First Beta Launch

Here we go then. After months of working in the few crumbs of spare-time that we could scrape up we’ve finally done it and launched UX Magazine. We’re pleased with a lot of it but also know that a lot of work still needs to be done; a lot.

First off, we’re trying to remain XHTML strict and are avoiding hacks best we can but IE still misbehaves here and there. Annoying, yes, but the site works well enough to be released into the general population. There are certainly some bugs in other browsers here and there. Ah, the joys of web-development.

Secondly, We have a list of stuff to do before we can be certain that this site is truly user friendly. The tool tips on the Link Pool and the Feeds aren’t quite there yet. We need to make the preview text of articles clearer and some features are just plain missing.

Last but not least, we’re not happy. We never are. Never ever. We look at things and go “bah!”—out loud, numerous times a day. We just had to stop being so bloody picky and launch the damn thing. But that doesn’t mean we’re not going to fix these things. So while we’re excited about launching the site, we’ll probably never be 100% happy with it, and that’s the way it should be.

In the meantime, please comment (right here) on things you love, hate, are puzzled by. We’ve probably missed shed loads of important stuff so help us make UX Magazine what you want it to be.

UPDATE (19/12/05): We’ve applied a nasty hack and “fixed” some IE bug which just won’t go away otherwise. This is just band-aid but it will have to do for now. We’re also killing off the tool tips we had as we were getting too many issues with them. Shame because they were damn pretty.

UPDATE (20/12/05): Latest changes include a lot of stuff noticed by our visitors (thank you very much).

1. We removed the email link from all our commenter’s. Now only a web link will be applied, if entered. (noticed by Alex Casanova)
2. Fixed the home page a bit, still needs work though. Added the TextPattern credits (question asked by Roshambo)
3. Changed the tabindex on the comment forms. Now it works as it should. (thanks Greg)
4. The last update info in the SnapShot box on the Home page, now displays the actual last update time, including the comments.
5. And last but not least, it seems Del.icio.us is back up, so now you can also see our Link Pool list on the home Page.

UPDATE (20/12/05) Part Deux: Got some new tabs done as the older ones where accused of being, well, rather crap. You can check out their dark chromed goodness by look at the top bar; ooh, shiny… CMD fixed some CSS stuff I broke while hacking away to get IE to bloody work. He also added a smooooth “back to top” at the bottom of every article. We’re working on a better way of integrating that into the design.

UPDATE (21/12/05): We’ve merged the search and tabs and fixed some issues in the process. With Christmas approaching fast, we’re scrambling to fix as much as possible before we’re all off for the holidays. IE unfortunately still misbehaves. The feedback and exposure we’ve been getting has been tremendous, which kind of freaks me out because there’s still so much to do. It’s 4am, I’m going to bed. Thanks for dropping by.

UPDATE (23/12/05): We’ve been very busy trying to get most of your comments into our layout. All of your remarks, complaints and praises have been very helpful. So to keep this note short, here’s what we’ve done so far:

1. We’ve cleaned up our CSS. If anyone tries to validate it, they will get an error. It’s an ugly hack we’ve added, but will get rid of it shortly.
2. We added more informative page titles.
3. We finalized the “tab” & “search” design.
4. We removed the horizontal scroll bar. The full fix will come when we get around to restructuring the whole site… Should be right after Xmas holidays.

UPDATE (23/12/05) Part Deux: Just got around to changing the descriptive text on all articles. The excerpt is now properly displayed.
Also please forgive us if you’ve been receiving one-too-many RSS updates on our articles. We’ve been fidgeting with the Feed a bit… until we get things sorted.