A black-and-white photo of a person mid-air in a Superman-style body suspension pose, supported by multiple hooks in their back and legs, smiling joyfully toward the camera. They are suspended horizontally in a large indoor space with high ceilings and visible rigging. A group of onlookers—some seated, some standing—watch with expressions of admiration, amusement, and support. The atmosphere is lively and communal, capturing a moment of shared experience and transformation.

Minor BME updates

I made some very minor changes to the front page of BME and BME/extreme. Mostly it’s just making the text a little bigger, taking off unused elements, and expanding ones that are being used a bit more. There’s nothing particularly dramatic about it, but if the “latest updates” ticker breaks anyone’s browser, please let me know. The members page is more heavy updated as an index, but since it was just a list of small-text updates before, I hope that’s a good thing.

Suggestions (if possible, with a mock-up or example) are very much appreciated!

I’m going to try and dedicate a day every week or two to clean up an element of the site, with galleries being next on my list (most of that work is already done)…

bmefrontpage.jpg

Comments

200 responses to “Minor BME updates”

  1. jwm Avatar

    also javascript tags and code should be relocated to the bottom of the page for faster loading.

  2. jwm Avatar

    also javascript tags and code should be relocated to the bottom of the page for faster loading.

  3. DeadTomato Avatar

    Sorry, that was just me being a complete idiot – I meant the alt text on the images.

    I think that swapping the whole set would definitely work a lot better – like you said, you get the best of both worlds.

  4. DeadTomato Avatar

    Sorry, that was just me being a complete idiot – I meant the alt text on the images.

    I think that swapping the whole set would definitely work a lot better – like you said, you get the best of both worlds.

  5. Mood Avatar

    I like seeing occasional changes on static pages because for me it shows the owner is paying attention. To me, the home page has far too much red, the image borders are red and the links are red — I don’t think it works too well on the light background. I also think the images need some padding because the left and right borders are touching and it looks odd. The ticker is moving to fast and it needs slowing down to about half.

  6. Mood Avatar

    I like seeing occasional changes on static pages because for me it shows the owner is paying attention. To me, the home page has far too much red, the image borders are red and the links are red — I don’t think it works too well on the light background. I also think the images need some padding because the left and right borders are touching and it looks odd. The ticker is moving to fast and it needs slowing down to about half.

  7. kivaka Avatar

    the new layout of the site looks great. cant wait to start to send in some photos now that my lap top is fixed

  8. kivaka Avatar

    the new layout of the site looks great. cant wait to start to send in some photos now that my lap top is fixed

  9. shekaste Avatar
    shekaste

    from the comments I’m seeing, I might be coming to this late (I’m seeing a different front page than the ones people are describing above), but as of 2.35 PM pacific time, it looks really great to me.
    I saw it and started dancing gleefully– I’ve been coming to BME for years, and my flaky sixteen year old brain was bored. Nice job, Shannon.

  10. shekaste Avatar
    shekaste

    from the comments I’m seeing, I might be coming to this late (I’m seeing a different front page than the ones people are describing above), but as of 2.35 PM pacific time, it looks really great to me.
    I saw it and started dancing gleefully– I’ve been coming to BME for years, and my flaky sixteen year old brain was bored. Nice job, Shannon.

  11. Jennifer Avatar

    I like it a lot better with the red font, very nice. The colors work a lot better now.
    It’ll take some getting used to, of course. I think just the newness of it is what’s causing a lot of the commotion.

    Are you planning on changing the just the color scheme of the link pages (tattoo, piercing, etc) to match?

    I really like how the News section is now set up.
    Thanks Shannon. 🙂

  12. Jennifer Avatar

    I like it a lot better with the red font, very nice. The colors work a lot better now.
    It’ll take some getting used to, of course. I think just the newness of it is what’s causing a lot of the commotion.

    Are you planning on changing the just the color scheme of the link pages (tattoo, piercing, etc) to match?

    I really like how the News section is now set up.
    Thanks Shannon. 🙂

  13. fuus Avatar
    fuus

    Very minor? It’s completely different!!

  14. fuus Avatar
    fuus

    Very minor? It’s completely different!!

  15. morbus Avatar

    i like the new design 🙂

  16. morbus Avatar

    i like the new design 🙂

  17. Ruth Avatar
    Ruth

    It’s looking far nicer than when I looked a bit ago, but I can’t help but think that with the ‘Latest Updates’ the border should be a bit larger if there are going to be different sized pictures with the black bits going on, just to make it look less… meh..

