New screenshot upgrade

We're currently working on redesigning some of the core pages of the site - profile pages, entries (anime, manga, etc) and homepages. While the redesign itself will take some time, we've made one small step towards the ultimate design of the entry pages - moving the screenshots.

You now access the screenshots by clicking either the main image or the button 'more screenshots' below the main image, in an anime entry. The main reason we did this is because in the near future, the 'tabs' you see in the entries will go away, and some of each type of content will be easily visible on the page itself. Since there's a variable amount of screenshots any anime can have, we decided this was the best way to access them.

An added bonus is that now, bigger screenshots are possible. check out the screenshots here as an example.

Our goal is to replace all of the old screenshots with better/bigger ones. As you can imagine, this will take awhile to accomplish. We agree that the smaller shots up now don't look great with the new design - the 'Image 1 of 6' text, for example, shows up over the image. As you can see from the above linked example, this text looks fine when the images are larger. We'll work as fast as possible to replace as many of the old images as possible, and appreciate your patience during that time.

Also, for the next week or two, we've put up a temporary notice in the old screenshots tab to let people know where they moved to. We'll remove the tab entirely soon. That temporary notice does show up on all anime pages, even if there's no screenshots for the anime. So if you see no main image, there's no screenshots. :)

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Also, if for some reason you see an error at the top of the site, do a hard refresh in your browser and it should go away. ^_^

I dislike the moving of the screens. The screenshots are the first, most important (and sometimes only) thing that I look for in the entry. The bigger/better screens are good, but adding an extra step to get to what is (IMO) the primary content is not so good. (I've also never been a fan of the overlay/lightbox thing, but that's a personal problem which even I don't really understand the why of. It might be little more than a knee-jerk reaction. *shrug*)

These are of course just my own opinions & I know they won't affect anything atm, though perhaps they'll influence the next redeisgn. (...but probably not :p ) *shrug*

not sure what the extra step is? you have to click to get to each picture in the old system, the new system is identical.

also, if the screens stayed where they were, without the lightbox, they'd stay the same small size. seems like a big win for people who consider the screens to be super important (as now they will be bigger/better)

Extra step=clicking the "more screens" button.
Yeah, I know, the more I think about it the more I realize that's just nitpicking. In the old setup you only got 1 screen without clicking anything. Nevermind.

re size/position: Personally, I would probably put the screens below the main entry, right above the recs.
I don't know why I don't like lightboxes, maybe it's because they remind me of those pop-in/overlay ads that sprung up in reaction to people blocking traditional popups. *shrug*

Forget my previous nitpicking. The larger screens are a definite improvement & the new system works well enough, I doubt there's any setup that I'd be 100% satisfied with.

I don't personally like the upgrade currently but hey that's how we humans are, anti-change (at least most of us) I'm sure I'll get used to it. :)

Hi sothis,

I just tried it out and it seems an interesting idea. Looking forward to the finished product, especially larger screens will be great considering some of the high quality images we get for newer shows. But I was just thinking of the review pages. There is a button there that says 'see more screenshots' which then takes you to the main anime page. This used to make sense because you'd immediately see the screenshots when you arrived on the page. But now if you tried it, you'd have to hunt around (if you're a newcomer to the site) for the screenshots. At least, visually, it makes less sense to want more screenshots and then arrive at a page where there are many other things apart from the screenshots vying for your attention.

I'm wondering if it'd make sense to have the same overlay effect on the reviews. This way, also, you'd not actually leave the review page when you decided to have a peek at more of the screens.

cool idea, its very doable as well. one thing i know i still need to fix is an auto resizing of images (to be smaller, if they're huge) on the site review page, since right now they display full size, and clearly the design would break in that case!

Draco said:

I don't personally like the upgrade currently but hey that's how we humans are, anti-change (at least most of us) I'm sure I'll get used to it. :)

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hehe, understandable, its why i wanted to roll out the new changes sloooowly instead of all at once, to soften the blow :) i'm guilty of the same quick reaction/anti-change sentiments too on sites i visit!

sothis said:

cool idea, its very doable as well.

Click to expand...

Hurrah!

Seems kinda...pointless. The screenshots seemed fine where they were. You go to a page, and there they are. Now, they're not. Feels kinda like a step backwards.

