem is that every single time I go to CNN.com now, I receive a window that says there is content on your site that is potentially unsafe to my computer.

I don't know for sure if this is so, but it might be something worth looking into for your web design team.

Thanks,
Tami

Posted by: Tami
10
July 6th, 2007
5:34 pm ET
 

At first I wondered if I had somehow stumbled upon a mobile version of the site. I miss the topic bars on the left, A LOT

Posted by: christine
11
July 6th, 2007
6:26 pm ET
 

Ditto on the video comments by Jenny. CNN.com is my primary source of news but I don't want to waste time watching a video – I'll hit the TV for that. Take a few minutes to "textualize" those video stories...who knows maybe if the text is interesting enough you might get a few of us text only folks to actually take a look at the video...I said might :)

Posted by: kim
12
July 7th, 2007
10:04 am ET
 

Why your website doesn't work with Firefox ? And do you want to make your website work with it ?

I am using Firefox under GNU-Linux, and I can not anymore watch CNN Pipeline / CNN.com Live video.

I was happy to watch CNN Pipeline before, and happy to pay for this service.
Now it's "free" but should I have to buy Microsoft Windows to watch this "free service" ?

Posted by: Julian P. Tidal
13
July 7th, 2007
1:29 pm ET
 

After spending a few days with the new site, I'll state it plain and simple. At first I was a bit thrown off by the sheer newness of it all. But once I regained my equilibrium I found myself delighted with not only the new layout, but also the ease of navigation and the volume of videos. I've always spent a lot of time with CNN.com previously...but this time I switched from MSNBC as my homepage to CNN. Thanks CNN!

Posted by: Kevin
14
July 7th, 2007
3:17 pm ET
 

I like how it looks, but I don't like what is in it. The law and education sections are missing. I would really prefer this new look, but with the capability to arrange the sections on the page myself, like Google news. I say this because the content is a bit too tabloidy for me, echoing a previous comment above–. But, thanks for the effort.

Posted by: Alan
15
July 7th, 2007
11:59 pm ET
 

Yes, it's like a treasure hunt having to find the Anderson Cooper 360 page. I suspect a good number of us come to the cnn.com site to read more about stories which have been featured on your shows.

PS It would be great if everybody's comments under each issue could be published so that people can also have a sense of how many people support a particular position.

PPS It would be great to see some of the negative comments for this particular topic to see if we're being redundant . . .

Posted by: Erika
16
July 10th, 2007
1:23 am ET
 

Hey, thanks so much for listening – I was able to find the knew 'TV' square in seconds, with the funky pull-down menu . . . very spiffy! Both functional and aesthetically pleasing . . . you guys do rock! (lol)

Posted by: Erika
17
July 10th, 2007
3:05 pm ET
 

The biggest disappointment with the site is that CNN International is not carried overnight. That was the most useful thing about CNN Pipeline, since DirecTV had dropped CNN International. It ought to be a simple matter to connect a cable from CNN International to the new internet stream – but once again, CNN has made it impossible to get live news overnight.

Posted by: Doug
18
July 11th, 2007
7:23 pm ET
 

Hey, I wanna comment too!...Doug's right, no fair why can't I find CNN International on late night at cnn.com! Darn it please, keep it online....

Posted by: sat d
19
July 12th, 2007
12:56 pm ET
 

I don't care for web videos and like to read my news. I scan and read what interests me. So far, not much that is new on CNN interests me.I have been spending more of my time on websites who feature more text, less videos, and less tabloid sensationalism.

Posted by: Mike
20
July 12th, 2007
3:05 pm ET
 

The new look reminds me of the BBC website, unfortunatly the "new" CNN is much more confusing. What if I don't want to customize my homepage, what if I want the classic look, where is that option. I relied on CNN for my daily news, online. The change is not in my opinion positive and has focused almost solely on what the CNN wants the headlines to be instead of having fast access to world and business news. The front page headlines are eye catching, but not always news worthy. Please offer long term CNN users the option to view in the classic format.

Posted by: Concerned about CNN
21
August 1st, 2007
4:22 pm ET
 

Still looking for the EDUCATION page...

Posted by: Kate
22
September 25th, 2007
12:13 am ET
 

You guys rock ! I got a lump in my throat when I heard Kerra (spelling?) Giving it to that Iranian terrorist. I'm switching back to CNN !!! P.S. I'm very conserative.

Posted by: Warren
23
November 20th, 2007
12:53 pm ET
 

I miss your education and law sections. Now, I have to go elsewhere to find this news. It is forcing me to find a new "favorite" news site.

Posted by: Traci
24
November 26th, 2007
10:05 pm ET
 

You talk so much about the Holloway lady and her being missing what about the Jackson State missing young lady.Put more news on the air about her out so,maybe someone out there may can help and we can hear more news about her.

Posted by: wayne
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Welcome! Join us for a behind-the-scenes look at CNN.com. This is where we'll talk about the site – from our coverage, to new features, to the story behind the story. We look forward to lots of feedback from our thoughtful and informed readers in this space.