  18. Ruth Avatar
    Ruth

    It’s looking far nicer than when I looked a bit ago, but I can’t help but think that with the ‘Latest Updates’ the border should be a bit larger if there are going to be different sized pictures with the black bits going on, just to make it look less… meh..

  19. ASmallFit Avatar
    ASmallFit

    I don’t know if it breaks my browser but… the updating images all over the page made it have a little fit the page is constantly loading and after about five minutes of studying the new front page my whole computer slowed down.

    It’s a bit off, one thing I always loved about the bme frontpage was that I didn’t have to scroll horizontally, it’s the #1 thing I look at when I’m deciding weather or not a page is good and the new page does need to be scrolled horizontally for me – fix please? With a cherry and sprinkles and nuts on top?

    It looks a bit cluttered, the thumbnails all crammed together… I always thought the old front page was very cool and classic and distinguished I can’t imagine an improvement on that.

  20. ASmallFit Avatar
    ASmallFit

    I don’t know if it breaks my browser but… the updating images all over the page made it have a little fit the page is constantly loading and after about five minutes of studying the new front page my whole computer slowed down.

    It’s a bit off, one thing I always loved about the bme frontpage was that I didn’t have to scroll horizontally, it’s the #1 thing I look at when I’m deciding weather or not a page is good and the new page does need to be scrolled horizontally for me – fix please? With a cherry and sprinkles and nuts on top?

    It looks a bit cluttered, the thumbnails all crammed together… I always thought the old front page was very cool and classic and distinguished I can’t imagine an improvement on that.

  21. Don Avatar

    Yeah – the red links look MUCH better than the blue ones!

    One suggestion: I think the links in the first category (Body piercing) would look neater if they didn’t all say “…. piercing”, but just said “Ear” “Tongue” “Nose” etc?

  22. Don Avatar

    Yeah – the red links look MUCH better than the blue ones!

    One suggestion: I think the links in the first category (Body piercing) would look neater if they didn’t all say “…. piercing”, but just said “Ear” “Tongue” “Nose” etc?

  23. brave men run Avatar
    brave men run

    I really dislike the ticker. Very annoying. I like the overall grey tones, but as a whole the page is ultra-bland.

  24. brave men run Avatar
    brave men run

    I really dislike the ticker. Very annoying. I like the overall grey tones, but as a whole the page is ultra-bland.

  25. PC Avatar
    PC

    Still no poll?

    I was so confused when I first got on.

    It looks nice. I kind of liked the tiny font.
    I don’t really like the flicker thing, though.

  26. PC Avatar
    PC

    Still no poll?

    I was so confused when I first got on.

    It looks nice. I kind of liked the tiny font.
    I don’t really like the flicker thing, though.

  27. PC Avatar
    PC

    Oh.

    Maybe you could do each gallery on a different line, and not separated by commas?

    Ex:
    Ear
    Nose
    Navel

    I don’t know.
    It’s kind of hard on the eyes to read through all of it.
    That would probably stretch out the page, don’t know if you’d like that.

  28. PC Avatar
    PC

    Oh.

    Maybe you could do each gallery on a different line, and not separated by commas?

    Ex:
    Ear
    Nose
    Navel

    I don’t know.
    It’s kind of hard on the eyes to read through all of it.
    That would probably stretch out the page, don’t know if you’d like that.

  29. Buddy Avatar

    Well I like it. The only two things i don’t like are: There’s no Search Bar
    and two the moving pictures move too fast, i’d say cut that in half and put a search bar in there and we’ll be set *thumbs up*

  30. Buddy Avatar

    Well I like it. The only two things i don’t like are: There’s no Search Bar
    and two the moving pictures move too fast, i’d say cut that in half and put a search bar in there and we’ll be set *thumbs up*

  31. Shannon Avatar

    Buddy – The search bar is in the bottom left.

    Thanks everyone for the continued feedback. I’ll make a few of the changes mentioned, and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing any mockups people do — if anyone wants to draw up gallery page ideas, be my guest!

  32. Shannon Avatar

    Buddy – The search bar is in the bottom left.

    Thanks everyone for the continued feedback. I’ll make a few of the changes mentioned, and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing any mockups people do — if anyone wants to draw up gallery page ideas, be my guest!