Interesting idea , but i don't really like it... maybe because is just the start... i may change my opinion when all will be done...

And can you add: image have moved under the ... well... anime image :)) It was hard to spot...

And yes... images where the first and most important thing where i look... and was the first thing you noticed about a anime...

Ok.. nevermind me...

Drahken said:

I dislike the moving of the screens. The screenshots are the first, most important (and sometimes only) thing that I look for in the entry. The bigger/better screens are good, but adding an extra step to get to what is (IMO) the primary content is not so good.

Click to expand...

randomredneck said:

Seems kinda...pointless. The screenshots seemed fine where they were. You go to a page, and there they are. Now, they're not. Feels kinda like a step backwards.

Click to expand...

I kind if agree. Screens are the first thing I look at and now they seem hidden (even though I know they're only a click away). But perhaps it'll look better once the entire page is done.

Edit: Well, I guess I'm already starting to get used to it...

Seems kinda...pointless. The screenshots seemed fine where they were. You go to a page, and there they are. Now, they're not. Feels kinda like a step backwards.

Click to expand...

because they can't stay where they are - the tabs are going away, content from the tabs will display in the entry itself, and eventually the recommendations are gonna be moving up a lot higher.

"and there they are, now they're not" - not sure what this means, they're still there and you still have to click through to see them.

sothis said:

because they can't stay where they are - the tabs are going away, content from the tabs will display in the entry itself, and eventually the recommendations are gonna be moving up a lot higher.

"and there they are, now they're not" - not sure what this means, they're still there and you still have to click through to see them.

Click to expand...

It means the first screenshot was there when you got to the page, now it´s not. A small but clear downside.

On the one hand, bigger pictures sounds good.
On the other, i´ve never liked pop-up/screen overlay... I also like the tab system as it places everything centrally in a single area, easily accessible and findable.

More importantly, the stuff in the other tabs, how will it be handled?

Sorry for sounding negative...

randomredneck said:

The screenshots seemed fine where they were. You go to a page, and there they are. Now, they're not. Feels kinda like a step backwards.

Click to expand...

I kinda agree too...
However, it opens the opportunity for bigger screenshots which is definitely awesome.
I guess we just need to get used to it for a while. :)

EDIT: It seems I didn't read the change was for a bigger project...
I also want to clarify that my comment wasn't meant negative.

i'm definitely surprised that pretty much 100% of the feedback has been negative, but this drives home the point that we need to roll out these sorts of updates in small but frequent updates, instead of one big update. change sucks whenever it happens, i'm guilty of being negative up front any time facebook changes for example, then once i get used to it it becomes natural.

as for the tabs being easily noticable and accessible, thats what we originally thought when designing them, but the results have been the exact opposite. it's pretty crazy how many people don't see them at all (they might see the screenshots, but not the rest), and think we dont list things like relations and staff.

Bigger screenshots are a massive massive bonus and redoing a lot of the older entries is undoubtedly going to be a big project but somethig that I've always thought would be a major positive for the site. So basically I fully support and love these changes!

sothis said:

not sure what the extra step is? you have to click to get to each picture in the old system, the new system is identical.

Click to expand...

I am also going to say something nitpicky though which is also just a reflection of having a routine when browsing a-p. When I go to an entry that first screenshot that shows up under the synopsis is definitely something my eye goes to and I can read the synop and view the tags at the same time. It's like making a first impression within 20 seconds. To click a button to get that first screenshot and for that screenshot to then cover up all the other info that I like to let my eyes flit around will take getting used to. I think it'd be nice to keep a screenshot tab with thumbnails that you can click to go into the lightbox, a bit like how the pics work on knowyourmeme or that lovely anime torrent site with the japanese for 'idiot' in its name ;)

would have preffered the screenshots to remain put as they give a great first impression.

BUT the move by the sounds of it will give to more information upfront which i would prefer so for now its a slight hinderence but i think it will be for the better in the long run.

sothis said:

because they can't stay where they are - the tabs are going away, content from the tabs will display in the entry itself, and eventually the recommendations are gonna be moving up a lot higher.

Click to expand...

I don't get why the tabs are going away. The whole page setup seemed fine as is. But whatever, it's your thing.