Star-Bulletin on the Web

[buzz1941]

Re: Honolulu Star-Bulletin Website Update

I went on their new site and didn't see an obituary section.

Try here:

http://www.legacy.com/StarBulletin/Obituaries.asp

Look under NEWS in the blue bar at the top of each page.

[sin]

Re: Honolulu Star-Bulletin Website Update

New StarBulletin website banner looks great with Diamond Head in the background (that is new right?) and it's still easy to navigate.

The Advertiser has a lot to offer but it's just so busy and overwhelming. I hope the SB website's popularity means they're making some revenue from it.

[Kalihiboy]

Re: Honolulu Star-Bulletin Website Update

I'm not getting hardly any of the photos on past and current stories, mug shuts gone too.

Aj

[buzz1941]

Re: Honolulu Star-Bulletin Website Update

I'm not getting hardly any of the photos on past and current stories, mug shuts gone too.

Aj

It will take a few days for that stuff.

[IslandBeef]

Re: Honolulu Star-Bulletin Website Update

A few observations (since I kind of work in the industry)...

Account Login? What extra features will require login? Hmm...

Leader board ad at top and skyscraper on right both are from outside services, not local, as well as the Google Ads. I've often wondered if that brings in enough revenue to justify position.

Tabbed pages... Very fast, I like... Pull down menus, not a fan. Also, flash ads (see above) sometimes show on top of pull down, covering a lot of it.

Local advertisers... Geico, Oceanic, Hawaiian Air, Bodies, The Learning Coalition and Pizza Hut.

[mel]

Re: Honolulu Star-Bulletin Website Update

The Star-Bulletin is changing servers, and it takes half a day or so for all the links to be refreshed. The back issues links should be there by tomorrow. If you need back issue right away, run your cursor over the blue bar at the top with the section titles, and a spry drops down with further choices -- the last one for each department is always ARCHIVES - HISTORICAL

OK thanks, I found that and reduced the URL to this:

http://archives.starbulletin.com/

The above URL takes you to the index page where each year's worth of back issues can be found. That URL and other sub-domain URLs like it should be on the front most page and not hidden behind a drop down menu.

And as echoed by another poster, I do find the drop down ads that cover content annoying. You roll your cursor over one of these and the thing you want to see is covered up. Not cool.

[Nords]

Re: Honolulu Star-Bulletin Website Update

S-B dropped their link to the Dilbert cartoons. I wonder if they had to pay money for the privilege of linking.

It's interesting that the Advertiser's website seems to become more bloated and user-hostile every day, but most especially after their last "upgrade". Yet the S-B quietly did a complete overhaul without losing speed and the reader's initial assessment seems to be "looks fine, no problems".

So what differences should the Advertiser's webmaster(s) be paying attention to? What is the S-B doing that Advertiser can't (or won't)?

[pzarquon]

Re: Honolulu Star-Bulletin Website Update

New StarBulletin website banner looks great with Diamond Head in the background (that is new right?) and it's still easy to navigate.

I love everything else about the new design -- cleaner, well organized, but still lightweight, which matters the most to me. The drop down menu is a bit much, but I can live with it. The Advertiser site is so bloated I can't believe someone was paid to design it -- pageloads in the megabytes? Are they kidding? Kudos all around.

But the Diamond Head banner looks rough to me. Overly pixelated and washed out. I'm certain they did it on purpose -- keeping the filesize down, and maybe wanting to invoke a "vintage" feel. But it looks unintentionally amateur to me, reminiscent of a small-town paper posted to Geocities or something. The masking on the text just seems harsh, the transparency of the other elements overlaid on it can be problematic, and the "ghost" images on the right side seem more accidental... or as if someone discovered the opacity setting in Photoshop for the first time.

Like I said, though, the speed and organization of the site (even just the intuitive directory structure!) is key, and on that front the superior Star-Bulletin just got better. Great job.

[Kimo]

Re: Honolulu Star-Bulletin Website Update

Ref: Archives/Back Issues
I just now wanted to take a look at something in YESTERDAY's paper, and it hasn't yet been posted. I always liked the SMTWTFS thingie they had in the left column...made it real easy.

[buzz1941]

Re: Honolulu Star-Bulletin Website Update

Ref: Archives/Back Issues
I just now wanted to take a look at something in YESTERDAY's paper, and it hasn't yet been posted. I always liked the SMTWTFS thingie they had in the left column...made it real easy.

That's coming back.

Here's background on some stuff.

http://www.starbulletin.com/about/a_...lletincom.html

Comments are gone too. That's in flux.

The main changes are under the hood, having to do with story filing and cross-referencing, something that's needed upgrading for years. We're in this for the long haul as a public resource.

[cabanalane]

starbulletin.com

I can't seem to find past issues of starbulletin.com.

I'm not talking about archives.

Let's say today is monday 9/29. I was to see sunday 9/28. The earliest archive issue is 9/23.

If it's there, I have a hard time finding it on their new format.

[buzz1941]

Re: starbulletin.com

The 23rd was the last day of the "old" sb.com Website. The new site is still in archiving transition, and there will soon be a way to access everything from the 24th on. The Webmeister says sometime this week.

In the meantime, as a stopgap, use the search engine and type in the date you want.

[tutusue]

Re: starbulletin.com

It was discussed here last week. Possibly that thread will help you find an answer?

[buzz1941]

Re: Honolulu Star-Bulletin Website Update

It's baaaaaa-aaack:

http://www.starbulletin.com/archives

[mel]

Re: Honolulu Star-Bulletin Website Update

OK, it seems that most of the kinks with the new website design have been worked out.

However now the biggest and most offensive thing I find on the StarBulletin.com website are POP UP ADS!

And I mean the flash based ones that cover up more than 2/3 of the content we want to read and are hard to make go away except closing the window or quitting our browser.

I've already sent a complaint about these to the paper today.

Perhaps everyone who hates pop ups ought to send an email to the various departments, most notably (I think):

Ian Rutka / Online Advertising Executive
(808) 295-0798
advertising@starbulletin.com

Frank Bridgewater / Editor
(808) 529-4791
fbridgewater@starbulletin.com

Dennis Francis,
President and Publisher
(808) 529-4702
dfrancis@starbulletin.com

Glenn Zuehls,
Vice President / Advertising
(808) 529-4704
gzuehls@starbulletin.com

StarBulletin contact information page URL

http://www.starbulletin.com/about/co...formation.html

I know browsers have pop up ad blocking but I think most of these work only with javascript type ads and not the newer and seemingly more intrusive flash based ones. If anyone knows of a flash ad blocker tell us about it.

I know advertising is one of the lifebloods of any publication, but you don't have to make it so in your face as to intrusively cover up the content we came to see.

Can you imagine if pop ups (and their evil cousins, pop unders) were a component of this website. People will stop coming.

I never click on pop ups or pop unders. They are a huge annoyance. Stop pop ups today!