  33. herekittykitty Avatar
    herekittykitty

    It looks different to be sure. I like it. Not better than the old one but I like it. I agree that the gallery pages links need to be corraled someway but I think it’s coming along fine.
    And nothing wrong with retro.
    I’m retro and I’m ok =)

  34. herekittykitty Avatar
    herekittykitty

    It looks different to be sure. I like it. Not better than the old one but I like it. I agree that the gallery pages links need to be corraled someway but I think it’s coming along fine.
    And nothing wrong with retro.
    I’m retro and I’m ok =)

  35. Skip Avatar
    Skip

    I actually think that the page was more simple and easy to use before the redesign; now it seems busy or jumbled. Here are my comments:

    (1) The blue borders around the images don’t fit with the overall theme, I think it would be better without them.

    (2) I’m not fond of the ticker at all. I would like to see the images in the “Latest Updates” section vertical and in the right column and the interviews in the center; basically swap these two sections.

    (3) Include small descriptions of the interviews.

    (4) Place the “Community and Interactive Sections” right below the banner

    (5) Bring back the polls 🙂

  36. Skip Avatar
    Skip

    I actually think that the page was more simple and easy to use before the redesign; now it seems busy or jumbled. Here are my comments:

    (1) The blue borders around the images don’t fit with the overall theme, I think it would be better without them.

    (2) I’m not fond of the ticker at all. I would like to see the images in the “Latest Updates” section vertical and in the right column and the interviews in the center; basically swap these two sections.

    (3) Include small descriptions of the interviews.

    (4) Place the “Community and Interactive Sections” right below the banner

    (5) Bring back the polls 🙂

  37. Drew Avatar
    Drew

    I definatly liked it better before.. gotta be honest

  38. Drew Avatar
    Drew

    I definatly liked it better before.. gotta be honest

  39. Sun Avatar
    Sun

    It looks much better w/ the new coloring…
    I was a huge fan of the old layout but probably just because I was so used to seeing it…I think the consistency of the color scheme makes it all go together better. I disagree that you need some fancy pants layout — I think simplicity is nice and easy to navigate. Definitely diggin the ModBlog top thumbs, & I think the cover image is larger which I like as well. I think this new design definitely has potential 🙂 It’s nice to see things moving forward after the hiatus. Good luck 🙂

  40. Sun Avatar
    Sun

    It looks much better w/ the new coloring…
    I was a huge fan of the old layout but probably just because I was so used to seeing it…I think the consistency of the color scheme makes it all go together better. I disagree that you need some fancy pants layout — I think simplicity is nice and easy to navigate. Definitely diggin the ModBlog top thumbs, & I think the cover image is larger which I like as well. I think this new design definitely has potential 🙂 It’s nice to see things moving forward after the hiatus. Good luck 🙂

  41. blasphemouskell Avatar
    blasphemouskell

    eh…i don’t really like it. i like the old layout. this one is too…i don’t know. to me it wouldn’t make me wat to look at the site if it was my first time seeing it.

  42. blasphemouskell Avatar
    blasphemouskell

    eh…i don’t really like it. i like the old layout. this one is too…i don’t know. to me it wouldn’t make me wat to look at the site if it was my first time seeing it.

  43. kwaniesiam Avatar
    kwaniesiam

    I don’t like the new layout at all. The changing images are annoying and really slow down my comp. My sis came in and saw it from across the room and thought I was on a porn site at first. >.<

  44. kwaniesiam Avatar
    kwaniesiam

    I don’t like the new layout at all. The changing images are annoying and really slow down my comp. My sis came in and saw it from across the room and thought I was on a porn site at first. >.<

  45. FredBecca Avatar
    FredBecca

    As long as it’s still fairly easy to navigate, I don’t really care what it looks like. I come here for the content, so if that’s still accessible it’s all good to me. As long as we’re on the topic and giving suggestions though, I think the site might be able to stand having a bit more colour. If there’s 100 posts after this one saying “no way” then don’t worry about it. 🙂 I’m pretty easy going myself.

  46. FredBecca Avatar
    FredBecca

    As long as it’s still fairly easy to navigate, I don’t really care what it looks like. I come here for the content, so if that’s still accessible it’s all good to me. As long as we’re on the topic and giving suggestions though, I think the site might be able to stand having a bit more colour. If there’s 100 posts after this one saying “no way” then don’t worry about it. 🙂 I’m pretty easy going myself.

  47. Xenobiologista Avatar

    Could someone please explain where the Ask BME site came from, if it’s not a part of BME then? I’ve been really confused about that.

  48. Xenobiologista Avatar

    Could someone please explain where the Ask BME site came from, if it’s not a part of BME then? I’ve been really confused about that.

  49. Silent-Fire Avatar
    Silent-Fire

    That looks MUCH better with the red than it did with the blue.

  50. Silent-Fire Avatar
    Silent-Fire

    That looks MUCH better with the red than it did with the blue.

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