About the home page redesign...
In the past, I always had PortableApps.com as my home page when I start my browser. It was a great way to have a quick glance at what's new. Now, the home page is filled with marketing material which is geared toward newcomers. It makes my eyes glaze over -- not because it's not good (it is), but because I've already seen the marketing information and I'm not going to reread it all the time.
The important information -- updates and news, has been moved below the fold from its proper location, which is above the fold.
I suggest using a cookie in the user's browser to switch themes for the home page. New visitors get the marketing info. Repeat visitors get the older design which is information-centric, not marketing-centric.
Best,
Phil Honstein, Web Producer
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If that's what you want, then you want the News page, no the homepage. Just go there instead of the homepage. There's a link right below the Download button on the right side of the homepage (where the release list used to go) as well as a link to All News right in the news section on the homepage in the lower left. You can also go there directly just by typing in portableapps.com/news in your browser. We'll be adding in app icons to the news page in the coming weeks to make it more easily scannable as well.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Good. Thanks John, I'll do that.
The original point probably still stands about the eyes of repeat visitors glazing over when they come to the index page. And on the other side, the news page -- while extremely informative -- is lacking in other qualities.
Best,
Phil Honstein, Web Producer
EmagineEngine.com
I am a repeat visitor (at least once a day, usually more), but I am quite happy with the new index.
What most repeat visitors want now does not need to take up the majority of the index, as it is available on the news page, via the RSS feed, and through the Updater.
I don't believe that the availability of new channels for the same information is in and of itself sufficient reason to weaken established ones.
It would be appropriate to weaken an established channel if it is no longer being viewed regularly by a particular group. Or if you're trying to force the viewers to a different channel.
Maybe one of those cases applies, here -- I don't know. But internally it should be asked how many repeat visitors are landing on the index page each day.
If both groups are visiting the index page, then it's easy enough to give them what they want (marketing or news). Both index pages have already been created, after all. It's just a matter of showing the appropriate page depending on whether the visitor is new or repeat.
Best,
Phil Honstein
Hi John:
For a moment on the News page I saw icons for apps. (Now they are gone -- maybe due to caching or ongoing work...)
This is just a thumbs-up for app icons on the news page. The page is easier to look at and more meaningful that way.
Best,
Phil Honstein
They're there, but just on the first page for recently added apps (which is all that would have had it in the old homepage anyway). We need to manually assign them to each story, so we're not going to go assigning them to old stories.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Hi John:
For your app icons on the news page, it seems there is a compatibility issue with Chrome Portable. The column is there but no icons.
I'm using Chrome 13.9.782.112, the latest stable version. The same was true in the version 12 series.
The app icons show up in Firefox. I have not tested in IE.
Regards,
Phil Honstein
It works for me in every browser including Chrome. I just made an update to correct an unclosed HTML tag on that column that may help, though (provided you're logged in, if you're a guest, it may take an additional 10 minutes or so).
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
None of the news stories show icons for me in Chrome, however they display fine in IE.
Browsers tested:
Google Chrome - 14.0.835.29 dev-m (Does not work)
IE - 9.0.8112.16421 (Works)
It amazes me that on the internet you can be anything you want, and yet so many people still choose to be idiots.
Please screenshot it and upload to imgur and view source and copy paste that to pastebin or similar. As mentioned, the HTML is fine and it works in Firefox, Opera, IE, Chrome stable, etc for me.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Pastebin (will expire in one day):
http://pastebin.com/gESytVXM
IMGUR Link:
http://imgur.com/cp4Hx
BTW, I see a missing bracking on line 407 of the source.
Best,
Phil Honstein
Try it again now. I changed a permission setting.
Also, you don't have any content-modifying extensions running do you? (AdBlock, etc) If so, disable them to rule them out. If they are blocking, then there's not much I can help you with there. As I recall, they're all a bit buggy on Chrome as it wasn't built around the idea of extensions being able to do that the way Firefox was. That HTML you pasted is modified and that missing bracket is in the file being served from our server.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
John:
Yes, it works now with that permission change. I see the icons whether logged in or not.
Also Yes, running Ad-Block.
Thanks,
Phil Honstein
It was the permission then. Sorry about that, but at least we got it working.
You may wish to report the Adblock issue to the, as that bracket shouldn't get stripped.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Works here as well. (No Adblock etc. installed)
It amazes me that on the internet you can be anything you want, and yet so many people still choose to be idiots.
Am I the only one only seeing older apps @ https://portableapps.com/news/new page? Doesn't seem to get updated, although it's linked from the front page...
This page only lists new official apps when they are added to the app directory.
There simply has been no new app for a while since all recources go to the new platform at the moment. I think this will change, when it is released. Updates and other news are listed on the news page (https://portableapps.com/news).